Jake Regan | Portait Shoot
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Rise Against | Live Music
Its has been a really long since I first heard of Rise Against. The second Revolutions Per Minute, I ran out and bought Siren Song Of The Counter-Culture and I was hooked. Both albums have never left my CD player. Shooting them live was amazing. And did give me the chance to tick off another band that I have been itching to see for a while. I knew they were going to be good. I was worried somewhat about the crowd, they didnt really seem,”punk” enough for this lineup, but hay, we should not judge.
I got to the venue late and had missed the Flobots and just watched Anti-Flag, Who I thought were quite good, But no as “on fire” as they have been a few years ago.
Back to back songs like Give it All and State of the Union, are massive songs that blew Anti-flag out right from the start.
Drones
Give It All
State Of The Union
Ready To Fall
Injection
Re-Education (Through Labour)
Chamber The Cartridge
Stained Glass And Marble
Behind Closed Doors
Life Less Frightening
Like The Angel
Collapse
Heaven Knows
Long Forgotten Sons
The Good Left Undone
Hero Of War
Swing Life Away
Survive
Audience Of One
Prayer Of The Refugee
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. Their current line-up consists of four members: Tim McIlrath (vocals, guitar), Joe Principe (bass guitar), Brandon Barnes (drums), and Zach Blair (guitar). The band is currently signed to Geffen Records, a record label owned by Universal Music Group. To date, Rise Against has released five albums, a rare material EP, and one DVD.
Rise Against rose to fame with its first two major label releases, Siren Song of the Counter Culture (2004) and The Sufferer & the Witness (2006), with hits such as “Give It All“, “Swing Life Away“, “Prayer of the Refugee“, and “The Good Left Undone“. Their most recent studio album, Appeal to Reason, was released in North America on October 7, 2008, producing the singles “Re-Education (Through Labor)” and “Audience of One“.
Posted 12 months ago at 3:16 pm. Add a comment
Birmingham Photographers Group
A while ago there was a group of photographers that used to meet up and have a good old chat. Today i guess we would call it Networking. I was invited along to a “networking” group pulled together by photographer Peter Blanceflower. His intentions are to recreate the group that he was once himself invited to by Anthony Higham ( Your big day) over 10 years agoThe group was a mix of old and new people to the Birmingham wedding circuit. Clive Blair, Dave Waddley, Darren Rudge ( from Prestige Photography), Matt Hart, Paul Painter, amongst others were there to try and decide how or what the future meetings should focus on. I was there also representing my wedding photography styles and ideas.
For me the first thing that really was apparent was the very diverse methods and work flows of the that different people in the group used. Post Production seems like the hot topic and my guess will remain that way for a long time. The Usual Cannon V Nikon debate was there too, which the Cannon users defending them selves ( and rightly so! silly people.) Not only was the software and Photoshop debate a subject that was thrown around the room, but also different methods of putting together a wedding album were discussed, I guess this level of post-prodction is unique to wedding photographers. Is it a bad thing or a good thing? Another wedding related topic was Wedding Fayes Clive Blair seemed to be targeted for this round of questions from Darren.
photo taken while working with Pete Blanceflower.
There was a calling for an online meeting space – Facebook has supplied us with a free space in which to keep people aware of what is going on. (Link) It will be invite only so send a message to the group first. The idea is to create a network of support for those who are willing to support others. We all at some point will have to make that begging cll for help. I know i have before.
Peter Blanceflower was our host and cake supplier, and i guess our ring-leader. But as Pete says, if anyone wants to talk about a area of the photographic world that puzzles or confuses, then send a message and it will be brought up next meeting. The aim is to have a meeting every 2 months of so, however nothing stops you from getting in touch with people anytime you like. Thats what networking is all about!
Posted 1 year ago at 11:45 am. 1 comment
illuminatus | Band Promo Shoot |
“Nottingham’s illuminatus are one Spaniard, one German, one Italian and one English gent. their debut album, The Wrath Of The Lambs, is packed with powerful soundscapes, emotive melodies and soaring dynamics, all set strongly against the current trend of ever more brutality and ignorance in underground music. for illuminatus there is no scene; no bandwagon; no fashion war. illuminatus sing about social and political issues and play with pure passion and honesty.”
I first met these guys while on tour supporting My Ruin. It was very cold and winter filled Birmingham as Miss B brought her Band into the Academy Bar, but as always they had great support. Illuminatus were no exception to the rule. After Illuminatus came off stage we had a post gig photoshoot and kept intouch. I was delighted when i got asked to do a full shoot for them for some new promo work. Please Please Please, have a listen to these guys. They are out on a Killer tour with BREED 77, so catch them at the BARFLY on the 23rd of MAY 2009.
