mikesaid

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Georgia Fair

I went along to The Toff In Town on Thursday night to photograph Australian act Georgia Fair for The AU Review. The last few times I have been there, photographing has been easy - I turned up for this one a little later than usual, and man did I pay the price. These guys are popular....

So I stood there trying to make a joke in my head, but only got as far as
Q: How many hipsters does it take to fill The Toff In Town?
A: This many

BUT, it is to be said that these guys were really good, for young dudes they have a grown up sound (listen to the song at the bottom of this post) you should check 'em out. I kinda failed on the photos, not being able to move arund and take pics from different angles leads to a pretty boring set (of photos) but that's a good thing yea? that fact that it sold out?

Anyway...

See all photos here

Georgia Fair (c) Michael Christian 2011

Check out this song:

Georgia Fair - Where You Been? by Sony Music Australia

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Unsensored 11

I'd say that about 98% of my photos are taken on a digital camera... between Jess and myself we own about 35 cameras... 6 of them are digital and we only really use one of those for most jobs (the great 5DMkII). I photograph a lot of bands and Jess photographs a lot of people and children's birthday parties so although we get to put our own spin on these, it's not like shooting film the way we do. Which is usually just for ourselves, mostly on holiday...

So we decided to go in this exhibition run by the Melbourne Silver Mine which is a camera 'club' of sorts dedicated to the art of photography taken using the traditional photographic techniques and equipment. I thought it would be a bad idea to pressure myself into taking something awesome on film in the month or so before the images had to be finalised so I had a look back through all my film stuff (see my favourites here) and picked a couple from that (Jess got 7 rolls of film developed dating back about 7 years!).

I will be exhibiting beside some great friends/photographers from the greater Melbourne area (this includes Sydney), I listed some below:

The Caravan (c) Michael Christian

The S Bend (c) Michael Christian

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Fly My Pretties, Fly

Fly My Pretties is a collaboration of musicians from Wellington, New Zealand that only records live albums, in various locations in New Zealand (and now Australia).
It is the brainchild of Barnaby Weir, front man of the Black Seeds and Mikee Tucker of Loop Recordings Aor(ear)oa, I had the opportunity to photograph them as they tour (and record) for their latest album, Fly My Pretties IV.

I had been a fan of these guys for ages, and it was great to see them play in Melbourne, especially at the awesome Athenaeum Theatre

Just found a review of the gig, check it out

See all my shots here!

Fly My Pretties (c) Michael Christian 2011

3 Men and a

I wasn't going to go to this... it was a shitty week at work so I had intended to sit at home and watch movies on Friday night - but as it turned out, I'd be helping someone out if I did. So I did!

I was off to the Meeniyan Town Hall to photograph Henry Wagons (solo), Jordie Lane and special guest from America - Joe Pug. I was lucky enough to drive the 2 and something hour trip in not just 5 o'clock traffic, but 5 o'clock traffic ON A FRIDAY. People are a little nuts on a Friday, their mind is already in the pub and driving or looking at the road isn't their top priority... or maybe it was just me? Only got tooted at a couple of times and I'd like to think that's because I was hot, not because I was taking ages to merge into that right lane....
Anyway, the drive there is great. You get away from the classic aussie gum-tree-laden country-side that we usually see as gumtrees are replaced by pine trees.. it looks very, New Zealand! YAY.
I got there just in time to scoff down some of the awesome food the hosts were putting on for the musicians (and now photographer) before the show started.

All three played great sets, the audience were really nice, hardly a hipster in sight - seemed they were actually there for the music, not the fashion. I was allowed in the projector booth at the back which was great..

And then drove home.

See 'em all here!

twitter

Henry Wagons (c) Michael Christian 2011

Henry Wagons, Jordie Lane and Joe Pug (c) Michael Christian 2011

Jordie Lane (c) Michael Christian 2011

Joe Pug (c) Michael Christian 2011

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Over the last few months I have helped out with some shoots with my girlfriend Jess. One was a wedding and the other was a shoot for a side project she has been working on called Show us ya growler, which is all about dogs and their owners.

First up, the wedding. I had never shot a wedding before so it was an interesting experience. We rented another 5DMkII and borrowed a 24-70 f2.8 (Sigma version) off a friend. I did all the editing and slideshow so it was interesting to see that you could really tell the difference between the Canon and Sigma lenses... I had been thinking about buying that or the Canon lens for some time and this helped me make the decision to buy the Canon version (about $600 more expensive, but worth it from what I saw on the photos)

I give you Nic and Helen....

Next was a shoot for Show us ya growler. I had been working with Henry from The Wagons for a good year now and had asked Henry a while back if he was interested in doing a shoot with him and the dogs (anyone who follows Henry knows what the answer to that would have been!). It was just a matter of getting a free weekend. Shoot went well and here are some of the photos

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Marnie Stern + Pearls

My week long orgy of sound concluded with Marnie Stern at the Northcote Social Club.

I got there in time to catch the end of one of the 3 supports - can't remember your name but lyric of the evening goes to you: "You treat me like a gymnast so I'll treat you like a jungle gym"

Nice.

On next were Pearls, who were pretty fucking good and people need to listen to them - good luck finding them on You Tube though - Pearl Jam have pretty much put paid to that. I did find them on Soundcloud and also facebook though, so you don't have to.

Marnie Stern has been hailed as some sort of guitar shredder insane-o. The band play some sort of spastic pop tunes being raped backwards by something really strange with only one eye with an eye patch and funny ears... made for great listening but due to the static lights and them being a three piece with not a lot of stage presence (probably focusing on playing what I described above) my photos were doomed to fail - I really do hate when I'm shafted by the lightshow.

There were about 50 people there too - maybe this was too much to take in for the hipsters? too much substance and not enough art?

Anyway, moral of the story is that if you live in Melbourne you really need to check out Pearls live some time. I will be.

Shot for the AU review - just in case you thought they stole 'em.

See more here.

Wait for me to put my foot in my mouth on twitter.

You are here.

Pearls (c) Michael Christian 2011

Marnie Stern (c) Michael Christian 2011

Couplea songs for youse!

Oh Jeffery by Pearls.

Marnie Stern - For Ash by souterraintransmissions

Friday, October 7, 2011

Kate Vigo + Georgia Fields = Good

It's been a monster week for this old bastard - band practice on Tuesday, Kasabian gig on Wednesday, Kate Vigo and Georgia Fields on Thursday and another photo gig tonight for the AU Review!

I have photographed Georgia a couple of times, one had awesome results and the other produced pictures that you will never ever see (sounds kinda porny, but I assure, I had just totally lost my phojo that night - I blamed the lights) and the last couple of times I have photographed her, she has had really shit days running up to the gig. So I made her promise that I would only come along if she was going to have a good day. Promises made, I was going to the gig.

Georgia came on to a fairly empty room, which impressed me because I thought it was only my band that plays to empty pubs in Melbourne. It filled up a bit during her set but 4,077,015 people in Melbourne missed out on some great tunes - shame on you, and you, and you, and you and you...

Kate and her band were releasing their single 'Wana Run' which included a video before the show. A great set too - a great night put on by a couple of girls that a lot of people missed out on, a shame really.

Photos!

See more here!

Kate Vigo (c) Michael Christian 2011

Georgia Fields (c) Michael Christian 2011

And because I didn't give that man any money who cleaned my car window on the way to the gig (I didn't have any coins, honestly!) I have included a couple of videos from the ladies above!

Why?

That's just the kind of mother fucker I am...