Oh Yeah, I Remember this One!!

© Michael Warth

Last year, I had the opportunity to make some photos of Shaun Foist. A great drummer, who now plays for the California based band, Picture Me Broken.

Why is this "blog worthy"? Simple, as a photographer we sometimes forget the importance of a good picture. Stuck in the moment, and never looking beyond the task at hand. Yes, I was shooting promos for another band when I met Shaun. We made the photos, and the job was done.

About a week ago, Shaun contacted me to discuss the usage of a few of the photos I took of him. I said sure, and though I was already aware of his move to California and his new gig with Picture Me Broken, I had no idea how well the band has been doing.

I heard of Picture Me Broken, but could not remember how I knew of them. Then, after looking at some of the band's photos on Facebook I realized they were featured in Alternative Revolt Magazine (Issue #14). Then it was a "doh!" moment as I slapped my forehead and said, "oh, I remember now!" One would think, I would remember every interview, every concert review, and every other article as the Director of Photography for the magazine but honestly...I am lucky to remember what I wrote or took pictures of last month for the magazine!

Therefore, as photographers, never forget how important it is to make a good picture for now, and for the future. You may never know how important that photo is to someone or yourself in years to come. And by the way, this also means that you need to store your images in a way that makes them easy to find later! Have a system, and make back-ups!! This goes for family photos too.

Later

Warth Photo: Changes Coming Part II

After yesterday's post about changes I received a few emails asking me if I was doing or not doing certain things. At the core of the emails there was a concern that I was completely changing and off to do something else as a photographer or even worse...quitting.

To make it simple:

• No, I'm not planning on becoming a wedding photographer.
• No, I have no desire to focus on becoming a studio portrait photographer specializing in babies and/or senior pictures.
• No, I'm not jumping ship and abandoning the music photography scene. Though live concerts are going to be less of a concern for me.
• No, I am not selling my gear and taking up an international career as a professional checker player, shoe salesman, astronaut, bigfoot hunter, etc.

Generally speaking, and I have a lot of work ahead of me, the following analogy explains my vision as a photographer...

A chef plans a meal...

He chooses the ingredients based on the meal he wants to make. He prepares the ingredients, times everything, works his magic on the edge of chaos to produce a meal perfectly created for someone else to consume. At the final moment, he ‘plates’ the meal for presentation and hands his work off to the waiter to deliver the meal to the customer who eagerly sits and waits for the meal.

What does this analogy mean? It means I enjoy the process as much as the final result. In some cases even more. I see a shoot as a project, a special undertaking where I get to collaborate with my client to make them look their best. Preparing for and planning the shoot is like when the chef plans the meal and gathers the ingredients. Working on the set, or location with the client(s), the talent, and any helpers, is like the cooking part. Plating is when the chef makes the meal perfect, for me, that is the editing and retouching work.

In other words, I love the overall process of making pictures for a specific result. I believe working in the 'Lifestyle & Portrait' photography genre (not just music photography for promotional and editorial) provides me the opportunities I am looking for as a photographer.  My clients are still bands looking for promos, but I may also shoot other interesting people for editorial, promotional, or even commercial usage. The "lifestyle" part of the equation is that I hope to keep my work focused on a particular type of client and the overall lifestyle associated with the client. I hope to make pictures that capture the moment, the place in life, the essence of who my client is. Not just another nice picture.

There is so much more that I could say, but I would be splitting hairs. The just of this is that I want to make cool pictures, of cool people, cool places, and have fun doing it. I will produce work from my gut, for my clients, and for me. Yes, the vision is broad. However, the focus is very clear to me. That particular focus is just hard to put into words...maybe when I start sharing photos, and the 'Behind the Scenes' stuff here on the blog it will make more sense.

Cheers

Warth Photo: Changes Coming

Hi All,

Without going into great detail of where I started as a photographer, or how my introduction to digital photography was more about working as a retoucher for others, I want to shift gears here a bit.

As you know, it has been a long time since the last post. However, I have been more busy as a photographer than ever. I am a firm believer in following your passion, and as a photographer I think it is critical to find your vision. Not everyone is cut out (or should be) a wedding photographer, senior portrait studio, photojournalist, etc.

Over the past 8 months, I have been very involved with making promotional photos, photos for my new blog (http://www.thethirstymuse.com) and product photos that truly made me sit back and reevaluate what I consider my photographic vision to be. With that said, I always pictured myself as an editorial kind of shooter, following the path of many great concert photographers. Honestly though, I was getting jaded, and the whole thing started to feel like a lot of fluff. I had the most fun shooting bands backstage, meeting them, and making photos. The live gig was, for lack of better phrasing, not as exciting.

