Twiztid at the Rave, December 10, 2010

So, Twiztid.  Another Psychopathic Records artist I absolutely adore, and was rediculously excited to see and photograph all week because they always put on such a GREAT show, and they crack jokes between songs and pick on the crowd.  Their guest line up was great, Blaze and a group I've never heard of but actually kind of like called MIC Lords.  Now, the downside of the show?  They packed a ton of Juggalos in the basement.  That's right, I had to shoot the basement, again, and was not overly thrilled about it.  The music sounded pretty good this time, minus the fact that the MIC Lords were having, well, mic issues.  The lighting however, not so great, again.  Whether Psychopathic brings their own side stage lighting or the Rave supplied it downstairs (it's the same star lighting I see at every Psychopathic show) I'm not sure, but it definately helped a little.  Too bad there was no front or top lighting though, it would have made things that much better.

Anyway, yes we all know the Rave lighting sucks, so I'll get on with it.

I think there may have been one band before Mic Lords, we got there a bit late, so I can't tell you what I thought of them unfortunatly.  But Mic Lords were great!  Long haired grunge guys that bring freshness to the rap-rock game these guys hit the stage running, no really, they were moving around quite a bit, working the crowd and making it exceedingly difficult for me to grab a stop action shot, but that's ok, I like an active show!  I ran into the singer after the show and shared a card, he appreciated the praise for a good job done and tried to sell me his CD.  I've got to find these guys online because I didn't have any money for a CD.  He's got a cool name to go with that long hair; he introduced himself as Allergy.  :)

Blaze Ya Dead Homie.  What can I say about Blaze?  This guy never fails to impress me and every show is better than the last.  He came out with hypeman J10 and they rocked the stage.  An interactive duo Blaze and J10 throw lyrics back and forth, taunt each otehr endlessly and work the crowd into a frenzy everytime I see them.  He opened the show with his regular line up and closed singing to the ladies.

I finally realized something at this show though.  Well two somethings.  First, which is actually the second thing I thought of, Blaze is losing some weight, which is great.  Second, which is the first thing I thought of; That clock that's hanging around his neck is filled with pictures of him through the ages.  I tried to get a decent photo of just the clock, but it moves so much and the light was so low that I just couldn't catch it.  One of these days I'll get a Mark II and that baby is all mine!  Thanks for hitting it big Blaze, and I can't wait to see you with ABK next year!

Finally Twiztid.  Now I've got something to get off my chest before I tell you about the stellar performance I saw.  Normally, the Rave lets you shoot 3 songs from each set before security kicks you out of the photo pit.  So naturally I went to the stage during they hit the stage right?  Get a good angle on the guys coming out of the curtain.  Well I get up there and the music starts and security informs me that they are being yelled at for letting me in the pit for more than two songs for the last two artists.  Now if you're saying "wait a second" and looking back to the top of the paragraph, let me save you the trouble.  I typed that in right, this show I could only shoot two songs, not three.  I'm supurbly happy that I got good shots of Blaze because the lights turned on and I was standing there irritated that I could only shoot two songs.  Why? you might be asking.  Because Twiztid came out and sang HahahaHa as their opener; so they used low purple lights, smoke and strobe for 5 minutes.  So here I was trying to time my shots with the strobe when it wasn't hitting regularly or with the tempo of the song, I was screwed.  I did manage to get some killer shots off of the steady blue light when Madrox stepped into it, so for that, whoever said I could only be there for two songs, thank you.  For whoever it was that said only two songs, you officially suck.

Now, the Twiztid show, after I got out of the pit and enjoyed the show a bit, was nothing less than awsome.  It never is.  I was slightly disappointed that they waited until the end of the show to mess with the crowd, as we left a little early when things started getting pretty rough (my cameras are a tad expensive) so we missed a really funny stand up, though someone did record it on their phone and post it on Faygo lovers so we got to see it anyway.  But, Blaze was on stage for a bit and sang with them, which was great, and they hit almost all of my favorites.  It was great to see people singing the Heartbreak and Homicide songs they performed as well being that the CD got quite a bit of negative feedback from the media and juggalos alike.  Me?  I loved that CD!  There isn't a song on it that I don't like.  I noticed a similar thing in Madrox as Blaze, you're getting slim man!  Way to go guys!

