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Tag Archives: Metal
The Blackout | Music Photography
There is a little list I have at home, Its my ‘Bands to shoot in 2010′ list. Somewhere near the top of the list was THE BLACKOUT.
Two things are important here, It was crazy crazy night and thank you to the people who help it be so. Just trying to get out the back of the venue was funny enough, nevermind some funky shapes be thrown down on the dance floor. The second thing was the great music. ALL TIME LOW were the OUTSTANDING head liners tonight. My Passion and the Young Guns were there to warm up the crowd.
THE BLACKOUT are another prime example of the Welsh brand of Metal, The Blackout offer up the Post-Hardcore serving. All signs are set for stardom following the greats as Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for my Valentine, Skindred and Lostprophets t just name a few. This band are really that good. I am not sure what they put in the water down there, but its working.
http://www.theblackout.bigcartel.com/
http://www.myspace.com/theblackout
Make sure you put SAVE OUR SELVES - The best in town , On first.
- Pull No Punches (EP) (2004)
- The Blackout! The Blackout! The Blackout! (Mini-LP) (2006)
- We Are The Dynamite! (2007)
- The Best In Town (2009)
Full gallery – Click here
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Tagged Gareth "Snoz" Lawrence, Gavin Butler, Gig photogrpahy, James "Bob" Davies, live gig photos, Matthew Davies, Metal, photos of the balckout, post-hardcore, Pull No Punches, Rhys Lewis, SAVE OUR SELVES, Sean Smith, The Best In Town, the black out, The Blackout, The Blackout! The Blackout! The Blackout!, We Are The Dynamite!, Welsh brand of Metal, Welsh Metal
Digital Wings – (Danny Bennett) | Digital Art
The main idea behind this project was the angel wings. I have been wanting to find some good angel wings for quite while. I really wanted to build some proper ones of my own.
Our Model is Danny Bennett, who is playing the role of the devil.
This one is a little harder than the last 
Step one !
Build some wings! Last year I was down in London, walking around the Natural History Museum, I grabbed a few photos that I could use at stock photos for some projects just like this one.
Having a good stock libary is a very important tool in the birth process of any project. The first step was to strip back all the things I didn’t want to use in this photo. Using the EXTRACT tool I freed my bones wings that would become the main shape of the wing and give me a proper shape to work from. Once the wings were free I used the STAMP tool to smarten back up the wings. For me building things up in layers in the main object here.
Once I have my bone wings, I used the PERSPECTIVE tool to shape the wings ( you can use any tools you like.) Using two Wings shaped to show the top of the wing and the under-feathers ( I can build up the feathers and colours to show the different sorts of feathers) I want real looking wings, yet wings that can not attached to any normal bird, after all, we are making Angel wings ! I created a few patterns using brushes and started to work on the wings to give them texture and depth. Using about 4 or 5 layers in different shapes and sizes, using blurring effects to blend them I started to build them up. Remember, you only have to build one wing !
Once you have your wing, ( mine took quite a time to build ) you can spin a copy over to make your full set. Maybe again shape them to give you a shape you like when you have your full wing span. Most people never colour angel wings, its up to you though. Since you should have all your wings elements in at least 3 layers ( top layer, middle layer, bottom layer, the top layer being the bigger feathers at the bottom of your layers ) They should be really easy to colour. Make a Layer section for each wing section, Flip the layer into some nice blending mode and colour, Simple. Using a Layer mask, remove the bits to show off the parts of the wings that have colour and give them a realistic looking layer system. I have built some quite Gothic looking wings with sharp feathers and lines. I used some photos of Bats and Insect wings as my references.
So you have some KILLER wings.. Lets make our Angel.
Our Model is Danny Bennett , but use anyone of anything you like !! Get your self a cool photo, Cut them out and attach. Simple. This is your first chance to see how your wings really sit and what they look like. After I had placed Danny infront of the wings, they looked light and unreal. I added some heavy black feathers that curl over. and gave some darker colours to the underneath. Go away, Have some tea and come back to have a look at what you have with some fresh eyes.
