Sometimes, all you need is a reflector and really good light.

Meet Manchester, a model traveling through Chicago while on tour through the States.  It just so happened that she stopped in on the First Day of Autumn, so we did an outdoor glamour shoot to usher it in.  A few more (NSFW) shots after the cut:

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I wanted to share yet another OK Go viral video, not only for it’s DIY-appeal, nor the impressiveness of being a long one-shot take — they used the same director from their treadmill video –  but who doesn’t like dogs doing fun tricks?

I’ll be shooting their show October 10th at House Of Blues

As I’ve been getting an influx of people emailing me in regards to having their headshots taken, I thought I’d post this as a sort or catch-all to field questions and clear up any ambiguity of what makes for a great headshot, and how to get them.

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I mostly focused solely on Courtney Love during her set with newly-revived band Hole.  Not only because is she the only surviving original member, but because ironically enough, this one-time soundtrack band for feminist angst trailblazing the riot grrl genre has been replaced with an all-male backing band.

Love didn’t disappoint, though, in providing some token frontwoman photos:

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So, while moving servers, I had encountered an error which literally obliterated my blog database.
Unfortunately, the database backup I had saved was corrupt, and so I couldn’t “transition” my blog over.  That was heartbreaking, since that meant a year and a half of posts vanished forever.

That being said, I’ll take this as a cue to start from square one.  While I scramble to restore some of the popular posts from Google cache (thank god I can at least do that), I’m committed to making content from here on out twice as awesome!

So, I had made a blog post back in January about how excited I was for my new studio space I had moved into at the time, but I really felt it was necessary to redux that post to demonstrate how much more awesome it looks in the summer!

All the natural lighting pouring in through the windows looks amazing, but of course I’ve got studio lighting setups, if needed. Located in a historic Victorian mansion in the South Loop, you can’t help feeling classy shooting in there!

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…Well, technically not for another two weeks, but the blog title alludes to my post from last year’s Do Division Festival, marking this my first annual blog post! It’s interesting — to me, at least — to be able to document how my photography evolves over the course of just one year. I shoulda started a blog years before I actually did. Then again, a few years ago I wasn’t living in a city that was known for it’s music concerts and outdoor festivals.

And so, in that vein, I braved the spotty rain showers this weekend to shoot the bands, crowds, and art vendors to bring to you photos of the annual inauguration of Chicago’s summer fests!

Click the photo for the full Do Division photo gallery

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I’m not quite sure how I feel about the name, but I’m sold on everything else about Trent Reznor’s new project How To Destroy Angels.

Nine Inch Nails tops the list of bands I regretfully never jumped on the chance of seeing performing live, but I’ll definitely keep my ear to the ground for the projected summer debut of Reznor’s new group featuring wife Mariqueen Maandig. Their website has some really compelling teaser videos, I suggest checking it out. Next week (June 1st) they’ll have their debut EP available for download for free. Gotta love the internet.

Shooting As I Lay Dying helped me realize a new rule regarding rock photography: The size of the drum kit is directly proportional to how much you want to make sure to grab shots of the drummer. Some of my favorite shots from their stop at House Of Blues were of drummer Jordan Mancino, who on more than one occasion stole the spotlight with extended drum solos. That’s not to say the rest of the band didn’t do their best to keep up.

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Seattle metal band Demon Hunter stopped at Chicago’s House Of Blues on their tour supporting their new release The World Is A Thorn.

They put out a heavy set to prep the crowd for headlining act As I Lay Dying.

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