Whenever I get to shoot a burlesque show at a new venue I get overwhelmed by fear excitement at all the unknown. How is the lighting going to be. Where am I going to be shooting from, how far away.
Then I remember that I am working with some of the most talented and thoughtful people in the industry and I am going to be ok. If there is something I need I am never at a loss for getting help to achieve it.
The show was at the Star theater in Portland, OR and it was pretty neat. I say neat because I have been told I use the word awesome to much, the same with amazing. The darkness of the theater was unsettling at first but once everything started I was on cloud nine and loving it. If you ever have any questions about how to shoot stage shows or about photography in general feel free to email me and we can chat.
~Click Click
Brandon Dykes
WEDDING!!!!!!! Patty & Nick
If you knew these two you would know that their names should be enough. Good times were going to be had and a beautiful day was to be planned. Dahnelle and I finally got around to adding a post about this amazing wedding. It was amaze….its a partial word I picked up from a fellow photographer, Jasmine Star. I think it helps take out the fact I use amazing way to much still. Either way back to this wedding. They were awesome to work with. Easy going and super chill. The day tried to rain and they just drank some wine and let it blow by without a care in the world. I was told that if they had one another there was nothing they could not let pass. I know they will grow old together and will still be riding into the sunset on a horse of course.
~click click
On June 9th I got the privileged of shooting another installment of Savoir Faire . It is a weekly event at the Hawthorne theater lounge. The acts are great and you get to meet some really neat people. I have been the shooter for this event a few times and I hope to shoot for them again. I love the venue and Miss Emily makes some drinks to die for. I hope to see you all around.
~Cheers
This post feels bittersweet to me. I had the pleasure to work with Miss Scarlett Storm in June. The experience leaves me feeling divided. She was absolutely amazing to work with and was fun at the same time. We had a great shoot and even managed to only get a couple of cars to crash. She had great ideas for the shoot and I was more then happy with the way everything turned out.
Now for the rest. We had big plans for more shoots and ideas ran rampant during the one we had. Now she is going to be moving and I will have to wait for all those future ideas to become a reality. I wish her the best but I feel as if I am losing a model who is both professional and fun. Good luck dear……
I just got back from doing some behind the video shots for Bent Lens Productions. They were shooting a music video sat and sun for Marcus Weber. You will be able to buy his cd on itunes in the near future.
I got to hear some of the non released music and it is amazing. The abilities of some artists are so neat to me if not for the sole reason that I cannot sing at all. Mark I hope the best for you and my wife and i will be some of the first to buy your music.
The model/actress that was on set was Megan Elizabeth Wescott. Her site is http://www.meganelizabethwescott.com/ and you should definitely go and check it out. She has a solid portfolio and was a pure pleasure to work with. I hope to be able to set up another shoot with her. It takes a certain kind of person to be sitting on a cold bench with a thin dress on and not complain about it once.
Bent Lens Productions was my employer for this shoot though. They are a top notch video production team and are able to get whatever you have in your mind on video. I would love to work with them again and I had a great time staying out of the shot on this one. This is another site you should stop by if you get some free time on your hands, http://www.bentlens.com/.
Well thats it boys and girls. The shots are taken and my voice has been heard. Now it is time for me to edit. Talk with you soon.
~Cheers
So Im going to shoot a burlesque show tonight! I have done alot of shoots with some fantastic people but this is going to be a first. I have to say im a little scared ah excited about the show. I mean the performers themselves are beautiful but the lighting, oh the lighting. You know what photogs call some photos with bad lighting? Stage lit. So guess what the stage is lit like=). I have a few tricks up my sleeve still though. The owner of SinnSavvy Productions Rayleen Courtney is a awesome person to work for. She has put up with all questions I have asked and gotten back to me quickly. The whole group is fantastic and I cant say enough about how fun the shows are. I just hope to be able to give them some quality photos of the acts. Its time for me to get the batteries and grab memory cards then get myself cleaned up and ready for the show. All of you out there wish me luck and I will update this as soon as I can with how the whole show went.~CheersBrandon Dykes
This is just one of the many amazing acts I was able to photograph this night. Her name is Charlotte Treuse and other then being a jaw dropping performer she is a fantastic person to be around. She is also heading to Vegas for the burlesque hall of fame. I hope you do fantastic and I already know you will. You should drop by her site, www.charlottetreuse.com
~Cheers
Courtney and Tylers Wedding Day
Not long ago I got to capture the wedding of Courtney and Tyler. There is only one thing to say about the day, “Wow”. The venue was the liberty theater in Astoria, OR which is one of the little seen but amazing places in the area. If you are interested you should check out their site http://www.liberty-theater.org/
The day started out with me finding the bride running across the street in curlers. Thats when I knew this was going to be my kinda shoot=) “She was tying to get the dress to the theater and help set up.”
We met with Courtney and her bridesmaids as they were getting ready and saw the mirror from one wall on the bed. They said the one in the bathroom was to small for all of them to use but I have my doubts.
Once everyone was ready we all went over to the theater so that we could get some photos of the bride. The photo on the left was one of many we got from this little session. She is a amazingly beautiful bride who just cant take a bad photo. Thanks again dear.
The ceremony was soon after and went well without any problems. When the bride and groom pretty much ran from the stage was one of the best parts of the day. After that we got the formals done and let the bridal party head off to what turned into the real party.
During the reception we saw funny faces, crazy dancing, lots of laughter and a lot of love. Once everything wrapped up we said our goodbyes and thank yous and started the drive home. The quiet was strange after all the excitement but dahnelle was asleep and I was just thankful for being able to share in such a amazing day with a spectacular bride.