Hold The Eye Images

I have been distracted, ugh!

I have been doing poorly on the blog, too much going on, and I should have been better. First some hindsight good news. If you were one of the folks who took advantage of the $89 Lightroom 3 offer from Amazon, looks like you get a free upgrade if you bought in February. I have been using Lightroom 4 and it is terrific. I love the new tools in the develop module. As a general rule I use a brush on my images and limit the impact of any one application. Lightroom has expanded the utility of the brush significantly. There are some other new things including the "book" module which allows publishing to Blurb. Aperture has had this functionality for a long time and Lightroom is just catching up. To get up to speed on Lightroom 4, I simply used my Lynda.com membership and they have a great video on Lightroom 4 with all the tips and tricks. I love the way they drill into you the shortcuts in Lightroom, even I can remember them after the video.

Still shooting lots of evenings in the Grand Dell Saloon, trying different lighting configurations and the exercise has been useful and in depth. For the most part, I shoot manual, TTL just takes to much control our of my hands. If I were shooting a wedding, iTTL is the trick, but for portraits and fixed distance work, you can't beat the creative choices of manual flash. You can add a soft touch of light in manual mode which iTTL simply will not allow without reducing the exposure compensation.  For battery life alone, you are better puttting your flash units on 1/4 power, using your ISO and aperture to get the light just right. It just takes a little practice and it easily and quickly become second nature.

I have also moved from shooting landscapes to people. I like people, not set-up shots but candid images of people doing ordinary things in their lives. When done in black and white, the images seem to have an extraordinary characteristic. For example, here is Andy Just a blues singer and harmonica player of some significant reputation caught in moment, not posing for my camera.

Not posing for the camera has a different quality to it. Another example where I asked a regular at the Grand Dell to pose while I tested the lights, gives an equally relaxed image. He didn't think pose just stopped and stop like he would for anything, not concerned with the picture. I really like the whole context, including all the distractions on the wall etc.

Again, there is a quality to the image from the person that speaks real, including his tee shirt which was just accidental .

So while I haven't been writing I have been photographing people, trying to capture an emotion, attitude, story with each image. It has been a learning experience, one that I enjoy and continue to improve upon with the photography.

Sometimes as above, it is just a symbol that attracts my attention. Other times I catch someone with a special twinkle, like John Garcia looking like a pirate. He has many faces when he places and is very friendly to the lens.

Other other times, I zoom in on just a piece of the picture like this shot of a guitar.

The point here, this could be a family gathering, wedding, or a friendly card game, getting symbols and people in their natural state is a great place for photography. More later

 

The Gritty Side of the Grand Dell and My Favorites

The first and last images are my favorites from the night. The last one could have been in the 60's with the long side burns, great audience expressions, and atmosphere. It was shot through a dirty mirror in back of the stage, cropped to give the intimate view. The first one is just life at the gig.

Jam Night at the Grand Dell featuring Terry Hanck, Andy Just, et. al.

And the et. al means I could not keep up with the names of the 33 musicians who showed up to play at what is becoming "the event" for blues musicians in the Bay Area. Organized by local blues musician Akarsha Kumar, a.k.a. Aki, who plays harp and vocals for Tip of the Top.

Aki is a charismatic organizer who has made the Dell Saloon on Thursday night a special place for musicians. They come, sign in with Aki, and rotate through songs with the beneficiary being the crowd that comes to listen. More and more, big blues names are showing up, just to play and hang out with their peers. Last night was a big night of names, which I unfortunately don't know them all. Terry Hanck was the feature, and he as Aki plans, plays later in the evening. Terry is a distinctive looking and sounding blues musician who sings and plays sax.

And boy does he get it on!

And when he blows the sax, well the place goes wild!

What is interesting, the smiles on the other musician faces sitting and standing in the audience. They clearly enjoy the performances by fellow artists and likewise the performance is serious because you are playing in front of your peers. But it all starts off with Aki, who is the "Master of Ceremonies" for the Thursday night event. Here is one of the early rotations with local musicians and Aki playing and singing. You can see how intimate the setting, which is wonderful for the audience.

As the night plays on, others come to the stage for a few tunes, return to talk with friends and fellow musicians, all the while enjoying the atmosphere and camaraderie of it all.

The morale of the story and my guess, if you like blues, come soon and come early. The reason being, it would not surprise me to see a line out the door in the not to distant future as word of this music hub spreads amongst the blues listening community. Places like this don't exist anymore, harkens back to 60's when this was fairly common. Money, big stages, and ego's changed all that except for this little part of Campbell Ca. at the Grand Dell Saloon.

