Concert Photos: Alex Wilson Band Live at Milwaukee Ale House

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to shoot The Alex Wilson Band at the Milwaukee Ale House. It was truly a great time and Alex certainly knew how to woo the audience, the stage, and as the photo suggests: the mic. Check out the photos below and feel free to drop a comment or response at the bottom.

Alex is an 8 time nominated WAMI musician and won the 2011 Blues Artist of the Year Award. He truly deserves some crazy awesome recognition as his abilities are staggering.

Alex Wilson Band (17)

Alex Wilson Band (22)

When I took photos of Milwaukee’s own Alex Wilson I had no clue what I was about to get witness. The show was at the Milwaukee Ale House on Water street and had a pretty packed crowd before he even got on stage. After a rushed introduction – his flight was delayed coming into Milwaukee – Alex and the band got the show started. Alex had amazing energy and the ability to engage the crowd for the night wjth his blues rock.

Lighting And Set:

The lighting at the Milwaukee Ale House is rather difficult to shoot in. The set-up is great for a live band, but the venue does double as a pretty fantastic bar. It is extremely hard to get the lighting bright enough for a band but dim enough for the bar feel. The Ale House does a fine job at balancing the two but it does leave a bit to be desired on the amount of light for the stage. It is certainly not an arena but some more white/blue lights to balance out the tungsten and reds that are prevalent would make the photographer’s job a bit simpler. That being said, the bar with it’s vaulted wooden ceilings and exposed ductwork is an awesome feel. I absolutely loved shooting there compared to bigger venues I have shot in the past. It was definitely a great time and the folks at the Ale House could not have been more accommodating.

Photo Notes:

It was really a great time getting to know Alex and his band mates during and after this show. They are all top notch guys with Eric being an editor at a music magazine and his uncle, Marc Wilson, as the drummer. The energy they all had was at times subdued compared to the hailstorm of rock ‘n roll blues they were pumping out of their instruments. It was kind of surreal to see them playing such complex songs with great ease and smirks. Alex’s energy was perfect as a frontman, pushing the audience to pay attention and to take note. He really was able to contort the guitar, his sound, and even himself to put these guys in another category. There is a lot of talk about the Alex Wilson Band in Southeastern Wisconsin and it is certainly easy to see why.

Gear Used:

Canon 5D MKII

Canon 17-40mm f/4 L lens

Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens

Check ‘Em Out!

Alex Wilson Band

Alex Wilson: Twitter

Concert Photos: Fever Marlene Live At Turner Hall Ballroom

Fever Marlene ended the night at the 2011 WAMI Awards at the Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee, WI. After a night of great performances they wrapped everything together extremely well. I had a great time meeting all sorts of talented musicians, bands, and folks involved with the music industry. It was a fantastic time (which I have to thank Alex Wilson – Blues Artist of the Year – for inviting me!).

I broke out the tilt-shift, which I am becoming a huge fan of doing so, at the concert and I loved the results. I feel it adds that extra bit of focused emotion to the shots to replicate the feelings the band is portraying and imposing on the audience.

Lighting And Set:

The stage was set up for the WAMI Awards so not necessarily ideally positioned for the artists. You can see in the last photo here that they’re a little further back and that the WAMI Award slideshow is in fact still up. However, Turner Hall is a brilliant place to shoot and the awards were for the music artists so they definitely had the positions done pat of where they can ideally set up for an awards show and concert on the same stage. The lighting was brilliant. A bit on the dimmer side but plenty of light to shoot with lower amounts of grain from the ISO settings. I felt comfortable enough to shoot with the TS-E 24mm which is a f/3.5 rather than having the freedom to stop down to the f/1.8 of the 85mm. This was a stroke of luck for me as these were the only two lenses I had at the time. They had some serious reds going on during their sets but it was nothing completely terrible and I ended up having some fun with it during the tilt-shift period.

