I make no secret of the fact that I absolutely love band photography. It is my firm belief that any photographer worth their salt should have some rock'n'rollas in their portfolio.
My mate Rosie is a real rock'n'rolla.
Hit the jump for some reflections on band photography and of course some sweet, sweet images from the shoot.
The low cost of recording equipment means that more people than ever are making their own music and having a crack at the music biz. The internet has provided a (relatively) free and open forum for the distribution of music and, with the rising popularity of social media and non-conventional approaches to marketing and promotion, almost all musicians, whether superstars or relative unknowns, need lots and lots of cool images for a variety of purposes. This is obviously good news for photogs.
Being confident types who are often accustomed to having cameras pointed at them and generally committed to the creative process, most musos make great clients. If, that is, you can overlook the fact that many happen to be mooching primadonnas consumate perfectionists with limited financial means. For this reason, band photography, even for very skilled photographers, is a often labour of love that occasionally, and with a bit of luck, produces the odd meal ticket. In the interests of professional pride, I'll refrain from disclosing whether this was one such shoot!
Preparation actually began a few weeks ago when I was privileged to be given an advanced preview of Rosie's as yet unreleased album. After that we spent a few days bouncing ideas back and forth. Our plan was to make a variety of different images each with a different vibe and look. To that end, we planned to make some photos in the studio and then visit a few nearby locations.
On the day of the shoot, the weather was absolutely shameful. A complete washout. So, after spending the morning in the studio making portraits, we departed from our original plan of "dappled sunlight and rose gardens" and headed off into the fields. It felt a bit like a scene from the movie Twister as we drove out into the storm but, during a brief break in the rain, we managed to capture the image shown at the top of this blog post.
I really like the fact that the scene is very serious and dramatic and yet she has this serene, almost mischievous expression. As anyone who knows Rosie will testify, this is exactly the face she would be wearing if the sky fell and the world ended!
We also grabbed a quick available light image of her walking down a farm road. I love the way the image is framed and felt it really suited the washed-out 'vintagey' look that was added in post.
The studio portraits were shot in front of a red backdrop for obvious reasons (if her name was Violet, it would have been blue), and were lit using the 4 foot foldable octabox that is fast becoming my favourite lighting mod. I'll definitely do a cheeky review of the box in an upcoming post.
Shout outs to Una, Talieh and Sarah who helped out throughout the day.
Thanks for looking!
© Sean Afnan 2012 all rights reserved
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