Tag: Spectral Manifest

Rest in Peace, Maurice Eagle

The photography world and the local Houston music scene lost a member.  Maurice Eagle had been battling colon cancer and succumbed to it on the morning of 23 March 2017.  After having moved from Austin to Houston, Maurice brought a unique perspective to photographing bars.

When I first saw Maurice, it was just about a year ago at a show at Acadia (I believe it was Ten Ton Hammer).  He had with him a unique setup – it was his camera (with what appeared to be a super wide angle lens) and 2 external flashes mounted on a wooden plank.  I thought this was unusual so I decided to ask him about it.  After he introduced himself, I immediately saw the reasons for his setup.  I had been looking at his work on and off for a while.  During our conversation, he took care to mention several times that he was NOT a concert photographer, but that he was a bar photographer and there is a difference.  I didn’t press him on that point, but I understood that approach when looking at his images.

Blood Of An Outlaw (Scout Bar, Feb 2017)

Whenever I see another photographer at a show, there is always a sense of competition.  There is the obvious – will he or she get a better moment than I?  Will this person be able to capture more quality images than I can?  Why won’t they move from that spot because I would like some from that angle as well?  But those are in the moment, when I’m trying to realize my own vision and there’s someone else honing in to try to satisfy theirs.  After the set is over, that sense is gone and we move on to the next.  But there is also that sense of competition when I’m looking at other concert work, and it is competition with myself.  When I see high quality work, I ask how I can push myself to up my own output.  After that first conversation with Maurice, the more banal sense of competition was quickly dispelled when he told me he was a bar photographer.  His work inspired me to push myself even further, and was one of the prompts for my experimentation with color photography as discussed here.

Beyond Oblivion (BFE Rock Club, Nov 2016)

That’s not to say I was going to try to copy his style.  Maurice’s style was pretty unique and incorporated things with which I don’t care to work.  These things include HDR processing and highly saturated colors.  I’ve experimented with those elements in the past and it just doesn’t work for me.  When they’re done well, they can really look good, and Maurice certainly did these things very well.  In the above photo of Beyond Oblivion, the selection here (because photography is a selective process) illustrates why he did this well.  The saturation of the colors doesn’t assault one’s vision in the way many HDR processing saturations do.  This is due to the fact that the image has an analogous color scheme (green – blue – blue violet – violet), which not only is pleasing to the eye, it creates harmony and serenity.  The HDR processing created the contrasts necessary for this work.  Overall, the colors juxtapose nicely with the subject, which at the time was delivering an all out sonic assault.  The venue’s logo, although partially obscured, does still have a prominent place, letting us know where there was taken.

Chaotic Justice (Fitzgerald’s, Sep 2016)

Here is another example of Maurice’s touch.  Here he selected an image with complementary colors (a tinted blue and a shaded orange).  The orange around the subjects stands out nicely against the blue light, framing the mostly black-clad performers.  Again, the venue logo is obscured, but still occupies a prominent space in the frame so as to be unmistakable.

I did not talk about Maurice’s use of a super wide lens in this as it is not something on which I can comment in an intelligent manner.  I’ve only used my super wide for landscape images, never for a concert performance.  That stems mostly from the fact that when one gets close, the edges tend to distort.  I’m a precisionist by nature when I make images, and it’s hard for me to break that habit sometimes.  I’ve seen some concert photographers use it at shows as it creates a chaotic effect, especially when the performers and crowd are both in the frame.  Since Maurice was a bar photographer, I imagine creating that sense of chaos wasn’t his intent.  Sadly, I can only speculate that since his goal was to capture 1 single image that encompassed the whole of the stage, he had no choice but to use this type of lens.

Spectral Manifest (Scout Bar, May 2016)

Here is another example of Maurice’s mastery of color use – this time with a split-complementary scheme dominating the scene.

Although Maurice’s style is radically (for lack of a better term) different than mine, he still inspired me.  He had a unique style and he worked it perfection.  While I have a preferred style, I never pushed it to the same the level Maurice pushed his.  Now I am in competition with myself to push my style even further and create great images for my friends in the local Houston metal community.

I only got to meet you once, Maurice, but that meeting was something I wouldn’t trade for anything.  The only way I can thank you for your inspiration is to push my own style.   You’ve earned your immortality, good sir, and I hope when we meet again we can share some good stories about shooting some great shows.  Rest In Peace, friend.

You can view Maurice’s work on his Facebook page by clicking here.

The Houston Metal Project

So much for those plans for an entry on Roy de Carava.  As I started looking at things, I realized I didn’t really know how to say what I wanted to say on the subject of him and my own work.  So, I’m changing my tactic a little bit.  I think this will be a multi-part essay regarding my work and then bringing in how I’m being influenced by Roy de Carava and other artists.

A long time ago in my own galaxy in my own city not so far away…

If it hasn’t become plainly obvious to any of my regular readers, I’m a fan of heavy metal music.  I remember my preteen years of listening to the radio, especially the Top 40 countdowns every Sunday evening.  I liked the songs that were played, but always found myself more drawn to the rock and hard rock selections on the airwaves, e.g. “We’re Not Gonna Take it” by Twisted Sister and “Round and Round” by Ratt.  I was 13 when I got my first true heavy metal album, Motley Crue’s “Shout at the Devil.” The rest, to borrow a cliché, is history.

