Emerson Drive & the Land of My Oppretunity.

I walked into the Rockin' Rodeo not expecting a big turn out, due to Snoop Dogg also being in Moncton that night, but a hefty turnout happened. I'm not sure exactly how many were there but I would definatly say a packed house.

I wasn't sure how tonight would go, I was supposed to be on the VIP list but they forgot to add me and Joanne to it. So eventually they remembered and we were in. I mentioned to the owner that I do photography and the pics they had on their site weren't that great. So I offered my photographic services. He accepted.

Greg Hanna stepped on stage for the first part of the show, I had never heard of him but he had a few tunes I liked. Following Hannas' finale was the Monctons "hometown heroes" the Divorcees. They had the crowd rockin', I had heard about them and never heard them. The impressed me immensely. During their performance the own of the Rodeo tapped me on the shoulder and said that the band wanted to meet me. I took Joanne up stairs to meet the guys from Emerson Drive.

Brad (lead vocals/acoustic guitar), Dale (keyboard), Dave (fiddle), Mike (drums) Dannick (electric guitar), Patrick (bass) and Mark (manager) met Joanne and I upstairs of the Rodeo. We all talked for a few minutes and we all got our pics taken as a group. Then the band left for a few minutes before going on stage.

When Emerson Drive came on stage all the crowd went crazy. They opened with "Sweet Natural Girl" which had the girls in the audience screaming like crazy. It was nice shooting a concert that while taking pics, I could actually sing along cause I knew the words. The entire show was awesome, with fast songs such as "Countrified Soul", "Fall Into Me", and "I Should Be Sleeping" mixed into the set with ballads such as "Moments", "November" and some acoustic covers of Lifehouse & G n' R. They finshed with their rendition of "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" which had even me dancing while trying to shoot which isn't the easiest thing in the world.

After the concert ended Joanne wanted her pic taken with just Brad Mates, the lead vocalist. So we waited in the autograph lineand she got her pic. I thought I was done with Emerson Drive. That was probably one of the funnest nights (which was a Wednesday) I have ever done photography.

On the following Saturday I went on a road trip to Nova Scotia to photograph animals, when I left the zoo I called Joanne and we decided to meet in Truro to go see the concert again, considering I never really watched it to begin with. So Joanne met me in Truro, and we went to the C.E.C. When we arrived we found out that tickets were gone, then I spotted the bands manager, so I said hi and we talked for a sec.

All in all, we all met the band again, exchanged information and my friends say the concert and I shot Emerson Drive again, this time with a "no holds barred" pass to do so. I got the ok to go where I want, when I want from the band. They just wanted some good shots so they could add to their site, with a credit to me.

If I learned anything over the past week about photography its this: You don't get anywhere unless you open your mouth and ask for it! ...

I do wanna thank ... Mark, Brad, Dale, Dave, Dannick, Pat, Mike, Cusack & Sons concert promotions (David and Shannon) as well as Greg Hanna, Pogey and my friend Joanne. Over the last week I have had a blast, and it wouldn't have been like that without all of you. Thanks for the experience and all the fun.

The photo your looking at is of Brad Mates and is aptly called "Acoustic Cover" it was taken during the cover session of Lifehouses' "You and Me". I was approximately 3 feet from Brad, shooting at probably 45mm, with a shutter of 1/50 (no flash, camera set to Shutter priority), the lighting came from spotlights. This photo was taken at the Rockin' Rodeo, Wednesday January 31/07.

A Mosiac Dream

So this is the 4th month of Nick Gaines Photo Club, and the projects have all been passed out. My project should be easy, its a fascination project. Take 24 pics of things that fascinate you. Well, I recently descovered that I love shattered glass, and I'm fascinated by the design it makes.

The photo u see here was taken out in Memramcook, NB at what I call the "car graveyard". In this place there is tons of cars looking kind of weathered. Its scary to just open the car door and sit inside, afraid a rat might jump out and bite you in the ass. So I sat down and shot this photo from the inside of the car looking out through the winsheild. The black in the background are the trees, which in my opinion is very cool.

This photo is called "Mosaic Dream" and it was shot with very low shutter and a f-stop of about 4.5. A bit of editing was done just to bring out the glow.

Existence of Strength and Beauty

Existence of Strength & Beauty.

"A heart is a fragile thing. That's why we protect them so vigorously, give them away so rarely, and why it means so much when we do. Some hearts are more fragile than others. Purer, somehow. Like crystal in a world of glass, even the way they shatter is beautiful."

