Pepe Marquez - The Latin Soul Review

Pepe Marquez & The Latin Soul Review is the Phoenix arising from the ashes of Shalonda & A Touch of Soul, two in a series of bands assembled by Eric Cuellar with the most recent being a collaboration with Pepe Marquez. I take photographs and maintain a website for the band in return for a couple of gigs a year. The first gig for me will be a benefit at the University of California at Santa Barbara Orfalea University Children's Center where both of my children have gone to daycare. The band is still coming together around the core group: Eric Cuellar (drums & vocals), Pepe Marquez (lead vocals & hand percussion) and De'Adre Marshall (lead vocals & hand percussion.) Other charter members include Billy Gonzalez (keyboards), Victor Gaza (bass & sound) and Ray Ybarra (Latin percussion).

My wife and I attended a small gig they did at the Creekside at 4444 Hollister in Goleta, California, last night and I shot a few images in a very dark dance room. There were two fill-in musicians due to vacancies (always the way with hobby bands!): Bill Avila (lead guitar) and Dave Tolegian (sax.) I shot images for a set and then my wife and I danced a few numbers ... We had a grand time.

I originally started working with Eric when he formed Shalonda & A Touch of Soul to do gigs at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California, where I am the "House Photographer" for the Entertainment Department. I like Eric. He is an upfront guy with a huge amount of energy and lots of contacts. But, as happens so often, there were issues within the band and some members just couldn't manage to commit ... I've seen this since I used to shoot bands under a single light at the Ghostriders Tavern in Los Alamos, California, about seven years ago. People simply have their lives to lead in addition to their musical careers.

But LSR has a solid core, several occasional musicians such as The Saxman, Jared Yee. They are still trying to replace Ruben Arroyo on lead guitar. Ruben is a stellar player and just needed time for his family. And they'd love to get a permanent sax player and maybe another horn. They are working on CDs and other projects and are starting to get their name around.

You can click on their name at the start of this entry to see their website that includes the images attached here and some others. I will make an occasional entry about them whenever there is a noteworthy event or change.

Be Safe!

Dwight

Ever Noticed that Things Don't Always Go Right?

I guess this is a rhetorical question because if you do anything (and maybe even if you don't) you know stuff goes wrong much more often than you'd like, right? I do a lot of stuff and have to say the flow of unexpected events is pretty continuous. So I'm making this quick blog entry to give an example ... I wouldn't want anyone to think that everything always goes smoothly even with the best of plans ... see Always Have a Plan B below somewhere.

I shot the ShoXC Elite Challenger Series fights at the Chumash Casino Resort as you know from recent blog posts. As part of that exercise I provide images to Fight Wire Images (FightWireImages.com) by uploading images to their multi-user account at PhotoShelter.com usually via PhotoMechanic ... I'll talk about this another time. I usually do this Saturday or Sunday so the images are there for the Monday crowd looking to buy for their blogs, magazines and forums.

With PhotoMechanic fired up I clicked the upload button but FightWireImages wasn't on the menu as it has been for a year or so. I tried a bunch of things and double checked my upload configuration ... which I haven't touched since I got it working initially. PhotoMechanic has been rock solid for two years that I have used it. Nothing helped. I sent an email to FightWireImages and to PhotoShelter. Since the images are time sensitive I took them with me to my day job at UCSB and tried to logon to my own PhotoShelter account but couldn't seem to get into the photographers area. All very confusing.

Fortunately, my FightWireImages contact decided to send me a new "invitation" to contribute to FightWireImages (this is how you get connected) and that seemed to let me in again. I started uploading with the online uploader that you can just click to invoke, but it was slow. So, I downloaded the Java uploader and sent the images. Unfortunately PhotoShelter is clever enough to know how to handle files with duplicate names so I now have two copies of several images and some images aren't there. You can see the gallery here.

The good news was that when I got home to PhotoMechanic again it was working correctly. Today, a little late, I got an inquiry from PhotoShelter to see if my problem was resolved. I think that is a bit slow since I indicated the images were time sensitive but am not going to pursue it as I am the pimple on the ass of progress from their perspective as they have huge clients.

I would recommend PhotoMechanic, PhotoShelter and FightWireImages for anyone shooting boxing or MMA, and the first two for anyone shooting other sports although they are much more generally useful than that. Now I have rambled about all this I feel better.

