Recently I decided that I wanted start working on a photo essay. I spent 10+ hours & took 1000+ pictures covering the two day event known as The Sego Festival. These are things that I’ve learned from the experience.

I only have one SD card, it’s 2 gigs and holds 187 photos. For the most part that’s enough photos for anything that I’m doing. Since Sego was an all day event I had to dump my card multiple times. That means I had to bring my laptop with me everywhere I went. My computer is 8 lbs, it got heavy quickly.

All day shooting in incredibly draining. I think I’d rather cover an event that was ether longer or shorter. Sego seemed to be just the wrong length.

If I’m going to spend all day shooting something for personal work I had better like it. In hindsight Sego wasn’t really a great idea. I like indie music fine, but I get deathly bored at shows.

Sego gets more interesting as the night goes on. The bands that get big crowds don’t start playing until around 8. So for the first five hours of Sego there just wasn’t that much to shoot in the way of music.

Update: I’ve now posted the essay here.

I was going through some of my old photographs the other day when the photos I took at graduation caught my eye.

I love black & white documentary photography. If I had to chose just one way of shooting for the rest of my life that’d be the way, hands down. Stuff like this, this and this really gets me pumped.

The Sego Festival is an annual festival of art and music. This is the festivals third year and by the looks of it this will be it’s biggest year yet.

In a few hours I’m going to head downtown for the first day of the festival. I’m going to try to make about 10 – 20 good black & white pictures that document the experience and put them together in a photo essay.

Wish me luck.

“No one says it, but you know everyone is thinking Why is he still here? Hugs turn into handshakes, handshakes turn into high-fives, and soon you are so starved for affection that you ride the bus all day, hoping that someone, anyone, will try to grope you. You lie curled up in a cold corner of your room, clutching your soiled pillow, only getting sustenance from eating old crayons and drinking your own urine, continuously shivering and repeating the words, “I hope they call me on a mission when I have grown a foot or two” over and over until the words lose all meaning. Later that day you will be dropped off at the MTC.”

Oh man Mat6t, we’re going to miss you.

See more from his blog here.

Last Thursday I took pictures with The Crylics. Nothing more to say.

Want to get your own band shot? Email me at trevor (at) thelovecitysuccessstory (dot) com or click here for a price sheet.

Yesterday I took pictures of my dog. Her name is Puck, she’s about 7. Her favorite things are barking, going to the park and getting her picture taken.

Not so much the picture taken thing. A fast auto-focus is your friend when taking pictures of animals.

I’m pretty happy with them. Black & white makes things look epic.

I had my friend Noah come over the other day for some pictures. Earlier I had shown him some pictures by Platon, of particular interest to him was the photo of Vladimir Putin that he took for Time. During the end of the shoot he asked if I could replicate that look. So I popped on a wide angle and had a go. What your seeing up top is the final.

I think it turned out pretty well. If only Noah didn’t have the soft, wrinkle free skin of a baby.

Noah, if you ever want this photo to really work you’ll need to take smoking.

Sunday Links is a weekly gathering of my favorite links that I’ve seen throughout the week. Some have to do with photography, some art and some I just think are interesting.

So I’m really digging this song by MGMT. It feels like a song that would be good to make mistakes too. I’m not really sure how much I’m digging the video though, but

You know what video I really do like? 99 Problems by Jay-Z. (Hey I didn’t say anything about not posting popular stuff.) It’s a fantastic looking, well directed video to a pretty good song.

Speaking of good direction. You know who directed it? Mark Romanek. Go to his site for more of his work, all great stuff.

I first heard about Mark Romanek through the artist video series on hillmancurtis.com. Everything on that site is highly recommended.

Last today is this post by Nathan W. Armes. I’m a huge fan black & white documentary photography and this stuff is right up my ally. (via) Dig it friends.

Ok, that’s it for this week. In the comments let me know what your thinking.

Have a good Sunday.

Yesterday I was published.

It’s been a long standing goal of mine to get work in print & since I’ve met that goal now I have been thinking about where I want to go next. Skate photography has been something that I’ve been getting interested in lately and I think that’s a direction I’d like to pursue.

With that in mind, I’ve decided that my next goal is to get work in a major skate magazine by the time I’m 21. (Roughly 1 1/2 years from now.)

Wish me luck.

Last Friday I had an assignment to shoot a soccer referee for my internship. This shoot was different because it marked the first time that I shot a stranger. (All the other shoots I’ve done for the magazine I’ve just grabbed friends.)

Here are some thoughts/notes from the experience.

Try a lot of stuff.
This one I already knew, but Fridays shot reinforced the truthfulness of this advice. The shots that were the best were also the last. I could have stopped before then, but I didn’t.

Direction is key.
As a 19 year old I don’t do a lot of bossing around. When a camera in hand, the relationship changes and suddenly I’m in charge. I first noticed this when in high school I had a yearbook assignment to take a picture of the principal. For a high schooler the principal is the ultimate symbol of authority so it was odd for me when I noticed that the camera was making him uncomfortable. I had power.

In my photography I don’t give much direction. Look here, stand straight, fold your arms. That’s pretty much it, but I think the point is to pay attention to the subject. Make sure they know what you want from them and that you can express it accurately.

Keep your subject occupied.
You know what really makes people uncomfortable? Being photographed. When I’m taking pictures of someone I like to ask questions. It keeps their mind occupied & brings out a more natural expressions. The difference is very real.

Pay attention.
My one big regret about this shoot is that I should have done more with the clouds. The lines they created were interesting and I think would have added to the shot. Next time.