Photo Notes:

I did not go to the show intending to shoot a band. I went there to meet people in the industry and give support to Alex Wilson, seriously go check out his link above; he’s a phenomenal blues artist and has his own post coming soon. I actually ended up approaching one of the coordinators I met on previously in the night and asked if I could take photographs of Fever Marlene after their first song. They really blew me away and had a great energy that I felt my trigger finger itching to snap a few good ones. Looking back I probably could have just started shooting as there were a couple of other photogs, namely using flash, shooting away but I was erring on the side of caution and not burning bridges. I had a great time and wanted to continue my relationship with WAMI, the bands, and the people behind the scenes. Fever Marlene only played a few of songs and I only shot for two of them but it was a blast nonetheless.

Gear Used:

Canon 5D MKII

Canon 24mm TS-E f/3.5 L lens

Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens

Check ‘Em Out!

Fever Marlene

http://www.fevermarlene.com/

Fever Marlene: Twitter

Fever Marlene: Facebook

Japan Relief: 1 Hour Donations

If you have seen my facebook page then you have heard what I plan on doing. The people of Japan need our help: citizens and rescue teams alike. I am offering $200 1 hour photoshoot sessions with all of that money going to the Red Cross.

I’d hope this would simply be understood but I want to assure you that what I am doing here is not a self-promotion at all. While it would be great I am not looking for new leads or repeat business. In fact if I could somehow take my name out of all of it, I would. Something that comes to mind is an anecdote that has been told to me over the years. It’s a great line in Superman the movie where Clark’s father tells a young Clark Kent when he is upset about having to hide his powers while playing football. He says,

“[...] That is, you are here for a reason. I don’t know whose reason it is, or whatever the reason… maybe it’s… I don’t know…. but I do know one thing: it’s not to score touchdowns.”

I don’t feel that I am superman. I do feel that this is something we can all take to heart when thinking about all the things we do in life. I have often admired those who have dropped everything and taken up photojournalism to spread the word of what is happening in the world a la the amazingly talented photographers ostentatiously aggregated at The Big Picture. While I am not at a point in life to be able to do that, I do feel that I am able to help.

It comes down to this, an awesome way for you to get those photographs that you have been wanting and needing for a bit of time now and to do something wonderful for the world. I’m going to break this down into a few sections that will hopefully explain how everything will go down this next week.

The Situation:

Not that “Situation”, this one actually means something. Last Friday an earthquake, which scaled at 9.0 on the Richter scale, blasted 8o miles off the coast of Japan. This is one of the largest known quakes in Japan’s modern history and one of the largest in recent years globally. Not long after, due to the quake, a tsunami washed over many parts of the coast of Japan destroying villages and people’s lives. The footage online is obscene, watching it you feel as though something like this cannot possibly be real. It is. In fact, it is very real. The death toll is still climbing, the amount missing still not entirely known. Nuclear disaster seems nearly imminent and we can only pray to whatever God or gods or positive spiritual entity in which you believe that they are able to stave off such a disaster.

However, there is good. Human nature is good, the Red Cross gives on average 91 cents on the dollar that is donated to them. Artists abound are donating their time and effort in donating money for these causes. It is times like these that make you want to step up and start making a difference. I feel as if this is my time to help in the way that I know I can.

The What:

$200 1 hour long sessions in which all of the proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross for relief in Japan. I don’t care what this session is for (within reason, of course;). If you want this to be for your Engagement Shoots, awesome. If you want to take concert shots, great. Studio shots? Fantastic. Headshots? Yes. Fashion shoots for a portfolio? Perfect.

I only have a few stipulations and I will list those later. The point is, if you have a photographic need of any kind, now is the time to take advantage of this. Sessions that are typically $250 are discounted and all of those funds. Every last penny. It’s going to help those in need by this disaster.

The When:

Sessions need to be booked by next Wednesday, March 23rd 2011, and paid for in full by next Friday, March 25th 2011. Sessions need to be fulfilled before the end of August, 2011.

The Who:

You. Bring yourself, bring friends, bring lovers, bring enemies. It doesn’t matter. Just get ready to have an awesome time for a great cause.

