michael warren

one thing i've learned about doing photography for people is that what you think is good and what they think is good often are different. erin and i have had the priveledge of seeing our images used in various mediums of marketing and often the one(s) we would have used is the one that they don't like & vice versa. this brings me to mw.

i did a shoot with michael and his band a few weeks ago. michael has been an up and coming artist here in birmingham for a few years. his future looks bright (hence the shades). i was thrilled to have the chance to do a shoot with such a high profile artist. i thought it went...well, just okay.... it turns out i was actually using a bum lens that i thought was working properly, at least until i got back home. the shoot was the first one i/we did since it came back from being repaired after a tragic fall. anyway, that along with a few other things i felt like I didn't do well made this shoot average at best.

i learned that when you go into a gig working for someone, you are actually working for them. in other words you need to make dang sure you get what they want before you get what you want. i learned this after the fact when all the good shots were the shots his manager did not want. any of them with his shades on were going to be cut....too bad since they were the only reasonably good ones in the batch. it looks like my names not going to be in lights with mw. if you want to see some of the shots that were kept, check out his myspace. if you want to see some that were cut, look below....



this one was a trial attempt. i wanted to give the impression of him being most significant as the lead man.... it's just hard to get good pics in low light.

citizen cope

i love music however i would not say i am a huge fan of many musicians. like most other people it takes a lot for me to get excited about a song or artist since there are about a billion out there. and though i may like an artist it is extremely rare that i get hooked on their music. well, i can honestly say that i discovered an artist that has changed my life. that sounds extreme i know but it is true. it is like an addiction.... i cannot stop listening. this is a blog about photography but when something really significant happens you just want to tell as many people as possible.

i went to see citizen cope at workplay before i'd ever heard a complete song of his. i went with my friend stokes and his pastor burt. it was good, but it wasn't until weeks later that it reeled me in. i don't know what it is.... i never really do, but it is just solid, authentic music. i write all of this to hopefully turn some others on to the music. here it is.



on a photography note... i think this is a great photo. i've been doing a lot more entertainment shoots lately and trying to get inspired by true professionals. check out my myspace and the website for some of my updated photos....i'll eventually get around to posting on the blog.