photosbyelisa.com | blog ~ aka emswazzu.com | random ponderings along side music & photography

Event Photography: Over the RAINBOW?! Seattle Pride 2010

Given the barely unrainy day…we almost didn’t need the excess in rainbows via our most fabulous of parades to see said rainbow, here in our very own Emerald City…but alas, the skies held their drops, and we had a lovely few hours of temperate temps, and twirling dispays of rainbows, and yes, Oz references…it took me a bit to get it…lol…

Every year presents a bit of a different twist along with several familiar faces…See the last few years here – 2008 – Seattle comes out & 2009 – Seattle Says I Do!, parade blogs…

This year – along with nods to our Gay “Emerald City” we so fabulously are, we got loads of corporate and political promotion… Not the least to mention the obvious push for recognizing that Love is Love…gay marriage is a right, and some of the most gorgeous kids look really cool in rainbow boas… And well, of course, that a gay man clearly wins the make-up award – I mean seriously, why do they do it better?!!??! It’s all garish and gorgeous. I mean I put on something slightly more than neutral and I look like a whore, and they look like miss america – sigh…

So, with out further ado, here’s to glowing white skin(because we had no sun in June) and spray tans galore(because – well the same reasons!) – the gloriousness that was Seattle’s Pride Parade 2010…

Pride 2010 by Elisa Sherman | photosbyelisa.com

Maybe I’ll hire an assistant next year, to hold my cameras so I don’t get so tired and can go take pix of the madness at the Seattle Center next year?!?!

The full set –

Slideshow – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157624252634167/show/

Concert Photography: Imogen Heap & friends at the Paramount...she's one cool lady...

Imogen Heap came to town almost 2weeks ago – and she did so in a fashion for a big musician, I rarely see…She came out to introduce each opening set – in her street clothes, pre hair/makeup…as herself. There is something there, that really sets her apart.

On top of that, she brought out a local music ensemble group as the lead off set – Sintonía, followed by her billed opener, Geese, and then one of her accompanying musicians, gave the final lead in set to hers, Ben Christophers…and of course then it was Imogen herself, in all of her lanky, prancing, crazy haired madness…incuding in much of her set, supporting instrumentation, etc from the openers on stage again. All this to a packed theatre at the Paramount…loved this show…

Photos of Imogen on SoundSpike.com – http://soundspike.com/photos/?p=Imogen

Some of my faves of the night…

A few from the openers…
Ben Christophers -

Geese –

Sintonía -

The rest of the set here –

Concert Photography: Noise for the Needy 2010 - don't forget the crowd shots!

For the third year in a row, I made it a point to photograph a couple of the shows sponsored by the Noise for the Needy Festival. Catch images / blogs from 2008 & 2009. The Festival this year was supporting “Teen Feed” – as always another great organization that does so much good. It’s great seeing so many musicians, music lovers, and volunteers come out for the events hosted at various clubs all over the city. I volunteered this year for the two shows at Neumo’s 6/11 & 6/12…featuring The Album Leaf, Delta Spirit, Kinsky, Baths, Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, & Romany Rye.

As I as volunteering as a photographer this year for NFTN – one of my photo responsiblities was to take photos of the crowd…not always the easiest in some of the darker venues, particularly when not using a flash…but now and then something interesting occurs, the light is just right, or someone makes an interesting pose…

My favorite image from shows, is this one, all bathed in a bit of a green/cyan wash, w/the NFTN signage prominently in the background…if this isn’t representative of the event, I don’t know what is – though, given that I have no idea who the green dude is, it will never officially be, other than from this observatory editorial viewpoint…and hey, it’s not just the hulk that looks good in green;)

And I loved this one of the gal from Teen Feed – it definitely captures the spirit of the entire gig…

NFTN Teen Feed intro by Elisa Sherman | photosbyelisa.com

And my favorite music image of the event – definitely this one at the piano of the keyboard player for The Album Leaf –

And a few of the other images…

Baths by Elisa Sherman | photosbyelisa.com

You can see all of my shots from the 2 gigs featured here –
http://www.flickr.com/photos/noisefortheneedy/tags/nftn2010byelisa/show/

Until next year!

New Psychedelic Furs website - photo featured

The Psychedelic Furs – you know them, love their music, and want to know more…

They have just launched their own official site – and I have the pleasure of having one of my photos featuring the drummer – on the new site: http://thepsychedelicfurs.com/index.html

Original photo –

For more photos on the Psychedelic Furs, check the set from this last year –

New Foxy Shazam CD - featuring cd image

Primed to take the world by storm – Foxy Shazam just released their self-titled major label CD via Warner Bros this month…and I have the pleasure of having one of my photos on the CD itself!

