I really like riding my bike down to the Santa Monica Pier for free music on Thursdays during the summer months. Last week was the final one for this year and one of my new favorite bands, Best Coast was playing. I brought my camera along for fun and made these images. I know it’s out of order, but the first image above was the last one I took that night. It was a beautiful, still night and the colorful lights from the buildings on the right just looked so perfect, and contrasted so well with the powerful orange glow of the city in the background. Check out the gallery for more great images I made from Venice and Santa Monica. Continue reading “Free Music Thursdays in Santa Monica”
In 2001, the British Comedy Awards gave the Seinfeld show their award for best International comedy. The show was scheduled to air in December, 2001, tragically just months after the Terror attacks in New York, D.C and Pennsylvania, so naturally people were still a little shaky about flying, and so in lieu of traveling halfway around the globe, Michael Richards decided to send a short film, which I was asked to make, and in the process found out the naked truth: that life truly can be stranger (and funnier) than fiction. Continue reading “The One About Michael Richards”
I was recently contacted by their record company to make a promo video for POP Etc, formerly known as The Morning Benders. “Keep It For Your Own” is one of the songs coming out on their newest album and was produced by Danger Mouse.
My instructions were simple: “There is a guy going to hang one of our billboards in Silver Lake. Shoot him doing that, and cut it to the song.”
Well, there always has to a be a story for me, so I wanted to add a bit of mystique to the project. I focused on Chris, the guy hanging the billboard, and cut it so as to not reveal the sign entirely until the end. The best part for me though was hearing the song on the radio for the first time this past week.
Shot and edited by Jeff Gatesman
2nd Camera and assistant, Alexander Brennan
I am honored to have been interviewed recently for the blog, The Most Talented People In The World. The blog, which is run by Jennifer Stoots, dares to ask, in a fast-paced, digitally dependent world, is there still a need for classic, analog ideas and education?
Few professions are dependent on a single concept or tool; while it is important to be able to work with and incorporate new technology, success in many areas still relies on a working knowledge of historical precedents, creativity and, above all, hands-on experience.
In her blog, Stoots seeks out and interviews various professionals in the arts and sciences who all have one similar and undeniable trait. They all exist and work in the digital world, but began their careers and have experience doing their same job under a completely different set of circumstances–before the job was dependent on microprocessors, digital chips and sensors. Before social networks, when you had to rely on experience and abilities over apps and computer programs. I am proud to be a small part of this project because I believe in Stoots’ mission, that you need to be educated in what you are doing, not just how to use a program that accomplishes a task. Because ultimately any knowledge base is built on generations of people before us, but an app is only as good as the programmer behind it.
Drum Head
For me, todays real-world example in photography of this phenomenon is truly apparent in the multitudes of plugins and actions that are readily available for Photoshop. Some of them are true additions to a program that has been around for a very long time, but as I’ve been working with the program since version 3 (that would be 1994!), I notice that most of the bundles available today, do things that are easily accomplished within Photoshop itself. All the hard-earned money you pay for those shortcuts doesn’t get you anything more than you already have and in some cases, limits the control you need to make the end product truly your own.
[dc]H[/dc]is self proclamation “I’m kind of famous at Burning Man”, I’ve learned was accurate as news of his untimely death spread like wildfire through that community. I knew John Pedone as a colleague and fellow technician in the film lighting industry, and for a short time a decade ago, as a room mate. I only recently became aware of his impact on the legendary annual gathering of artists and misfits in the desert, as he proudly showed me photos of the camp he co-founded there years ago. His status at Burning Man became apparent to me posthumously as I began hearing about his motorcycle accident from some of the unlikeliest sources–all attendees at one time or another at the desert festival. That he was well-known amongst a large group of creatives in southern California doesn’t surprise me as he was one of the liveliest people I have known: well-traveled, adventurous, artistic, friendly and energetic. He created colorful light shows for raves and live performances, insanely huge structures for Burning Man, jumped from airplanes and scaled rock walls.
John and I worked together on more than a few projects over the past decade, the last, and probably coolest one being a 360° video for a new album by Gun’s ‘N Roses guitarist, Slash.
John lived life at full speed and last Friday he was remembered by a gathering of friends and family who came to say goodbye in a way that I’m certain he would have truly appreciated.
