The same friend that took us down to see Datarock in Seattle gets around in Vancouver’s music scene.  She’s introduced us to a bunch of very different acts, and we’ve worked on many projects with her.  She’s currently running an event management company, is in two bands (one with a record deal, the other soon to be playing their first gig) helps manage a couple more, and also works on a top-secret project with us called Playground.  Long story short, she’s busy.

One of the bands she introduced us to was The Famous Players, a staple of the Vancouver party band scene.  We were shooting a group shot but capturing the members either on their own or in small groups.  Fortunatley whoever was on the camera spotted something just out of frame and pulled back a bit to crack this one off.  ’Nuff said.

It's not just monsters that lurk in the shadows.

Unfortunately for those lots of people, they’re probably not reading our blog.  Can’t really blame them. But just in case, here’s one of a few gems we live by.

The Problem:

While Adam’s all about the portability of his trusty silver Macbook, I have an iMac at the office and (much like DJ Hi-Tek) a PC computer at home.  The iPad generally travels with me but it’s essentially a frisbee when it comes to multi-media content creation.  So I need access to files in both places, and I’m amazing at losing or breaking USB sticks. The last one got submerged in cat food. Long story.

The Solution:

Sugarsync

This free nifty little app allows me to sync a few folders between work and home.  I sync a few:

1. Derivative working – when I’m going to work on a file, I process the RAW (that’s sat on a server in the office) to a 16/bit PSD in this folder.  Like magic, within a few minutes it’s on both computers.

2. Lightroom folders that involve presets, etc – by syncing these it doesn’t matter which terminal I’m sat in front of, I always have the same development presets, export presets, web gallery templates (etc, etc) at my finger tips.

3. Ditto Photoshop folders.

The reason I use Sugarsync for this and not another popular app called Dropbox, is that Sugarsync gives you a whopping 5GB of free space compared to Dropbox’s 2GB.  We do use Dropbox as well, but for something a bit different.

And, if you’re ever in a bind you can always download your files from their website and work on someone else’s computer.

I know what you’re thinking:

1. Why not just buy a laptop?  Well, they suck for video editing.  And it’s $3K I’d rather spend on something else.  There are in fact many other reasons.

2. You use a PC?  Aren’t they shit?  I’m not touching that. But let me say that they both work sometimes, they both break sometimes, and they both have their advantages and disadvantages (that have nothing to do with cost). Anyone who thinks one is universally better than the other is a moron.

Just over a year ago we headed down to Seattle with a good friend to shoot Datarock performing live at some venue we’ve long since forgotten the name of. The thing about shooting bands is that the images rarely find a home on our site.

We should probably change our site (it’s in the pipes) as it’s some of the most interesting work we do.

On that note, after the gig we headed to an underground karaoke bar at about 3am.  It was slim pickings – not many places you can sing, drink booze and get edible food are open at that time in the morning, and this place fulfilled two of those three requirements.  There was a menu, but “unidentifiable on a plate” didn’t look too appealing.

Either way, Freddy started wailing to Bowie, a mini-keg appeared from somewhere, and the rest is a distant blur.

]]> http://www.adamandkev.com/wordpress/music/b-roll-shot-of-the-day/feed/ 2 http://www.adamandkev.com/wordpress/photography/a-photo-of-someone-taking-a-photo-of-two-people-taking-a-photo-of-themselves/ http://www.adamandkev.com/wordpress/photography/a-photo-of-someone-taking-a-photo-of-two-people-taking-a-photo-of-themselves/#comments Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:11:24 +0000 Kev http://www.adamandkev.com/wordpress/?p=216 It’s all gone a bit Inception.

A couple of weeks ago one of our neighbors at the studio came by to show us a photo series that he’s working on.  As a side note, this neighbour, Jonathan Dy, is the art equivalent of that kid you went to school with who could play any sport just by watching it for a few seconds.  I guess I always thought of him as a painter, but in the last year or so he’s become pretty prolific with a camera.

He’s currently shooting a series called “Shots in the Dark”, which plays on a trick that used to be more common in the days of film photography – using a long (up to 60 second) exposure and multiple strobes of a flash to create a composite in one frame. Essentially painting with light, but not as lame-sounding.

The thing about Jonathan is that once he starts something he dives right in, and in a few short weeks he’s already shot a bunch of these with the likes of human beatbox/poet CR Avery, Polaris long-listed Vancouver six-piece Brasstronaut, and Studio 304′s second finest photographer Adam Blasberg.  And now us.

We were pretty honored to take part, and so the three of us had a production meeting where we started planning what turned out to be one of the most technically tricky things to do in a pitch black room with white walls – take a photo of me and Adam taking a photo of ourselves on a 4×5 camera.  Sounds simple until you start thinking about how much light you need on the “subject” me and Adam to get any kind of registration on the ground glass.  Yep, stupid amounts.

Not only did he pull it off, he also managed to run a second camera shooting him shooting us.

That’s showboating.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LphYeNO1n6A

Posting a video one day and an (almost) identical one the next day is a bit of a cop-out I guess, but hey, a bunch of people seemed to like the Taxi version so here’s the Rethink one for those who hold Rethinking close to their heart.

And if you’re reading this in the Rethink Vancouver office, there’s a magazine laying around somewhere that shows, amongst other things, a gang of unruly-looking thugs in the middle.  The generic digital version (that’s best viewed on a 1080p screen or it all gets very small) is here: http://www.adamandkev.com/veryimportantpeople.htm

Viva la shameless self-promotion.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QUc5gDHiOk

Back in the summer we made a few portfolio books for different ad agencies in Vancouver. Each one had a custom made cover. This is the stop-motion story of how one of those cover shots came together.