The Where:

Unfortunately, and this is one of those stipulations, this deal is limited to those in the greater Milwaukee and Chicago areas. If I can easily make it to you, by my judgment, by car from Milwaukee then please. Participate. Unfortunately, I cannot simply afford to travel and donate all proceeds. However, if you do want to pay for my travel costs and then the $200 on top for a donation and it is able to be scheduled out, then by all means I am down and I am game.

The Fine Print:

Why am I putting a time limit on this? Honestly, I don’t know the response. This could flop and I may not get any responses. Or this could go even crazier than I expected. Without this being my full time profession I only have a limited amount of time that I can physically devote to sessions.

Why paid for in full in advance? I simply cannot afford to foot a bill on this one. The sole purpose of all of this is to raise money that I would not typically be able to donate myself for a situation that is heartbreaking to me. This is also about commitment, it would be one thing for me to track someone down to pay me for services I have given but I feel it sort of breaks a whole new slew of ethical violations to make me track someone down – for whatever reason – for a charitable cause. That doesn’t really matter though, you want to donate.

Why is it that only awesome places like Milwaukee and Chicago get to take advantage of this? Like I stated before, it is due to travel costs. I cannot afford to travel much without compensation and this is not about being compensated. It’s about giving.

Finally, these have to be new requests. If I have been in talks with you about a photoshoot, engagement shoot, etc then this offer, unfortunately, does not apply. I sincerely appreciate your desire to donate but it is simply too complicated for me to logistically tackle this on my own if this is not a separate entity. This is new photoshoots that are being proposed to me starting today and going through next Wednesday. I want the sole purpose of these shoots to have originated with the idea of giving to this fund in mind.

What do you receive?

The last point to address is what are your receivables for doing this. I am so grateful that you are looking into doing this that I want to send you a specialized receipt stating what I have done with the money and how awesome you are for helping out. On top of that you will receive a proof of delivery for the $200 to Red Cross. Thirdly, you will receive your photographs, ALL usable photographs (something usually reserved for Weddings & Engagements) from the shoot. The number of these entirely depends on set up time, repetition and similarity of shots, and technical details such as blur, focus, color, lighting, acts of God, etc. But trust me, it’s more than you would typically get in any other scenario. You deserve it.

In closing, please help me help those in need. Look up this situation that is going on. Watch the videos, see the photographs, hear their stories. If you think you have a photographic need in the near future please contact me via this blog, my facebook, twitter @aarcusphoto with hashtag: #ArcJapanRelief, e-mail at adam.arcus.photo@gmail.com, mobile phone, tin-cans, morsecode. Whatever and however you can. And finally, spread the word – e-mail this to your friends, lovers, coworkers, enemies, cousins, barbers, etc. The more we do together, the more we can raise. If you don’t chose to do this through me, look up those other artists, donate to Red Cross’ text method for donating $10 automatically by texting REDCROSS to 90999, go through Google’s crisis response at http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html , other artists: go and do this for your talents as well! We can make a difference.

The List: Cage The Elephant

Cage The Elephant: Copyright Todd Owyoung, www.ishootshows.com

The List is going to be a new segment of mine where I talk about a show that I hope to one day be lucky enough to photograph. I feel like this can be a great way of setting goals for myself and a way to push myself forward as a photographer. Getting an “in” to this industry is no easy task. It takes a lot of work, a lot of effort, a ton of skill, and an exorbitant amount of luck. To me, it is finding out how to bend said luck to your will. I once asked the phenomenal and established concert photographer, Todd Owyoung, for advice on how to break into the industry. I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing his response but it really struck a chord with me. It was one of those things where initially I felt the need to respond but realized it was more of a rhetorical question.

“What ways are you pursuing music photography now?”

What a fantastically short response. My knee-jerk reaction was to respond as to how I was making a few calls here and there, attempting (poorly) to advertise on some band websites, etc. What I didn’t think about was how active I was in these pursuits. Nothing just falls into your lap. You have to work at it and you have to work hard. I learned these lessons at school and I apply them on a daily basis, they’re basically common sense to me now – why would I not do this in a passion of mine as well?

