Michael Herb Photography
Day 357/365 - One Man Band
Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | Blog
One talent that I wish I had would be the ability to sing without driving people crazy and also to be able to play the guitar at the same time. My friend Ben Price can do just that and he is pretty damn good. He had contacted me shortly after he helped with the Patty Madden shoot. He was interested in participating in the project one last time. Having a shortage of volunteers, I decided to except his offer and we setup to shoot today. I needed background shots anyway and planned on heading down to Ft. Pierce. Ben joined me on this excursion complete with just about every piece of musical gear he owned. Our original idea was to do Jesus popping out of a bible sucking someone into the pages, but finding a Jesus on such short notice proved to be difficult. I suppose they're all booked seeing that it's the holidays.
So, Complete with a traveling one man band, Ben and I headed downtown to see what the city had in store for us. Every time Ben and I travel into shady areas of town, I can't help but hear the words that his mother spoke to me while Ben and I were on a shoot in Miami. "thats my son and you better take care of him". Why is it always Ben that ends up being by my side at these times? So, we were down near Ave. D. If that isn't indication of shadiness I don't know what is. I've never really understood why numbered or lettered roads always seem to be the ones with the most crime, drugs and or prostitution. I guess a hooker just doesn't feel right soliciting on a road named evergreen or happiness ave. When I was in Los Angeles, I saw bums everywhere, except on hope st. I really wanted to get an intimate portrait of a homeless man right under the hope st. sign. No such luck!
So, Ben and I are downtown and ready to shoot. We grab several background shots for other shoots before losing the light. Next up was Day 357. While I setup the lights in the parking lot, Ben decided to attempt to grab everything he had brought along. Which included, a keyboard, a guitar, a mandolin, a ukulele and a harmonica. Since we were shooting in the street we needed to reduce the load. When I say "in the street" I mean my Alien Bee was in the middle of the road. People had to drive around it. There was a point where traffic did get heavy, I moved my light to the side of the road just to ease traffic. This one woman in a Giant SUV purposely drove within inches of Ben and I and then tried to swerve into Ben's Guitar Case! I would have liked to engage the portable pop up spike strip that I've been dreaming of getting!
Ben and I shot for about 20 minutes, in which time he sang and played several original songs. I've known been for a while and this was the first time I heard him sing. I was really impressed as he belted out notes that I couldn't reach even after getting kicked in the nuts. His range was impressive and the skills of playing Guitar, Harmonica and then singing in between were very impressive.
I've realized that shooting with the 5D requires a lot more Memory card space. I only have 4 gig and run out way too fast. At 23mb a shot, I'm only getting 180 shots per card. If I don't bring my comp with me, I'm severely limited. I'll be picking up a bigger card soon. Just thinking about 180 shots being limited makes me laugh. I remember when the length of a shoot was a direct result of how much film you could afford at that given time. Shit, the sound of the shutter should of been replaced with the sound a a cash register chime!
So, after running out of space, I decided to call it a night and we headed back home. My only concern with the shot was wether or not it was focused. I really pushed limits today by shooting at 1/6 sec at f 2.8. I'm shocked the shot is even remotely sharp! Bravo me!
Tomorrow morning its print delivery time…. Noting says holidays like a shady art deal from the back of my car in a gas station parking lot! I think I should wear all black!
Lighting:
See lighting Shot
Day 357/365 - One Man Band
Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | Blog
One talent that I wish I had would be the ability to sing without driving people crazy and also to be able to play the guitar at the same time. My friend Ben Price can do just that and he is pretty damn good. He had contacted me shortly after he helped with the Patty Madden shoot. He was interested in participating in the project one last time. Having a shortage of volunteers, I decided to except his offer and we setup to shoot today. I needed background shots anyway and planned on heading down to Ft. Pierce. Ben joined me on this excursion complete with just about every piece of musical gear he owned. Our original idea was to do Jesus popping out of a bible sucking someone into the pages, but finding a Jesus on such short notice proved to be difficult. I suppose they're all booked seeing that it's the holidays.
So, Complete with a traveling one man band, Ben and I headed downtown to see what the city had in store for us. Every time Ben and I travel into shady areas of town, I can't help but hear the words that his mother spoke to me while Ben and I were on a shoot in Miami. "thats my son and you better take care of him". Why is it always Ben that ends up being by my side at these times? So, we were down near Ave. D. If that isn't indication of shadiness I don't know what is. I've never really understood why numbered or lettered roads always seem to be the ones with the most crime, drugs and or prostitution. I guess a hooker just doesn't feel right soliciting on a road named evergreen or happiness ave. When I was in Los Angeles, I saw bums everywhere, except on hope st. I really wanted to get an intimate portrait of a homeless man right under the hope st. sign. No such luck!
So, Ben and I are downtown and ready to shoot. We grab several background shots for other shoots before losing the light. Next up was Day 357. While I setup the lights in the parking lot, Ben decided to attempt to grab everything he had brought along. Which included, a keyboard, a guitar, a mandolin, a ukulele and a harmonica. Since we were shooting in the street we needed to reduce the load. When I say "in the street" I mean my Alien Bee was in the middle of the road. People had to drive around it. There was a point where traffic did get heavy, I moved my light to the side of the road just to ease traffic. This one woman in a Giant SUV purposely drove within inches of Ben and I and then tried to swerve into Ben's Guitar Case! I would have liked to engage the portable pop up spike strip that I've been dreaming of getting!
Ben and I shot for about 20 minutes, in which time he sang and played several original songs. I've known been for a while and this was the first time I heard him sing. I was really impressed as he belted out notes that I couldn't reach even after getting kicked in the nuts. His range was impressive and the skills of playing Guitar, Harmonica and then singing in between were very impressive.
I've realized that shooting with the 5D requires a lot more Memory card space. I only have 4 gig and run out way too fast. At 23mb a shot, I'm only getting 180 shots per card. If I don't bring my comp with me, I'm severely limited. I'll be picking up a bigger card soon. Just thinking about 180 shots being limited makes me laugh. I remember when the length of a shoot was a direct result of how much film you could afford at that given time. Shit, the sound of the shutter should of been replaced with the sound a a cash register chime!
So, after running out of space, I decided to call it a night and we headed back home. My only concern with the shot was wether or not it was focused. I really pushed limits today by shooting at 1/6 sec at f 2.8. I'm shocked the shot is even remotely sharp! Bravo me!
Tomorrow morning its print delivery time…. Noting says holidays like a shady art deal from the back of my car in a gas station parking lot! I think I should wear all black!
Lighting:
See lighting Shot