Polvo group shots, 10/10/09
After Modern Memory's set, I rounded up the guys from Polvo for some group shots. How did I get to do this? I'll explain at the bottom of this post.
I did my long exposure/ multiple flash pop technique which I practiced on a couple bands a few days before. The trick is to balance the exposure time so that I can fit in a few pops without going so long that the band members can't hold still enough to keep from blurring.
This parking lot was located right next to the club, luckily the tall tree was there to provide some background interest. I tried to not let on how nervous I was while doing this. The voice in my head kept shouting "OMG! I'm shooting Polvo!" and would drown out my ability to calculate exposure times or engage in any meaningful small talk. I know I was chatting with them just before and during this shoot, but I can't remember anything I was saying.
One thing movement does during the long exposure is to blur, but another interesting effect is the double image as above. I think it gives an almost cubist-like impression. I have ideas about how to minimize the blur and accentuate the double exposure look, but it will require a helper to hold a black card in front of the lens, moving it away just for the flash pops.
I must have spent about 15 minutes with them (it only felt like 2 or 3), but I decided to focus on getting as many long exposure shots done as possible instead of rearranging the members and shooting different locations. They were getting a bit restless by the end of it, so I quickly attached the flash to my camera and did a couple regular shots as a backup in case none of my earlier shots were to come out. I know that these aren't the standard way of doing a promo shoot for a band, but I like to be different anyway. All four guys are easygoing and were patient with me as I ran around them and shot a flash in their faces, and for that I am very thankful to them. I hope they find that some of these shots made it worth it.
My first major post to this blog was last summer's Polvo show at the Casbah. I posted a link to those shots on the Polvo myspace page, which I thought was run by the band, but it turned out it wasn't. The way I found out was that a month later, singer/guitarist Ash Bowie emailed me to say that he happened to see my shots and that he liked them. A few months after that, he asked if he could use some shots for the In Prism artwork. So, if you have the CD, you'll see one of my shots in there, and two in the vinyl version. Needless to say, I am overjoyed to be even a small part of this album. Ash agreed to let me do these group shots for them, and got me and a friend in to the show as his personal guests. He's been nicer to me and more appreciative of my photography than most of the local bands I shoot.
The shots from the live show will be up in the next few days, still trying to balance new house duties with photo processing and more shooting.
I did my long exposure/ multiple flash pop technique which I practiced on a couple bands a few days before. The trick is to balance the exposure time so that I can fit in a few pops without going so long that the band members can't hold still enough to keep from blurring.
This parking lot was located right next to the club, luckily the tall tree was there to provide some background interest. I tried to not let on how nervous I was while doing this. The voice in my head kept shouting "OMG! I'm shooting Polvo!" and would drown out my ability to calculate exposure times or engage in any meaningful small talk. I know I was chatting with them just before and during this shoot, but I can't remember anything I was saying.
One thing movement does during the long exposure is to blur, but another interesting effect is the double image as above. I think it gives an almost cubist-like impression. I have ideas about how to minimize the blur and accentuate the double exposure look, but it will require a helper to hold a black card in front of the lens, moving it away just for the flash pops.
I must have spent about 15 minutes with them (it only felt like 2 or 3), but I decided to focus on getting as many long exposure shots done as possible instead of rearranging the members and shooting different locations. They were getting a bit restless by the end of it, so I quickly attached the flash to my camera and did a couple regular shots as a backup in case none of my earlier shots were to come out. I know that these aren't the standard way of doing a promo shoot for a band, but I like to be different anyway. All four guys are easygoing and were patient with me as I ran around them and shot a flash in their faces, and for that I am very thankful to them. I hope they find that some of these shots made it worth it.
My first major post to this blog was last summer's Polvo show at the Casbah. I posted a link to those shots on the Polvo myspace page, which I thought was run by the band, but it turned out it wasn't. The way I found out was that a month later, singer/guitarist Ash Bowie emailed me to say that he happened to see my shots and that he liked them. A few months after that, he asked if he could use some shots for the In Prism artwork. So, if you have the CD, you'll see one of my shots in there, and two in the vinyl version. Needless to say, I am overjoyed to be even a small part of this album. Ash agreed to let me do these group shots for them, and got me and a friend in to the show as his personal guests. He's been nicer to me and more appreciative of my photography than most of the local bands I shoot.
The shots from the live show will be up in the next few days, still trying to balance new house duties with photo processing and more shooting.
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