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Scythian at the Dayton Celtic Festival

Scythian

The past few weeks had been absolutely dreadful, as far as the weather in the Dayton area was concerned. But this particular Saturday welcomed a break in the oppressive humidity and scalding high temperatures. I had a portrait session in the AM at Wegerzyn Gardens with a friend from out of town and her children. I decided to take advantage of the break in the heat and headed down to the Dayton Celtic Festival. Luckily when I arrived Scythian had just started.

This was the first time I had ever seen this band, and boy am I glad I got downtown when I did. Their music was great and they were highly entertaining. The girls were swooning and the crowd danced with enthusiasm. They played a sort of Celtic fusion, there was hints of eastern European folk mixed with driving rock, and amazing musicians that held the whole MetroParks attention. If you have not seen or heard them, you need to.

Gear for the Shoot

Scythian At Dayton Celtic Festival 2012 - Band Photographer Alex Sablan — Scythian At Dayton Celtic Festival 2012 – Band Photographer Alex Sablan
(click image to see full version)

I was mainly going to be walking around the whole festival so I mainly shot with the 18-55mm kit lens on my Nikon D5000, but for the band I used the Tamron 70-300mm as well to get some nice tight shots. We were under a humongous softbox, a big white tent structure that is a focal point at Riverscape MetroPark. The main challenge was there was also some white tents behind the stage causing alot of lens flare. But I thought the high key look was nice and fitting for the type of happy music the band was playing.

So go check out the band’s website and if you haven’t yet go like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. If you have any question about the shots or anything else, please leave a comment below.

Scythian at the Dayton Celtic Festival 2012 - Band Photographer Alex Sablan — Scythian at the Dayton Celtic Festival 2012 – Band Photographer Alex Sablan
(click image to see full version)

Band Photography – Funky G at the OE

Funky G at the Oregon Express – Band Photography

Funky G, aka Greg, also does Karaoke at W.O. Wright’s, and will soon be starting a Tuesday show down at the Vue. They asked him to get a shot for their promo flyer, so he asked if I could take it for him. So we talked, and he let me know that his band, Funky G and the Groove Machine, would be down at the Oregon Express Friday Night. So I thought I would make a night of it, and go down to the OE and shoot some band photography.

About the Venue

The Oregon Express - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan — The Oregon Express – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan

Funky G at the Oregon Express - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan — Funky G at the Oregon Express – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan

Funky G Arrives - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan — Funky G Arrives – Dayton Photographer
Alex Sablan

The Bar at the Oregon Express - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan — The Bar at the Oregon Express – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan

The Oregon Express is located in the Dayton’s historic Oregon Village district. The OE has great food and great music. It is a cozy corner bar that is much bigger than it looks when you walk in. When you open the door, down the left side is a long bar with a copious amount of liquor to get you in the mood. The round stand up tables that line up the other wall give you ample area to hang out with your friends and meet new people. But if you go through the doorway to your right, it opens up to another room with short sit down tables leading up to the stage. People coming to the OE may completely miss the stairway along the wall to the left that leads to an outer deck that overlooks 5th street and gives patrons a nice view of the city.They are located on the corner of 5th and Brown Streets. Their website says that their building is over a century old and has been home to many different trades, including a corner gorcery, an optical shop, bootleg joint, neighborhood pub, and the Oregon Express since 1976.

Gear for the Shoot

I had to bring my speedlights to do the Vue shot for Greg, so I set one up and moved it around the stage during the show, but most of the evening I shot without the flash. I have really been into Herman Leonard’s work lately, so I wanted to get that sleek black and white feel with a slap in the face of Alex into the shots. I can only dream of the day I can really capture something close to his work. He is a God.

Anyways, back to the gear. I shot my 18-55 since my 50mm is manual focus, and the one thing I didn’t want to happen was to miss a shot while I was trying to focus in lowlight. Its a cheap kit lens, but I think it did its job. As always, my body was a Nikon D5000 until I can make enough money to buy a D800 or D4 without having to worry about paying for school. Since the room is pretty small, I thought the ability to go to 18 was a good thing.

