Esperanza Plantation Holiday Showcase @ Pix/Capri (12.19.09)

welcome to the last post of Scenes Around Jackson for 2009!

and what better way to close out the year than posting the 2009 Esperanza Plantation Holiday Showcase photos!

just like every year it was held in the Pix/Capri Theater in the heart of Fondren

and just like always, it rocked all of our faces off!

ok, this is gonna be a massive 100+ photo post so there won’t be a lot of me “talking” so enjoy the photos! (yeah, i know i always say that when i have a big post but i mean it this time)

(and, once again, thanks to Stephen Barnett of Davaine Lighting, for providing excellent lighting)

The Line-Up, in order of appearance!

- Law School!

- The Dixie Nationals (w/Taylor Hildebrand)!

- El Obo!

- Chase Pagan!

- Johnny Bertram & The Golden Bicycles!

- The Weeks!

- Bear Colony!*

time for “Operation: Spread Eagle” to take flight!

Storage 24 @ Touch Nightclub (12.18.09)

this past friday, my boys Storage 24, along with Still Frame and the Jason Turner Band, rocked out the 1st Annual Miller Light /Rock 93.9 Merry Mayhem Show up in Touch Nightclub in downtown Jackson

i believe this was their first show since winning the 2009 Band of the Year award down in Club LaVela, in Florida (which means they’ll be on next year’s MTV Spring Break show!)

anyway, enough talking, let’s get to the rocking and the rolling!

[From The Archives] Esperanza Plantation Holiday Showcase @ Pix/Capri (12.20.08)

so, as i was scrolling through my recent entries, it occurred to me that i haven’t posted many photos from live shows lately

coming up on Dec 19th is the annual Esperanza Plantation Holiday Showcase at the Pix/Capri Theater in Fondren.

getting that facebook invite reminded me that i never, actually, posted a lot of the photos i shot of last year’s Holiday Showcase.

well, time to fix that

so sit back and enjoy photos from last year’s kick-ass show.  i’m sure this year will be just as good! (and i sure wouldn’t mind shooting this year’s too.  hint hint!)

Washington D.C. Sightseeing (1.22.09)

a slightly different kind of post for this Scenes Around Jackson

a year ago, this month, America elected Sen. Barack Obama to the office of President of the United States.

me, my dad, and my step-family traveled, just like millions of others, to Washington D.C. to witness his Inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009

two days after that, we traveled back into the city to do some sightseeing

these are the sightseeing photos

[Model Shoot] Tiana Pearls photoshoots (10/09)

so, like i said last post, here are the photos that have been keeping me so busy for the past few weeks.

back in october, i was contacted by a guy named Jason, who had seen photos i’d taken of The Bachelorettes, and wanted to know if i’d shoot some photos for a jewelry company he was starting up called Tiana Pearls.

him and his partner wanted photos of models wearing their products that they could use for their website and catalog book.

i said i could do it and had about a week and a half to get everything all shot and edited.

time to call in some friends!

lizzie let me borrow her strobist gear.

robin jayne and jenifer day agreed to let me shoot them, and sammi (whose boyfriend is jason) agreed to let me shoot her too.

let’s get busy.

The Bachelorettes Recording @ Olympic Records (4.1.09)

first of all, sorry for no new updates (or interludes)

let’s get back to it!

so, back in the cold months of early 2009 (april to be exact) The Bachelorettes gathered at Misha Hercules’ Olympic Records Studios to begin initial recording of a track for The Special Passenger Project compilation album that they were putting together  (the track later ended up on their first full studio album “Missin’ You in Mississippi”)

being a big fan of theirs and a huge fan of Jim Marshall’s black and white rock and roll photography, i asked if i could come too and photograph them behind the scenes.

they said sure, so off we went.

[interlude 03]

yep, another busy working week so don’t have time for a full blog post

so, figured i’d show you what i’m starting to experiment with (and will be using this week for what i’ve been hired to do)

i’ve been wanting to get into using off camera strobist style lighting for a while but, y’know, that stuff ain’t cheap (and i like using available light)

but luckily, i have a very cool friend by the name of Lizzie Wright (she of the super spaceship & the bachelorettes) and she let me borrow her gear (because she’s quite a good photographer too)

after that, it was a crash course in seeing if i could figure everything out.

and when it’s crash course time, who else can you turn to but your family (as they, once again, show extreme patience from having me stick a camera in their faces)

first up, my sister Jen!

strobist info: speedlite and umbrella are to upper camera right, speedlite set to 1/4 @ 24mm.  camera: 1/125, f/4, ISO 200.

next, my Ma!

strobist info: speedlite and umbrella are to upper camera right, speedlite set to 1/4 @ 24mm.  camera: 1/125, f/4, ISO 200.

yeah, same camera set up and everything, but the sun had set further.

both of these are straight out the camera.  just exported from RAW to JPG.

i took many more than just these two of them but i’m not allowed to post those :p

anyway, many thanks to Lizzie for letting me borrow her gear!  she’s like a cool breeze on a hot summer day

ok, off to bed, have an early start tomorrow

to shoot!

Front Porch Dancers @ Belhaven College (9.13.09)

dancers fascinate me.

the way that they turn their bodies into a form of art that’s always moving and each movement has a purpose.

i just think it’s wonderful

so, when i was invited by Jamie Weems to be part of the Mobiles art show i jumped at the chance.

the theme that they asked of the photographers they invited was to show work that showed music and/or dance.

after the art opening there would be a dance performance by the Front Porch Dancers, dancing to live music by Jamie Weems and the Strange Pilgrams.

as i’ve mentioned before, i’m a big fan of Annie Leibovitz’s work, esp the work she did when she documented three weeks with Mark Morris and Mikhail Baryshnikov, photographing them and their dancers as they worked to constuct a new show.

i wanted to do photos like that.  so i contacted Krista and Erin of FPD and asked if it would be possible if i photographed them rehearsing for the performance.

they said sure and after facebooking back and forth for a bit, we finally settled on a day.

and so, on a sunday afternoon in september i made my way up to the Bitsy Irby Visual Arts and Dance Center on the campus of Belhaven College to get to shooting

[Model Shoot] Maggie @ The Commons (8.15.09)

and this post will wrap up the Model Shoot posts for a bit.

the whole idea behind doing all of these is, because, it occurred to me one day that i’d never had a proper photoshoot using my DSLR (a pentax K100D for those that care) so, i wanted to get a few under my belt.

many thanks to all my friends who put up with me sticking a camera in their faces while i had them stand in abandoned downtown buildings, under bridges, in corn fields full of bugs, putting up with me leaving spare memory cards at home, and looking spooky in graveyards.  ya’ll rocked!

so, to wrap things up, we have my good friend Maggie letting me photograph her at The Commons at Eudora Welty’s Birthplace

(oh! and hey Maggie’s Mom!  Maggs told me you check out my blog so *waves!*)

[interlude 02]

yep, it’s an interlude week

sorry for no new post but i’ve been swamped with getting ready for an art show that i’m in on the 26th at One to One Studios called “Mobiles“

so, here’s a preview image of the next post. the last of the Model Series i’ve been doing. this time starring my friend Maggie.