Shooting press photos has to be one of my most favorite things about being a music photographer. I love being able to connect with the artists on a personal level, as well as catching them in a completely natural state, and making them look like total bad-asses while at it. Plus, hanging out with cool people is always a bonus. After coming home from Armstrong Metalfest, I was scheduled to work with local rockers, Sleep Demon. When hearing a few of their tunes on SoundCloud, I was way too excited to get this shoot underway.
Upon arriving at the location the band chose to work in, I was surprised to find a stellar old hearse in the garage. Immediately, the gears in my head started turning for cool shots with this rad vehicle. I had the guys climbing all over and inside of the old Cadillac, and I think we managed to get some pretty cool snaps. During the Sleep Demon photo shoot, I spotted an old car just across the alley from the garage, and me being a bit of a gear head and a sucker for old cars, I NEEDED to use it in the shoot. So, the guys walked over and knocked on the neighbors door. The neighbor was delighted to have us work with his Buick, and was kind enough to snap a few behind the scenes shots of me working with the guys.
For the following overall favorite shots, I used my trusty Canon 6D and a Canon 600 EX-RT speedlite, but alternated between using artificial and natural light, as well as a few different reflectors and camera/flash settings to achieve the desired look of these snaps. While in post, I tried to stay true the that gritty, 35mm monochrome film, rock 'n roll look that you'd find in a 1970 copy of Rolling Stone magazine. But alas, I had very colourful people to work with, so letting out the 'true colours' of these smiley dudes and their surroundings was totally necessary... Including that jump shot ;)
