Live Music Photographs & Photography

2012 Islands Folk Festival

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:23:12 +0000

Danny Schmidt performing at the Islands Folk Festival 2009

The 2012 Islands Folk Festival at Providence Farm in Duncan is shaping up to be one of the best in years with a stellar line-up already announced. A few of my favourites are coming back, Danny Schmidt and Carrie Elkin from Austin Texas as is well known Canadian, Stephen Fearing playing with Andy White. From overseas Shooglenifty is coming from Scotland and Niamh Ni Charra, the 2012 Irish Musician of the Year is coming from…. Ireland. There will be lots more, I’ll update the list regularly.

The Islands Folk Festival takes place this year on July 20, 21, 22. Information is available at the Cowichan Folk Guild web site.

Keeping cool during the summer music festival season

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:41:20 +0000

There are a few great things about the summer music festival season beyond just all the cool music provided by the thousands of talented musicians. Being a photographer, certainly amazing photographic opportunities exist both on and off the stage and perhaps, almost as important, the weather tends to be warm, sunny and basically good. This is especially true on Vancouver Island where we tend to have normally dry conditions during the summer. The hot days make for hot bodies however and while I try and hide away on the stage areas under cover many others bring out the water bottles and have fun playing in the island sun!

Cooling down the photographer - not a bad idea if I can turn my lens away quickly enough!

Enjoying a shower at the Islands Folk Festival in Duncan

A little water on plastic makes for a good cool time

Dancing in the rain at the Islands Folk Festival, Vancouver Island

The Paperboys from Vancouver

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:26:01 +0000

For a lively evening you really can’t beat checking out The Paperboys from Vancouver, British Columbia. Check out their web site and some tunes here!

The Paperboys at work, Islands Folk Festival 2009, Providence Farm, Duncan, British Columbia

The audience going crazy with The Paperboys on stage. What a show!, Islands Folk Festival 2009

The Paperboys performing at the Islands Folk Festival 2009. Providence Farm, Duncan, Cowichan Valley, British Columbia.

Tribe of One

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:03:34 +0000

Tribe of One, Islands Folk Festival 2011

Dance like mad – Music Festivals

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:46:08 +0000

Dancing and music; well, they just go together don’t they? Certainly folk festivals and the open air bring out the festive side of people.

Groupies in front of the stage, Islands Folk Festival 2010, Providence Farm, Duncan, British Columbia

Dancing in the sun at the Islands Folk Festival 2010, Providence Farm, Duncan, BC

Islands Folk Festival 2011

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:27:52 +0000

Tuber, Islands Folk Festival 2011

Here it is in the early spring of 2012 and I’m finally spending some time editing the photographs I shot at last years Islands Folk Festival on Vancouver Island. This is a daunting task, sorting through over 5,000 photographs shot over a 3 day period. Granted, this is nothing compared to what many sports photographers shoot, I have heard numbers like 30,000 photos in a weekend for some of them! Where to start?

I generally do a quick run through all of the images either within PhotoMechanic or Expression Media. Both serve the same purpose at this point, purely viewing images quickly, as most of the general keywording and labelling was done long ago. Photographs of interest are rated to separate them from the others.

The whole process will likely take me a few days with perhaps 300 of the best images being run through Nikon NX2 and PhotoShop. Generally I tend to work on the photos with the most “wow factor” first, those shot at the evening performances with great lighting and showing the real party atmosphere. This might not really make sense as it leaves the more mundane music photos for the end of the job but it’s the way I’ve worked on large quantities of images for decades. I guess the rationale here is that when I finally do have to move on to a new project I have pulled out the best of what I shot.

Stay tuned for the update!

Tribe of One, Islands Folk Festival 2011. Providence Farm, Cowichan Valley

Jayme Stone, Islands Folk Festival 2011

Five Alarm Funk

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:31:59 +0000

Jesse Winchester

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:27:32 +0000

Jesse Winchester performing at the Islands Folk Festival 2009. Providence Farm, Duncan, Cowichan Valley, British Columbia.

Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:24:09 +0000

Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa, Islands Folk Festival 2009

Okia Allan performing with Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa, Islands Folk Festival 2009, Providence Farm, Duncan, British Columbia