That's about it folks, enjoy!  :)

Meet Felecia, with 2 e's :)

Felecia, whose name I consistantly spelt wrong, was my last late Senior of the season.  She had her shoot on December 3rd!  It was bitter cold out, super windy and we were out in the open most of the time totally exposed to not only the elements but the traffic too!  She hung in there and we got some great photos.  Felecia spends a lot of her time at work, when she isn't there though she enjoys music and oriental items, oh, and sleeping  :)
 Thanks Felecia, whose name I'm not going to spell wrong anymore!  I really enjoyed out shoot.

Meet Mary

Mary was one of my late Seniors this season.  It was terribly cold, we were losing light, FAST, and Mary had to trudge through tons of foliage to get to the perfect spot in the woods to shoot her twilight session, with her strapless prom dress and beautiful violin.  But we created some magical photos, beautiful music and Mary kept it light, smiling the whole time dispite the cold.
Mary plays her violin (two ways, as a banjo as well) participates in 4H, shoots 4H too I might add :) and is on the soccer team.  Mary will be handing out rep cards for next years seniors to take advantage of, so find some!
Thanks for a GREAT shoot Mary, I really enjoyed it.

Nonpoint at The Rave, Milwaukee WI, November 26th 2010

So the Nonpoint show.  First thing's first; I never, EVER, want to have to see another show in the basement again, ever.  Well, unless I'm being paid to do so.  Rumors of it being haunted aside (I didn't see any ghosts for the record), it's small, so the sound bounces, it's VERY poorly lit (I'm talking 6 hotlights in front of the stage, so it's primarily backlit, yuck) and critics who think that the pillars upstairs are bad for multi angle views will be happy to know that they really aren't so bad compared to the basement where they are much closer together making any side stage viewing further back from the stage than 8 feet, really rather difficult.

But moving past the poor set-up, it was refreshing to go to a show that actually had some moving room.  Whether it was because of the holiday weekend or because of the show going on upstairs (Never Shout Never) it was nice to stand and enjoy Nonpoint and not get shoved, kicked or stepped on.  The worst that happened was a few guys who rushed between my Dad and I with a guy on their shoulders and ended up dragging my dad with them a few feet.  (Yes, my dad rocked the show with me like a champ)

So how was the show?  Stellar.  It opened with a local Milwaukee band S.O.R.E., and I'm not exaggerating on the periods.  Though I swear I've either seen these guys or heard them before, not many people seemed to know who they were.  Where they are familiar from, I'm not too sure but they sport a heavy past with music including openings for HedPE and Mushroomhead as well as having their music featured on ESPN soundtracks and in movies and video games.

They opened the show huge with raw energy and they kept it coming, working up the crowd and giving it everything they were worth.  I'm going to say right now, that dispite the fact that was possibly the first time I'd for sure heard full tracks from them, I'm a fan and yep, I bought the CD.  :)

Taking Dawn was up next, remenicent of an 80's hair band but WAY more metal, these guys rocked the stage.  I was definately impressed with their music, increadable sound matched with loud lyrics and lots and lots of headbanging these guys knocked me off my feet and my camera ate up every second of it.  The guys were great after the show as well, laughing and joking with fans and rocking their table long after everyone else headed back to the buses.  Way to go guys, gotta love the bands that love their fans, I'm impressed.

The stage took on a whole new shape at that point, a rise being added to the middle and a rather disturbing but awsome mic stand added to the top of that.  In This Moment was on next and I was excited.  Another band that I've only heard one song from, ever, but I was so impressed with the video of that song that I found that I couldn't wait to capture some images and a few memories.

My expectations and jitters ended there though and I'll admit that I didn't spend the entire alotted time in the pit.  Whether it was the sound in the basement, poor mic checks or just a worn out Maria Brink, I'm not sure, but her voice was very flat, not at all the sound quality it is recorded, and her stage presence was lacking.  Most of the show she spent standing in one spot and moving, not very generously, to a new spot to stand in.  She climbed on the platform a few times, straddled the mic stand and touched the ceiling, but otherwise was lacking.  I understand that growling and screaming in the manner she does takes a toll, but I've seen Flyleaf half a dozen times and that girl can perform!  And it seems like they never really quit touring.

The music was good, and her stage companions really worked it, I just wish that it would have been a little more.  I bought a shirt though!  Those guys have some great merch.

Nonpoint.....let me tell you something about Nonpoint.  Everytime I get the chance to get close to Elias, I always see the same thing, a huge smile.  The man puts out some amazing positive energy and his bandmates follow suite, and wow can they put on a show.