Be Safe,

Dwight

ShoXC Elite Challenger Series: Fight Night

It was another wild night of MMA mayhem at the Chumash Casino Resort. I arrived at about 3:00 pm ... I always get to events at least an hour early and for fight nights a couple of hours early. Sometimes there are issues that need resolution or people who need help or opportunities for additional work. On Friday night I wanted to make sure that Tom Casino, one of my boxing mentors and a prize-winning boxing photographer, was ready. He has to travel out from New Jersey for these fights which leaves him open to equipment failures. Since he and I shoot with interchangeable Canon equipment I could loan batteries, lenses or even bodies. But, Tom is an old hand and rarely had problems beyond remembering which pocket has the spare CF cards. I also wanted check on Esther Lin, who also shoots with the same equipment I do, but is also a traveler albeit a bit closer. Everyone seemed to have equipment and the only issue was finding spots on the pad where everyone could shoot. Tom gets to stimulate his acrophobia by standing on a small platform just big enough for his feet so that he can shoot over the cage but the rest of us have to shoot through the chain link. Much of the platform around the cage is taken up by Showtime, the Boxing Commission, EliteXC and various other media and support types: sound & video.

With that done, I put a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS on one 1DMIII and 24-70mm f/2.8L on another 1DMIII and got my place on the cage. I always try to sit next to a judge who always have spots in the middle of three sides of the layout. All the boxing commission guys are very friendly and helpful and the judges are happy to explain what is happening in the cage. Usually the bouts end with two guys on the mat and I have no idea what happened ... it is hard for me to see if there was an arm bar or rear naked choke tapout ... sometimes even the judges can't see exactly what happened ... but, as I say, they love to explain what happened and why and it vastly improves my understanding.

After getting my spot "reserved", Dave Mandel, photographer for Sherdog showed up. Last time he was here we had problems with having room for photographers and he had to sit in the lap of one of the corners ... well, not literally, but it was close. This time we got him a decent spot, comfortable chair just on the other side of the judge I had staked out. He shoots the same lenses on two 1DMIIN bodies. Dave is a very mellow and knowledgeable 'tog who knows just about everyone and points them out. He is a pleasure to work with.

There were ten bouts scheduled. The first five, the undercard, are sent out over Internet TV and the last five are broadcast by Showtime as ShoXC Elite Challenger Series. The fighters collect in two draped off areas setup on the stage at one end of the Samala Room: red corner and blue corner. There they get their hands wrapped and whatever other treatments their trainers/corner men deem necessary. There are lots of boxing commission guys keeping an eye on everything ... mostly to be sure there aren't any drugs or equipment that aren't permitted I think. I always wander up there to see what's going on. It's usually crowded so I don't hang around, although again, everyone is very friendly and when I stop to ask questions or chat with a fighter I have shot before, everyone makes time for me.

Then I attended to my last "To Do" item: check in with Nikki and Nadia, two of the Ring Card Girls this night. I am going to be working with them on their portfolios over the next few months and needed to setup a dinner meeting at my house to map out a plan. I found them in their dressing room getting instructions from Monica Petty who is with Gary Shaw Productions. Once that was done, it was back to the cage.

Unlike boxing where I shoot with my elbows on the mat right under the ropes, the apron around the cage is about three or four feet wide, keeping us away from the chain link and making the autofocus very difficult. Friday it was particularly difficult because the lighting director had put bright lights right onto the cage so each link had a bright reflection that the sensors loved to focus on. Half my images were clear crisp shots of fencing!

Then the first bout started and was over shortly, stopped by the ref "due to unreturned strikes" which basically means one guy is pounding the snot out of the other guy who is simply crumpled on the mat and unable to do anything. If they are both just laying there doing nothing much the ref will separate them, stand them up and restart the action, but when one guy is actively striking the other who just lays there, that pretty much ends it.

The undercard was filled with guys with nicknames like "Tiger", "The Poet", "Vicious", "Fancy Pants" and "The Punk". I have no clue for most of the names but Fancy Pants was pretty obvious. Most of the fighters have tattoos and some have pretty extensive artwork. Some color their hair or have patterns or words shaved into it. Pretty much anything to draw attention to themselves.

