Stoneburner: The Mouse Tour + Die Sektor, Finite Automata, And Zy_Gote (G-master 85mm Test)

So I make it a pretty obvious that I am a die hard Sony fan. But that's a story for another time. Earlier this year Sony announced a new series of lenses designed for their pro line bodies. I'll spare you those details as well, but let's just say that they are billed as being the next best thing in photography.

I have thought about this glass since the announcement and have wanted to get my hands on the 85mm f1.4 lens. I broke down and rented one for the next few weeks, and of course wanted to give it a good solid test. I'll start with a few of those photos, and then will transition into the rest of the photos from the night. For those of you here for photography things and not tour photos, keep your eyes open. I'll be posting another blog entry once I completely put things through their paces. 

G-Master test Images:

And now more words and tour photos:
Starting the night was Zy_Gote. Stan is no stranger from this blog, and you may remember him from some of the studio test photos from last year. This was his first live show, but you would never know it by the quality of the music and performance. I'll be the first one to say that the set went off without a hitch, and it can only go up from here.

Then Finite Automata took the stage: 

Atlanta based (for not much longer :( ) Die Sektor was up next:

And finally, the headliner for the night. Stoneburner:

Snog + The Labrynth: The Compliance Tour (Finite Automata and Ecto Proxy) – 04/20/2016

I don't fancy myself a band photographer. But sometimes when the shoe fits, you just have to wear the hell out of it. I was invited by Dom of Finite Automata to photograph their show with Snog and The Labyrynth for their Compliance Tour 2016. 

Recently I had the chance to add one of my "legendary" lenses to my collection, a Minolta 70-210 f4 (The Beercan). I was itching to try it out, and especially in a lower light environment. Overall I found it to be a little hard to work with at times, but I was extremely happy with what I was able to capture. I'm really happy that this lens fell into my lap, and I can't wait to use it in a more controlled environment.

The first opening act was previously featured in ReGen magazine, Ecto Proxy. Since shooting them a few months ago I have been in close contact planning a shoot for their press kit (Spoiler alert, coming soon). 

Next came a group of guys who also are no stranger to this blog, Finite Automata themselves. You may recognize a new guitarist from the last time we worked together. Damien from Ecto Proxy has stepped up and joined another project (So it's time to update their press kit photos as well). 

Next up was The Labrynth:

And finally Snog!

At the end of the night, I was pretty happy with the images I was able to capture. And as always big thanks to everyone for inviting me out to snap a few shots. Keep your eyes open, and ears to the ground for some new photos coming soon from both Finite Automata and Ecto Proxy. 

Arizona Workshop – Day 4

Today's entry will be a little bit shorter than the other ones. Mostly because being outside for 8 hours in the Arizona heat was taxing on my body and most importantly my eyes (the white screen still kinda hurts to look at).

Our day was spent in "Old Tuscon", a western re-enactment town that supposedly was the original location of the city. Our goal today was to shoot as much as we could in 5 stations. I prepped pretty well, doubled up on sun block, took an Alieve to make sure my muscles wouldn't give out, but neglected one important thing. Sunglasses. After the first station I found my eyes to be very watery and hard to focus when looking at bright white items. I had to sit out for about an hour to adjust, and it wasn't until I was given a pair of cheap gift shop sunglasses that I was able to return. 

This, however, caused me both physical and mental pain. I was very frustrated that I couldn't shoot more of the models in a wedding type environment (something I really should consider more of for my portfolio). I was able to return for a location set in an old jailhouse, where I was able to secure most of my favorite shots of the day. But the eye issues and heat exhaustion caused me to get "Shot out" much faster than I typically would.

I've just returned from my nightly hot tub visit, and can mostly see ok without any issues. I'm hoping a good night's sleep can solve everything. Here are my top shots from today:


Arizona Workshop – Day 3

I'm tired. Today has probably been the most taxing day so far. Not really in a bad way, but after three days of humping 50+ pounds of camera gear on your back, eventually exhaustion begins to take hold. 

At breakfast I was given a chance to get my hands on a newly released camera, I didn't get a chance to shoot it...but I was told to share my thoughts with my Instagram followers. And believe me, I did. 

After a very brief classroom meeting, we broke off into our teams and began some more specific one on one training sessions.

I've never really shot models with a bunch of other photographers all trying to get their own version of the same shot before. And although I felt very excited to finally be shooting something that really appealed to me, I also was frustrated because it seemed like everyone was struggling to get the attention of each of the models. I could tell it wasn't easy for them as well trying to give to multiple sources at the same time. 

Shortly after our lunch break, the exhaustion set in. I've been running on such an adrenaline high so far all week that my body didn't exactly have a chance to catch up. I started to ache. My muscles were at their breaking point. And we still had 4 hours to go. 

We ended up having an opportunity to do some optional night shoots involving light painting and longer exposures that was supposed to start at 7:00 pm. Once we broke at 5:30, I intended completely to attend, however, the hotel staff didn't exactly give us all of the details about where our dinner arrangements were. "Right down the street" must mean something completely different here. So after a 20-minute hike to the local Walmart, and then another 20 minute hike (and almost getting lost in the "desert" later), I finally was fed and only slightly delerious. 

I got back to the resort around 8:00. Final images for the day were due by 9. I realized quite quickly that I DRASTICALLY over-shot for the day. All of that time fighting to find the right image caused me to shoot much more than I anticipated. I very quickly culled almost 800 photos down to 72, and then finally down to my final 10. I'm not unhappy with the work I did today, but I am far from satisfied. 

Once I have more time I will be going through and re-visiting some of these shots, as I feel many of them have a lot of potential and didn't get the time they deserved. Tomorrow is our big shooting day. 8 hours in the Arizona sun. If I don't burst into flames, I think I will have fun. 


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