This photo was taken with a slow shutter speed 1/15 of a second, and an F-stop of 4.0, ISO 100.

In the last 2 weeks, I have been inspired by 2 people. The first is Jeanelle, and the second is Cynthia. These 2 girls are 2 of the most beautiful girls I've ever met. They both have showed me strength & beauty can co-inside with one another.

Something New

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.

She never existed before.

The woman existed, but the mother, never.

A mother is something absolutely new".

In the 3 years I have been doing photography, I always thought the hardest subject to shoot was landscapes. With everything taken into effect I would have to say that landscapes are some of the easier, basically cause they don't move and all you have to worry about is lighting.

I realized that weddings and maternity photography is the most stressfull of all .... when doing weddings or a mom-to-be, its probably safer to be in a cage with a tiger.

All in all, my first wedding was a success. My photos turned out beautiful and creative as i was told, and last Saturday I shot my first mom-to-be. This was a little awkward for me being the first time I actually worked with a partially nude subject.

The photo your looking at is of my friend Kate, who is 5 months pregnant. Kate wanted some beautiful photos of her belly for a scrapbook. The photo was taken in a dark room with a black drape. A 60 watt buld was in a lamp and I placed it beside her on a level.

The shutter was set at 1/8 of a second, ISO of 200 and an F-Stop of 5.4.

TIP: Have the girl/woman look at her belly. It adds more of a loving feeling.

Abandoned

Last month, myself and a group of friends started a photo club, whereby anyone can join. We would meet once a month to assign projects to each other, with small outings together during the month.

When a person is assigned a project he/she must take a total of 25 photos (24 being 4x6 and 1 being a 8x10) and they must be placed in a photo album.

Projects given out to members this month were: Sequence, the Alphabet minus 1, things starting with T, and What Am I? This month I got assigned the project of Somber.

Somber:

1. gloomily dark; shadowy; dimly lighted: a somber passageway.

2. dark and dull, as color, things in respect to color: a somber dress.

3. gloomy, depressing, or dismal: a somber mood.

4. extremely serious; grave: a somber expression on his face.

The photo your looking at is a photo from this months somber project. It was taken in Memramcook at what I would assume is a scrapyard. A friend of mind told me about this place, she said you can take beautiful pics out of depressing subjects.

I took this picture from leaning in through the shattered window. My settings were as follows, automatic mode with flash and 400 ISO. Then the pic was manipulated a bit, being turned into an older looking photo (sepia), and the contrast was turned up a bit as well as a little burning effect.

If your in the Moncton area and would like to have fun taking photos, email me about joining the Photo Club (NGPC).

nick_photo2005@hotmail.com

Miracles Without Understanding

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

The photograph above was taken at Fundy National Park, just a few minutes away from Caribou Plains hiking trail. No editing was done to the photo, which is why the beauty of this photo is real.

The shutter speed was 1/15 of a second, an F-Stop of 4.0. ISO was set at 100, and the mode was TV.

My Visual Song.

As of late I have ran out of ideas for photos. So I turn to song lyrics, or quotes to inspire me. Recently I bought the new John Mayer cd, and track 10 got my ideas running.

The track 10 title is "Dreaming with a Broken Heart" ... in my opinion its a story of a guy trying to deal with guilt or reget of letting the love of his life slip away.

I have always taken my classic portraits with just the face and maybe a bit of shoulder. I wanted to try a full body or semi-full body shot using my lighting techniques.

My friend Ariane, who is usually my muse for trying new techinques stopped by last night and we tryed out my thoughts.

The photo here is my visual representation of my thoughts of if you took a song and created an image to sum it all up. I used my regular 28-90mm lens, a black fabric covering the wall and floor, and 1 lamp that I positioned right beside her.

"Dreaming With A Broken Heart"

When you're dreaming with a broken heart

The waking up is the hardest part

You roll outta bed and down on your knees

And for the moment you can hardly breathe

Wondering was she really here?

Is she standing in my room?

No she's not, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

When you're dreaming with a broken heart

The giving up is the hardest part

She takes you in with your crying eyes

Then all at once you have to say goodbye

Wondering could you stay my love?

Will you wake up by my side?

No she can't, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

Now do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hand

Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?

Baby won't you get them if i did?

No you won't, 'cause you're gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

When you're dreaming with a broken heart

The waking up is the hardest part

This song is from the new John Mayer cd, Continum. (Available at HMV)