Well that’s about it, below is the rest of the shots from the night. You can click on the thumbnails to see a bigger version. Let me know what you think in the comments below and share away if you’d like. Make sure to check out my main site at AlexSablan.com.

The Rest of the Shoot

Funky G and the Groove Machine - Dayton Band Photography of Alex Sablan — Funky G and the Groove Machine – Dayton Band Photography of Alex Sablan

Mario and Funky G - Dayton Band Photography of Alex Sablan — Mario and Funky G – Dayton Band Photography of Alex Sablan

Tony and Funky G - Dayton Band Photography of Alex Sablan — Tony and Funky G – Dayton Band Photography of Alex Sablan

Tony - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan — Tony – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan

Funky G and the Groove Machine - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan — Funky G and the Groove Machine – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan

The Funkness and PNut - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan — The Funkness and PNut – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan

BTS - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan — BTS – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan

Mario of Funky G and the Groove Machine - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan — Mario of Funky G and the Groove Machine – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan

The Serenade - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan — The Serenade – Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan

Last Call – Band Photography of Alex Sablan

Band Photography – Last Call

The Trace - Dayton Band Photographer Alex Sablan

My dive into band photography took me back to see Last Call as they rocked W.O. Wright‘s again Friday night June 8th, 2012. I saw some old friends and heard some of my favorite songs.

Last Call had a young upcoming local band open for them. The Trace is a band out of Kettering, Ohio comprised of three youths, Matt, Andy, and Tyler. I didn’t have the chance to talk to them, but I learned from some of the other people at the show, the members of the Trace are between 12-16 years old. They played some Rush, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and some Hendrix, and played it well. You can check them out at their website.

I stuck around to see all of the Trace’s set then the start of Last Call’s.

Chris of Last Call - Dayton Band Photographer Alex Sablan

About Last Call

Last Call is Chris, Dave, Evan, and Brian. They have been together since 2005, and have played all over Ohio. They play a mix of rock from the seventies through today. They are always entertaining and put on a great show. For booking contact lastcallohio@gmail.com. They are seen quite often around Dayton which make it easy to catch them to practice some band photography.

Last Call - Dayton Band Photographer Alex Sablan

Gear for the Shoot

I used my Nikon D5000 and either the kit lens, 18-55mm, or my Tamron 70-300mm. Normally when shooting in small venues like W.O. Wright’s I use the kit, but since there were some people up and dancing, I threw on the 70-300 to avoid getting in the way.

You can click any of the small pictures to see them larger. Let me know what you think about the shots, or if you want to purchase any of the band photography just leave a comment in the area below.

Last Call - Dayton Photographer Alex Sablan

Royal Blue - Dayton Band Photographer Alex Sablan

Brian and Chris - Dayton Band Photographer Alex Sablan

Chris of Last Call - Dayton Band Photographer

Solemn - Dayton Band Photographer Alex Sablan

Dave and Chris - Dayton Band Photographer Alex Sablan

Cheering - Dayton Band Photographer Alex Sablan

Rockstar Dave - Dayton Band Photography Alex Sablan

: Last Call at W.O. Wright’s in Fairborn – Dayton Band Photographer Alex Sablan

Band Photography – Shooting Outside Midday

Band Photography – Funky G at the Greene Towne Center in Beavercreek, Ohio

About the Shoot

Band photography always has many challenges in normal settings, when you put a band playing under cloudless skies midday one needs to find creative measures to overcome the lighting challenges. Luckily this day, the sun was bouncing around the light colored concrete walls and sidewalks.

The band was under a large white tent which created a nice giant softbox. The big challenge was finding creative ways to get shots that included the crowd and the whole scene when the sun was bounding down upon everything.

Funky G at the Greene - Band Photography by Alex Sablan — Isolate subject against bright backgrounds - Band Photography by Alex Sablan

One way to overcome the lighting challenge in band photography on bright days, is to try to isolate the subject against the bright areas burnt out by the sun. Take shots of the crowd with the band silhouetting against the crowd. Isolate the subjects against bright buildings behind them.

