So I was pretty excited when I heard my fellow Louisianian’s, The Vettes, were playing at The Parish. These guys (and gal) really rock live, and their performances never disappoint.

The two opening acts (The Daze and The Shears) both had pretty challenging lighting, so I wasn’t sure what to expect for The Vettes’ set.  I was pleasantly surprised to see some spotlight usage on lead vocalist Rachel.

Thoughts & Shooting Notes

Although lead vocalist/guitarist Rachel received some welcome spotlight treatment during The Vettes’ performance, the rest of the guys were pretty dimly lit with mostly blue and red washes, with spotlighting from the rear.  This meant a lot of camera adjusting between shooting Rachel, and when trying to grab shots of the rest of the band.  My right hand got a lot of exercise to say the least.

I shot this set with my favorite combo for The Parish, which is the Canon 5d Mark II and the Canon 24-70mm 2.8L.  I was able to maintain a pretty quick shutter speed (somewhere around 1/160) while adjusting my ISO up and down depending on whether or not I was shooting Rachel, or the rest of The Vettes.

I didn’t know much about The Shears going into this show, but this Austin group was a lot of fun to shoot.

With a mix somewhere between Aretha Franklin and The Killers, The Shears brought the dance to The Parish last Thursday. Singer, Inne, has an amazing stage presence and spent a lot of time interacting with the crowd and photogs that were present.

Thoughts & Shooting Notes

The lighting for The Shears varied pretty widely from song to song, and was definitely a challenge to keep up with.  My ISO was pretty high for the entire set so that I could keep my shutter speed pretty quick for the active stage presence that singer Inne brought to the stage.  Overall I would say my shutter speed hung out around 1/160th for most of the set.

I shot this show with the Canon 5d Mark II and Canon 24-70mm 2.8L.  It’s definitely my goto combo when shooting at The Parish.

With lighting as moody and lush as their sound, Love at 20′s set at The Parish was a challenge to say the least.

Love at 20 is a local Austin act made up of former members of Clap Clap.  These guys have a very polished sound, and are obviously no stranger to the rock show.  Their stage presence was great, and their performance was sharp.

Thoughts & Shooting Notes

This was, without a doubt, one of the more challenging sets I have shot recently.  It was dark, and blue — REALLY blue.  Most of Love at 20′s set was washed with blue LED’s, strong LED rear spot lighting and LED lasers.  This set really put the Canon 5d Mark II through the low-light ringer.

I shot with the Canon 24-70mm 2.8L and think I may have needed something a bit faster.  However, I like the focusing speed that the 24-70mm L glass brings, and I don’t know that I have anything in my bag right now that could have done a better job.  It’s a great focal range for the stage at The Parish, and it really produces great results.

With whaling guitar solos and a thick groove, local Austin outfit The Daze brought tons of energy to The Parish last Thursday night.

These young guys definitely have some old souls.  With lots of energy, and a great stage presence, The Daze add a modern twist to some classic blues riffs and psychedelic rock.

Thoughts & Shooting Notes

The Daze’s set was a lot of fun to shoot, and these guys, especially lead vocalist/guitarist Evan Butts, brought a lot of energy to the stage.

The lighting on Evan was quite good, however, the other guys were pretty much left in the dark for most of the set.  There were plenty of the usual blue and red washes to work around.

The stage at The Parish is relatively low, so it’s easy to get around the usual monitor issues.  There were several other photographers at this show, but it was fairly easy to work around the crowd and get full access to the stage.

I shot this set with the Canon 5d Mark II and 24-70mm 2.8L.

The Parish in downtown Austin, which is known worldwide for its sound and live concert space, held an open house on Tuesday night to show off their newly renovated space to prospective event planners.

If you’ve never caught a show at The Parish on 6th St. in Austin, then you are missing out.  These guys really have a great venue.  The sound is amazing and the overall ambiance is great.  Tuesday night saw several great food vendors and event vendors on display, as well as a performance by jazz singer/guitarist Corrina Rachel.  The Parish crew held the open house to show off their event hosting capabilities (the space is available for private parties, weddings, corporate events, etc…).

Here are a few shots from the night.

Thoughts & Shooting Notes

With any event comes the usual challenges; low lighting, constant movement, having to use hot-shoe flashes and trying to tip-toe the line of catching all the moments and not annoying the guests.

