Animal Eyes at the Marlin

Music, Photography

My annual summer hiatus from blogging is nearing an end. Though with the record-setting rain Fairbanks had this summer, as reported by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, I easily could have found more time for blogging. Thanks to all those who continued to visit.

Animal Eyes is a Portland-based band comprised entirely of members from Alaska, who all met in Portland. It’s a small world. They rocked hard and long, during this June 31 concert at local dive bar The Marlin.

Animal Eyes performs at The Marlin on June 31, 2014.

Lights strung around The Marline during an Animal Eyes concert.

Lights strung around The Marlin during an Animal Eyes concert.

Palace at Versailles – Grand Finale!

Abstract, Landscapes, Music, Photography, Travel

The two-hour fountain and fireworks show started at sunset and lasted well into dark. Symphony music streamed out from speakers hidden in hedges while water jets fired in sequence. The special event is held only a few times a year, and being in Versailles the weekend before Bastille Day it was performed twice.

To me it felt gimmicky. The water patterns flat and repetitive and the music too loud. The setting in the gardens was incredibly gorgeous, and was fun to photograph. Most disappointing was how far back spectators must retreat before the fireworks. I’m spoiled – in Fairbanks we can sit as close as we want to most fireworks shows.

The start of the show coincided with sunset.

A crescent moon begins to rise over the fountain.

Long exposure of the fountains.

People, fireworks and fountains during the grand finale.

WPC: Costumed Community of Music Lovers

Alaska, Music, Photography, Portraits

The photos are dated, but the weekly photo challenge of “community” is a good opportunity to post them.

A costumed community of musicians and dancers joined together the Saturday after halloween for some dancing to Steve Brown and the Bailers. These like-minded people – in spirit, enthusiasm and search of enjoyment – joined together for the night to make a very welcoming community.

Hope my fellow wordpress community and beyond enjoy!

Smiles and spins for the honky-tonk rhythms.

From left to right: a monk, skeleton, witch and vampire don’t often form a community.

Music and costumes

This prisión mandolin player is part of a community I wouldn’t want to be.

A furloughed fed and Inspector Gadget come together to have a good time.

Halloween Special: Necropolis under Paris

Black & White, Photography, Travel

Above: Skulls and bones in the Paris catacombs.

“Arrête, c’est ici l’empire de la mort.”

“Halt, this is the realm of death,” the carving above the entrance to the elaborate labyrinth reads.

To set the mood:

It’s dark: the light from incandescent bulbs casting hard shadows. It’s warm and damp: 130 tight steps and 20 meters, or 63 feet, below the streets of paris – the temperature rises as water drops from the ceiling. It’s huge: The ossuary under Paris is the world’s largest, with over 2 kilometers of walkways and more then 6 million skeletons!

Originally a limestone quarry – likely where the stone to build Notre Dame Cathedral was mined – earth this deep dates from the Lutetian period, between 48 and 40 million years ago. During the French revolution there was a land grab, and cemeteries surrounding churches were dug up. The bones were then stacked in piles underground, and on April 7, 1786, the catacombs were established.

Long exposures create ghost-like figures, blurring the lines between life and death.

A sickly green accent light helps illuminate an untold amount of bones.

A family with surprisingly young children work their way through the catacombs.

A family with young children work their way through the bones of the catacombs.

Concert In the Garden: Susan Grace

Alaska, Music, Photography

Once again from UAF Summer Sessions, Concert in the Garden performance by Susan Grace, Alaskan troubadour, singer and songwriter. Her songs analyzing the effect humans have on the planet were made more poignant by the smoke blowing in from a nearby wildfire. It wasn’t enough to deter people from enjoying the music. The concert took place June 17, 2013 at the Georgeson Botanical Gardens.

Sun rays streak through smoke.

Flags fly at UAF’s Georgeson Botanical Garden.

Concert in the Garden was a fantastic event to photograph. So much is happening in a very compact area, allowing for photographs with many different elements.

Checking out the train.

Work for some, play for others.

People gladly support the gardens during the free concerts.

Can’t have a post about music without the standard close up of the musician!

Susan Grace taps her guitar and sings, June 27, 2013.

Music Monday: Bruce Adolphe

Alaska, Black & White, Music, Photography, Portraits

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: raw files are superior to jpeg. It is rather disappointing to be photographing and realize the camera is only recoding jpegs. That is what happened during this shoot. Enough on that.

Perhaps best known for his weekly Pianno Puzzlers segment on NPR’s Performance Today, Bruce Adolphe recently played in Fairbanks. Piano Puzzlers, as his website describe, “…Adolphe at the piano, playing folk tunes and popular songs in the styles of famous Classical composers,” was played with live contestants in the studio for the first time ever on Alaska Live, at KUAC.

