I had a chance a couple of weeks ago to spend some time at Rock the Rapids concert at 5th third ballpark in Grand Rapids. It was a great event several concerts over a three day period. The first was Jason Aldean, I’m not much of a country fan but he put on a great show.
I really enjoy shooting concerts musicians in particular, someone who is passionate about what they do it shows in the way they walk, the way they talk and on their face. The lead guitarist for Jason Aldean clearly shows all of that.
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I had the chance to watch my son play under the lights last night. I picked him up and as we drove to the field all he could talk about was being the home team and the fact that it was a night game. It really was a special treat for me. I think as adults we loose sight of the things that once upon a time was the center of our world; how did you do on the math test today, I heard Becky likes you, and getting a hit in a little league game under the lights. Where did the simple things in life go?
I love making light do what I want, while at the same time getting surprised by what I find. The other day I was in the studio and just simply playing around trying to get different effects while moving the lights using bounce cards and GoBo’s. The idea I had was to try and come up with simple lighting that could be easily set up and taken down quickly yet at the same time give me a soft unique look.
I had a main light straight in front of me, about ten feet up, a SB800 flash to left GoBO’d to reduce flare and to concentrate on the back of my head, the flash was zoomed to 50mm a JTL 120 light with a blue gel to camera right about two stops darker than the main light. The first couple of shots gave me a very intense shadow under my chin, in fact it made it a look about twice its normal size. I decided to put a 2×3 white card in front of me about 12inches and that was it.
I love to shoot, its one of the things I love to do more than anything, playing with light making it do what I want it to. I have never been a big fan of getting in front of the camera but someone recently told me, if your not willing to get in front of the camera then how can you expect your clients to….point well taken. And so here I am.
I remember as a kid being completely hooked on the game of baseball, I could play day or night for hours on end it was just one of those things as a kid I wanted to do more than anything. I grew up on the east side of Detroit idolizing players like Al Kaline and Mickey Lolich, Alan Trammel and Lou Whittaker, they were larger than life to me. The first professional baseball game I ever saw was the Tigers of course, they were my team then and they are my team now, my Dad took my older and me down to the corner of Michigan and Trumble walking through that main entrance was a magical moment for me. The smell of the hot dogs and popcorn, some guy yelling out, programs, get your programs here, the hustle and bustle of people trying to rush off to their seats before the game started. The players were something really special if you got to the stadium early enough you could watch batting practice and if you were lucky get one of them to sign your ball glove. I think that somewhere along the way baseball became more of a business than a sport dreams are made of.
Watching my son do what he loves
This past weekend I was able to watch my son play the same game I loved with all my heart when I was his age. The park is smaller than a big league park but you still have the vendors selling you popcorn and hot dogs, the stands are filled with parents enjoying their Sunday afternoon. When I watched those 18 boys playing their hearts out I couldn’t help but think that this was what baseball was all about. No multi-million dollar contracts, no endorsement deals just a group of kids playing for the love of the game.
I had a friend of mine from Citadell broadcasting ask me to do some photos for a comedy show they were sponsoring in Bay City. The radio station is Wheelz 104.5 its a great sounding classic rock station, give it a listen if you get the chance. The act on this night was Heywood Banks, this guy was wet your pants funny. If you ever get the chance to see him its a show you can take the entire family to; although my teenagers might not get some of the humor but he is clean. He doesn’t use fowl language for the sake of using it, really an amazing talent.
Heywood Banks
They are done with comedy shows for the season but they are sponsoring a ton of great concerts coming up and they’ll be doing a lot with the fireworks in Bay City and the River Roar.
The title is not meant for you to guess, Its just that I feel really old, although in the grand scheme of things I’m right in the middle, but there are days…..My youngest recently celebrated his 12th birthday, yeah my youngest is 12
If that doesn’t make a parent stop and think about where they’ve been and where they’re going I’m not sure what will. I work everyday to give them a life better than what I had.
The past couple of days have been kind of a whirlwind; I ended up with the kids for the entire holiday weekend, I was only supposed to have them for a day but their Mom was convinced I was to have them. That’s not a bad thing in my book, I love spending time with them! Some days are better than others but I think that’s the way it is no matter what your relationship is.
I had the opportunity to meet a lady who be turning 100 years old this October, what an amazing woman, she has some struggles but then again, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t at that age. It got me wondering, what has this woman who is from Hungary experienced in her lifetime? She would have been born in 1910, back then Howard Taft was President, there were only 46 states, mens underwear is introduced and replaces the “Onesy” Elizabeth Arden opens a salon in New York City. The list truly is endless as to what she has seen in her lifetime. I think it would be one of those amazing things to be around long enough to see a century of life.
I think the key is thinking of something positive every day, I ran into an elderly gentleman the other day and greeted him and asked him how his day was; he replied, “I woke up today, so its going to be a good day.” I love the simplicity of that.
What a great night, last night, it was comedy at the State Theatre in Bay City. I was given the opportunity to shoot the event for the folks at Classic Rock Wheelz 104.5, in mid-Michigan. Tommy Johnagin and Sean Morey took the stage in front of a sell out crowd, if you were there you know these guys were great, you know the kind of funny where you have tears coming down your face and your sides hurt. That’s the kind of funny I’m talking about.
There is one more show coming up in a couple of weeks and you don’t want to miss that, Haywood Banks will be doing a show on April 16th, the theatre seats about 400 people they’ve only sold about 100 tickets so take advantage, because this one will sell out soon.
Welcome to all of my Irish family, its the one day a year when everyone can act like a fool and its not only okay, its encouraged. I love it. As my uncle Bob O’Sullivan used to say, God invented Whiskey to keep the Irish from ruling the world. You’ve got to love old Irishmen after they’ve had a few to many.
I just spent the last several hours creating promo books….my mind has turned to jello, green jello of course. The books will be in certain locations around West Michigan so that everyone can enjoy them. I’ve got to get outside and enjoy the last part of an amazing looking day, sun and 60’s. SWEET!!!
