Rock & Roll Dreams, Plus A Case of "Ask & Ye Shall Receive"

Without a doubt, my greatest career dream is to be the official photographer for a rock band on tour. How great would it be to travel from destination to destination with a bunch of musicians, documenting the extremely hard work and all the many little details that go into making a tour happen, not to mention the passion and intensity of live performances? I figure if I want this dream to come true, I should probably get some practice first : ) So far I've pretty much just begged my buddy Greg to let me take pictures of his band when they perform live or even just at their practices, and I usually take along my camera when I go to shows in Bellingham, with a promise to share my photos with the band if there are any that turn out well enough to share.

A couple weeks ago I was actually hired to take some shots of the girls of Cabin Fever, Tara Wolfe and Dianne Bochsler, at their performance in the beer garden at Boundary Bay Brewery in downtown Bellingham. I worked with Tara and Dianne almost two years ago when they were in need of photographs for their cd cover and the three of us had an absolute blast that day. I had not yet made it to one of their performances, so I was very excited when they invited me to shoot their show at Boundary!

It seems like taking pictures of musicians standing on a stage would be easy, but I've found that it's really not. Between the microphones, stands, cords and other equipment, there is always something blocking the face of the singers. It's also tough to get a good shot of anyone while they are singing, and in this case, both performers sing. Most singers are very expressive by nature, and their faces move through various contortions that no one really notices until you stop a moment with a camera. Getting a flattering shot of a singer in action is challenging indeed. From this shoot I learned it is best to either rapidly fire off a lot of shots and hope for one good one, or wait for the instrumental moments when the singer is concentrating, or smiling at their stage partner (as always seems to be the case with Tara & Dianne- spend a little time with these girls and you'll quickly see how much they enjoy creating music together!)

I thought it would be fun to share some of my work of a different nature here, so I've gathered a handful of shots of Tara & Dianne doing that thing they do so well : )

During their break, I pulled the girls to the side for an impromptu photo shoot near the garden and had so much fun my abs hurt from laughing so hard (I'd forgotten how much of a ham Dianne can be when the camera is present!) By the time they were back on stage the sunlight had turned golden, a perfect match for Tara & Dianne's sweet-as-honey voices : )

Earlier in the evening I'd scouted out the alley behind Boundary to see if there was a good spot for a few more shots and decided the entrance to the Fairhaven Flour Mill was perfect. After the girls finished their set I dragged them out back for a private encore performance : )
I thought I'd also share the cover of their cd The Door Is Always Open featuring a few photographs from our first shoot together!

Tara & Dianne play regularly at various locations around Whatcom County... you can check the calendar page on their website for upcoming shows and make sure you also listen to some of their sample songs on the music page!

And now, part two of this blog entry... while I was out scouting the alley for photo settings, two guys in an old VW Vanagon stopped me and introduced themselves as members of the headlining band, Rise & Shine. With big smiles and great enthusiasm, Adam & Kurtis told me they'd seen me taking pictures of the opening band and asked if I would mind snapping off a few of their band while I was there. I firmly believe the energy you put out is the energy that comes back to you, and I've been on the receiving end of the "ask & ye shall receive" phenomenon many, many times, so my response to their request was a no-brainer. I told them to find a good spot to park the van and I'd do a quick shoot with them as soon as I was done with Tara & Dianne, but made them promise I'd get photo credit on their cd and a copy of it when it's done : ) Here are a few shots of the guys in Rise & Shine from Orcas Island... I didn't get to stay for their show, but I'll definitely be at one of their gigs in Bellingham later this month!