I, like so many other people, have a fascination with the moon, some kind of inexplicable, odd attraction. Not that it inspires crazy actions or odd hair-growth spurts, rather it’s a majesty thing. The moon is a celestial body we can see differently from all the rest of the planets and stars and moons in the sky because it is so close to us. I guess it’s like a perennial child in that, it’s ours, it’s always there, and it’s always different. Precocious little thing, isn’t it?
So, when it made it’s closest orbit to us this past weekend I went out and made theses images of it.
Super Moon Rising over Playa Del Rey
Super Moon and Palm Trees
[dc]T[/dc]he moon has inspired so many legends and tales and superstitions, but I think my favorite is one I’ve heard when I was on the Amazon river in Brazil. The Caboclos there have a myth that tells the story of how the mighty river was created. You see, it seems the Sun and the Moon were once lovers, but the Moon’s father forbid her from ever seeing the Sun. Like any forbidden love, they couldn’t be kept apart forever, so there are few but far-between times when they can come together. We call it the eclipse. But in those long breaks between their brief meetings, the Moon lamented her love and wept for her lover. And her tears created the Amazon river–a waterway so mighty it rises and falls 40 feet throughout the year. And the scientists say it’s due to extreme rainfall.
Shameless Self Promotion:
If you like that story, there are many more fantastic tales and outrageous myths that I’ve documented in a film I made about Life, Myths and music in the Amazon region of Brazil. You can buy or rent it at Amazon.
[dc]W[/dc]ith clear blue skies and perfect temperatures we lit out of Los Angeles like a couple of rogues after a bender which left a heap of twisted metal and broken hearts in our wake. Well, maybe it wasn’t quite so dramatic, but every once in awhile it’s really nice to just get out of LA in a testosterone fueled way, you know–rattle the bones and shake the cobwebs off, and this weekend my brutha from anutha country, Jakob, was in town from Copenhagen and we got on a couple of Road Kings and headed north on the coast highway, breathing in the salt air, wind on our faces, feeling every bit the Kings of the Road. Continue reading “The Road Kings”
This year’s Long Beach Grand Prix has been one of the most exciting I’ve witnessed: there were new cars, the Dallara DW12, a controversial 10-position penalty for every team powered by Chevy, lot’s of passing, nail-biting fuel consumption strategies, and a pile-up on the hair pin turn 11, on the last lap, after Will Power had taken the checkered flag, which prevented him from taking his victory lap. Above is the video I took from my vantage point.
An obviously exhausted, yet elated Power just gets out of his car in the middle of the turn, climbs on top of it and claims his victory. One he fought his way up from the 12th starting position to achieve.
A technique I have been wanting to try for a long time now has been balancing a beautiful sunset with a good exposure on a person in the foreground. It’s not entirely simple as the subject should not be lit flat like from an on-camera flash, and the proper balance has to be found. This is my first attempt and I did not have the flash set up properly and didn’t have all the equipment I would have wanted because we just happened to be driving by the beach when we saw this sunset and ran out to grab some photos, but I made do and these are the images I came up with. Thanks to my buddy Bret for being such an accommodating victim. I learned a few things just from that brief foray and will refine the technique from here.
Nicky dives from atop a stack of speakers onto the head of Cassandro. This, of course, riles Cassandro and his teammate, who consequently takes it out on Nicky and her teammate, which covers up the fact that Cassandro has climbed up to the balcony. If it sounds crazy, it gets even crazier…
What’s he going to do from the balcony? Well let’s just say it’s Mexican wrestling and payback es una perra! Click on the video at the right to see the whole thing.
This is the scene as I saw it Thursday night at the Mayan Theater. It’s Lucha Va Voom and that means Sex and Violence all in the name of fun! The wrestling is staged, the dancing girls real, the booze is cheap and the comics are pure cheese, and I couldn’t stop smiling all night.
I’ve been to Lucha Va Voom several times and have had the opportunity to photograph a couple of the shows, including the legendary girl fight. If you’ve seen it you know it’s high energy fun, and if you haven’t you ought to one day. I have some galleries dedicated to Lucha: wrestlers, burlesque and the girl fight. Check them out and get a print or coffee mug with your favorite Luchadore or luchadorette.
And if Lucha Va Voom seems interesting to you, check out my photos from the LA Derby Dolls roller derby matches.