I like to share stories, I like to make photos, and above all, I like the lifestyle type of shooting...the environmental portraiture has become the big deal for me. Yes, making the photo is cool, but the production value, meeting the client on their terms, and creating a likeness of them that truly represents who they are and what they do is far more creative for me than going to a concert and making "action" shots look cool for editorial use.

I hope to share a lot with you here on the Warth Photo Blog in the coming months. I know this is not a huge announcement, or a newsworthy post, but I wanted to get this off my chest for a very long time. The change is coming, I am excited, and a little nervous. The photo industry is so saturated, and so difficult to compete with others, that no matter what I do (or the other photographers reading this), the important thing is to do what feels right, comes from my gut, and drives my passion beyond making a living.

- Mike

Mayhem Fest 2011

Mayhem Fest 2011 came into Cincinnati, Ohio July 20th. As with past Mayhem Festivals, there were several well known "main stage" acts and several lesser known bands on two side stages. The set times and bands for Cincinnati were:

On the Side Stages:

• Mobile Death Camp - 1:45 (Jagermeister stage)
• Straight Line Stitch - 2:05 (Revolver stage)
• Red Fang - 2:35 (Jagermeister stage)
• All Shall Perish - 3:05 (Revolver stage)
• Kingdom of Sorrow - 3:35 (Jagermeister stage)
• Suicide Silence - 4:05 (Revolver stage)
• Unearth - 4:35 (Jagermeister stage)
• In Flames - 5:05 (Revolver stage)
• Trivium - 5:40 (Jagermeister stage)

On the Main Stage:

• Machine Head - 6:25
• Megadeth - 7:15
• Godsmack - 8:30
• Disturbed - 9:55

I took hundreds of photos, and though I missed Mobile Death Camp, Straight Line Stitch, and Unearth due to making arrangements with In Flames to do a cover shoot, there was a lot to see. To be blunt, I feel like I missed a lot. There is always so much to see at a festival like this, and it really might be too much for the fan who just wants to see a concert.

Of the photos I got from the media pit, the following are a few of my favorites...

Dan Donegan of Disturbed

Disturbed always puts on a great show, and although the media pit was way too small and packed with a lot of photographers, Dan provided all of us ample opportunities to get a great shot.

Shannon Larkin of Godsmack on drums

As a drummer myself, watching Shannon Larkin play is like watching an animated machine with a wild and chaotic style play the drums with pure precision.

Niclas Engelin - guitarist of the Swedish band In Flames

Niclas was a blast on stage. Honestly, the entire In Flames band was entertaining on stage. Though I knew of the band, I had never purchased any of their albums. After seeing them live, I wondered why. They have sold over 2 million records and continue to gain fans all over the world. Their style of "melodic metal" is a little bit different (in a good way), and definitely not the tired sound of so many other metal bands.

Adam Duce - Bass guitar - Machine Head

Machine Head always puts on a great show, there is so much I could say. The bottom line, the band has massive stage presence, and the sound remains solid after all these years.

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine sporting the double neck flying V

Seeing Megadeth again in Ohio within a year, and a day after my birthday was awesome to say the least. The band was on 100% with their set and appeared to be having a great time playing for the 18 to 20 thousand metalhaeads at Riverbend.

Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence

Suicide Silence is a high energy, metal-core band from California - they drove the crowd like a mad wave of anger. I expected a lot of injuries in the mosh pit, but it looked like everyone survived.

Matt Heafy - Trivium

Trivium - Holy @#$&! I did not expect them to carry such a heavy set. Between them and In Flames, I could have called it a day. They would make a great show on their own and the fact Trivium was a side stage band one could watch before the main acts on this tour is a testament to the quality of bands on the tour.

There are still several dates on the tour - get out and see these bands.

Cheers, I'm off to eat pizza and drink some beer...

\m/

In Flames - Backstage before the show

In Flames - © Michael Warth

I have so much to share about yesterday's Mayhem Fest in Cincinnati, but for now, I just want to give a shout out to the Swedish band In Flames, their tour manager, Laura (the onsite coordinator), the BC Rich guitar rep, and everyone back at their management company for helping me and Alternative Revolt Magazine set-up a quick photo-shoot before their set.

In Flames is to be Alternative Revolt Magazine's cover feature (August issue)...check it out, check out the band, and see them on tour!

- more to come

\m/

Mayhem Fest is coming...

Quick post here,

Stay tuned to the blog this week. One of my favorite festivals is coming to Ohio this Wednesday - Rockstar Energy Drink, Mayhem Fest 2011!!

I'll be there covering the event for Alternative Revolt Magazine, and sharing some "behind the scenes" photography type stuff here on the blog later in the week.

\m/

Motley Crue - Live 2011

motley crue 20110626 live 011, originally uploaded by michael.warth.