The fights, usually three 5-minute rounds, go pretty quickly. A couple of hours of pretty constant shooting and then it's over. The earlier fighters have changed and are milling around with their buddies and folks they haven't seen for a while. Many are off to the bar across the street along with fans. People are pretty happy and glad to put another fight night behind them. I was!

Be Safe!

Dwight

The Day Before: ShoXC Elite Challenge

This year I will shoot four fight cards: two ShoBox: The New Generation and two ShoXC Elite Challenge MMA. For these events I normally take two afternoons off from my day job at UCSB: Thursday for the weigh-in and miscellaneous shooting, and Friday for the fights. I am still learning how to work the MMA events as the flow is slightly different and the demographic is younger. Both Showtime and Internet TV have a piece with ShoXC being the five main events. This means there are two sets of interviews going on as well as the weigh-ins on Thursday. Yesterday, the interviews were happening while four of us photographers were standing in a lift waiting for the weigh-ins so I missed a chance to shoot the fighters at the Showtime interviews ... the Showtime people are amazingly friendly and cooperative and allow me to photograph any of their activities if I can work it in with whatever I am doing. You will hear me say it again and again, but the Showtime staff are absolutely top notch and work very hard to make sure that everyone involved, from the fighters to the photographers gets maximum opportunity without any sense of proprietary restrictions. They have let me put cameras in the lighting truss, visit the truck, shoot during their interveiws, shoot at their tapings down in the boiler room and this style starts at the top with Gordon Hall and works its way all the way down to the gaffers and sound people. Their style is very affirming ... they will tell you if you are interfering with their work somehow while still trying to make sure you get the best. But I ramble.

Yesterday I arrived about 1:30 pm with the cage under construction in the middle of the floor. I wandered around to see who was there. Generally the groups of folks are: Gary Shaw Productions, the promoter; Showtime; King-of-the-Cage (I think); the California Boxing Commission; and all the fighters and their entourages. Each team has one or two head people and almost everyone knows everyone else from previous events. My first boxing photography mentor, Showtime's Tom Casino (Google that name if you want to be impressed by accomplishments) was there. He's the guy who convinced me to change from Nikon/Fuji to Canon and who put my elbows on the mat at my first card. Jeff, who is one of the production staff from the casino was also shooting the weigh-in. Esther Lin who freelances for an MMA magazine and website and her guy, videographer Casey (hope I got that right.)

As for the fighters, they tend to wander in around 4:00 pm to check in with the boxing commission, file their medicals, get their picture taken, get checked by the doctor and chat with on another. There are lots of big smiles, hugging, fancy handshakes. Guys who are planning on pounding the living daylights out of each other later today are laughing and sitting next to each other like old friends. And they couldn't be any nicer to me, letting me but into their little groups and listen and ask questions.

The weigh-ins started a bit late yesterday. They are scheduled for 5:00 pm. But before they can weigh in they have to have all their paperwork/doctor exam complete which includes lab tests and some of the paperwork didn't arrive on time. So the four of us togs and Casey the video guy stood in the lift in front of the stage for about 30 minutes with nothing happening. Then we decided to deplane and walk around ... and that's when the weigh-ins started, of course.

The weigh-ins themselves are kind of fun. John, a very funny guy who is with Gary Shaw Productions runs the fighters for the boxing commission and the photographers. He lines them up, calls them a pair at a time, gets them on the scale, they weigh, he sends the other of a pair, he weighs, then he poses them with fists up staring at each other, waits for the togs to shoot, then has them look at the cameras in the same pose, waits for the togs to shoot, and then moves them along and starts the next pair, all the while giving everyone a hard time ... only kidding!

Once the weigh-ins are done, things begin to shut down pretty quickly. I was home by 6:30 pm as I live 7.5 miles from the casino. I will be off to my day job in an hour and then back this afternoon and off to the casino for the fights. Oh, and the picture of the two guys at the right is, Malaipet (L) and Thomas Denny (R) ... they are a main event.

