Andy Merrick

Mocha Club Live (with Wertz, Barnes, and Heath)

andy — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:29:58 +0000

I have a problem with being late. Nearly every time I go to the airport, I end up running to the gate. There have been plenty of times that I’ve missed my flight. I never quite seem to learn my lesson.

My general lateness applies to all areas of my life. For instance, just last night, I was sitting at my computer watching Friday Night Lights on Netflix when I remembered that the non-profit organization, Mocha Club, was doing a streaming event over the internet. It was 7:35. The event started at 8. I texted my friend Annie (who works for Mocha Club) to see if they wanted me to shoot the show. She said if I could get there in 25 minutes, I could do it. Google Maps told me it was 19 minutes away. Story of my life. Ready. Set. Go. I got there 90 seconds before they went on air.

With the musical stylings of Matt Wertz, Dave Barnes, and Brandon Heath, the event was sure to be a musical success. And it was. These guys have been close friends for years and it showed in the interviews they conducted with each other. Tons of funny stories and profound moments of trips the guys have taken to Africa. This event, to me, was not only a highlight of the incredible work that Mocha Club does, but a testimony to the power of friendship. Mocha Club director, Barrett Ward, is also a close friend of these guys. They’re all just regular people. These four men (and the handful of Mocha Club employees) have taken their gifts and used them to lead the charge in providing clean drinking water and education to people half a world away.

SHOOT NOTES

Interesting facts and what I learned.

I shot most of this show with my 70-200 lens because I needed to be out of line from the three video cameras shooting the show. I ended up using all three of my lenses at different points.
It took me until Brandon’s songs (he played last) to sit down right in the middle aisle of the venue. It was filmed in front of a live audience and there was a video camera setup in the middle aisle but there was room for me to shoot. I realized last night that my attitude when I shoot needs to be this – I’m working. It’s still enjoyable to me, but I need to document what happens. And I need to put myself in the best spots available to me – even if it means I feel just a little uncomfortable going there. The best shots tend to be those that put you right on the border of your comfort.
If you’re interested in supporting their cause, visit the Mocha Club website! They’re incredible people and they’re saving lives in Africa!!



Steve Moakler
andy — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:11:22 +0000
Singer-songwriters are lame. They know things about their feelings and they like candles. Right? Maybe. Not Steve Moakler. I know for a fact that he hates candles. Ok, I don’t know that for a fact. I made it up. But I do know he loves chicken sandwiches from McDougal’s here in town. Yesterday, our food got delivered to the table at lunch. I got up to get a drink and when I came back 12 seconds later, Moakler’s sandwich was gone. Ok, that’s a lie, too. But on the real, Steve is talented. Like really talented! There may be times when I shoot bands and I don’t like their stuff. I won’t say they stink, but I won’t praise them either. Moakler is a baller! Given your (alleged) hatred of them, forgive me, Steve, for this first picture shot off a mirror through candles.











I also shot a live video of Steve’s song, Boy That You Drew. Steve and my friend and fellow photographer, Jamie Clayton, told me Steve doesn’t play this live very often. The audio clips (gets distorted because it’s too loud) in a number of places, but I decided to post the video anyway.


SHOOT NOTES
Interesting facts and what I learned.

I didn’t take any full shots of the room from the back to show all the people there (there were a lot as Steve is crazy talented). I thought about doing it, but this weird feeling (vaguely reminiscent of laziness) kept me from doing it. I’m never giving in to that feeling again!
For part of the show, I stood stage left and took photos standing up since I wasn’t blocking anyone’s view there. The venue (The Listening Room) has these incredibly cool Bose L1 speakers that are about 4 feet tall, put out INCREDIBLE sound, and look like this



In an incredible display of how NOT to win friends and influence people, I was standing directly in front of one of those speakers and I didn’t realize it until two songs from the end. So my goal of people not knowing I’m there was completely ruined. I talked to some people after the show to see if they had noticed a sound issue and they said no. But I’m sure someone at the show hates me now. Live and learn moment!
Even with static lighting (meaning lights don’t change positions, colors, or intensities) – like the light at The Listening Room – it’s really important to review photos after each time you frame shots differently. Even switching from a horizontal to vertical shot of the same subject can change what light is available to the camera and destroy a photo by under- or over-exposing it beyond what is fixable in post-production. After 6 weeks of shooting, I finally had that conscious realization when editing this show’s photos.
Which brings me to my last note. I was talking with my friend, Alex, today about how many photographers hate editing photos. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it, either. Mostly like, sometimes dislike. But I think 70% of what I learn about photography comes in the hours of processing and editing photos. The time that can feel like an empty void of sorting, rating, and editing is actually more life-like than I realized before.
Steve’s MySpace. All of it is good. If you have limited time, I recommend Stay Sound or Slow Mo.





