With SXSW — There and Back Again

I know that SXSW is already way old news, but I don’t care. And anyways, this won’t really be about SXSW because the best part of the whole trip for me was travelling there and back with some of my favorite people in the entire known universe. Although I suppose you should know that Greylag had the opportunity to play a few showcases in Texas, and the folks footing the bill figured it’d be better to drive the band and all the equipment down to Austin rather than fly. And so, the following are shots from the road to Texas from Oregon (and then back).

Driving from Portland to Austin takes a solid 35 hours. Factor in the kinds of miscellaneous delays, food breaks, and pee stops that accompany a group of six (or seven) people, and you’re easily looking at 40 hours on the road — most of which is barren wasteland. God help you if your van breaks down near, oh say, Melrose, New Mexico. If the coyotes don’t get ya, the locals probably will (no, seriously). But as someone who is A) from green, green Portland and B) only passing through, the desolation can be quite the beautiful change of pace, so I was excited to make the trip.

Since we had to make it down to Austin for a Greylag show, time didn’t really permit us to stop and look around until our return trip. As we drove through Moab, we were able to spend a few hours in Arches National Park, which promptly impressed us all (or at least me). Really, though, it’s amazing the number of different environments a drive like that will take you through. In a span of two days, we travelled through forests, rivers, mountains, deserts, plains, blizzards and heat waves. It’s enough to give one’s immune system a complex.

Landscapes aside, the real joy of trips like these is all the time spent in good company. It’s sometimes said that the road will test the mettle of one’s friendships, and I believe it. We all loved each other before we left, and the fact that we’re all still breathing is proof enough that the love is, indeed, stronger. I used to hate road trips, but that was before I realized why God made them. Now I look forward to each and every opportunity to travel with people like these (becoming a photographer helped, too, I bet). Yay, road. Yay.

With Rockie Nolan in Austin

While I was down in Texas, I was finally able to meet up with Rockie Nolan. I say finally because in the last two months, we’ve come a hair’s breadth from making contact on three separate occasions. It finally took something like SXSW to do the trick.

Rockie is one of my favorite lady photographers, but is also a legitimately rad person. My only regret is that we had so little time together. As it happens, Ms. Nolan is graduating from SCAD in only a few weeks, before she moves up north to Brooklyn. I suppose this just means I have yet another reason to haul myself back out to New York. Hard life.

On a side note, is there a law in Austin requiring homeowners to plant cacti in their front yards? Cause I’d gladly comply with said law. One of the most striking things to me in Austin were all of the giant agave plants, so please forgive me if I went a bit overboard here. I’m kinda jealous just cause I can’t have a massive ball of spikes growing in my front yard here in Portland. Flippin rain. Flippin lack of sunlight. Again, hard life.

With Meredith Adelaide — Springtime in Portland

Springtime in Portland is the business. Practically everything in the city gets covered in flowers, including the trees. There’s nothing quite like a backlit cherry tree in full bloom against a bright blue sky. Needless to say, though, days like that are somewhat rare. In March, Portland is still very much in the depths of its rainy season. So a few days ago, on a particularly sunny afternoon, I found myself roaming my friend’s neighborhood, trying to grab shots of the cherry blossoms while the gettin was good.

But after just a few minutes of walking, I realized that this was an occasion for friends. So after a moment of contemplation, a couple of quick texts to the ever-beautiful Meredith Adelaide, and we were off.

A walk around the block and one roll of film later, this is what we had. Quick and easy and awesome.

With Kimbra Johnson – SXSW

Normally, I’m not really one for performance photography, but I dig Kimbra (if you haven’t seen this or this (lordy, those shoulder shrugs), you’ve probably been doing something else the last few months). So I made a point of making sure catching one of her shows was on my “things to do while in Austin” list. And considering that SXSW was her first time playing in the US, the timing was right for exceptions.

Kimbra played three or four shows during her stay in Austin, and I only made it to the first two — sadly, neither of them were during daylight hours. But in any case, here are a few shots from her first set during the Nikon party at La Zona Rosa. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect as Kimbra followed acts by a beat boxer (who’s name I may have purposefully forgotten) and a blue grass set via the Punch Brothers. It definitely felt like someone had left things on shuffle. Let’s just say, though, that ‘expressive’ is a pertinent adjective with regards to Ms. Johnson. Either way, it was a real fine thing to be able to see her live. She has the goods. Yes ma’am.

While we’re all talking about Kimbra for a minute, it happens that her Portland show is kinda sold out. So, with that in mind, if you are a person who’s going and have an extra ticket, it’d win you infinite hugs if I could tag along.

Oh, and also, yes, she is as charming in person.

With Anya Marina and Felony Flats

Where to begin with this one? For starters, it’s a fact that Anya Marina’s newest record Felony Flats just dropped today(ish). It’s also a fact that I was lucky enough to have Felony Flats be the first real album cover I’ve shot, which is kind of a big deal. So I guess it’s been sort of a big day for her and I both.

In all earnestness, though, being able to work with Anya was such a privilege. She really is a sweet and humble and unassuming person. Our first meeting was more about our mutual love for Russia rather than photography. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget the afternoon I met Anya at her home to discuss work where she ended up making me tea and stir fry as we talked about location options. More than anything, though, the lady just exudes an atmosphere of comfortability.