In the meantime,
Be Safe

Dwight

Always Have a "Plan B"

I had expected to receive my 1DsMIII from B&H of NYC yesterday. When it didn't show up I checked the tracking information (always available if you are registered at B&H and place your order online ... in fact, all your orders are available online this way as mine are since about 2002.) Anyway, there was the problem, "Train derailment in Vernon, California" and a notice that delivery has been rescheduled. So, it'll be a day late, not all that unusual for UPS. That's why I am a FedEx shipper.

As it turns out I won't be able to get it today, either, as I have to leave UCSB about noon to cover the weigh-in at the ShoXC Elite Challenge fights on Friday at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California, and our deliveries are always in the late afternoon. I guess it's OK since I won't have time to try it out for a few days as I have another event at the casino on Saturday.

I ride one of my bicycles almost every day. But I don't ride just anywhere ... I ride along the Pacific Ocean at Coal Oil Point in Goleta, California. As you can see, it's kinda pretty. I've riding it for about six months in a 7-1/2 mile loop and I've been watching it get prettier and prettier as the mustard has been starting to bloom. I finally couldn't resist bringing in a camera and getting a few shots. These pictures were taken with a Canon 5D and 24-105mm f/4L IS with a polarizing filter.

One thing that has become ever so clear to me since becoming a professional photographer ... ya' gotta' have a Plan B because so many people and companies simply aren't reliable. And even if they are only unreliable 1% of the time, if you do a lot of business then you're going to get hit by them. So, my Plan B for getting my 1DsMIII on time as promised right up until the last second by UPS (even though they knew about the derailment) was to go bike riding.

So, I am actually hoping to post again this evening with images from the MMA setup but as I want to post regularly and know I may get overtaken by events, I thought I'd throw this out this morning as a kind of Pre-Plan B.

Be Safe

The Lepp Institute: Tim Grey "Total Control in Photoshop"

I spent the weekend at the Lepp Institute in Los Osos, California, attending a seminar by Tim Grey titled "Total Control in Photoshop". It was $420 and well worth the price for me in my quest to migrate from Ulead's PhotoImpact that I have used for at least seven years and believe is way the best value for the dollar in photo-editing to the more industry standard Adobe Suite and in particular, Photoshop. The Lepp Institute is now owned by Victoria and Hal Schmitt although George Lepp is still strongly coupled. This was the second class for me at Lepp, the earlier one being LightRoom workflow with Jonathan Kingston ... the class that finally lifted me from jpg's to RAW shooting by enabling me with the ability to do decent RAW conversions.

Victoria and Hal were just buying Lepp institute when I attended my first seminar almost exactly a year ago. They had the same space as George although the place looked slightly "torn down" and things didn't flow precisely perfectly ... but it was still excellent. Well, it is now even better. The Epson printers that were a bit of a problem (my two business printers are both Epson and I love them so this isn't meant as a slam on Epson) at each pair of work stations have been replaced by Canon printers that only occasionally wake up and hum for a minute or two. But this is the least of the digital learning center (or whatever they call it) which is a sixteen stations, tiered, roomy mini-amphitheater with two excellent projectors in front for display. I mention roominess because it is really nice to have room for eight or so other students to gather around the dual monitors at each station to view the work of another student or to make a quiet exit to use the indoor plumbing or grab a courtesy snack. I cannot think of a thing that needs improving ... well, maybe bigger monitors for these older eyes, but the dual monitors are generally more than adequate for the Photoshop environment.

And, as Tim said numerous times during his class, "But wait, there's more!" Yes, Hal and Victoria are expanding into the space next door to their's in the shopping mall where Lepp is located. They have all the machinery for printing and mounting canvas prints ... something that I am anxious to try. And there is more space beyond that which may become a studio. Lots and lots of expansion for merely a year!

So, I am herewith recommending Lepp Institute without reservation. I give them a 10 of 10 on all the scales ... and folks who know me know I have NO hesitancy about being critical and sharing it about. In addition, they appear to be folks who listen to their students. Last year there were no weekend classes. This year there are a bunch ... and I am asking for more! And they are bringing in a constantly larger group of instructors ... I can't speak to that area as I'm not a "class hound" as many of my fellow students, several of whom have taken almost every course Lepp Offers and were complaining that they needed something new. If you take a look at the number and range of courses you will wonder how anyone could want much more variety!