In truth the stop motion took longer than the shot.  But Adam loves stop motion. And partial nudity.

There are probably more of these to come -- one is in the can, with just the editing to do.

Nations unite in their appreciation of Téa

Let’s get one thing straight from the start.  It’s Téa.  Pronounced Tay-ah.  That said, I might be wrong on the pronounciation.  It just sounds way better coming from the lady herself.

The Serbian-born Kits resident is another star from the Peak Performance Project who put in months of stress, sweat, and song-stuff (I ran out of “s” words – put the Pulitzer on ice) during her journey into the top 20.  She normally performs with a band, but when she strolled into the Blenz on Hastings on a sunny Sunday morning, holding nothing but a small pink battery-power amp, it was up to her and her alone to convince those inside to put down their coffee and enjoy the Téa.  Ouch.

To describe hearing her sing and seeing her play piano is tricky.  It’s hypnotic.  Imagine if Amy Winehouse didn’t lose her mind, looks, and empathy and your halfway there.  Again, I’m clearly not doing it justice.  Check her out here and save yourself any more of my ramblings:

http://www.teasmusic.com/

More acts to follow in the next couple of days, including a young girl who should go far, and seven girls who recently played to 15,000 people at one of the torch ceromines.  As always, keep an eye on Twtter:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

By Adam and Kev Photography – www.adamandkev.com

Danny Echo

I wasn’t entirley sure how this one would go.  When you take a band with a reputation for audacious (read: probably dangerous) show pieces involving pyrotechnics, smoking guitars, and even the odd fire extinguisher, and then strip them of every piece of electrical equipment and put them on a cafe patio at three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, you have to make sure you insurance is in order.  If they sneak something in, it could all go Backdraft very quickly.

As it turned out, the boys from Danny Echo put on a great accoustic show.  They’ve had some very recent experience with a very simular idea – as part of their top 20 finish in the Peak Performance Project (if you haven’t heard of it, check it out here) they undertook a tour of the GRVD skytrain system.  They made it quite a fair way before security decided it was all a little bit too exciting and sent them on their way.  We did no such thing, as Blenz again played gracious host in Yaletown.

The boys went down very well with the passing crowds – some of whom may have been running from the death metal band playing at one end of the street, or the jazz band playing at the other.  Either way, lots of music and/or coffee lovers found refuge in the heavan created by the boys, though one little kid did seem more interested in his Tonka firetruck.  They left after three songs, and within minutes were putting on another impromtu gig about a block away on the walk back to the car.

Canadians. Good at Hockey. Bad at Dancing.

Check them out at www.dannyecho.com. We’re pretty much doing another show every day next week (two in some cases), so keep an eye on Twitter:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

By Adam and Kev Photography – www.adamandkev.com

Garrett Kato just after his three-song secret session.

He’s had a busy year – top ten in 99.3 The Fox’s “Seeds”, top 20 in 100.5 The Peak’s (incredible yet somehow not that well known yet) Peak Performance Project, and he played the Van’s Warped Tour.  Despite all this, Garrett generously gave us some time tonight to be the second of the surprise gigs that will be erupting across the city over the next couple of weeks.

Garrett has a voice that stops people in their tracks.  Especially female people.  Glad I bought my girlfriend with me then.  I could tell you all about his music but I’d never do it justice.  Better you just go here and check it out instead:

http://garrettkato.com/music

The venue (Blenz on Davie and Granville) had a couple of points of interest.  On the outside Canadian fans and a man dressed as a banana (over?) celebrated an 8-0 win over rank outsiders Norway.  No offence guys, but they were 1000-1 to win the gold before the tournament even started.  I think my odds of wining it weren’t too far behind.  Inside the cafe, a lady in full make-up was sleeping on a stool.  That takes awesome balance.  Or a lot of booze.

Next secret gig coming soon (and video of the last two I promise!).  Here are the Twitter feeds you need to be following now so you don’t miss the next one, and we might not announce it from all of us.  Maybe we’re lazy, maybe we’re forgetful, or maybe we’re just plain sneaky.  Either way, you’ve been warned.   And remember, you’ll only get a few hours notice:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

Aaron Grant caught in the parade.

Saturday night saw the first of many spontaneous mini-sessions – artists and bands playing impromptu gigs throughout the city.  Blenz were kind enough to play host for this project, and there will no doubt be many more bemused/surprised/gleeful coffee drinkers in the weeks to come as the local (and maybe not so local) talents break into acoustic loveliness.  Follow the guys below on Twitter to get announcements for the next gig.  Hint: it’s really soon.  And you’ll only get a few hours notice:

Metro-Blenz News Squad: @metroblenznews

The minds behind the music, Young Executive Music Inc: @YoungExecMusic

And of course, us: @adamandkev

The brave act for gig #1 was Broken Condom Babies frontman Aaron Grant (http://www.myspace.com/aarongrantmusic) playing songs from his solo project.  The set was punctuated by screams as a parade of thousands poured by the Helmcken & Hamilton Blenz, and in addition to some phenomenal one-man moments of musical mastery, we managed to get him in the crowd for a very quick photo.

Stay tuned for video of the show – it’ll be worth the wait.  For now, keep your eyes peeled on Twitter and wait for the next show…