It's Been a Concert Month...

I used to shoot concerts ALL the time. For the last ten to fifteen years, it would probably average out to be a couple, maybe a few, every single week. I saw a LOT of shows! Of course, I eventually started doing more editorial features and lifestyle photography. I started getting magazine cover shoots and corporate work. I shot more band promo material and album covers. It all takes away from the amount of time you can focus on live shows. In the last couple years, I probably only shot a couple shows a month.

This last month feels like the good old days again. I've shot plenty of concerts and have another live show lined up for tomorrow night. Sure, covering a concert for a newspaper doesn't pay as well as a magazine feature, and it definitely doesn't compare to some of the corporate and commercial work I've done. However, it just feels good to be back in the photo pit with fans screaming behind me and rock stars jamming in front of me.

Here are some clippings/tear sheets from the last week or two, showing some of the concerts I've enjoyed shooting - including Green Day, Jonas Brothers, Creed and Anthony Hamilton. Of course, if you subscribe to the wonderful Dallas Morning News, you've probably already seen them...

Polaroid Type 55 Lives Forever!!!

Regarding Polaroid Type 55 film, all I can say is WOW!!!!! I never knew it was practically immortal?!? I had a box that expired in August 2002, and it had been open since 2005 or 2006. It's the black and white 4x5" Polaroid film that comes with a negative and a positive in one. It develops in about 20 seconds. I loved the negative that it made, and wish I could still easily get it.

Well, I was playing around with my Cambo Legend tonight and decided to dig through its case for some cut film holders to use. That's when I discovered the open box of Type 55 and another open box of some Polaroid color instant film. This film has been sitting open for several years, and I really just tried it as a joke. Uhhhhhhh... no joke here, the film actually still worked!!!

As you'll see below, the developer didn't "completely cover the paper and negative, but I think it's just as much my old holder's fault. Sure, the developer is over eight years expired, so it may not be quite as eager to spread, but I remember this holder giving me problems when I last used it years ago.

Anyway, isn't it amazing the film still works? Like most other expired Polaroid films, the color box was completely dried up and unusable. I've got two unopened boxes of Polaroid in my gear closet - one is a Type 52, I think, and the other is another Type 55! I'm guessing and hoping the unopened box of Type 55 is still good, too. I guess I'll find out sooner or later.

I tested these three sheets of the 55 tonight. I can't find what I did with the fixer I'm supposed to use on the negatives, so they may not survive for long. I'm sure I probably threw out the bottle I had, as I thought I'd never need it again. If only I had known that Polaroid Type 55 lives forever...

My Little John Travolta...

I had just finished a few days of heavy shooting, and I had a slow Saturday. I didn't have to head out to a shoot for a couple hours, so I thought I'd play around in the studio with my 3 year old boy. We did a sort of Saturday Night Fever/Studio 54 look, just for fun...