Growling, grinning, hair flipping, reaching out to the crowd, getting them involved, jumping around, posing, these guys have it all and I NEVER get sick of seeing them in concert.  Zach even hopped out into the crowd at the end of the set and I'm happy to report that he was not dropped.

They hung out with the fans for a bit after the show, my dad got his shirt signed, which rocked, and left with a smile and a wave.  Hope I get the oportunity to shoot you guys again soon, very realistic with how much you love to play in Wisconsin.  It was great show!

I left exhausted, hungry and with 10 gigs of photos to sort through and am happy to report, I'm still not done.  But I wanted to share the best of the best.   :)

Seniors and Music

So I just wrapped a senior shoot + a consultation for orders and this afternoon I will be shooting another late but BEAUTIFUL senior.  Add to that NonPoint on Friday and you have a lovingly leathal mix of wonderful photos to come.  So stay tuned!  Mary will be up tonight, NonPoint will be up on Sunday and Felicia will rock your socks next week.

See you then!

Hit the Fan-page for sneek peeks as they are done.

2012 Class Representatives

So I figured that of course this is the PERFECT place for my Class Rep applications.  So....read on  :)

Mae Photographics     www.maephotographics.com
Senior Class Representative
Class of 2012    
Mae Photographics is now accepting applications from Class of 2012 high schools in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, area including:Beaver Dam, Horicon, Mayville, Waupun, Fall River, Columbus, Sun Prairie, Lowell, Portage, Cambria, Baraboo, Juneau, Randolph.
Only 2 Representatives per high school can be accepted.  Act quick!  The deadline to apply is March, 4 2011.
What you get as a Class Representative for Mae Photographics:
**Two totally FREE portrait sessions before school gets out
Your free Rep session must take place before April 30th so we have time to get your cards printed before school is out. Contact us in advance to book your sessions.  You will receive free session(s) of your choice from: Urban, Nature, Playground, Twilight, Water.
**100 Model Cards with your name & favorite image
Your choice of card!  Instead of limiting you only to a business card, we give you the option of a half size card with tin, a 4x5 flyer style card with a box or a standard business card with a tin. The other side has a special offer for your friends and unlike other companies, your friends can keep the card. Hand them out to your classmates and you get free photos!
**3 FREE “pre-prints” web images.
Help us spread the word!  You get 3 web-ready images to use on Facebook, myspace or anywhere else you network within days of your shoot.  A little sneak peek while the rest of your images are perfected.
**Win Homecoming supper and a little extra!
All representatives will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card to the restaurant of your choice for every referral that books a session.  You choose the place, no matter what city it is in and Homecoming supper is on us.  Be sure to set an appointment with your date for your Homecoming evening before dinner because you’ll be receiving a mini-session for free that night as well.  Drawing will take place the second week in September. You must submit at least 1 referral to be eligible. The more referrals you make, the more chances you have.
**Referral credits
Print credit for each student that books and completes a session. The more referrals you receive the more photos you earn.  Referred students must present their referral cards at the time of booking and they will also receive a special gift. Earned referral credits can be used on orders placed within 30 days of referred session.

Parental consent is required to participate. An application must be filled out prior to acceptance.  Package purchase or disk purchase is required for free session.  Representatives that do not want to purchase photos may still be representatives and earn photos but must pay for a session.

Are you interested?
To be a representative you must be:
**A Junior in a local high school.
**Able to commit to your appointment(s)!

**Outgoing and willing to spread the word about Mae Photographics.


Contact Samara at 920-382-0431
Or visit our fanpage, search Samara Mae Photographics on Facebook for an application


Fill out this Representative Application here and we’ll get back to you shortly.
Top of Form 1
Mae Photographics Representative Application
YOUR INFO
1.      Your Name

2.      Phone

3.      Street Address
4.      Town
5.      State
6.      Zip Code
7.      E-mail
8.      High School

PARENT'S INFO
1.      Parent's Name(s)
2.      Parent's Email Address
3.      Parent's Phone Number

ABOUT YOU
1.      What extra-curricular activities are you involved with?
2.      Do you have any jobs line dup for the summer?
3.      What would you like to do when you are finished with high school?
4.      Why do you think you'd be a good Class Rep for Mae Photographics?

ABOUT YOUR SESSION
1.      What's your preferred session date?  
2.      What type(s) of session do you think you’d be most interested in?
3.      What are you interested in wearing to your session(s)?
4.      Are there any specific locations you are interested in?