So now after your break, What have you got. Is it any good ? what changes would really make this photo POP out ? I decided the end of the world was about the right setting for my new Demon. After a quick flick over my stock image gallery, I pulled out some good stuff that I was going to use as my background. Pull them all out, open them all up and place them over the screen. work out where they can go, where they fit best and look good. I have used a flaming Demon and a Sewer Drain. The ideas behind this setting are taken from a comic book.
Once you have your background layered up and blending all sorted. ( I have about 20 layers just for the background ) Use Alt+Ctrl+E to merge them, Group up the layers you don’t want and clean up your layer stack. Keep stuff named and grouped, Colours are cool to use too ! I would expect you to have about 40-50 odd layers at this stage. A cool tip is to drop some DOF (Depth of Field) in the photo, mask out the layers that are far away and use a nice LENS BLUR to work in a nice look.
Bring in the final element, (top layer elements, that are not affected by your background light sources ) In this case is only Dan with his new wings. Place him where you feel fits in the photo. Remember the golden rules. Work in thirds and you can not go far wrong. If you need to edit the top layer ( Dan ) now is the time, clear up skin, tones, curves colours and anything else you want to fiddle with. I decided that Dan wanted to be Hell Boys little son, So painted him red. ( new layer>Sat blend>mask layer>paint out> Done.)
So your done! you should have your New Born Angel with a pair of stunning wings !! Now is a good time to go to town and edit your photo as if you have just taken a snap of the world burning. Not 100% sure why the Angel is posing for a photo while there is a Flaming Demon behind him, but that’s art
Final Photo
Thanks to Jak Flash, George Eko and Danny Bennett
Stock photos from Div Art
thewolf1607
tankphoto
Tagged adobe photoshop, Angel Wings, birmingham, Danny Bennett, Dave Piper - Latest Work, London on fire, Metal, Music Photography, photo editing, Photographers, Photoshop, photoshop brushes, Photoshop CS3, photoshop info, photoshop layers, photoshop masks, Photoshop tutorial, wedding photography, Wings drawn in photoshop
Fire Wings- (Emma Kate Dawson) | Digital Art
Mini Guide to how I made this.
Photoshop CS3 ,
Stock Photo taken by myself,
I just wanted to show how quick and simple a couple of photos can be used to create some dramatic photo-manipulations. This one has yet to be named, It took less than an hour. I guess if you have used photoshop before at some level, you should be able to follow this. If not. sorry !!
There are roughly 8 or 9 steps, I have tried to keep it nice and simple. Using a process of layers and masks it should be pretty easy to follow. Remember, using masks, is great for going back to re-edit steps at later levels. Photoshop is designed to edit in a non-distuctive way.
To start with, open up your main photo element, make sure you have a clear focus on where you want to go and ensure you have enough room to work with. Any simple photo edits should be done now. The photo I used was a pretty good starting point, I used the stamp tool (key short-cut (s)) and did some quick free hand work to clean up the back drop. There is not a lot of point in doing any make up changes or skin changes at this point as I know we are going to use lots of colour in the final photo.
I wanted to keep some light background clouds and tree line, using the mask layers remove the bits you dont want.
Using another layer and another stock photo, I added some more baseline details, the layer was flipped into screen mode (blending layer). This dropped out the darker sections of the photo and gave me just the details i needed. Create a mask and remove the bits you dont want.
Create a couple of new layers, I used 3 or 4. Using the brush tool, add some funky details. I grabbed some custom brushes, created some layer styles and combined them down into a group, then flipped them in to Colour Burn mode. I kept most of my small details away from my Treeline on the bottom layer and away from the main subject. If you just Google for Photoshop brushes you can find loads of great freebies out there. Next step is to add some colour.
Open up another layer ( try and keep them named and group them !) I used a golden gradient set at a 45 degree across the photo to give stronger colours at the edges. I think the layer was in screen mode, or overlay. Have a play around, see what fits for you. If you want, mask the layer, highlight areas or darken others. Remember, using masks is the only way you should be doing this. Next step is to add the main element, the wings. Don’t worry to much about your main photo getting hidden. Everything is masked, or maskable. we can go back and sort this later.
Using the stock photo of the flames (try i-stock or something), I cut out one section, created another layer, flipped it over, grouped them and duplicated them a couple of times. Once I had a couple of wings, I used some motion blur, made some bigger and layered them up to give me a fuller wing shape. Once I was happy with the shape. Once again the mask tool was used to leave some flick of flame across the photo. So we should have almost our photo coming to shape at this point. For my photo, a really strong facial look was important so i could not leave my model under the flames. I went back the very first layer (the stock photo of Emma), duplicated it and brought her onto the top of the stack and masked out the the background.