I shot this event with the Canon 5d Mark II and Canon 580EX hot-shoe flash.  ISO was a bit all over the place, depending on whether or not I was shooting with or without the flash of course, and the aperture hung out around 2.8.

The crowd at The Parish was a lot of fun.  Everyone seemed to have a good time, and all of the vendors were great.  Matt Mandrella (manager of The Parish) and his crew really have a good thing going over there.  If you haven’t already, go catch a show there.

Andrew Kenny is better known as the brains and voice behind indie favorites the American Analog Set.  I was fortunate enough to catch his current project, The Wooden Birds, last week at The Parish in downtown Austin.

The Wooden Birds performed a very polished set as they kicked off their North American tour in Austin with supporting act Dan Mangan.  These guys (and gal) are all seasoned vets of the indie scene, including guitarist Matt Pond, drummer Sean Haskins and guitarist Leslie Sissons.

Thoughts & Shooting Notes

Like the other sets of the night, this one was also full of red and magenta washes, and was fairly dark for the most part.  I shot with the Canon 5d mark II, and the Canon 24-70mm 2.8L.  These guys are pretty laid back live, so there wasn’t a ton of movement to content with, which allowed me to focus on timing the lighting.

One hundred degree Texas heat + one rock band + a storage facility = a whole lot of fun.

I’ve known the guys from Squint for quite some time and after moving to Austin, I knew I had to shoot these guys.  Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

Thoughts and Shooting Notes:

The corridors in Squint’s practice space created a great backdrop for these portraits.  The interior shots were lit with a Paul C Buff X1600 shot through a beauty dish at camera left.  I also had an X1600 w/ reflector directly behind the subjects and another hot-shoe flash directed down the hallway.  The back-lighting really did a lot to give the images some depth and make the red doors pop.  I also had a silver reflector at camera light for some fill lighting.

The outdoor shot was lit with a beauty dish at camera left, a hot-shoe flash for some back-lighting and a silver reflector at camera right for some fill.

Thanks to the guys from Squint for being such awesome subjects, and braving the heat for the few outside takes.  You guys are champs.

You would think after driving 3 days straight, from Canada to Austin, TX, that Dan Mangan would be more fit to hit the bed than to hit the stage.  You would be wrong.  This Canadian didn’t drive all that way to disappoint.  Dan and his band put on an amazing show, complete with singalongs and a trip into the crowd. If you get the chance to grab his album, or catch them out on tour, I highly recommend it.

Thoughts and Shooting Notes:

Dan and his boys were a lot of fun to shoot.  Lots of movement, crowd interaction and great music.

The lighting for their set was a bit all over the place, but it was fairly easy to pick up on the patterns from song to song.  I shot with the Canon 5d mkII and the 24-70mm 2.8.  Aperture was pegged out at 2.8 for the entire set and I believe my shutter speed hung out somewhere around 1/160.

Peter Wagner is better known as the front man for Austin indie veterans, The Mercers.  I was lucky enough to catch him in a rare acoustic set in support of The Wooden Birds and Dan Mangan.  The lighting for this set was low, but Peter’s voice and sincerity shown through.

Thoughts & Shooting Notes:

Peter’s set was challenging due to the red/orange washes and extremely low lighting.  Luckily the Canon 5d mkii has no problem shooting at fairly high ISO’s with very little noise.  I shot at around 1/160 for this set, and an aperture of 2.8 all the way.  The Parish has a decently low stage and since I had full access to the width of the stage, shooting with the Canon 24-70mm 2.8 was more than enough lens for this set.

My wife, Amanda deLeon, is a pretty amazing fashion designer, and I consider myself lucky to be able to shoot most of her lines when the time comes each season.  Earlier this summer was no different when she asked me to shoot her Summer line for her Etsy store. Amanda wanted a very bright, surreal look to these images, with lots of color and pop.  Here are a few images from the shoot.

Thoughts & Shooting Notes:

This was probably one of the more challenging portrait shoots I have had.  It was steaming hot, which presented the challenge of keeping the models cool (read, not shiny), and the sun was either full force, or behind clouds, presenting an ever changing lighting situation.  Luckily we were prepared with lots of water, fans and plenty of flashes!

I shot this, as usual, with the Canon 5d mkII.  One White Lightning X1600 was positioned camera left and shot through a large softbox, with the sun being used as fill light from the right.  I also positioned a silver reflector below the models to give their chin a bit of definition.  The light on the wall in the far background was produced using another X1600 with reflector.