TERMS AND CONDITIONS
-I certify that I am part of a class of 2012 and that my answers above are true and complete to the best of my knowledge.
-I will actively promote Mae Photographics by giving out cards to my classmates. I will actively promote Mae Photographics on Facebook by inviting my friends to the Samara Mae Photographics Fan Page and using my Representative portrait for my Facebook profile.
-I will recommend friends for the Mae Photographics Reps program.
-I grant permission to Mae Photographics to use my portraits for display or distribution in advertising or promotional purposes, never to be used for profit sale other than by members of my family.
-I agree I will not promote another photography studio while involved in the Mae Photographics rep program while in my Senior year of High School other than that of sports and/or event photographers shooting any extra-curricular activities I may be involved in.
-I understand the Class Representative Agreement is subject to change or cancellation without notice.
-I agree to the terms above.

(type your full name to confirm)


Copy and paste this ap into an e-mail and send it to samaramae.photographics@yahoo.com
All portions of this ap asking for information are required to be filled out or will be considered null and void.
I can't wait to hear from you!

Hallowicked 2010 at The Rave, Milwaukee WI

I grew up with a grandmother who collected clowns.  Clown paintings, porcelaine clowns, stuffed clowns, clown sweaters and, well, you get the idea.  Ironically, I was kind of afraid of clowns as a kid.  Even more ironically, I fell in love with the Insane Clown Posse (ICP) when I was 12; much to the dismay of my now all-things-Psychopathic converted father.  Half my lifetime later (that's 12 years for those of you keeping up) the Insane Clown Posse has come a long way.  Psychopathic Records currently has 5 additional artists and 2 super group compilations of those artists and proudly totes them along on tours like Hallowicked.  I proudly tote these artists around in and on my car, which is why when I was given the oportunity to shoot ICP at The Rave for yet another much anticipated Hallowicked-not to mention the first stop on the 4 day mini-tour ending in J and Shaggy's hometown of Detroit-I was more than thrilled, I was downright gut-wrentchingly, hand shaking, distroughtly nervous!  Then I stumbled upon Boondox's Twitter account and saw that it was finally confirmed he was going to be there and my head spun.  This was it, I was going to break into concert photography and I was going to do it with a group I have been a fan of for literally half of my life.

So what did I do?  Research, oh man did I do research.  You see, I'd never done this before.  Sure, I understood the concept, fans of my work might recall all the multi-color, low-light experimenting I did before graduation and the rather beautiful results I got, but to do that with a moving subject and in limited space, with limited time?  It seemed impossible.  Man was a wrong, and I'm getting to that, hang on guys I want to share just a little more.  After-all, this is my very first blog post, you want to know how I got going right?  I took other photographers advice and tips to the heart and began searching for my second much needed piece of advice, protection for my gear.  If you've never been to an ICP concert let me give you two tips.  First, bring a change of clothes.  Second, wear something dark.  Now this is the reason you need protection for your gear, in the first 5 minutes of the show I counted 24 bottles of Faygo gone, by the time another 10 minutes had passed I couldn't find a dry spot on my shirt to wipe off my UV filter to keep shooting.  And, I had to leave the pit because my Saran-wrapped lens was so covered in Faygo that I had lost my first rubberband holding the now soaked wrap in place under my rain jacket and could barely get another on.  The rain jacket (plastic shaped for the camera) and Saran wrap idea-by the way-gets a HUGE thank you to whoevers page I got it off of.  I looked at so many that I can't even remember them all anymore.

That behind us, I was dressed in my favorite Juggalette shirt, some super comfy jeans and my blue Hatchet man shoes with my new concert wallet (I lost the other one somewhere between my last KoRn show and the last time I saw Boondox) stocked with industrial ear-plugs (thanks Dad!) so I could hear at work the next day, gum, and my ID and headed out the door.  Now, unfortunately work schedules conflicted and we got there almost an hour into the show, so I can't tell you what I thought about Axe Murder Boyz OR the Dayton Family.  But when I got there I must say that the girlie behind the glass that gave me my photo pass was very helpful and increadibly friendly, which made me really happy since the girl I talked to 2 nights earlier was anything but.  We went in, through merch which was already backed up way too far to even bother looking at that current moment, and found an awsome side-stage spot.  The thing I love about the Rave is that they have those balcony pillars built in on the ground floor.  No one ever wants to stand by them because they seem like they would be hard to see around and there is a lot of traffic there going in and out of the bar.  But let me share this secret with you (and if you use it you better save me 2 spots next time) if you stand in front of that pillar on the entrance side, you can see EVERYTHING and, you don't get squished.  It was there that I ran into a fellow concert photographer and had to share part two of my advice above.  Poor girl had no idea what she was getting herself into.  It was also just about time for Boondox to go on.  Keep reading, because here is where it gets good.  Here is why I stayed up until a God-awful time in the morning protecting my camera and keeping my boyfriend awake on the ride home.