Tyler Bryant – Video at Aimeeland Studio
andy — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:52:50 +0000
About two weeks ago, I got a Canon 7D. It’s a sweet piece of gear. Not only is it a great camera for still photos, but it does full 1080P video. On January 13, 2010, it was about 15 degrees outside here in Nashville. Tyler went to Aimeeland Studio to write and record a song and I tagged along to document. When the work was done, everyone left. Except Tyler and me. We stuck around until 3am and recorded a few live videos. It looked like this…





Tyler Bryant – NAMM 2010
andy — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:35:46 +0000
NAMM is a music convention held in LA at the Anaheim Convention Center every year, attracting some 80,000 music-industry insiders. My bro, Tyler, told me he was playing out there on the Fender stage (he’s endorsed by them). I wanted to go shoot the show. So I did.


There’s a lot of grunt work before a show – hauling gear into a venue for load in, setting up the stage and placing/mic’ing amps, drums, and cymbals.



But when the show starts, all the song writing, recording, rehearsals, gear hauling, and all-around hard work pays off!












After the show is over, there’s always backstage stuff that happens. I’ll post a few more backstage photos this weekend, but for right now, a couple of my favorite photos that closed out an awesome day at NAMM!



SHOOT NOTES
Interesting facts and what I learned.

I decided to fly out to LA for this show, because I wanted to see if I could handle the “pressure” of capturing a bigger show. Granted, this wasn’t a stadium concert, but it had a different feel than a local show since it was for a crowd full of label reps and guitar freaks. Since I want to go on the road as a concert photographer, I figure it’s important for me to be comfortable in any situation. You only get one chance to capture a show. The moments pass and can’t be brought back. I wanted to know if I was ready to capture those moments no matter the “bigness” of the event. I felt totally comfortable.
Insecurities abound within many artists. “Am I good enough? How many people are better than me? Does this look/feel/sound ok?” One thing that makes up for lack of experience is hard work. One of my favorite pictures from last year was of my buddy and photographer Skip Hopkins down in the Bahamas shooting a wedding – absolutely drenched with sweat from working so hard.



I finished Tyler’s 30-minute set soaking wet. Cool photos don’t make themselves (well, ok, sometimes they do). It’s a lot of luck, some skill, and hard work. Whenever my insecurities pop up, I just remind myself that I work hard at shows and that will yield results because it’s part of the equation in getting great images!
The stage was cool, the lights were great (especially the light bars on the back wall!), and the sound in the room was huge! The crowd was a little tame for me, but they definitely appreciated Tyler’s set.
I’m still not getting good enough coverage of other band members during shows. I hate that I didn’t get any really good photos of Caleb (drums) or Calvin (bass). I’m going to start shooting with my 50mm instead of the 70-200 at shows where I can be right up on the stage. That lens will be perfect to get tight shots of drummers. I also learned that verses are a good time to take photos of other band members. In most songs, the passion happens in the chorus. That’s a good time to focus on the front man. Also, for guitarists who have solos (like Tyler), incredible moments of improvisation happen in those solos and my attention needs to be focused on them during that time.
If there’s one more thing you need to do, it’s this…if you have time, you need to watch one of the songs from the performance. The whole thing is awesome, but if you barely have time, do this…start the video and watch Tyler’s second solo starting at 4:10. Listen closely just after 4:15 as he stomps on his wah-wah pedal. A couple wide-open strums before hitting the first note of the solo makes me want to kick over some trash cans! It literally sounds like the guitar screams, “I’m ready! I’m ready!”


Keep watching and you’ll see something else amazing (besides the entire solo)! About 3 weeks ago, Tyler was writing with a sweet guitarist in town. The dude played a solo and asked Ty if he knew how to do it and Tyler said no, but took note of a trick the guy had done. While performing this song at the show, Tyler saw that guy in the audience and pulled out the dude’s trick. Just after 4:55, you’ll see him reach his right hand up the neck and do an off-hand bend (that’s what I call it). It’s so outrageously money! Tyler then smiles at the dude who taught him the trick. Get. Into. This!







