fr EYE day

happy fr EYE day, everyone!

Orgone at Stage One 07.01.12

Finally! I'm free to share my residency at Fairfield Theater Company's Stage One. This is the longest I've had to hold pictures and I foolishly didn't take good notes on the performances, so I'm writing mostly from memory. Still, I'm really excited for you to take a look and tell you about my experiences.

The first band I covered was Orgone, a Los Angeles based band that are a mix of funk, soul, afro beat, disco, gogo, jazz and pop. For me, Orgone was a great introduction to the small space at Stage One and gave me an opportunity to cover music that I wasn't familiar with. Up till this point, I've been shooting bands I'm a huge fan of. The raw passion these musicians displayed has definitely made me a fan.

Right from the opening instrumental, I was taken in by guitarist Sergio Rios' energy. He owned the stage, wild hair flying. The band set a solid groove from the beginning and got the Sunday night crowd moving.

Lead singer Niki Crawford came out on the next song, filling the room with her soulful and smooth voice. She engaged the crowd throughout the night and her emotions really come through in the photos.

The brass section was absolutely amazing. They wailed out solo after solo and appreciated each others efforts with loud cheers. I just wish their lighting had been better!

Dan Hastie on keys and Ethan Phillips on bass.

Niki gave me a couple of songs to shoot before inviting the crowd out of their seats to move closer to the stage.

I was pleasantly surprised by the young crowd that came out to see the show.

You really get a sense of how intimate this venue is, with a max of 225 people.

Drummer Sam Halterman

Percussionist Stewart Killen rocked multiple instruments. I love his intensity.

This was my first shoot with my new camera, the Canon 5D Mark III, and it's absolutely amazing. The light at Stage One isn't the best that I've shot under; it definitely has hot spots. I quickly dialed up my ISO, all the way to 25,600. (In case you're wondering, I keep my point and shoot camera to ISO 400 and my previous DSLR maxes out at 3,200.) Sure, there's a bit of grain, but nothing I can't live with.

Here's the shoe shot of the night.

I liked shooting a band I didn't know a lot about because it allowed me to watch all of them equally. I always want to capture each of the band members doing their thing, as long as the light allows. My favorite shot, and the one used in the paper, is of the percussionist. The lead singer and guitarist always get covered, so I was glad to give a passionate drummer his due.

Part two will be up tomorrow, and you'll get a chance to see how I shoot a band I'm familiar with.

Bronx Zoo Day Trip

Last week, I went into the city to attend a photo exhibit and the next day, I took Grace to the Bronx Zoo.  We hit up the reptile house first before my brother had to get some work done, so that's all I was able to take pictures of. Even with my little point and shoot, I got some nice shots of the curious reptiles.

The iguanas were wide awake and inquisitive, although they need to talk to the zoo keepers about cleaning the glass.

The poison tree frogs were also up early.

This little guy was about the size of my fingernail.

The reticulated python was a lovely green.

The star of the zoo, Mia the infamous Bronx Zoo Cobra, is clearly not a morning person. She didn't come out at all and hid from the paparazzi.

The King Cobra had no qualms with me, although he liked the focus assist beam on my camera a little too much. Let's just say I'm glad there was glass between us.

My brother and I were both a little disappointed at the lack of fanfare for Mia. I mean, there wasn't even a name tag and her enclosure was pretty small; no wonder she ran away.

Grace was a big fan of the peacocks, so I managed to snap a picture of one for her. It was quite an adventure trying to see the zoo with Grace by myself. She's at that stage where the stroller is totally uncool, except for her to try to push. If only I could get her to push me in the stroller...maybe next time...

Photo of the Week: Week 33

I finally had a chance to return to the Bronx Zoo and snapped a few pictures in the reptile house with my point and shoot. I definitely have to go back with my DSLR to get some eye pictures. The horned nose viper was being much more photogenic than Mia, the Bronx Zoo Cobra.

About to add another check on my 12 things list

I'm going to a photo exhibit in the city tomorrow called 480 Pixels: An Exhibition of Brooklyn Vegan's Photography. Learn more about it here. If you've been following this blog for a while, you might remember that one of my goals this year is to contact and learn from other concert photographers. You also might remember that I wanted to go to another photo exhibit earlier in the year, but a prior commitment prevented me from attending.

My nerves are starting to kick in. It feels like high school all over again. I view these photographers as the cool kids and I so desperately want to be a part of their club. What if they don't like me? What if they won't talk to me? What if I don't have the courage to actually go up to them and say a single word? Ah, self doubt, you're such a punk.

