The Maltese Way

Hanging

Old School

Grid

Parked

Gotta love all the bikes parked on the Baystreet entrance

Note: Remember, you can click on the images to view full size

Reflections

Red Ball

Diptych

Damian

Vanessa

Bobby

Throw

Standing By

Spare

Bounce

Yes I played some bowling… I’m not that lazy ;P

And yes… it was bloody hot outside!
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Honestly, I’m sorry for missing out on the photos of FIRE. I somehow forgot to publish the photos and it slipped my mind. For those that asked, 6 new photos just before the ReBorn section!

INTRO

This was most probably the GREATEST show I ever went to. First of all, there was KISS Forever. Seriously, it’s like watching KISS play, it was AWESOME. Second of all, I managed to take better shots than at the Beer Fest (since this was my second live shoot and I knew what I was expecting).

We went there early (they started letting people in @ 19:30, we were there at 19:00). When we went in, people were sitting on the stairs and chairs so we booked up a place as close as possible to the stage so I would have better access once the bands start playing. Once the bands did start playing, I had a “front-line view” with no heads in front of me to maneuver my camera around. Finally, I was equipped with the 55-200mm lens for close up shots, flash was barely used, and when I did use it I bounced it away from the bands (instead of directly at them like I did in the beer fest). Settings were also preset from notes I had taken from the beer fest. All these resulted in some good photos which (hopefully for you) capture the mood at the show as best as possible.

All-in-all it was a fun shoot, and an awesome show. I had a great time. Hope you enjoy the photos,

Until next time…

ROCK N ROLL ALL NIGHT AND PARTY EVERYDAY!

FEEDING US ROCK

While waiting between band performances I had the chance to take some interesting shots of the equipment. I call this set “Feeding Us Rock” because, well, that’s what all the amps, wires, etc are built for.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3
Whoops, a bit of a sneak peek here

Part 4

RED LABELS

With a modern sound which evokes the remnants of 1970’s raw rock and roll, combined with a return to grass roots and a sense of pure energy and determination, The Red labels have been described as energetic, raw and one of Irelands most exciting live acts.

- maltarockfestival.com

The first band to hit the stage. Sounds like an Indie/Punk combo. But they were great, good music, fun performance. Enjoyed it.

Indie-Rock Combo

Red Labels – Conor McGivern

ESTRELLA

Based in Scotland, Estrella are a 5-piece Classic Rock band with on-stage impact! Under management for 3 years, Estrella have recently been signed to independent music company SJS. With work on their debut album (due to be released in Summer ’09) and with regular radio, TV and media coverage, this band is one to watch!

- maltarockfestival.com

Apart from the fact that the Summer is almost over (get your facts right MaltaRockFestival.com) this description says it all. Not to mention the great music, the on-stage performance was amazing. These guys knew what they were doing and they knew how to show it.

Mr. Gunn

In The Limelight

Can’t Go Wrong With The Classic Looks And Poses

FIRE

Malta’s no frills rock band! Fire has been consistently active in the music scene since 1998. Releasing their well-received debut album “Ignite” in 2006, they gigged with the well-known rock band Krokus. In 2006 they placed 1st at Oktoberfest Battle of the Bands and performed in the UK during 2007. They will be releasing their second album “Thrill Me” this summer.

- maltarockfestival.com

I forgot to upload these guys’ photos for some reason or another! I’m sorry guys (to all those that sent me requests for these photos)! So here, 6 photos for your enjoyment

REBORN

The winners of the LIDEA Band Challenge 2008 Malta, REBORN will be playing during The Malta Rock Festival and showcase their new songs for their upcoming debut album after gigging in Holland.

- maltarockfestival.com

Thank you for the very in depth look at ReBorn. We appreciate it >_> These guys were a bit too much for my taste but who am I to judge? Sound was good, performance was excellent. And they had a hot chick stand on a metal box and look pretty while baring some flesh. What more could I want?

Crucifixion

ReBorn

Sing With Me Now

Just Stand There And Look Pretty

KISS FOREVER

Finally, KISS played at Midnight (a set of 1hr 45min). There’s not much I can say here. The performance was simply impressive. If I hadn’t known these were a tribute band, I would have thought the real KISS were back! The sound, performance and looks were indistinguishable from the original band.

Here are the best shots.

Ace

Simmons + Frehley

Gene

This Is How We Roll

Criss (drummer) Sings “Beth”

Because We Can Sing AND Play
All KISS members could sing – and so can these guys… something rarely seen in a band.

Bloody Business
One of the things that tagged KISS with the “satanists” tag.

Rocking The Fuck Out
… and enjoying it.

Encore

Boot From Hell

THE BEST FOR LAST

I left my best photo of KISS for last. This is probably my greatest achievement so far. The composition is on the spot, and the timing is precise. This lasted less than a second, I didn’t even have time to “burst” shoot. Fortunately I was ready and my countless years of shooting stuff on game consoles paid off

Heaven’s On Fire

Thanks for reading so far Comments and Critiques VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! See ya!
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Wow, double post today… We were playing cards over a couple of pints at the office after work today and I had my camera with me so I decided to take some shots of my work mates. They were playing Hearts at the moment. My favorite ones are “Shuffle” (that’s Bob) and “I’m Gonna Lose This” (that’s Stefan, and yes, he lost the hand). Good game.

I left the noise high on purpose, to re-create that classic feel of reportage. Black and White conversion was applied for the same reason. Enjoy

Ps: Don’t forget you can click on the images for full view!

