Creating band photos for a Bay Area rock band

The Bay Area has a pretty cool rock ’n’ roll history. Journey, Green Day, Faith No More, Metallica, Rancid, Dead Kennedys and lots more started here. I was contacted by White Fuzzy Bloodbath, a Bay Area band looking to create band photos for an album cover and tour promotion. Like most of my engagements, this one started with photos of a friend of a friend.

Elise and I started with a consultation call — describe what you’re looking for, share your inspirations, what drives you. I always start with discovering the who, what, where, when and most importantly the why. The job sounded like a ton of fun and work. We whipped up a commercial license agreement, set a day and we were on.

Their aesthetic is generally dark, with pops of colorful light, a touch of sexy, and hints of ferocious. Rock ’n’ roll right? Telling their story with photographs meant lighting the scene strategically. The approach I chose was essentially a 3-light setup plus a couple of speedlights for an extra pop.

The plan

Initial plans called for individual photos at around 85mm, groups at 24mm. The main light would be with a 36” octabox and a couple of 12×56″ softboxes with grids to keep the mood dark. The actual space was smaller than I expected, which led to my favorite part: improvising. The octabox was swapped for a 18” beauty dish (again with a grid). The two softboxes were reduced to one. I brought just about everything and in the end kept the actual camera and lens combination to my Canon EOS R and the 24-105mm kit lens.

The session ran like clockwork. Elise, the driving force behind White Fuzzy Bloodbath, is a masterful project manager so we met each goal effectively.
Photos of individuals: wardrobe 1, wardrobe 2, wardrobe 3 done. Indoor group shots: 1, 2, 3 done.

Improvising

Improvisation continued for band photos outside. The main idea was to capture the look of the band in an industrial setting. We didn’t need to look any farther than the area behind the studio. The ideas were all good and the weather in San Francisco did what the weather in San Francisco does — it got cold and windy. The jokes about needing a warm jacket here in the summer are absolutely true. Gusts of wind would blow through, spinning my octabox around like a toy. That meant keeping it in place with one hand while holding my camera with the other. That was comical to watch but it worked and there were a lot of laughs involved.

We went back into the studio for action shots. This felt like a bonus round because I got to be one of the first to hear their new single. When they let loose with “Medicine” I was ready with the same earplugs I use with a chain saw. You often hear phrases like “a wall of sound.” Being this close to the amplifiers was more like a series of punches to the face. You’re going to have to trust me when I say that was a good thing.

After hours of work we looked for any place still open to review photos and hopefully get a bite to eat and a beer or two. While we were working the session I decided that I really liked these people and they were going to get the very best I could deliver. We cruised through the proofs and marked favorites in Lightroom to prioritize editing. Elise was visibly delighted with the results of the session.