This brings me to full circle. Just like Jeff with his (pretty awesome) financial blog over at The1KChallenge, it is about keeping your self responsible and accountable. That is what these posts are about: who do I want to shoot and why do I want to shoot them.

Cage The Elephant is one of my favorite newer bands out there. I feel like their music takes everything that is popular in modern pop/pop rock/alternative and flips it on its back. Listening to both of their CDs you realize that they know exactly what kind of music is going to sell. Though instead than going full into that and creating some single that will just make people happy they pull an “Enter Sandman”/”The Pretender” and make a single that is going to blow you away with its depth and complexity. I feel the energy every time I listen to them, I feel the way I did in high school when music was my life and I rarely took my headphones from my ear. That is not to say that CTE is for 16 year olds but rather that they appeal to that place inside of you where music is all that matters.

Then I saw them live. All of that energy, all of that passion comes propelling out of their performance like a ten ton blast of C4. That is why I love music photography. I have said this so many times but the basis of my love for this industry is that those on stage are doing what they love and I am doing what I love. It is pretty damn neigh impossible to top that. Cage The Elephant obviously is passionate about what they do, but it is more than that; they don’t hold any back. From what I hear they never do. Every review I have read, every photographer who has shot them. They all say the same thing: the energy is seemingly limitless.

Being involved with a band as intense as this, shot in low lights, is a mammoth of a challenge. That is what intrigues me the most. It would push my abilities to their peak levels. How quickly can you adapt to the chaos of lights and the energy level of a band such as CTE? That would be a near spiritual experience.

Mr. $ Mrs. Smith: Live at the Rain @ Palms, Las Vegas, NV

For me this concert was my first major event to photograph for a corporate outing. I was all over the place doing many different tasks. Shooting Lyssa and Austin from Mr. $ Mrs. Smith was an awesome challenge with dynamic lighting. I even ended up loving a photograph that had majority red light in it! In fact that shot above is one of my favorites I’ve taken in a concert. Her smile is brilliant. I brought my 24mm TS-E lens and she made an appearance during the concert. It was shocking how well she worked. My next two lenses are absolutely going to be the updated L series of the 45mm and 90mm TS-E. The versatility of these lenses blows my mind.

Of course, in the end I always hit up the workhorse that is the 85mm. The portraits that it delivers are simply stunning. Austin looked like a badass rock star with the oversized sunglasses (and evening donning a spectator’s cowboy hat for a refrain).

I wanted a couple of shots to show off how big the stage was and give a feeling for the grandness of the evening. I took out the 17-40 and threw it all the way at 17mm and had a few good action shots as a result. Lyssa really has amazing stage presence as well as an awesome beauty that is fun to capture.

I had also set up an off-camera strobe to collect crowd photographs for the event which was going off pretty well to start. I was surprised actually how well because it was my first time doing this in a crowd but the results were extremely dynamic and fun. They certainly portrayed the atmosphere that was capturing everyone to the T. Unfortunately, the flash was bulldozed by someone who happened to not see it despite my efforts to keep it in the furthest corner away from the action. This resulted in a broken stand and some battle wounds for the Lumopro. I haven’t completed testing with a new set of batteries but initially the flash seems fine… which is more than I can say for the stand.

Austin and Lyssa nail the vocals on every track with Mario, Adam, and Jason providing a rhythm section that is phenomenal. You have to truly be talented to cover the range that they did in the fashion in which they did it. Go check out their facebook page and give them a chance. You’ll be dying to see them next time you’re in Vegas.

Gear Used:

Canon 5D Mk II

Canon 24mm L f/3.5 TS-E Lens

Canon 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens

Canon 17-40mm f/4 L Lens

Lumopro lp160 Flash

Live Chatter:

To me it seems like a huge undertaking, performing in front of an audience you don’t know with songs you’re not sure they know for a corporate event. In Las Vegas. At a club. Mr. $ Mrs. Smith (yes, that is a dollar sign instead of an ampersand) pulled it off with marvel. For starters, they took typical pop/R&B/hip-hop hits and performed them live, as a band. That is huge. 90% of these songs were remixed electronically in a studio with voices that sound very little to what they really are. That does not necessarily mean that they are bad songs but rather that they are very hard to replicate live.