“Melodic, atmospheric, powerful, the foursome have been on the edge of something special for ages. Now debut album “The Wrath of the Lambs” threatens to make them heroes for 2008. Get excited now”
RockSound, February 2008
‘more power than the national grid’
5/5 Logo Magazine
‘…some of the most beautiful music since anathema…’
9/10 Powerplay Magazine
‘…why aren’t this band signed?!’
Malcolm Dome, Total Rock Radio
More bio info from the bands website
illuminatus are:
julio taylor – guitar/vocals
jon martin – guitar
felix rullhusen – drums
leo giovazzini – bass
following their previous collaborations with producers Harvey Birrell (Therapy?, Ministry) and Pete ‘Pee-Wee’ Coleman (AC/DC, Black Sabbath), the music of illuminatus has already drawn comparisons to bands such as Anathema and Paradise Lost, earning the band significant acclaim and respect from all sections of the national and international rock/metal press – “some of the most beautiful, moving music since Anathema” (Powerplay), “combining brawn with surprising depth” (Kerrang) – as well as frequent air time on shows such as Malcolm Dome’s New World Order on Total Rock Radio and ScuzzTV’s New Skids on the Block.
the band’s high impact live performances have resulted in a mass of loyal fans. and despite their unsigned status, it was this energy that resulted in the band supporting acts such as Children of Bodom, Dragon Force, Nightwish, Paradise Lost, Saxon and Skindred, as well as several high profile appearances at the UK’s Bloodstock and Bulldog Bash festivals. and with their appearance as the only non-US band at the Famecast Finals in Austin, Texas, illuminatus have already achieved unprecedented worldwide exposure.
with debut LP The Wrath of the Lambs schedule for nationwide release on Monday 12th May (2009) through Anthill/Pinnacle Records, illuminatus continue to roll out their War Machine.
be ready to join the revolution at a venue near you soon…
check us out on MySpace for news, music and tour dates.
FULL PHOTOSET | Click here ( password needed) – Coming soon
Posted 1 year ago at 5:07 pm. Add a comment
A Rogue Shoot | Portrait |
The last few days have been quite busy, No Internet had made life very difficult indeed not to mention the lack of a editing computer, and my beloved photoshop. However, work must go on. Rogue Maidens modelling agency had booked me for a 2 day shoot. Half studio and half location. All the models are newbies with Kelly (aka Eden Falls) as our MUA and stylist.
The studio i hired was from Richard Battye of River Studios based in the Custard Factory.A big thank you to Rich for all your help and coffee. In total we worked with 5 models.
Thursday saw our first 2 girls starting off working on a few location shoots then working in the studio in the afternoon, then reversed on the Friday , when we had 3 models to shoot. Needless to say the days were long and lunch time was short.
(note to self – 3 models in one day can be hard work) Working with new modles does have its drawbacks but its its nice to see how the girls progressed though the days and hearing there thoughts on what its like to work in such an envionment.
A few days before the shoot i had an idea of working with some net curtains to create a backdrop that would look really cool, yet simple to set up while giving a range of styles for all the different models. Working with so many people in with a quick turn around i wanted a quick set up for each model. With Rich’s help, a frame was built across the white cove in the studio and back light with a 500 flash head,(with gels for colours and moods) and lit by a 600 from the front with a honeycomb filter over the lamp which gave a nice spotlight feel whilest letting the back-lighting come past the see-though netting, which gave some nice tones when the models interacted with them.
I had been iching for ages to do some arty portraits, late on the friday afternoon we got back into the studio for a few photos some simple lighting, some pvc and very high heals we got some quite striking photos. I am quite pleased with these to be honest.
This photo was not planned, and was in many ways an accident, i had walked infront of my lights and blocked the light, after i glanced down on the back of the camera, i got Kelly to fully block the front white light using a reflecter bag. ( i had to block the light rather than turn it off as the sync unit was pluged into that flash head).
Working the studio is a rare change for me, so it was nice to be able to try some lighting set ups with a expert on hand. These shots of the shoes proved quite a challange. I was trying to light the background using gels over Elinchrom 500s and 600s, while lighting the shoes with a 500 and a 1200 box with softboxs. I had lots of trouble stopping the light from the softboxs killing my colours at the back. The shoes are from Soho Clothing.
Rogue Maidens (owned and managed by Neely V Kee)
The Rogue Maidens Agency is a professional alternative model agency. We can provide a range of unique looking models for production companies, advertising agencies, magazines and the likes. Our models range from vintage elegance to gothic fetish models.