Learning to Fly
andy — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:29:17 +0000
A little over a month ago, I dedicated myself to photography as a job. Though the technical lessons have been many, the greatest thing I’ve learned is psychological. Fear is a thief. While we imagine we’re preserving our lives by playing things safe, fear is all-the-while stealing the time that is intended for our dreams and purpose. No matter the field, the primary barrier to dreams isn’t technical know-how. It is fear. Because fear prevents us from starting in the first place. But no matter the time that has passed in our lives, we can be everything we’re supposed to be by overcoming our fears…

I’m not a great photographer yet, but I’m learning to fly – goofy face and awkward pose. Sometimes it’s not pretty, but bits and pieces are. I’m giving this everything I’ve got. And whatever YOUR heart might be longing to do, I hope 2010 is the year of learning to fly. It’s not easy, but it’s good. We each have our own style so your path of overcoming fear may not look like someone else’s. That’s ok!
The year of no fear. One day at a time, one task at a time! Get up and go!



Photos from my trip to LA for Tyler Bryant’s NAMM 2010 show will be up tomorrow!

SHOOT NOTES
Interesting facts and what I learned.

Dudes in these photos: Jason Stoltzfus, Alex Beh, and me. These were taken at Alex’s loft in LA.





My Absence
andy — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:18:43 +0000
So I’ve missed a couple days of posts. I didn’t want to but I’m out in LA to do some shooting and so busy that I haven’t had time. I’m gonna make up for it soon, though! I promise! Until then, happy weekend!!




AVP Volleyball (Muskegon)
andy — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:01:30 +0000
At the end of August, my brothers and I were headed up to a cottage near Traverse City, Michigan. We decided to stop in at the AVP Volleyball tournament that was being held in Muskegon. Whoever said white men can’t jump has never watched beach volleyball.


My bros and I got there a little bit late on Sunday so we only got to see about 2.5 matches, but we got to see both finals – including the Olympic champion female team (Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor) and also the male Olympic champions (Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhousser). BALLIN!




Phil "Albatross Arms" Dalhousser with a huge block. How in the world are you supposed to get the ball past this cat?
Nick Lucena gets wise and goes over the top of him.


This hang time is OUTRAGEOUS! You could drive a small bus underneath Dalhousser!

SHOOT NOTES
Interesting facts and what I learned.

All these photos were shot with my Sigma 70-200 2.8 lens.
It was real cloudy when we showed up. In fact, on August 23, the temperature was 60 degrees when we showed up the beach. Once the sun came out, it warmed to a beautiful 75!
This was the first volleyball shooting I’d done. I learned that many photos are taken portrait (not landscape) because the ball moves vertically so much and the really compelling photos have the ball in the frame. A number of these pictures, I couldn’t crop the way I wanted because the ball would have been removed from the frame. The frames here WITHOUT a ball in them still struck me as compelling enough to include, but a ball would have made them 10x cooler. So I learned that I need to time my shots better to include the ball.
I learned a factor out of the photographer’s control is how a play develops and which player(s) will go to cover the area a ball is hit. It seems like photos where teammates are both in the frame makes for a cooler shot. Obviously, diving shots are extremely cool!
Without question, shooting down on the sand makes for better images. I shot the men’s final from the stands and didn’t really love very many of the photos. The semifinal match I shot on the sand was much cooler.
During the men’s final, there was a guy out on Lake Michigan who was kite surfing. He was fun to watch during breaks in the action. Hang ten, homie!







Mistletoe Project
andy — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:33:40 +0000
Before Christmas, there was a small show at a place in town called Douglas Corner Cafe. It was my first time shooting there and I wasn’t expecting much in terms of lighting seeing as it’s a small coffee shop, but I was so surprised! The lighting (both foreground AND background) was perfect for a singer-songwriter show. Checkout how well-lit everyone is!


The event was hosted by two girls – Nicolle Clawson (aka Nicolle Galyon) and Molly Reed. At Christmastime, they’re a duo known as The Mistletoe Project. They invited out a bunch of their songwriter friends to each play a Christmas song. I only took photos for three of the performers. These were just a couple of my favorites.
Rob Blackledge
There isn’t anything particularly special about the next photo except for two things. This is my best friend here in Nashville – Seth Jones. And his wife, Betsy. They sang the Seven Day Jesus version of O Holy Night. There were probably 50+ people in the cafe when they started their song. I remember there was a bit of chatter when they began, but about 30 seconds in, it was dead quiet. Not so much because of good manners but because of how raw and intimate the guitar and vocals were. I’ve mentioned before how when I shoot, my sense of hearing is usually trumped by my attention to seeing. But the silence in the room was obvious and powerful. I felt it before I heard it.
The reason I love this picture is because I’m a sucker for husbands and wives doing things together. There’s no need for married couples to spend every waking moment together, but to share something special (like music) seems…well…special. I like this photo because Betsy is looking at Seth.