All three contestants got the answers right, check out the puzzlers, fun conversations, and great piano playing in a series of two podcasts.

Bruce Adolphe, host of Piano Puzzler, warms up before playing for conetestants.

Bruce Adolphe plays a Piano Puzzler for contestant April Jaillet.

: Left to right: Maryanne Babij, April Jaillet, Jeff Iverson, Bruce Adolphe and host Lori Neufeld.

Music Monday: Steve Brown and the Bailers, Howling Dog performance

Alaska, Music, Photography, Portraits

Any regular followers may have noticed a lack of posts the last seven days. It was my final week of undergrad, and wanted to make sure I finished everything I needed to graduate. Now that school’s over, it’s time to get back in the postings. Today will be a brief post of my favorite local band, Steve Brown and the Bailers, who were recently featured in UAF’s bi-yearly publication Aurora. The Spring 2013 printing also features a good article about the state of journalism in Alaska, a fun info sheet about the Equinox Marathon, and a two-page spread with my photo of UAF’s Research Vessel Sikuliaq.

The article about Steve Brown and the Bailers highlights their national successes, and offers a little insight into how their name came about. Hint: it had to do with unreliable band members.

The following photos are from a performance they gave July 28, 2012, at the uniquely-Alaskan Howling Dog Saloon. Photographically, one of the best things about the Howling Dog is the plethora of memorabilia plastered on walls.

Low-flying planes be damned, this band will play on.

Enthusiastic dancers always enjoy the Bailers.

Guest artist Caitlin Warbelow, left, joined a few songs with some impressively-frantic fiddle.

Music Monday: More Mountain Stage, Mostly Monochrome

Alaska, Black & White, Music, Portraits

A long-while back I posted a few images from Mountain Stage, when, “Live performance radio from the mountain state of West Virginia,” visited UAF. I also did a feature story for my student paper, The Sun Star. Here’s another selection of photographs in black & white, which is commonly referred to as monochromatic. Though monochromatic means one shade of color, such as varying hues of red, it expanded to include images in black & white.

Tim Easton, center, plays at the Davis Concert Hall, accompanied by Megan Palmer and Kliff Hopson for NPR’s production of Mountain Stage.

Tim Easton, accompanied by Megan Palmer.

Pat Fitzgerald and Robin Dale Ford, accompanied by the Mountain Stage band, play at the Davis Concert Hall. August 17th, 2012.

Backstage Davis Concert Hall for West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Mountain Stage.

And the single color image for today.

Music Monday: TIm Robb at Creamers Field.

Alaska, Black & White, Film, Music, Photography, Portraits, Street

First things first: My condolences go out to all those affected by today’s Boston Marathon tragedy. I have spent some time viewing photos and watching videos, it truly is horrific. I can’t imagine the utter shock and chaos felt during what should have been a time of jubilation.

I was riding my bike to school, just about this time in 2012, and stopped by Creamers Field to shoot some 35mm, B&W film. I happened upon an unexpected scene.

Fairbanks musician Tim Robb watched the arrival of Canada goose while practicing guitar, his dog in attendance. Robb is a very enjoyable, mellow yet enthusiastic musician. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner correctly critiques his work: “Robb… typically blurs the style lines through free-form interpretation and improvisation.”

I was worried I didn’t have anything for Music Monday, then I found these gems in my archives. The first image is a lesson in micro-composition. A few extra seconds in the viewfinder and I may have panned up and to the right, eliminating the rear-door handle and “Outback” emblem, at the same time getting all the lettering on the barn and the vents on the roof.

Tim Robb practices guitar while his dog hangs out at Creamers Field, April 2012.

Tim Robb practices guitar while his dog hangs out, Creamers Field, April 2012.

Bright morning light causes squinty eyes, but doesn’t diminish smiles.

Music Monday: Clinton Fearon

Alaska, Music, Photography, Portraits

Please excuse my lack of posts in the previous week, I had been traveling with limited use to internet.

Jumping back into posts today with a brief Music Monday. Clinton Fearon, Jamaican Reggae artist, played a solo show on Alaska Live with Lori Neufeld March 8, 2013. Check out his podcast on KUAC’s website.

There was a shortage of light during this particular shoot, so even at ISO 3200 my shutter speed was a somewhat testy 1/25th of a second. Thanks to a steady hand and image stabilization I was able to get a few sharp shots. One cool effect of a slow shutter is the blurring of Clinton’s strumming hand.