If you haven’t had a chance – buy the CD – HERE

And even better see them live, they are a treat! Love them…the CD photo is from their opening gig last Fall for The Sounds tour – http://photosbyelisa.com/blog/2009/11/foxy-shazam.html

And more recently on their headlining tour –
http://backbeatseattle.com/wordpress/?p=20420

More pics from both sets –

Corinne Bailey Rae at the Moore...my little Rebel's swan song...

She’s so pretty and adorable – she was always smiling in between songs – and the audience responded…it was a unique connection she had to the crowd and they to her…

This was also the swan song for my little rebel last week – which has worked tirelessly for me taking pictures where it was consistently outclassed by photographers around us…I think we did some pretty good work together…

So cheers…I raise my glass to my palm sized work horse…and to Ms Corinne Bailey Rae…who was simply gorgeous.

On LiveDaily – http://www.livedaily.com/photos/?p=Corinne%20Bailey%20Rae

Some of my favorite images from the night -

Full set – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157623844554478/show/

RED - Contest | win an awesome new bag

So I don’t usually do this – but these new bags are that cool – they look like a nice big purse/tote but they’re totally a cool camera bag…they’re most stylish is the Lola…it’s RED and gorgeous…

For more on the contest brought to you by beyond snapshots & epiphanie - http://www.beyond-snapshots.com/blog/2010/03/26/a-chance-to-have-your-own-epiphanie-contest-to-win-an-epiphanie-camera-bag/

To enter – create a RED post in your own corner of the internet and let them know – contest ends – tomorrow!

My RED – from my RED OCTOBER set -

Maui...wowie?

Well maybe not literally *wowie* as somehow I never caught the herbal scent, even whilst wandering across the park under the infamous banyan tree…sigh – the once cash crop, seems to have gone underground, or rather to ground perhaps, as I know I saw some *happy* surfers at another park – really, just friendly;)

“Wowie” aside, the sunsets were gorgeously divine, the vistas, beyond scenic, the coffee, so smooth, the water so clear, and the sun so warm…I could go on and on, it was paradise. Mom and I stayed at Lahaina Shores – I highly recommend – the town is super cute, and the hotel/condo is right on the beach, you practically fall into the ocean when you step out the back doors…

It seemed everywhere I turned, the frame was post card perfection – the sunsets – so stunning. A not so funny thing happen to my shots for most of the trip – I somehow(don’t laugh!) got a piece of hair caught up in the camera between the mirror and the sensor, ruining several shots – but perhaps, it was meant to be. It certainly made it easy to pass over the shots where a blurry line cut the scene in half. Where I could, I cropped around. Where I couldn’t I moved onto the next frame…sigh, you would think checking the images everyday, I would have figured this out quicker, rather than ruining 3 days? Oh well! Que sera, sera! as they say…

Even whilst the unfortunate technical difficulties, I think I was able to record some of the beauty that surrounded us, 360 degrees…sunsets, to black lava beaches…all the way around the island, here’s a taste…Note – even the old trashed out cars, are pretty – I guess that’s what happens in paradise!

Flick set – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157623088025371/show/
no flash? – see the set here

Wilco Wednesday...

Wilco @ The Paramount Theatre Wilco visited the Paramount Theatre to a full house Wednesday, sold out standing room only crowd…

It was fun, it was crowded, even in a full up photo pit amongst 9 or so photogs…it was a bit mad – I lost my photo pass before they even came on…thankfully I am acquainted with the security at the Paramont/Moore and they saw my pass at the top of the night – note always make friends w/security! – I was a bit off kilter all night…but it is what it is, and the music was superior as you might expect from this group of pure musicians…

Select photos on Gallery Spotlight on LiveDaily.com – http://www.livedaily.com/news/wilco-gallery-spotlight-seattle-wa-feb-10-2010-21420.html

Some of my favorite images from the night…

Flickr set – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157623299932405/show/

2009 - a year in review

2009 photo passes I started looking back on this year, particularly regarding shooting shows, and realized it’s been a landmark year! What had been a passion of intense interest, blossomed.

To be succint, this year I started shooting shows more regularly for 2 online music sites – in March, I became a contributing photographer for LiveDaily.com, and in October, for backbeatseattle.com.

It was the push I needed to get to shows on a more regular basis, and shoot for more than just a whim…assignments with a photopass.

For me, I needed something specifically to do, or it just is something I would do on rare occasion, when the rare opportunities presented for bands or friends I knew. Similar to last year how I started photographing for the Phinney Neighborhood Association - it gives me purpose and push to be out there.

Anywho, as I said, it’s been a banner year. I’ve gotten to hear and see some great live acts, capture some gorgeous moments, and really refine my skills at a pace I had yet to experience.

And let’s face it, it’s kind of cool to go up and say: “Hi, I’m on the list for a photo pass…”

Here’s some of my favorite 2009 images…