The "Jump Kings" At The Grand Dell Saloon

So I took the Jump Kings and decided to create four different looks for the band. Image number one is the honky tonk look. Guitar player clearly in a bar, old time microphone, could have been 40 years ago except for the sideburns(too short). The second image, a traditional 3 piece band portrait. Everyone is playing, nothing really unusual, pretty straight forward. The third image brings in the audience, makes the place look real, clearly a club of some sort. Also a pretty traditional image with atmosphere created by the people in the audience. The fourth image is my favorite, funky, more creative black and white, looks like I stole the image from the expression of the lead guitar. To be honest, I didn't capture the images with these descriptions in mind, but I shoot from many different angles. I try for different looks and always have black and white in my head, texture is something that attracts me. I like the mirror which I originally hated, but it provides some cool lighting with the flash reflections. I shot the last image trying to frame the harmonica player. I was looking through the viewfinder, trying to get an angle when I saw the lead guitar player look at me, bang I got him. I also like the dirty mirror and reflection of people. It turned out to be a gritty image, something you might see in a New Orleans underground magazine. Bye the way, these guys are terrific musicians. The Dell is a throw back to "joints" in the 50's and early 60's when music was good, raw, and the musicans loved to play for the sake of the music. It is a cross section of society, all smiling for the same reason, the terrific blues music.

Bill Sims Jr. and Mark Lavoie Rock The Grand Dell Saloon tonight

This is the real deal, old original roots blues music. Described as down home, back porch, crossroads, and hellhounds all at once, NYC blues guitarist Bill Sims and VT harmonica player Mark LaVoie rock the crowd at the Dell tonight. Between them, Sims and LaVoie have played with legends such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee. They have been touring for 15 years as a duo and their old-school sound harkens back to a time before electricity turned the blues up loud, when feel and soul were everything.

The crowd really appreciated the quality of this music, attentive and responsive to every number. This was a real treat for everyone. Here are some images from tonight's performance.

But their are other ways to view these guys, more unconventional that give some glimpse into the soulful way they perform.

  In the next photo, check out the fingers of a guitar blues man, he didn't start this yesterday!

And they could sing and blow!

And finally for the evening, Mark really gets the music.

Tomorrow, will discuss how these were lit.

It's 8:1PM, where are you?

You should have been at the Grand Dell watching and listening to Andy Just and John Garcia knock out the blues. You could also be there helping me light the place to get these shots. Shooting there is a bit tricky. The number one problem, it is dark so auto focus does not work well. You have to auto focus lock on something in the same plane as your intended subject or try to manually focus. For me the latter is a bigger problem, I don't see as well in the dark as the camera. The second issue, getting the right amount of light so you don't expose like a wedding, but create the mood the place deserves.

I used two SB900's, clipped to the ceiling with pocket wizards. The stronger of the two, faced the band with a grid, the second had a small diffuser(tiny lightbox) attached to the front to give some light to the side. They were far enough away, so the light fall off created a stage scene but the flash units were powerful enough to control the color, for the most part. Once set in place, I was off and running with little regard for the light except recycling. With studio strobes, recyling is generally not an issue, but off or on camera flash is a problem. They just don't recycle fast enough for "run and gun" photography. Also if you are powering with a Quantum battery, you can burn up Nikon flash units. The SB900 will shut off if it overloads, which saves the unit, doesn't do much for the shoot. The rest of them will fire until they fry.

My next gig at the Saloon, I'm going to try bouncing the flash which I couldn't get right on Saturday afternoon before the show.

And the reason for the title of this blog?

The Grand Dell Rocks with Andy Just and John Garcia

John Garcia played guitar for John Lee Hooker and Andy Just is an internationally known bluesman. They teamed up Saturday night to a full house at the Grand Dell Saloon. It was just plain awesome, and the music had such texture and depth. Here is John Garcia doing a riff while Andy grooves in the background. Maybe I'll convert to black and white but for now, this is the real thing.

The band rocked the house driving the crowd at times into a frenzy. Here is Andy Just knocking the socks off his harmonica.

And when the whole band rocked you could see the joy in their faces! The blues hides nothing.

And when it came time, they worked the crowd with their sound, as Andy blows here.

But together they were magic

So there you have the scene, rocking to the blues. But the blues is a black and white scene so here it is!

And the ladies were dancing to the music!

So on this September 10, 2011 we all had a good time at the Grand Dell Saloon, we danced, listened to some great music and met some new friends. Tomorrow is September 11, 2011 and we should remember the loss and tragedy of New York City, Pennsylvania, and The Pentagon and say a prayer for those who lost so much. Good night.