Once I have my photo its time to make the fire burn. I find its much better than having to worry about colour as I go. Using some photo filters, curves and levels ( all using masks to place where I want the certain changes to fit on the photo), I brought in the sides and started to enhance the flames. I use the rule, of masking every single layer. Its very rare a change I make will look good on the whole photo.
This paper look texture, flipped into overlay, or colour burn, or what ever funky layer style will give you a great look and save you a whole bunch of time . Using textures combined with a mask is fun and effective. From here, I edited up the skin, the border with another set of levels and curves. Added my logo, added some smoke to the flames and gave Emma some evil skin. Simple ! Oh some cool motion blur around the feet with some flames around the feet. There is no limit to the things you can add ! Just remember to use lots of layers, masks and you wont go far wrong.
Send some sample of what you can come up with ! All the elements used are below !!
Tagged adobe photoshop, birmingham, dark, Dave Piper - Latest Work, digit, digital artwork, digitally super-imposed, flames, horror, Metal, models, Music Photography, photo editing, Photographers, Photoshop, photoshop brushes, Photoshop CS3, photoshop info, photoshop layers, photoshop masks, Photoshop tutorial, wedding photography, weddings
Farse | Music Photography
Slam Dunk Festival | Vans “off the wall” tour, ft. Funeral For A Friend , Fightstar, Blakfish and Farse.
All 3 stages in the new O2 Academy in Birmingham.
The Mighty FARSE
Farse are a Ska-Core band from Birmingham. They attended St. Thomas Aquinas school in Birmingham, where the band formed in 1996. Through a few lineup changes until they ended up with Ade, Chris, Dan, Ollie and Tomas as the final line up. They played loads of shows around the UK, supporting many UK ska bands like Capdown, Bowling for soup and King Prawn. They released 2 Studio albums, Boxing clever was recorded at DEP studios (the same studio UB40 recorded at).
The record created a buzz throughout the underground punk and ska scene in the UK and attracted the attention of the Moon Ska Europe label. Farse then entered UB40′s DEP International Studios, to record their second album Boxing Clever in late 2002. Following the album’s release the band’s popularity grew, with the video for the song Hopscotch receiving heavy rotation on the now-defunct digital music channel P-Rock. The band then embarked on several headlining tours throughout the UK before unexpectedly announcing their split in early 2004. During their career they performed with similar acts such as King Prawn, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Mad Caddies, Bowling For Soup, Reel Big Fish and Capdown.
The final performance was held on Thursday March 18 2004 at the Carling Academy 2 in Birmingham. The show involved former band members joining the line up to play old material. The set finished with the song ‘Youth On Paper’, a song said to have been previously unheard at live shows.
Bassist Chris Badham now tours with The Mad Caddies . Ade is also the bassist of Beat Union formerly known as Shortcut to Newark.
Farse played three reunion gigs, one at Subside Bar in Birmingham on Monday, 4th May 2009, and one at O2 Academy 2 Birmingham on Saturday, 9 May 2009. Farse also performed at the Slam Dunk Festival in Leeds on Sunday, 24th May 2009 and the 30th In Birmingham. These Photos are from the Birmingham gig.
Funeral for a Friend | Music Photography
Slam Dunk Festival | Vans “off the wall” tour, ft. Funeral For A Friend , Fightstar, Blakfish and Farse.
All 3 stages in the new O2 Academy in Birmingham
Funeral for a Friend is a post-hardcore band from Wales. They formed in 2001 as a sextet called January Thirst. This did not last long, and in 2002 Funeral for a Friend recorded their debut EP Between Order and Model with their original 6-piece line up. After having been together for just a few months, the band changed their line up and subsequently signed a deal with Warner Brothers records for whom they recorded their second EP Four Ways To Scream Your Name.