Gushing aside, Anya’s down-to-earth and easy-going nature simply made it really easy to work with her. In total, we ended up shooting for about a day and a half, and I can confidently say that more than a few of the resulting images are some of my all-time favorites. Below are the photos that were included in the packaging artwork for Felony Flats, along with one or two or three of my own personal favorites.

Regarding the album itself, I always seem to get in trouble whenever I try describing what bands sound like. Felony Flats has become a bit of a personal favorite for Anya, though, and she talks more in depth about things here and here and here.

In short, though, all you really need to know is that Felony Flats is totally jam-worthy, Anya is flippin awesome, and if you haven’t already gone here to check things out, ya should.

The end.

‘

With Radiation City

Plainly stated, I’ve grown to love the boys and girls of Radiation City and their music, and I was recently privileged enough to get the chance to shoot some promotional photos for the band’s upcoming EP release “Cool Nightmare” due out in April via Tender Loving Empire.

Now I suppose the first thing that bears noting about all this is that before we got together, a piano was destroyed for this new Rad City music video (a video that in no way should remind you of Office Space, btw). And we all decided that a photoshoot involving the broken remains of said piano might be a good starting point.

Originally to that end, we had planned a pretty ambitious two-day affair, involving another piano being chopped to bits and then either being glued back together or turned into something else entirely. Alas however, due to the limitations of scheduling and time, things were trimmed to a more manageable scope.

Constraints aside, things turned out pretty swell.  There is something about Randy’s portrait I especially dig — perhaps because it bears a semi-intentional resemblance to this guy.

Also of note, if you find yourself in the Austin area during the third week of March (like many of us are), make sure you take the time to catch one of their shows. They’ll be playing here and here and here and here and here and here. Oh, and also of interest, I plan on being at one of the above gigs, so if you wanna come give me a proper howdy-do, you have a 1-in-6 chance of guessing which one I’ll be at.

Good luck and I’ll see ya there!

With Catherine Ross

Occasionally, I’m reminded that the best part of being a photographer is the fact that I have a ready-made excuse to talk to anyone on the simple grounds that they pique my interest. This time, I happened to meet a certain Ms. Catherine Ross flying back to Portland from Colorado after Christmas. She and I were on the same flight from Salt Lake, and her bright red hair and striking features were hard to miss. I thought to myself “ohey, a redhead. That piques my interest. I should probably introduce myself” and then totally bailed on introducing myself.

But when we wound up standing next to each other at the passenger pickup zone, I figured Providence might be involved. So needless to say, bucking up was done, introductions were made, emails were exchanged, tea was served.

Incidentally, this is why a photographer should invest in a great business card. Nothing says “I swear I’m not a murderer” like letterpress.

In any case, Cat and I have actually shot together a few times now. The photos below are from a test we did a few weeks back. I can honestly say that a few of these have found their way onto my “favorite portraits I’ve yet taken” list. Nice.

With Greylag

Andrew and Dan are some of my closest friends, and I’m almost as fond of the music they make as I am of them. I spent a pretty sizable portion of 2011 following these guys around the continent with a camera and until now I’ve sat on the vast majority of the resulting photos at a loss as to how I was going to properly share them.

Well no longer!

To kick things off, I submit the following modest set of five images. These promo shots were taken to mark the auspicious occasion of Greylag signing to San Francisco-based label Ninth Street Opus, and just happen to be some of my favorites of the boys to date. I am especially fond of the first in the set. I think it’s the mountains that get me. Also, speaking of being signed, the band has a set of singles due out in only a few short weeks, so make a note of things in iCal.

So yeah. Expect to see the faces below frequenting my blog. I think we can all agree that it will be a blessing — like an unexpected-but-welcome mental back massage after a long and rewarding hard day’s work.

Oh, and if you aren’t already listening to their music yet, you should fix that. I think it’d be only fitting.

With La Grande and Laura Gibson

It’s January 24th! It’s a big day. Today, Laura Gibson’s new album La Grande is available to all the ears in the entire world. Lots of you may have already given the album a hear-see a few weeks back when NPR Music threw down their exclusive first listen, but a thing this nice deserves a many more run-throughs. Be sure to make it happen. You can, of course, grab the album off of iTunes, but it is offered by Barsuk on vinyl too (and CD as well if that’s still your thing).

I had the privilege a few months ago of shooting some promo photos with Ms. Gibson for La Grande, and so to mark this occasion, here are a few that have almost never been seen before. Look at them, and then realize how much you’d love to listen to Laura Gibson right about now.

I know I would.

With Lana Nyman

Lana and I have gotten together a few times now to take photos and it’s always pretty enjoyable. She resembles a younger, more easily-gotten-ahold-of Amanda Seyfried, which is braggable. And like so many of my recent personal shoots, having convened, we decided to throw a few old blankets into the truck and head down the river into the Columbia Gorge. I should mention it was freezing outside. I should also mention that I may have gotten a speeding ticket (but it was a set up, I swear). So yeah, it’s a good thing that the shots ended up turning out, or else it would have been a bit hard to swallow my Christmas present from the Gresham PD.

Speaking of which, I was hoping to have posted these before Christmas, what with the heavy green and red color palette, but time and life had other plans, so you’re only just seeing now. Sorry about that. Merry late Christmas (or early, however you wanna see things).

In all seriousness, though, Lana is a real beauty and it’s always a great experience taking photos with her. One or two of the photos from our outing turned out to be some of my all-time favorites for 2011 (this and this and this are her too). I can’t wait until the next time!

 

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