The lighting in Rain was such a great challenge. There were the LCD TVs coming out from every direction. The lights were not mostly whites, blues, and yellows but every color imaginable. There was a lot of pink/rosa and reds, oranges, and purples to fill that out. It turns out that I don’t hate pink as much as I hate red. Pink looks intentional, red just – as always – looks awful on skin tones.

And yes. There was even random bouts of fire being spewed over the crowd whilst shooting. Challenging indeed. But it was a blast.

The Vault: Black Stone Cherry AT Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

The band that got me into it all. Black Stone Cherry. I came back to my apartment one afternoon from classes in Uni and I had a message in my flickr account. It was from Jon Lawhon, the bassist of BSC, telling me to contact them next time they were in the area and I could shoot their live show. I flipped out. Major flip out. I mean these guys were my modern day Zeppelin. This would be the equivalent of if I lived in the 70′s and John Paul Jones said “hey, why don’t you come shoot a few shows for us”. Given they are not really the same genres, music styles, etc but that was the idea.

I went out and shot for them a couple of times which you can view at my website. The third time I shot for them was May 25, 2009 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. My study abroad Alma Matter. I was travelling abroad after graduating from the University of Illinois. The stars could not have aligned better that night. Jon had lent me his brand new Canon 5D MK II – at the time I was shooting with the XSi – and his 17-40mm f/4L lens. I was in the pit. I got a press badge. I had two shooters and three lenses!! I mean this night was effing meant to be.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the photographs from the 5D. They seem to be lost in the touring world, somewhere. Which is a bit sad as it was my first experience with that pro-camera but I still managed to get photographs that I absolutely love with that XSi. From this moment on I knew that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

GEAR USED:

Canon 5D MK II

Canon Rebel XSi

17-40mm f/4L

85mm f/1.8

50mm f/1.8

28-135mm f/3.5-5.6

LIVE CHATTER:

The band was brilliant and full of a massive amount of energy. The pit was perfect, albeit quite long due to the protruding piece in the center for the main act’s, Nickelback, set up. BSC gave me full reigns on time, with no issues what so ever taking photographs. I ran into issues with Jon’s memory cards, they were faulty and would not format. I ended up only being able to shoot with one of his cards and one of mine from the XSi – CF vs SD right there – so being picky and taking only the shots I wanted was key.

Studio Shoot: Ready The Destroyer

Life is kind of just working out for me right now. I got a permanent position at my “day job” that I love and I am no longer interviewing, worrying about moving to another apartment, another job, another city in another state, etc. I mean don’t get me wrong, I signed up for that and it was awesome. I don’t regret it but it is so nice to just have things in a flow now. I have not just lived in a city, in an apartment for more than 8 or so months consecutively between college, study abroad, and my rotational program. Who knows? Maybe it’s not for me, maybe I’ll go stir crazy, but I am willing to give it a shot. It sounds fantastic. Anyways, the point of all this is that once in a while that chaotic lifestyle breaks through into my every day life and my photography life. Sometimes I won’t get up in the morning and do a routine because I always thought that eventually this routine will end so what’s the point? Not the case now. Now I am ready for a bit of routine: I trust myself to break it apart when I need to. I travel, I photograph, I am always searching for a new thing – hi outdoor soccer, indoor soccer, bikram yoga, and dance class with the girl – to do to keep busy. I have no worries about creating a bit of order in my every day life to help things out now.