The band’s debut full-length album Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation was released in October 2003. Various singles were lifted off this, including Bullet Theory, Juneau (Juno on previous EPs), she drove me to daytime tv and Escape Artists Never Die. After a B-side to Escape Artists Never Die was released as a single, this was called You Want Romance? the video was sequal to Bullet Theory
Link to the full photo gallery
Blakfish | Music Photography
Slam Dunk Festival | Vans “off the wall” tour, ft. Funeral For A Friend , Fightstar, Blakfish and Farse.
All 3 stages in the new O2 Academy in Birmingham
As you may have noticed 2008 was quite a year for Birmingham’s Blakfish. After playing almost 200 shows in over 10 countries, releasing their mini-album “See You In Another City” on highly respected UK independent label Big Scary Monsters to much critical acclaim, receiving 4th Best British New Comer in Rock Sound readers poll, NME’s ones to watch for 2009 and a 4 K review in Kerrang.
Their debut single, “Jeremy Kyle Is A Marked Man”, garnered a whirlwind amount of press including being featured by four different Radio One presenters, Colin Murray, Huw Stephens, Mike Davies (The Lock Up) & Daniel P Carter.
Building up a steady cult following on the strength of their live shows and hard work ethic there are no signs of them stopping anytime soon.
The start of 2009 has already seen them finish the recording of their debut full-length album, entitled “Champions”, in Seattle USA. Produced by Chris Common at the legendary Redroom studios (Mastodon, Fall Of Troy, Minus The Bear, These Arms Are Snakes, Hey Mercedes), it is set to be released at the end of May on Hassle Records (Cancer Bats, Alexisonfire, Rolo Tomassi, Thursday).
With plans to tour more excessively than 2008 it looks like this year Blakfish are going to be even harder to ignore. – last fm
Bakfish are :
- Thomas Rock
- Richard Hollywod
- Sammy Vile
- Robert Fruit
Link to Blakfish.com
Link to the full photo gallery
Tagged Bands, birmingham acadmey, Birmingham’s Blakfish, Blakfish, Champions, Dave Piper - Latest Work, Farse, Fightstar, Funeral For A Friend, Jeremy Kyle Is A Marked Man, Metal, Photographers, punk, Punk Rock, Richard Hollywod, Robert Fruit, Rock n Roll, Sammy Vile, See You In Another City, Slam Dunk Festival, Thomas Rock, Vans "off the wall"
Zebrahead | Music Photography
Zebrahead is an Orange County, CA-based punk-pop-rap band which was formed in 1996 by vocalist/guitarist Justin Mauriello (formerly of once there), guitarist Greg Bergdorf (formerly of 409), bassist Ben Osmundson (formerly of 3-Ply), and drummer Ed Udhus (formerly of 409).
Inspired by acts including Fugazi and The Descendents, the group found themselves uninspired by the local trend towards ska punk and instead began incorporating elements of hip-hop into their sound, eventually recruiting rapper Ali Tabatabaee to join their ranks.
After issuing the EP Yellow on the indie label Doctor Dream Records in May 1998, Zebrahead signed to major label Columbia Records to release their full-length debut, Waste of Mind, which appeared later that same year. The band’s follow up album Playmate of the Year was issued in mid-2000 and the Stupid Fat Americans EP followed the next year as an exclusive release for Japan.
Zebrahead headed over to Europe with Green Day to support the records and played various festival dates as well. Throughout the years, they also shared gigs with bands like Less Than Jake, Kottonmouth Kings, 311, Reel Big Fish, and Goldfinger.
Three years after having released a full length album, MFZB (aka Mother Fucking Zebrahead Bitch) appeared in 2003, and shortly afterwards lead singer/guitarist Mauriello exited the group to pursue other interests (namely start a new band I Hate Kate). His departure distressed fans, as the singing/rapping dynamic between him and Tabatabaee was crucial to the band’s sound. However, Zebrahead was soon back in action with the addition of new vocalist/guitarist Matty Lewis (formerly of Jank 1000) to their lineup. — last FM
Bowling for Soup | Music Photography
Party in your Pants Tour, Birminghams O2 Academy,
Originally from Wichita Falls, Texas they formed in 1994 from the ruins of an old metal band. Quoting Jaret Reddick, the lead singer, “we wanted to make happy music”. They’re known for their often humorous lyrics, upbeat guitar riffs, and Jaret’s voice.