Well, this week I expect to receive my Canon 1DsMIII and to photograph my third MMA fights for which my contact with Japanese Martial Arts magazines, Dave, has already sold my images of Malaipet based on my images that he sold of Malaipet at the last fights! :-) I've got a pot full of other projects in the works and will be back here with another entry soon.

Until then, be safe!

Dwight

Every Time I Start to Blog ...

Every time I start to get this blog going again all my other ongoing projects decide to ramp up! As always, I am upgrading my equipment (which I will blog about another day) and with the little lull I perceived in current work I decided I would take the time to sell my oldest camera body, my Canon 1D Mark II. I ran up a quick post on Photography-on-the.net where I am participant. Since there are thousands of pictures of this body and anyone who would buy should know what it looks like and how it works I didn't post any pictures of it ... I just said it didn't have any dings or dents or imperfections and I wanted $1700 for it. Well, of course, the first response was, "I'd like to see pictures of it!" Well, I figured if I was going to take pictures of it and post them I might as well put it on eBay, too. So, I surveyed the ones for sale on eBay and found they were mostly in the $1300-1400 range. So I got ready to take pictures and reprice it. I went to knock out a note to the initial querier about this but there was another note waiting for me asking some other question so I told this guy I was about to reprice and do pictures ... and he shot back that he'd buy it. So that's done, but it was a bit more effort (I'm skipping A LOT of intervening stuff) than I expected.

Next thing I know there's an email from B&H that they have Canon 1Ds Mark III's in stock after a several month absence due to high demand. That's their $8,000 USD body with 21 megapixels and some other new technologies. I've been waiting for about four months to buy one so I ordered one and it shipped this morning and will be here next week. I am not the kind of guy who lives for his equipment. I plan for equipment months in advance, budget it, order it and move on while it ships. I have never paid for overnight or two day shipping. If I needed it that quick, I would, but I plan and have so far been successful.

But to get back to the topic ... I had promised to talk about starting into glamor shooting beginning with my wife when all this broke loose. So, I have only managed to shoot a few frames as tests. I have also coordinated with the other two neighbor ladies who are going to act as test models for me. This morning they even agreed to model together (it'll be mostly head shots) and Marna may even join. They are my daughter's kindergarten teacher and my daughter's "boyfriend's mother". My daughter is six years old. I guess if it wasn't for my daughter I wouldn't have any models! :-)

Here is one my test images of my wife, Marna. I have always done "business" style portraits with rather flat lighting but now that I am venturing into glamor it is a whole new world. I have read lots of articles and watched lots of videos (and am awaiting Jason Cole's DVD set to come to market in April) and attended on workshop last year and am scheduled for another, with Frank Dorhoof in L.A. this June. But nothing really prepares you for the acid test in the studio. It is suddenly all about dynamic ratios and hair lights and edge lighting and poses and on and on. I've got a lot of work to do. And I know that skin treatment is a big deal in this area and because most of what I do documentary in nature I have no skill or experience in this area yet so please don't judge this image too harshly.

So, while I would normally be expecting to spend a few hours with Marna in the studio this Sunday (I do the Lord's work on Sundays ... shoot pictures!), this week I am off to take an intermediate Photoshop seminar at the Lepp Institute in Los Osos, California, about an hour up the road from me with instructor Tim Grey. My wife and daughter and I will be taking our truck camper and they'll play while I slave away in the seminar! :-)

Just to make my life interesting I will be shooting Don Rickles tonight at the casino.

Be Safe!
Dwight

Finally Firing Up the Studio: Glamor

Since my concert venue has been in remission for a couple of weeks (although I will be shooting Chris Rock tomorrow night) I have had time to get some final touches completed in my little studio, the most recent being replacing the sagging PVC supports for my drapes with metal pipes. That done, my wife has ever so graciously agreed to act as a temporary model so I can get a feel for going glamor so that's what I'm doing evenings for a few nights. When I have enough images to be interesting I will be doing a post on these sessions. It is surprisingly tricky to get clean, crisp images that are also glamorous and striking, but I think I am getting there.

I am also lining up a few gals from the neighborhood so that I have a few different faces to show. And when I feel I have gained some control over the studio I will be getting some gals in who could, and might become, models. I expect to doing posts of those sessions, too.

So, hang in there with me. Things are taking off.