So we fast forward a few years (ok, at least a decade, but that’s all I’m revealing) and I’m getting into photography.  I wanted to learn to how to use a DSLR camera to take better concert photos for a website I was trying to build at the time.  The effect was twofold – I learned how to use my camera and it reawakened the artist lying dormant within me.  I took photos of big touring acts when I could get a pass, but there wasn’t really any direction with them.  I was looking for that one image that could go on the website with an article, and that was about it. When I started my run at Coog Radio, the college radio station at the University of Houston (UH), I started scratching the surface of the local heavy metal scene in Houston.  What I found was a scene that was vibrant and relatively untapped.  Again, I took images when I felt like it (sometimes you just have to leave the camera at home and be a fan), but again, there was no real direction with my activities.

Given my love of heavy metal and art, it was a no-brainer to merge the 2.  Instead of designing logos or album covers, I wanted to use my particular skills to bring a new visual perspective to the scene, with my primary focus on Houston.  With a click of the mouse, The Houston Metal Project was born in the Spring of 2014.  Now what was I going to do with it?

The project was initially started as a depository for the images I created at local shows, with the focus being on local artists.  I also photograph national touring acts when I can (it’s not very easy to get photo passes to venues they play) as they add to the scene when they play in Houston.  The bulk of the collection, however, is made up of images of local talent, with some of them on their way to becoming national acts.

 

Jonathan Bayliss of Desecrate The Faith (2014)

Jesse Brisendine of Behelit (2014)

Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society on the Revolver Golden Gods Tour (2014)

The 3 images above are part of the early months of my activities.  These images to me represented the first steps I was taking as they seemed to capture the intensity of the live heavy metal performance, even if the focus isn’t as great as it could be.  I definitely noticed a style developing.

Depravis Nocturna of Spectral Manifest (2014)

It was this image of Depravis Nocturna that crystallized the style I was going to work to develop.  I wanted to stay in black and white and fill the frame as much as possible.  I would use the venue lighting when possible, but I wasn’t going to rule out using my external flash if necessary.  I couldn’t let all that time spent learning to effectively bounce light to go to waste, could I?

King Diamond (2014)

Nergal of Behemoth (2015)

Stage detail of Testament (2015)

Lit stage at Testament (2015)

The images above represent a little bit of a departure from my developed style – King Diamond was actually posing for his portrait on stage.  I also dabbled a little bit in storytelling and stage detail.  It usually happens more with national acts than local acts.  I’m sure the show budget has a lot to with that.

Helmuth Lehner of Belphegor (2016)

John Hull of Desecrate The Faith (2016)

Alice Lima Lovchik of Insolvent (2016)

The images above are part of an experiment in color photography.  I decided after this phase I was going to concentrate solely on black and white for this project.  I will discuss that in my next entry as it pertains to what I’ve been thinking about as I wind my way through this endeavor.  It’s not that I’m unhappy with these.  I wouldn’t put them out if I were.  They just don’t fit my vision.  As an aside – Ms. Lovchik is a graduate of the University of Houston Law School.  Last I heard, she was studying for her bar exam.  Best of luck to you, Alice!

Casey Howard of Suicide Pandemic (2017)

It’s 3 years into this project.  I have over 1000 images published (I haven’t counted) on the Facebook page for this project, whittled down from the tens of thousands taken over the past 3 years.  I have an endgame in mind for what I’m doing, but I’m not quite ready to take that step just yet.  I am, however, going to be taking a very critical look at what I have made so far, and charting a future based on that.

I promise my next entry will be sooner than later.  I knew there was going to come a time when I needed to start taking trips down the intellectual rabbit hole and charting out a more concrete direction for this project.  As for now, you can comment as you like below.

The published images can be seen on the project’s Facebook page.  Just click here.

Rock and Roll Work pt II

The call for entry for the Rock and Roll show at the Minneapolis Photo Center has been answered.  I submitted a total of 6 images to this show.  In the end I chose 4 performance images, 1 of a stage set detail, and another of the equipment sitting on stage, waiting to be picked up.  This was by no means an easy decision, as I have hundreds of good quality images in my archive (from thousands taken) and I had to narrow down to around 5.  I say around 5 because the entry fee allows for 5 images, with each additional costing US$10 per image.

These images were chosen for what they represent in the heavy metal genre on the side of the performer.  King Diamond, with his theatrical stage show, brings forth as much fury and power as any other more aggressive band.  The inverted cross represents the adversarial nature of relationship of heavy metal (and all of rock music) and religion.  Depravis Nocturna of Spectral Manifest brings forth his own fury while maintaining a strict focus.  As the most important instrument, the electric guitar is easily the most universal symbol of rock and roll.  Even when it is not being played, the potential energy is barely contained within.  Jeffrey Nothing epitomizes the horrific nature of some of the subject matter of heavy metal.  There exists a certain mystique to the rock and roll artist in everything from the lifestyle to the live performance.  Aaron Meyers, with the lights seeking him out, maintains and projects that mystique from the shadows as he plays his guitar during an extended solo.

King DiamondInverted Cross - King DiamondDepravis NocturnaFlying V Guitars Jeffrey NothingAaron Meyers

I want to greatly thank Stevie, Brenda, and Justin for their help in curating this entry.  Without them, I would have had a very difficult time focusing (and even beginning).  And Stevie gets an extra thanks for bringing this call to my attention.

I am under no assumption that all of these will get in, but at least 1 would be nice.

So I guess the waiting begins.  It’s time to go live my life while the juror makes his decision.