Molly Reed
Nicolle (Galyon) Clawson

SHOOT NOTES
Interesting facts and what I learned.

One of the many factors out of your control at concerts is not only the color and intensity of the lights, but also the PLACEMENT of the lights. So often an artist is standing just outside the narrow beam of light that would perfectly illuminate their face/body/instrument. I felt like this show was perfect.
I’m a big fan of the website La Blogotheque. Months ago, I saw an image on the site that grabbed me. It was a smaller thumbnail of the incredible songwriter, Patrick Watson, doing a live performance. What interested me about the photo is that the slight blurriness on the left side of the picture (normally a photo-killer) made the photo even MORE engaging.

At slower shutter speeds, facial movements (or intentionally moving the camera) can actually CREATE emotion. This next photo isn’t good enough to be a Top Pick from the shoot, but neither does the blurriness make the picture garbage. In some strange way, it adds to the emotion of Seth and Betsy at this particular moment in the song.






Dawn’s Early Light
andy — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 09:18:17 +0000
Another weekend day means another small post.
This was taken on December 22. It had gotten colder that night (about 30 degrees or so – which, given the current temps in the teens, seems like a balmy temperature) and a good bit of fog had settled. The floodlight on the corner of the garage made me a think a photo was in order. For those of you who saw my previous post, Stealing Home Part 1, you’ll notice I get inspired by this place in my driveway. A little timer action on the camera and you have a self-portrait.



SHOOT NOTES
Interesting facts and what I learned.

This was shot at ISO100, f/2.0, .5s, -2EV
In the comments, Anton wanted to know how much editing went into the photo. He wondered how the light ended up as it did. I took 22 timed photos that night, trying to find just the right combination of exposure and angle. Most photographers want to get as close to the final image as possible in-camera (meaning no edits are necessary). It never quite works out that way, but I just kept shooting until I had something I was fairly satisfied with right in the camera. Here’s the before and after. Edits included some rotation, color, contrast, and crop. Pulled up the orange of the background light. And I burned the left side of the photo a bit (for those who don’t know, burning is when you darken part of a photo).


Kind of a funny story about this photo…It was taken early in the morning sometime after seeing Avatar with my buddies Seth and Tyler. Seth bought this massive Dr Pepper that the three of us shared (I know, it’s cute and adorable. Whatever.). At one point, I took a drink and I felt some ice cubes fall from the cup onto the hoodie I’m wearing in the photo. I got home, took this photo, and went to bed. The next morning, I woke up, put on the same hoodie, and went to meet a friend for coffee. When I got back, I started to edit the photo and there was a huge brown spot right on my chest.

I thought, “What in the WORLD is that brown thing on my chest?” I remembered I was wearing the hoodie, and looked down, only to find the huge brown spot right there. What I thought were just ice cubes falling on my hoodie the night before was actually Dr. Pepper spilling all over me. I didn’t know and nobody at the coffee shop told me, but I don’t blame them. That’s an awkward moment. “Hey, bro, you’ve got a huge brown stain on your white sweatshirt. Might wanna think about washing that thing every now and again.” Some quick Photoshop healing made everything new and, if I hadn’t told you this story, you’d think I did my laundry regularly. Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t.





Stealing Home Part 1
andy — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:38:58 +0000
Since not a lot of people check out blogs on the weekend, I’ll be posting smaller, random photos on the weekend.
Last night, I got back to my house at about 2:30am and some snow was falling (and sticking to the ground!). Since snow is a rare event in Nashville, I figured it demanded a couple of self-portraits – timer-style. I went inside and grabbed a Gap box so I wouldn’t have to set my camera in the snow.


I played around doing goofy things and changing settings in the camera. I call this picture “Stealing Home” – kind of a simulation of someone stealing a base in baseball.


SHOOT NOTES
Interesting facts and what I learned.

Doing this made me want to take the “show” to a real baseball field at night. In due time, I tell you – it’s gonna happen! That’s why this is Part 1!
For anyone interested in my camera settings…I messed around changing lots of things, but this was shot at ISO640, f/4.0, 1.3s.