Enter Nic from Ready the Destroyer is a good friend of mine and an awesome graphic designer. How do I know? He did the coding for www.arcusphotography.com. Pretty baller right? Well he knew I was trying to break into concert photography and had a show with RTD coming up so we set up the shoot at the concert and from there it was history. I asked him a bunch of questions about starting my own website and he said he would help me out and asked me what I like and what I thought of his ideas. They were crazy awesome of course and soon he went to work and got me this website that I love now. I feel indebted to this guy so taking any photos for him is something I cannot wait to do. Well this is the point where I need to get better. I always gave him the photographs but usually online via uploads or e-mails. I need to get this guy big ass DVDs of 21.1 megapixel glory rather than a couple e-mails of the full size shots. He deserves it, Neill deserves it. I am hoping to get something pretty crazy awesome together for the next shoot with them.

For this shoot I had a lot of help with their immensely huge and brilliant “sun” studio light. It was a bit ridiculous. Gave some great fill light with contrast though. As with most concert shots that I go for, I wanted to make sure the shot of them playing was fast enough to feel like a moment frozen in time but to get some motion in the drumming so it didn’t seem like Nic was just throwing his hands in the air. The outdoor shots where shot with the aperture pretty wide open for two reasons: it is very much my style and I avoid flash like the plague if I can avoid it. If I have to use it I want to have it with some big rigged set up. Otherwise I am going to ask my subjects to hold as still as possible, lower the ISO and up the exposure time. Sure it may take a few more shots to make sure that motion is not involved but the results are a much more even, less contrasted exposure. It adds a great value that you just can’t duplicate with a flash/strobe set up.

These guys are flat out amazing people and then throw on top that they are fantastic musicians who are working it hard to get big. And they can do it. I believe in them. They have a factor that a lot of people are missing: they are genuine. Not “genuine” like MGD but more like the genuine feeling you get sipping Guinness in Dublin, Ireland. These guys are the real deal. Go give them a look if you like indie punk rock. In fact, go give them a chance even if you don’t. They blend so many layers and elements to their two person line up it has that Local H/White Stripes feeling of “how are they making these sounds as a duo”. Now to wrap this up: I visited their studio space a while back and took some photographs of them practicing and took some of them for promo shots (where a couple of rather large rats nearly ate them). After a night of awesome music, conversation, and of course beer these were the results.

Go check these out full size at www.arcusphotography.com

P.S. Go check out the completely unrelated to me awesome video starring them over at YouTube

Album Cover Photoshoot: Mario Mouser

Mario came to me as I was recommended by a friend. He sent me a few e-mails via adam.arcus.photo@gmail.com and we set a date for his photoshoot. He had to come down to Milwaukee from the Appleton area so we planned a few weeks in advance. When he came he had no real specific idea of what he wanted to shoot, just the title of his CD and some general vibes he wanted to come across. What helped was a couple of photos he liked of other musicians. I came up with a few places that I wanted to shoot and decided on a way of portraying Mario through the photographs.

Mario was great and a trooper. He was a bit shy to start with which is pretty much the norm for folks who do not get their photograph taken on a regular basis but he warmed up pretty fast. I had him going out on an abandoned dock, doing poses that would make anyone who is not a frequent model feel a bit awkward, and getting nearly ran over by a car or two for some garage door shots. Mouser had a very distinct genuine look about him: determined, stoic, and open. The sun was setting as we began the shoot so there that great golden lighting around us. His graphic design artist who was taking over the cover art, Sarah, provided support (vocally and physically with holding my reflector like a pro) and had some ideas of what she wanted to do for his CD which I attempted to flesh out in the shoot.

A job like this – one where I am entirely unfamiliar with the band/musician, unfamiliar with his music as well as unfamiliar with the style (Christian) – is particularly difficult as I have to essentially make a quick judgment based on a couple of sample photographs and a few phone conversations. Of course there is research done prior to see what the sounds he wanted to have portrayed photographically were, but as an emerging artist there is not a lot of background to go on. This type of shoot is where I thrive. I have always felt that I have a great perception of people: it is why simple research engineering was never enough, it is why I am in a job where I can talk to people frequently, and it is definitely a reason as to why I take photographs. Attached below are photographs from the shoot with Mario and the final is the album cover designed by Sarah Parker.

Original Shot by Adam Arcus