They are best known for their singles “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” in 2002 on Drunk Enough to Dance which was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award for “Best Pop Performance by a Group or Duo” and “1985” (originally written by Mitch Allan of SR-71) in 2004 on A Hangover You Don’t Deserve. The band’s name is derived from comedian Steve Martin’s “Bowling for Sh*t” routine from his 1978 comedy album, Wild and Crazy Guy, itself a reference to Bowling for Dollars. Their single ‘1985’ can be found on the UK and the Norwegian editions of Singstar Rocks for the PS2.
They have also became hits on Radio Disney with edits of “1985”, “Punk Rock 101”, “High School Never Ends”, and the inclusion of their version of “I Melt With You” in the Disney movie “Sky High”. They have also written and recorded “Today Is Gonna Be A Great Day” as the theme song for Disney’s “Phineas and Ferb” – Last FM
Band Lineup:
Jaret Reddick – Lead Vocals/guitar
Chris Burney – Guitar/vocals
Eric Chandler – Bass/vocals
Enter Shikari | Music Photography
Birminghams Brand new 02 Academy play host to Enter Shikari, Devil wears prada supporting.
Enter Shikari are a four-piece post-hardcore band from St Albans, Hertfordshire, England formed in 2003. Inspired by hardcore (in both punk-rock and dance genres), metal and trance.
Despite being offered several major label record deals, their debut album Take To The Skies was released on their own label – Ambush Reality – in March 2007, reaching the dizzy heights of #4 in the UK’s official Album Charts and going on to sell over 100.000 copies in the UK (the album was released in Europe through PIAS, in North America on Ambush Reality / Tiny Evil, and in Japan on Hostess).
In March 2008, after spending 12 months on the road across the globe, Enter Shikari set up camp in their rehearsal room (a large shed in Chris Batten’s back garden which they christened “The ‘Low”) to begin writing tracks for their second album such as Antwerpen which was released as a free digital-download from the band’s website.
In July they played to their largest live audience at the UK date of Linkin Park’s ‘Project Revolution’ travelling festival alongside JayZ, Pendulum and N*E*R*D, as well as playing several shows with Linkin Park in mainland Europe.
Enter Shikari followed a UK / Ireland tour in October 2008 with the release of a one-off single ‘We Can Breathe In Space, They Just Don’t Want Us To Escape’ (a finished version of a track the band demoed in 2005 but never got around to ever finishing properly until the summer 2008). — last fm.
Tagged 02 academy, Ambush Reality, Antwerpen, Bands, birmingham, birmingham acadmey, dance genres, Dave Piper - Latest Work, Enter Shikari, Hertfordshire, Metal, music, Photographers, Photography, post-hardcore, Project Revolution’, punk, Punk Rock, St Albans, Take To The Skies, They Just Don’t Want Us To Escape, We Can Breathe In Space
Skindred | Music Photography
Skindred is a four-piece “ragga metal” band from Newport, Wales. Their genre is an innovative mix of metal, punk, and reggae. The band was formed in 1998 following the disbandment of vocalist Benji Webbe’s previous band, Dub War. Skindred blended reggae and dancehall with searing thrash and punk influences for a striking take on heavy metal hybridism. The group emerged from Wales in 1998, after the dissolution of vocalist Benji Webbe’s previous band, Dub War. Rehearsals for a new project featuring other Dub War veterans didn’t work out, but soon Webbe had hooked up with bassist Daniel Pugsley, guitarist Mikey Dee, and drummer Dirty Arya, and Skindred was officially born. The debut LP, Babylon, first appeared in 2002 and 2003, with sporadic success in parts of Europe and the U.S. metal underground. But it wasn’t until a year or so later and Lava’s involvement that the album really took off. Skindred re-released Babylon in August 2004. Lava’s version featured different cover art, and included newly recorded material in addition to the original, Howard Benson-helmed songs. Skindred then headed out on a series of tours with acts like Sevendust, Nonpoint, and Papa Roach, and never looked back. - Last FM.
Tonight’s Venue is the Wulfrun Hall in Wolvohampton. Super excited to be seeing them tonight, to be able to photograph them is amazing. I have been a long time fan of Skindred since first them way back in 2002. Thank you to Luke for sorting stuff out once again! Thank to Skindred for showing the world how to ROCK !!
