For those of you who love Ben Kweller...

I don't think I mentioned this in detail, but I sold number four in a limited edition of five 20x30" metallic prints of Ben Kweller's infamous ACL Fest nose bleed the other week.  This means the only print left in this limited edition is 5/5 and it is available for $1,000 (for those of you who still have spending money in the terrible economy).  

For those diehard Ben Kweller fans, Austin City Limits Music Festival fans, or rock and roll fans, this might be something you saw at my Texas Music gallery show last year.  If you missed it, you missed the chance to get up close and study each drop of blood dripping down his guitar.  You missed the detail of his blood-stained clothes and fingers.  Yes, that is REAL blood and NOT paint!  

I'm guessing I will probably have this final print in my possession for a while, but you never know.  There might be someone out there who has a grand burning a hole in their wallet and an undying love for all things rock and roll.  I figure, if four other people loved this image enough to put it in their home, there must be a demand for it!  

Greg Watermann in LA...

I know this isn't a Dallas show, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway.  If, by chance, you are in Los Angeles tonight, you might want to attend this show:  

Greg Watermann is a well-known Hollywood music photographer.  He's been doing concert and band photography for a long time now, and he has some pretty good images.  You can see some of his work here:  

www.gregwatermann.com  

You'll have to sift through a handful of really cheesy images, and a few bad ones (why does he leave a few of those duds on his site?!?), but for the most part, his website will blow you away.  He works mostly with hard rock and metal-ish bands, so expect to see plenty of dark and muted images.  

Being a big Nirvana fan, I'd love to see his show just for the "unpublished" Nirvana images promised.  I wish I could've shot them, but I never did.  I started shooting shows around 1995 or 1996, and they were just ultra-small, local bands.  In 1997, I upgraded to regional and national acts, but Nirvana was long gone history by then.  

Imagine getting to shoot that Nirvana show at Trees in 1991 or so, whenever it was... the one where Kurt got in a fight with the club's bouncer.  That show must've been crazy to see live.  But enough about me.  Here are the details of Greg's show:  

Lucie Foundation Member Greg Watermann celebrates the opening of a new show entitled "I Photograph Rock Stars". 

 

Join A and I Photographic Lab on May 7th from 7pm-11pm for the opening reception of the Greg Watermann collection, "I Photograph Rock Stars."The exhibit takes a walk through Watermann's career, ranging from early portraits of Julia Roberts to more recent portraits of Ozzy. Unpublished and unseen treats will be unveiled for the first time, including the outtakes from Nirvana's first magazine shoot for the cover of Spin Magazine and the debut of a new multi-media presentation documenting System Of A Down's last concert with hundreds of live photos cut to music.

 

Exhibit books, prints and posters will be sold to benefit Nrani, a non-profit organization established in 2003 in Armenia to help provide adequate therapy for children up to eight years old with disabilities. 

 

Greg Watermann is currently one of the top music photographers in the world. Over the years, his unlimited access at concerts has routinely involved him standing on-stage with of some of the biggest names in Rock n' Roll. This perspective combined with Watermann's "in the trenches" style gives photography and music fans alike a perspective of really being there and has earned him the rights to photograph such bands as System Of A Down, Linkin Park, Coldplay and Mudvayne.

Nrani is a non-profit, early intervention program established in 2003 in Armenia to help provide adequate therapy for children up to eight years old. The organization is taffed with a multidisciplinary team of physicians, psychologists, educators, and speech and physical therapists. These experienced professionals provide free therapeutic services to improve the development of cognitive, personal/social, motor and language skills. Nrani also provides counseling and education to help families cope and adapt to their child's disability.

The event is generously sponsored in part by HP and Neenah Paper.

Now THAT is a lens!!!

Maybe if I had more money than I knew what to do with, or had regular paying work in a very specialized field (like stealthy photographs of something a mile away?!?), I could see buying one of the twenty or so 1200mm Canon L series lenses in the world.  B&H Photo currently has a used one for sale.  I didn't even bother checking the price, though.  I know it will be more than my car cost me.  

Here is a review of the lens, in case you wanted to dream about it:  

www.bhphotovideo.com/find/newsLetter/Canon-EF-1200mm.jsp  

*** update:  Curiousity got the best of me.  I looked up the price on the used 1200mm lens.  I figured it would be around $25k.  Nope.  You want to buy that lens?  Get ready to put down $120k in cash!!!  Yikes!!!!!

Dallas creatives get some love...

So, I finally had a chance to read through some of my magazines this last week, while I was sick.  I've let some of my favorite publications pile up over the last few weeks, because I've been so busy with photo shoots.  I guess that's the only good thing about being so sick that you can barely move... there's finally some time to sit and read, watch those movies that have piled up on the DVR, and catch up on sleep.  

So, after clearing through a few shows on my DVR, I picked up my April issue of PDN (I KNOW you subscribe to PDN, right?  If you are or plan to be a pro photog, you NEED to be reading PDN), and I started thumbing through it.  I came across a section on pages 74 and 75 about some cool, new print ad campaigns and one caught my eye.  

It had a real retro feel to it, and was beautifully done.  I couldn't help but stare at it - it looked cool.  Then I read the details next to it, and I realized it was done right here in Dallas at The Richards Group!  It's nice that the home team is getting a little love for such a worthy effort.  Kerstin Fredrickson was listed as the Art Buyer on the project.  She's the same person I recently showed my portfolio to, and she seemed super-nice when I talked with her.  I'm so glad that someone as nice as her is getting some recognition for her efforts.

