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Big Talk

Sep 242011

Big Talk at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas

Last week I photographed the Stella Artois Draught Master competition at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas. It was my second year in a row shooting the event and was much improved this year with the addition of a rock show by Vegas locals Big Talk to finish off the night. The band is a side project of The Killers’ drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr., who in this band takes the role as lead singer and guitarist. The show was pretty good and helped draw a nice crowd to the event. I’d never heard of the band before, but of course am at least somewhat familiar with The Killers. Brandon Flowers, The Killers’ lead singer, made a crowd-pleasing guest appearance midway through the show actually. This is a shot I like from the end of the evening. I was pretty much done shooting the action and retreated to the bar to take a break. The color of the stage lights contrasted nicely with the color of the liquor bottles lining the bar shelf. Vannucci is actually a very expressive singer and I got numerous shots of him belting out the lyrics, head up, eyes closed, mouth agape. The image lacks that moment for me, but the color combo helps make up for it.

The next day I stuck around for a portrait shoot I’d set up on the side. It gave me the opportunity to explore Vegas off the strip, which I rarely have done. Most of my visits there are results of gigs that usually take place somewhere along the strip. It was nice to see more. I’ll show the results of that day’s work soon.

The rock 'n roll

music 2 Responses »

Nov 222010

Black Mambooza at the Kibitz Room at Canter's Deli

A woman dances under red lights at the Kibitz Room in Los Angeles

Devil at the Kibitz Room at Canter's Deli

Kibitz Room

I had a rockin’ week starting with watching my friend Curtis record a track in a garage studio behind his house and ending with a night at the Kibitz Room at Canter’s Deli where we watched his roommate’s band, Black Mambooza, perform. I’ve only had a few experiences at the Kibitz Room, but they’re usually memorable. It’s a dark place with colorful people. Photos from Curtis’ studio after the jump!

The Dr. is in

music, portrait No Responses »

Jun 112010

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine at Interscope Geffen A&M

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine at the Thom Thom Club, Interscope Records, Santa Monica, Calif.

Last Friday I received a last minute call from the Financial Times in London asking me to head over to Interscope Records in Santa Monica to photograph Jimmy Iovine, the co-founder of Interscope Records, for a story they were doing on Iovine’s latest business venture, Beats by Dre, a line of high-end headphones that he is hoping brings about a higher level of appreciation for the quality of music being produced in the studio, but which is most often listened to using laptop speakers or iPod’s ear buds. When I got on the phone with his PR rep, she informed me that a last minute change of plans was making it possible that Dr. Dre, the company co-creator and namesake, not to mention hip-hop legend, would be available for the shoot. With little time and no budget for an assistant, I woke Erinn up and asked if she wanted to go meet Dr. Dre. After thinking about it for, say, 1.5 seconds she agreed to come along and help me out.

When we got there the initial plan was to shoot in Iovine’s office, which looks more like a typical fancy living room, except that along the oak-paneled walls are numerous photos of Iovine with the various rock legends he has produced or recorded over the years. I recall seeing photos of Tom Petty and Bob Dylan among others. More recently, Interscope produces Lady GaGa, Puff Daddy and Eminem. He is credited with handing Eminem’s demo tape to Dr. Dre, who produced him on his Aftermath label and also produced the Curtis Hanson film 8-Mile. Despite the nice setting I asked if we could go to one of their recording studios across the street, which is where we initially set up for the shoot. While they were waiting for one of his assistants to bring down a few sets of earphones, he invited us to look around the rest of the studio and it turns out there’s a full-blown nightclub in the back, called the Thom Thom club, with a DJ booth that has a custom sign saying ‘The Dr.’s In!” that’s only to be lit up when Dre is in the house. As you can see, we decided to forego the cliched studio shot. The whole facility was pretty amazing. There were a couple full-sized recording studios with soundboards wider than my living room and tray tables covered with bottles of Hennessy, vodka, candy bars and chewing gum. Down hallways from there are a full kitchen and a rec room with a pingpong table. It looks like a pretty comfortable place to hole up for a multi-day recording session.

After we set the location, the shoot was pretty simple. We brought the lights in and, with some help from his assistants, rearranged the DJ booth to suit our needs and began shooting. Both subjects were very cool and patient during the shoot, making my job pretty easy. Ten minutes later we were done.

From there we packed everything up and headed out. On the way home a bolt came loose on my right front caliper, causing it to grind into the wheel rim. But that’s another story. At least the first half of the day was good.

The article just posted today and can be seen here.

The passing of an icon - Michael Jackson dead at 50

music, news 4 Responses »

Jul 082009

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Here’s my share of the coverage of the immediate aftermath of the passing of Michael Jackson. On the day of his death I was hired by Newsweek magazine to cover the initial reactions of fans who, along with swarms of media and police officers, had gathered outside of the UCLA Medical Center and outside the home he had been renting in Holmby Hills nearby. In the days that followed I had a few more assignments for the AP, first covering a vigil in the Crenshaw neighborhood, then staking out his house with the rest of the media and finally meeting with his business manager, Dr. Tohme Tohme, for a quick portrait. Sometime that week I noticed a sign hanging from the window of the Sea of Ink tattoo shop across from where I live advertising Michael Jackson tattoos. I had met one of the tattoo artists who works there on a previous occasion and went up and asked her to give me a call should anyone actually get one. I hadn’t heard anything all week, until I received a phone call while lying in bed at 12:30 a.m. Monday. Turns out their first taker was a young rap artist named Tyga, who was there after hours getting his MJ tattoo. Lucky, the owner, says they often work on celebrities after hours so they can have their privacy. I almost didn’t go, but figured what the hell, since she was nice enough to remember to call me, and dragged myself out of bed. I’m still not sure if it was worth it. As of yet it remains unpublished. Still, made for an interesting conclusion to my Jackson coverage and I had a fun time. For the memorial service at the Staples Center I joined the majority of people, watching it at home on the TV.
Normally, I’m not too thrilled to cover celebrity news, but this was a little different. Whether he was a celebrity or not, he was arguably the most well known person on earth and his death was tragic and unexpected. It’s really unfortunate that he’s gone, but in the sense that it was a significant event for people all over the world, it was something in which I was interested in taking part.

There are several more photos after the jump!

Lovers Electric

Fashion, music, portrait 2 Responses »

Mar 292009

2009-03-28loverselectric120 2009-03-28loverselectric348 2009-03-28loverselectric265 2009-03-28loverselectric077 I spent a fun Saturday afternoon photographing Aussie-via-London, pop-rock duo Lovers Electric (David Turley and Eden Boucher) in my “studio” apartment. Erinn and I met the husband and wife collaboration between catchy sets at an event at Venice’s Equator Books the night before. I’m always looking for fun people to photograph, and I liked their vibe. So with a bit of encouragement (3 parts Erinn and 1 part Shiraz), I approached David and asked if the two would mind meeting up sometime during their visit to L.A. to do some photos. They both turned out to be great sports and agreed to come over the next day when they had some free time. And here are the results. The two were in town signing a new record deal and will be coming out with a new CD sometime in May, I believe. More on that can be learned by clicking on their band name above to check out their site. They’re also on Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/loverselectric.