Boondox entered the stage in the middle through his curtain, and I about passed out.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those crazy people that screams whenever I see a celebrity, I've met plenty of bands/artists, chilled, taken photos with them etc.  I just couldn't believe I was taking photos of Boondox, at the foot of the stage and he was acknowledging my existance for the moment while I captured who he is as a performer.  For me, that was thrilling.  That's something that I've dreamed about since I went to my first concert ever.  (BTW that was a far cry from an ICP concert, but I'm not going to share that little secret with you just yet)  He worked the crowd, gave his heart and soul to his performance, totally rocked me out of my socks and kept me interested.  Some people think that rappers of all sorts put on boring shows because they don't do much, but let me tell you, Boondox posed, he bounced around and he kept his crowd engaged. 

I was a little surprised after Boodox was over and ABK came out that ABK played what seemed like such a short set.  Now ABK for me is the complete opposite of Boondox on stage.  I like ABK, I'm not going to go so far as to say I totally love his music, but I get him, I respect him.  However, I don't think he puts on much of a show.  He paced a bit, threw out to the crowd a time or two but over-all, other than the 2 rather stellar shots of him that I got, I don't really remember much of the show.  Sorry ABK, next year at the Gathering I promise I'll come watch you spin. 

Then the black curtain went up and mics were being checked, things were being slid around, everyone got a peek of a Faygo case and went nuts and I was ushered in by the bouncers.  ICP was about to go on.  When they finally drew back the curtains I have to say I was a little disappointed.  In the back was Mike E Clark with a set-up between roughly carved sphinx's and behind that were carved stone sledges.  What happened to the spook-tacular set-ups?  Maybe I was just a little too close to appreciate it, we'll see next year.  But what I wasn't disappointed in by a long shot was the show.  So, all things aside, let's get down to the grind.  Shaggy looked good.  The last time I saw him he looked a little wore out.  Of course these guys have been MIA for the last few weeks with rumors of jail time and rescheduled dates for their Old Shit tour, so maybe he's just well-rested, but either way he was totally ready to perform. 

Looking back at the photos one thing I am very surprised at is that J and Shaggy aren't sporting their custom chains and charms.  In fact, they weren't sporting ANY charms.  I'm so used to Shaggy being blinged out in his diamond hatchetman that I'm actually rather curious why I don't have anything for either of them in a single shot.

They opened the show in a blaze of color and every aspect, right down to the black and white striped mics was nothing less than perfection as far as an ICP show goes.  "My Axe" made for an amazing photo opportunity with hatchets held high in a stream of red and white light and screaming chants from the Juggalos.  Overall I'd say that my favorite part of ICP's set had to have been J singing in blue cloud-filled light that was SO hard to photograph but was so eerily beautiful.  Then of course it was followed by dozens more buckets of Faygo, some more confetti and some more much needed feathers, you know, because we were all so sticky already that we just NEEDED those feathers!  Now, ICP's lyrics may not be for everyone, some things are a little vulgar even for me.  But there is something so wonderful about hearing all the Juggalos singing along, throwing up their horns and watching a group so entranced by the love their fans give them.  Songs like "Boogie Woogie Wu" and "F*CK the World" might turn some people away, but ICP's fans know and love them for it, and they sing every word right along with them much louder than I've ever experienced at any other show. 

I got out of there sometime before the finale, being that my gear wasn't 100% Faygo proof anymore and bought my Hallowicked shirt.  ICP makes pretty good zombies and I'll be sporting that sometime in the very near future.  I watched the finale from the back and reminiced on the days that I used to spend in the front of every show I attended.  But that's ok, because this time, I got some great shots AND enjoyed yet another brilliant concert and I will be back for more.

Check out the fan-page for the full load of photos from this show!  Search Samara Mae Photographics on Facebook.