Texture like sun...

Sol posted a link up from her photographing The Stranglers, and it reminded me of when I photographed them back in March 2010. To say I miss music photography would be a sizeable understatement. It was "good times" though, I don't know that I'd go back to it - we shall see, I'm not dead yet. 

I wanted to share some photographs from the stranglers gig, it was green & red special, so it's a set of black and whites I've not put online before... Maybe hit play on tape while you look at them?

It's interesting... I remember this night, it was Hammersmith Apollo in London, I was working a little late, Dave and I were still in the office (That's a blurry photo of Dave from before this gig) and I wasn't going to go shoot - I'd kinda hit a shooting gigs wall and you can see that in the photos.. No angle changes, no creativity... boring as ****

I had to go because I have always loved Golden Brown (La Folie, 1981) - great, he loves a song about heroin and a woman, both of which provided Hugh with an amount of pleasure. Well, no, I just love the song, anyway... I went, shot a bit (197 frames Canon 5DMk2) 

This is Dave, say hi Dave...

This is Dave, say hi Dave...

Maybe I miss music photograph more than I think, or just live music, or just... 

A small disaster

I've always enjoyed playing with Lego. This was a scene I spied earlier this week, a pipe exploded and the team were hard at work putting things right... 

A small disaster...

A small disaster...

Lit with two Lumecube, steam courtesy of my coffee machine, just out of shot on the left... 

Headphone deals - not something you see here often!

I've been following this new (to me) website called #MassDrop that gets together a bulk buy and offers gear at reduced rates - because who doesn't love reduced rates? Anyways, I'm in the market for a new pair of headphones after my much loved Denon's decided enough was indeed enough... I've come up with four drops that you might like to take part in, sharing...

I think I'm going to go with the Sony MDR-Z7 ($539 from $700)  - http://dro.ps/b/jpM12TT

But before we get into the pairs that I’ve looked at, below, here’s a good review of the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro by Alex at Consordini who asked if I’d share his video, and it’s good, so I did :)

And now, on with the story…

Though at this price, the Fostex are very very tempting... $449 down from a cool $1000 - The special #purpleheart model. http://dro.ps/b/TiC12TT

I think the Beyerdynamic DT880 would be third on my list - http://dro.ps/b/TDq12TT $249 at the moment, typically $400'ish

And last but by no means least, the EMU Walnut cans, has anyone tried these? $299 down to a cool hundred bucks... http://dro.ps/b/KAs12TT

Anyways, some nice headphones and some good savings - there's a stack of stuff on Massdrop from socks to keyboards to RC trucks to... well, go have a look CLICK

Sony G Master 85mm - Would you?

Looking at my "lens path" which is a mythical path towards the ideal set of camera lenses that i want / need (want) and I see it has changed very much since my more serious involvement in photography. 

adam_duritz_counting_crows_London_concert.jpg

 

I was once all about the Canon 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 and those three served me perfectly. I had the trilogy and I had a couple of extras, the f/1.8 Canon 85mm as well as the 100mm f/2.8 Macro, also Canon, then along came Sigma with their Art series and I found myself buying the 35mm f/1.4 (Brilliant lens!) for my brother's wedding, and then by some luck, I ended up with the 50mm f/1.4 - both stunning lenses. 

Then something happened that also happened to a lot of others - I switched out to Sony. 

It started with the Sony a7, that's gone now and I have an a7Mk2 and an a7RMk2, both stunning cameras, but this has actually led me to a different style of shooting - I find myself more measured and sticking with primes almost 100% of the time... I use the Sony 55mm f/1.8 a lot, I have a 35mm f/1.4 Distagon which is pretty much always on my camera... I've kept the 16-35 and the 100mm Canon lenses and will do so for a good while - I use them with a Metabones or Vizelux adaptor. 

BUT I've lost (read: sold) my 85mm Canon and I'm in the market for a great portrait lens, something a little longer. The G Master series is getting some amazing write ups and comment online, but it's a pretty expensive little beast! That said, I'm almost toying with selling the a7Mk2 and getting the 85mm... Not sure, torn, what would you do? I use the a7Mk2 infrequently, it's my spare - so to speak - but then, as I shoot for money so infrequently, I'm not sure I need it. The two body thing is a hangover from shooting music - one body with long, one body with wide. 

Time will tell! 

http://amzn.to/1nuSoVB <--- That's the lens I'm thinking of getting. 


I spend a lot of time on this phone...

My business is social media, so if I'm not at my desk, my phone is never far away. I don't use it for calls very much, mostly managing content / finding content / reading or looking at content AND for iPhoneography (is that what the kids call it) ...anyways, I've been using the iPhone 6Plus for a good while, but I might sell it and get an iPhone 7 when it comes out I think... I'm hearing little rumours like 'multi-lens cameras' and the like... That appeals! That said, I use my Sony cameras a lot of the time anyways. The thing about using your phone all the time is that people think you're uninterested in what's going on, but that's not (always!) the case. I am interested but I feel that if I don't check often that a. Someone will post something untoward on a client's social media and I'll miss seeing it until I'm back at my desk or b. I'll miss seeing something that will make good content! The reality is that mostly, neither of those things happen, so maybe it's time to use the phone less? After all, baristas in Melbourne are starting to get all cut up about people on phones! 

 

 

I'll just make my own, or is that not the point? 

I'll just make my own, or is that not the point? 

Until next time...