 

A Night of Photo Critique At Hold the Eye Images Studio

Brian Tramontana has joined Hold the Eye Images, he is the Chair of the Photography Department at West Valley College in Saratoga Ca. Brian spent a lifetime in photography at Xerox before leaving the corporate world and starting a new career in  teaching. He has a "gathering" once a month of the 170 members of something he calls "Visions", a photo critique. He is now meeting at Hold the Eye Images Studio in Campbell Ca. Last night was the first meeting in the new location. The rules are simple, bring two images or prints, and the group comments. The comments are constructive and helpful if last night was a representative of prior meetings. Here's Brian just saying hello before everyone arrived.

As you can see, the setting is roomy and comfortable with the gallery lighting. But once the crowd had arrived, the lights were turned down and the critique began.

 

As you can see from these shots of mothers with babies, the photography was very good and interesting. However, there were some unusual photography, blurred street shots from hotel rooms, and other out of the ordinary compositions. All photography is a matter of taste, so experienced photographers don't talk in terms of good and bad, but likes and dislikes. I might love a photograph that you don't, so the conversation is very interesting and a great learning process for experienced photographers as well as beginners. Last night was no exception with a very rich discussion about each photograph. From my experience, these type group discussions where everyone is active are so much better than a competition where one person does all the talking, i.e. judge. With the group, you get a variety of opinions, from the technical stick with the rules, to the artsy "I love the emotion" comments. The important point, you get valuable feedback that you can incorporate into future photographs.

Afterward, the Grand Dell Saloon next door had a band and barbecue so we stopped off to listen for a few minutes watch some people dance, and enjoy some tri-tip steak, all you can eat for $10.    
Pretty nice gig for photogs on the loose for some feedback and feed. Maybe see you there next time, we will announce in Hold the Eye Images Meetup. Remember bring two images and see you next month.

Wrapping up the Sausalito Art Festival, a.k.a. The Kenny Loggins Afternoon

That is right, Kenny Loggins stole the show on Monday afternoon. He came out with his new song writing group, all legends and sang from their soon to be released album from Blue Riders in the Sky. Here is a link: Blue Riders in the Sky.

As you will read all are amazing song writers, and can sing. Kenny is a legend, and he talked about his big break when he went solo, being the opening act for Fleetwood Mac, Rumors Tour. Can't imagine a better gig to kick off a solo career. To his credit, he did it all, writing hits, singing hits, and being a true rock star. He is a bit more mellow and very down to earth as he talked quite a bit to the audience. He is clever, quick, and is funny. And, he has not lost his voice as so many 60's/70's and even 80's rockers have. He still has that great range, incredible sound, and soulful vibe when he wants it.

After Blue Sky Riders left the stage, Kenny returned for a solo show which lasted from 2:45 until 5Pm. A bit like Bruce, singing tough songs, the crowd going crazy dancing, and a packed house. It was as much fun seeing the crowd reaction as watching the show. This young woman dancing reminded me of seeing Janis Joplin and people dancing everywhere. The big difference, at the Janis show, everyone was stoned(except me of course, I did not inhale), and it was merely wine taking the dancing feet, with the help of Kenny's good music.

Now Kenny put a lot into this solo show and left no emotional rock unturned.

Somebody will ask me, why the black and white thing? Well there was a red canopy over the crowd which cast red on the attendees. I got lazy and decided not to deal with the red, so black and white.

Here are some general snapshots of the fair, with less people, but you get the impression.

The show was over, people were picking up their art purchases, making their way from the wine and beer stands to their cars, did I just say that?

Well not everybody was drinking, many were exercising their wallets, some their ears, and a few their elbows. Overall the Sausalito Art Festival is terrific, great art, great music, and lots of people watching(seems like I wrote this same line before but it is true). It costs $40 for the 3 days, where could you get this much for $40? And so I'm back and my last photo from this festival is one of my favorites. One man, rowing against the backdrop of a famous prison. Sort of sums up the times.

 

 

Sausalito Art Festival, Day 1, Room with a view

Arrived last evening at the annual Sausalito Art Festival which starts today at 10AM. The Inn above Tide, is a great place to stay, and is right on the water overlooking San Francisco and the Bay. Every morning is different, I have posted in prior years diving birds, sea lions, and various other creatures in the early morning hours. This morning like every morning is completely different. Minimum wildlife but lots of interesting people out on the water.

Some bring man's best friend

Others, just like the big sail boats, silently moving across the water

Me, I like man's best friend, something about exercise and you buddy, that makes me smile. So there you have the early morning in Sausalito at the Inn above Tide. Nice spot to be on this foggy morning before the festival.