Damian and Chris

Clubs (Damian)

Damian

Cards (Stefan)

Cards and Beer (Damian)

I’m gonna lose this (Stefan)

Stefan

Thinking (as always … Chris)

Bobby

Shuffle (Go Bobby!)

Ps: I realized the more you aim your camera at people the more comfortable they become in front of it
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bokeh: Bokeh describes the rendition of out-of-focus points of light; subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of an image projected by a camera lens;

Went early to work again today with my camera to take some photos of the garden across the road. Because I couldn’t find a good shot ANYWHERE I decided to play with focus and my new 50mm f/1.8 lens. I love places in a photo which are out of focus so I decided to capture the large difference between the close leaves and the distant tree. Because I was using a wide-open aperture of f/1.8 and because this lens has one of the best bokeh around the apparent distance was increased. Converting to black and white further emphasizes the abstract properties of the photos.

A Trip in Bokeh Garden – Part 1

A Trip in Bokeh Garden – Part 2

(Bokeh is subjective. You might not like it…)

This is the first set – Shadow in the Office

Here, have some water

Take a seat, sir

Shadow of Myself

Anyway, it gave me an idea to paint faces on eggs and take photos of them. But, my mind being as twisted as it is, I decided to kill one of them and have others watch in terror at the futile death of one of their friends. This is the result.

Might I also add that beating the egg repeatedly with a spoon (after taking light and compositional measurements) was extremely satisfying

Yesterday I had the chance to visit the Beerfest 2009 with another photographer friend of mine to grab some shots of three local bands: Rising Sunset, Nomad Son and Forsaken. I’d ramble on about how FUCKIN AWESOME it was but instead I’ll just let the photos do the talking. (Trivia: I took 207 photos over 3 hours… these are the best. Also, the camera is heavy as heck when loaded with a 200mm and flash unit.)

Violinist

All Yours

Air Guitar

Duo

Feel the music

Forsaken

I can see you

In the spotlight

Mosh

Les Paul

Rising Sunset

Nomad Son

Scream

The power of metal

Bassist

Silhouette of a musician

Shoot from the hip

Via Crucis

Together

(Sorry for the long post, but it was three gigs all in one!)
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Sitting Alone

Sunglasses

Monophobia

I Own This Shoot

Paparazzi

One with Nature

Thoughts

I setup with my flash for some direct lighting, with the room’s lighting coming from above. The figures where put on one end of the table, I zoomed to the 200mm end and rested my camera on the table for some ‘figure-eye-level’ shots and to prevent shaking. This is the result. (I went for the aged look because I think it suited the subject well.)

THIS IS WHAT FRIENDS DO…

They make new friends

They hang out together

They go to shows together

They read books together

There’s an interesting story here to be told. Yesterday I asked a friend of mine (was in the scouts) and my dad for details of where the sun rises from. They both told me it rises from the left side of Valletta (looking at Valletta from the Sliema front). So I said to myself: “I’ll just walk along the front till I get to the Fortina Spa Resort and shoot a couple of great photos from there as the sun rises from behind or the side of Valletta”. Clearly either they were both wrong or I misunderstood because as soon as I got there the sun had started to rise but there was no sign of it from where I had set up. Hmm, I thought. Something is amiss. So I asked a fisherman and he told me I’m in the wrong place. The sun DOES rise from where I was told, but Sliema’s hotels hide it from view for the best part of the first two hours after dawn!

So I packed quickly and rushed up to Qui-Si-Sana where I arrived just 30 minutes late. Unfortunately there was no objects of interest to use for the foreground meaning that most of the photos were average AT BEST. Luckily (at about an hour after sunrise – 07:00 am) a guy comes fishing and I grab the opportunity to use him as foreground interest. Thanks to him I managed to grab a couple more useable photos before the sun got too high up in the sky.

Thank you unknown fisherman!

Below are some photos from the morning. Enjoy!

Light

Parking Lot: I lost my way at some point and took a wrong left. Ending up in this parking lot I was about to hurry out when I noticed the beautiful textures and cool colors. I just had to take this shot!

2 Minutes to Sunrise

05:00 am: I was up early so I decided to grab some photos of the still sleeping city before I went off to the location I had planned.

Waiting for Dawn

Got Fish?: This guy was probably the greatest thing that happened to me this morning. Without him, all my sunrise photos would have turned out to be the dullest thing since I dunno what.

Lighting up

Nature vs Man: The contrast between man and mother earth. Amaze me, it does.

Splash

When I woke up there was no-one home but Krissie, so I cooked up some breakfast and decided to take it easy. But, a once-a-year event is hard to miss, so I packed up my equipment and left, with Krissie, to find the Sunday Morning Celebrations.

It was hard not to find it… really. Everyone was drunk at 1:00pm jumping up and down with the marching band. Everywhere people were wearing Gzira’s colors (blue/maroon) and everyone was united in the name of “Il-Madonna tal-Karmnu”.

Goes without saying, swearing which actually included “Il-Madonna” was constant and loud, mixing nicely with the anthems and poems dedicated to said “Madonna”.

After the celebrations ended with everyone going back to the “Kazin” and drinking the rest of their liver off, the couragous (or should I say, foolhardy) ones ran off to the Manoel Island bridge and jumped off into the water. Luckily no-one got injured (badly).

I finally got around to creating a photo blog. This will be the place where I upload photos from events around Malta (or abroad, hopefully) and some of my other, event unrelated photos which I’d like to discuss.

I promise, all photos posted will have a story. Maybe you won’t like the story, it’s your right. Still, I will not upload random landscapes and birds, unless I have a story to tell.

Deal?

ilmanti