Tag Archives: Band Photography

Band Press Photos: Looking for Alaska

I have to tell you: here lately, the weather has turned beeyootiful in the Mid-South.  What a perfect time to do some press photos for the boys in Looking for Alaska!

The band and I made arrangements to meet downtown. Did we have a specific plan? No. Did we do some explorin’ until we found a couple of righteous places for snapping  photos? We sure did!

Being downtown, it’s hard to avoid a bunch of cliche backgrounds. When you’re photographing bands for promo or press photos, it’s SUPER hard to avoid cliches.  I had one rule: no brick walls. LFA had another rule: no fields. Other than that, we just set out on a trek around downtown Memphis. We were on a {photographic} mission.

When I started seeing spots that sparked my interest, I didn’t have to think “Is this trite? Has this been overdone?” All that mattered was getting these Looking for Alaska lads into those interest-sparking spots, getting them to interact with each other, and, you know, snapping a few photos along the way.

Someone in the group suggested we go to the Peabody rooftop. I hadn’t really been up there before and didn’t know what was in store for us since the light was getting so dim (thanks to autumn, which brought shorter days with it!) I was not too sure that we were going to have (what I like to call) a “workable situation” on our hands. But then, we rounded a corner on the rooftop and saw that there was an old-fashioned street lamp giving ample lighting underneath it. I breathed a sigh of relief.  I also loved how the camera picked up on the last bits of dusky light the sky was offering us in the background!

Once I’d called it a wrap on the rooftop and headed back indoors, we caught a glimpse of some VERY PINK light coming from a room off to the side. I thought for certain that the door would be locked. It wasn’t. Then I thought we would get yelled at for going into The Skyway. But then I reasoned with myself, “If they didn’t want us in there, they should have locked the door!”

We ended up having a GREAT time together. I hope to have the pleasure of photographing Looking For Alaska again in the future!

♥♥

Not a blog, just an update

You can find galleries for the following two shows if you click the following links:

Adam and Dave’s Bloodline. Gasoline Heart. Andrew Bryant @ The Hi-Tone. October 22, 2009.

First World @ The Smith7 House. October 24, 2009.

There are some new blogs in the works though. I promise. I sorta have internet at my apartment now, thanks to some unsecured wi-fi network in a nearby home. Wee!

Bazan!

If you were  to say to me, “Hey Amanda. Who’s your favorite band?”, I’d have a few answers for that question (I’m not good at having only one favorite. It’s a blessing and a curse.) My answer would go something like this, “Hey. Good question. My favorite band’s The Beatles. And mewithoutYou. And anything David Bazan does. In no particular order.”  I have already gushed about getting to see mewithoutYou (The Weiss Family) again back in August. And here we are, not even two months later, and I’ve just been able to see David Bazan. This made me so stinking happy. So, so happy.

Bazan could’ve played anything from any album and I’d have been stoked, because I don’t know if there’s a song on any of his records that I DON’T like. But I was pleased with the mixture of songs he did. A lot of the new album. Some from the EP. And some from his work with Pedro the Lion. I was quite pleased.

It’s nice when something you’ve so looked forward to meets and even exceeds your expectations. Thank you, Mr. Bazan.

(Pssssst. More photos from this show are HERE)

I am bad at blogging (and a primer in Amanda-style band photography)

Look how bad at keeping this photographic blog I have been! Working 40 hours a week in a photography job that doesn’t yield photos I can post here has NOT be conducive to being a good blogger. I have some ideas on keeping this thing funky fresh though. Keep your eyes peeled.

The only thing I have to offer you right now is a gallery of photos I took at a show this past week. It was the Weiss Family (mewithoutYou-ish) at The Hi-Tone here in Memphis. The Psalters and Damien Jurado also played this gig, but, I was unfortunately tied up photographing rising high school seniors, and missed everyone but the Weiss Family. Seeing this band play and getting that sense of community that often accompanies mewithoutYou shows infused enough joy and happiness into my soul to keep me smiling for days.

The Weiss Family (mewithoutYou). August 20, 2009 @ The Hi-Tone. Memphis, TN.

I haven’t really talked about my band photography on this blog as of yet. I have been doing it for 9 years (wowzers) but have shifted my focus to other photographic ventures as of late. If you see me out taking photos at a show these days, it is an indication that bands or people there mean something to me. You better BELIEVE that is why I photographed this Weiss Family show.
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