Another way to overcome the lighting challenge, is to use the bright light creatively to create a mood. Use all the light and make a high-key lo-fi look. If you are shooting in raw, you can pump up the contrast and shadows in Lightroom 4.Just remember that you need to harness the light and not let it ruin your day.

About the Location

The Splash Pad at the Greene Towne Center - Photography by Alex Sablan

The Greene Towne Center is a walking mall located outside of Dayton, Ohio in a suburb called Beavercreek. The mall has a park area around a splash fountain for the kids. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, The Greene provides music by local groups. This past weekend the music was provided by Funky G and The Groove Machine.

About Funky G and the Groove Machine

Funky G at the Greene in Beavercreek, Ohio - Band Photography by photographer Alex Sablan

Funky G entertains the crowd with music spanning the seventies to the present. Ranging from Earth, Wind, and Fire to Usher, the music Funky G performs appeals to a large demographic. The band performs regularly in Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus at events from weddings to large corporate events to Reds games. For booking information, go to their contact page and contact Kelli Kooken.

Band Photography – Funky G and the Groove Machine

Band Photography of Funky G

Funky G and the Groove Machine - Photographer Alex Sablan

Band photography is always a challenge especially now that a lot of small venues are moving to LED lights. LEDs bring a different challenge than the old tungsten par cans. They are almost as bright as lasers and lead to a lot of contrast and color mixing issues.

I chose to avoid some of the color issues by processing many of these shots to black and white. I found it fitting for the type of music that Funky G and the Groove Machine plays. They play old school funk and some newer hip-hop so I thought a little Herman Leonard tribute would be fitting.

Mario, Forrest, and Funky G - Photographer Alex Sablan

About the Band

Funky G, aka Greg, is also a close friend so I abuse his band regularly to accommodate my band photography addiction. He also hosts karaoke at W.O. Wright’s every Sunday. You can see his song list here.

Gear for the Shoot

I shot these with a Nikon D5000 with a kit lens(18-55mm) on manual and aperture priority, which is normal for me. It makes for a nice lens for band photography when in a small venue where you know you can get in close to the band. I also used Lightroom 4 for all the edits. The price is very affordable at $79 so go get yours today.

Let me know what you think in the comments below and share away if you’d like. Make sure to check out my main site at AlexSablan.com.

Mario and Funky G - Photographer Alex Sablan

Band Photography – Festive Skeletons by Alex Sablan

Band Photography at W.O. Wright’s

Setting Up - Photographer Alex Sablan — Setting Up – Photographer Alex Sablan

Band photography is always fun, especially when its a band you have listened to for more than fifteen years. Festive, as the locals call them, was coming back to W.O. Wright’s for the first time in years.The band got together in the mid-nineties and quickly became popular in the local bar scene. They released their first album and opened for Tesla in 1995.

The band is made up of Craig Carroll on drums, Mike Brodnick on bass, Danny Voris on Guitar, and Chris Reynolds on guitar and lead vocals. They play originals and grunge/rock covers.

Mike Brodnick of Festive Skeletons - Photographer Alex Sablan — Mike Brodnick of Festive Skeletons – Photographer Alex Sablan

About the Location

W.O. Wright’s is a pub and grill located near Wright State University. They have bands Fridays and Saturdays so it is really nice place to grab some band photography of local musicians with an occasional nationwide act. The stage has a bank of small LEDs on the back wall and two banks of LED cans on the front sides. This can make for a challenging band photography photo shoot, but you have to dance with who ya’ brung.

Sound Check - Photographer Alex Sablan — Sound Check – Photographer Alex Sablan

Gear for the Shoot

To be honest, I wasn’t really planning on shooting band photography on this particular occasion. I was just going to hang with some friends and listen to the band. The photo bug got the best of me so I went and talked with the band while they were setting up and decided to pop off a few shots during their first set. This would leave me ample time to get my drink on and not annoy the wife too much.

So, I basically had my kit lens and my Nikon D5000. I just tried to get some interesting shots without inhibiting patrons view of the band. I was shooting in manual or aperture priority due to the various colored lights and ever changing scheme of lights.

Let me know what you think in the comments below and share away if you’d like. Make sure to check out my main site at AlexSablan.com.