I think I've been making pretty strong strides this year and these are exactly the people I need advice from. I've gotten to the point where I need guidance in order to continue. This is a great opportunity and I really need to get over my fear. After all:

ParaNorman Soundtrack: Another side of Brion's Genius

Bare with me as I attempt something new on this blog: an album review. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, so I figured why not try it on something I'm really passionate about. It probably won't be the most cohesive piece I've written, but I welcome any and all comments/suggestions you have. Let me know what you think.

One of my most anticipated albums of the year was released today: The soundtrack for the movie ParaNorman, by Jon Brion. The movie, which comes out Friday, is a stop motion animated adventure film by Laika, creators of Coraline. The plot line is as follows: "The small New England town of Blithe Hollow comes under siege by the undead. Only a misunderstood local boy named Norman Babcock, who has the ability to speak with the dead, is able to prevent the destruction of his town by a centuries-old witch's curse. He'll also have to take on ghosts, witches, zombies, and (worst of all) the moronic grown-ups. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits." It is a completely instrumental soundtrack; Brion usually has a handful of songs with lyrics on his film compositions. I was immediately struck by the power of the music. The brilliance of Jon Brion as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra is a thing of great beauty.


I encourage you to listen to the album, and thanks to AOL, you can stream it online for free here.

Earlier this year, Brion produced the sophomore album from Best Coast. He is also writing the music for director Judd Apatow on the follow up to Knocked Up, a movie called This Is 40, due out at the end of the Mayan calendar. Jon Brion has often times said that he enjoys mixing up the roles that he plays in the music world. He finds just as much enjoyment playing guitar on a track as he does composing as he does finding a new way to mic a musical instrument. The ParaNorman movie has been getting plenty of press, but there is little fanfare for Brion's soundtrack. Unassuming, Brion has delivered a sublime album that deserves recognition.


This is a great horror movie soundtrack. It is intense and emotional, yet it remains light enough for its intended purpose: a kid's movie. After listening to the music, I'm itching to see ParaNorman with my nephew! Brion eases those familiar with work in, sticking with his usual instrumentation. The opening track, Zombie Attack In The Eighties is classic Jon Brion, chock full of wonky synthesizers. It is followed by the song Norman At The Piano/Main Title. I could absolutely picture Brion himself at the piano, humming along to the tune he was creating, stomping his feet loudly in time to the music.

 Jon Brion at Le Poisson Rouge, 2011

He moves to the acoustic guitar in Norman's Walk and then adds more and more instruments. Oboes, bassoons, strings and eventually wonderfully eerie brass parts, with xylophones and other percussion instruments remaining as the backbone of the entire album; a tactic Brion employs on many of his other film scores. I was pleasantly surprised by his use of brass, which has been lacking in his other work. Being a trumpet player myself, I'm highly biased, but it adds a whole new layer to his music.

There is a plethora of clever percussion work throughout the album. Without even seeing the movie, I can imagine what is going on in the film. Tapping sounds on instruments I don't have the ability to identify, give the illusion of bones rattling, sneaking up on our protagonist. A scratching technique used on a snare drum and cymbals make my hair stand up on end. This is Jon Brion at his best. The man loves to make sounds and experiment and it's what I admire most about his style of music.

I can envision Brion at Abbey Road Studios, the London Symphony Orchestra in front of him, conducting vehemently, his wild curls falling into and out of his eyes. It blows my mind that people can walk around with music like this in their heads. Jon Brion is a forceful composer that can also rock out to a Prince medley on guitar, bass and drums then transition to a waltz version of the Ramones' I Wanna Be Sedated. I'd like to see John Williams or Howard Shore do that!

Company Softball Game: The Kens Win!

I'm proud to announce that my team, The Kens, won this year's company softball game, continuing my undefeated streak! Mia is seen above displaying our score board. As you can see, it was a close game. We were actually down by two runs going into the eighth inning, rallied and took the lead by two, then added an additional five runs in the top of the ninth inning.

I wasn't at my best in the field this year. I bobbled more hits that day then I think I have in all the previous company games combined. I also had two bad throws, which never happens. I went 3 for 4 at bat though, so it made up for it. By the bottom of the ninth inning, I realized that I was overthrowing and relaxed. It felt pretty good to get the last out of the game.

I apologize for not having more pictures, but I was pretty focused on the game. As always, I got everyone together for a group shot at the end.

Thanks for a great game and a good time, everyone! I'll be ready for a rematch in about a year!