I've never met the photog before, but a peek at his website lets you know he's top notch:  www.briandoben.com   I think his travel and fashion images are much better than his portrait stuff.  However, everything on his website seems very good.  I can see why someone would hire him for a fashion-related campaign...  

Anyway, it was just nice to see some positive press about something created here in Dallas.  So many publications favor New York and LA, so any kudos thrown our way is a good thing.  Here's a copy the feature of PDN:

Buy my art...

You have two chances to buy some of my music images.  Read below:  

This WEEKEND!
Saturday May 9th at Club Dada in Deep Ellum
2720 Elm Street, Dallas
doors at 8pm
$7 minimum donation at the door!
bring your friends... it's fun!

ART AUCTION
7 GREAT BANDS
PHOTO BOOTH
TSHIRT SILK SCREENING
and more.. more... more!!!  

I have one print in this show.  It is of Austin band Spoon.  It is limited to an edition of five metallic prints.  This is number one of five.  

The other show is the Ear Candy show at Life in Deep Ellum.  It opened April 25th, and I contributed three Texas music images.  The images are of Dave Williams of Drowning Pool, Bowling For Soup, and The Feds.  I think there is still the closing reception, maybe this Thursday?  Don't hold me to that, though.  I'm sick at the moment, and everything stored in my head is a jumble.  Here's info about the opening:  

http://cellaarts.blogspot.com/2009/04/get-your-ear-candy-tomorrow-in-deep.html  

Let them eat cake!

Just thought I'd share a photo from a recent wedding I shot.  I couldn't help but laugh at how cute all the children were, huddled around the cake... anxiously waiting for it to be cut and served.   

  

I book an exclusive number of weddings each year.  Take a look at www.jasonjanik.com to find out more...

No sick days...

I'm sick.  I feel terrible.  However, I have work that is due Monday morning, and there are no sick days when you are a freelance photographer.  Who is going to finish the work if you call in sick?!?  

Old video...

Here's a link to some video shot last year, related to my Texas music photo exhibit at Kettle Art Gallery:  

http://finelinelive.com/2009/04/21/  

Thanks to Cindy and the Fine Line Live blog for replaying/reposting it...

Zacuto?!?

have you seen this company before?  They seem to have some pretty unique gear for sale.  As Digital SRL's become more and more like camcorders, more and more new/interesting/cool accessories will start popping up for sale:  

http://store.zacuto.com

Recent fashion shoot...

I can't share a ton of images from this shoot, but I can let you sneak a quick peek.  I did a fashion and style shoot for an upcoming issue of a Texas fashion magazine.  I think the shoot went well, and I'm looking forward to seeing everything in fancy, glossy print.  I'm expecting for this to become a regular client (things seemed to go really well), so maybe I'll have more of these shoots to share with you in the future?!?  

camera baby...

I'm not sure that I want him to go through all the hassles that are associated with this profession, but I'm happy that my oldest boy (who is three and a half years old at the moment) loves playing with his camera (or, his wamwa as he calls it).  Maybe he'll enjoy photography, but won't take it up as a career...

Driving home...

Friday night was a pretty busy night for me.  I started at 10 pm and got back home at 2 am.  I had three nightlife shoots to complete, and for some reason, none of them went smoothly.  It just wasn't my night for easy shoots, I guess.  

I don't want to complain about things, because the three shoots were not horrible.  Nothing crazy happened, like a broken flash or a fight with a drunk person.  It was really just a bunch of small stuff.  Anyway, the point is that I was feeling beat down and exhausted by the end of the third shoot.  I just wanted to go home.

Of course, I knew there was one thing that always makes me feel better...  

 

For some reason, driving through the streets of Dallas late at night with the windows down feels SOOOOO good.  It has to be night, hopefully late enough that the streets are almost empty.  And, obviously, it needs to be windows down weather.  Tonight it was 78 degrees out.  And most importantly, I think it needs to be near downtown Dallas.  

I've driven a lot of cities at night, and none of them brings me peace like Dallas does.  Maybe I'm biased, since I grew up here.  I don't know...  All I know is that a rough night can turn into a perfect night pretty quick.  All it takes is a mile or two.  

Now for the fun part:  In the above shot, I was going the speed limit, which was around 40 miles per hour.  But what about the bottom shot?  Even though it looks faster, it was still just 40 mph.  That's the exciting thing about photography...  All I had to do was drag the shutter and the lines start streaking across the image, like I'm blasting down the road at 70 mph or something!  

Oh, and don't try this at home.  I was not looking through the viewfinder while driving, and there were no other cars around me.  I had the camera set up near me, but I was able to drive like normal with nothing blocking the car's controls.  I can just imagine someone trying to shoot and drive at the same time and crashing into a pole because they had the camera up to their eye.  

Don't do it!!!  Or, don't do it, unless you can find a way to rig the camera out of the way of normal driving like I did.

Workshops...

Remember, just because a photographer offers a workshop, it doesn't necessarily mean that he's a great photographer.  Anyone can "offer" a workshop, but that doesn't mean it will be money well-spent.  I'm not directing this at any one photography workshop - and I know there are several amazing workshops out there.  

I'm just saying, make sure you spend your money wisely.  Ask around and make sure other people on your same skill level learned something from it, before you go dropping a bunch of money.  There is no government entity that regulates workshops, so the only way to know what you are getting is to do some serious research beforehand.