Rising indie-folk stars Union Tree Review recently hired me to shoot some new portraits of them, one of which appears in this month’s edition of Eleven Magazine. This quintet is as much fun to listen to as they are to hang out with, which certainly made the shoot entertaining.

Lighting Nerds, Rejoice!

Before the shoot, I cruised the neighborhood around our meeting place for some possible locations and spotted three:  an alley, the wall of an old drugstore, and another alley next to a parking lot filled with parking meters; all within a block of each other.  Since we’d be on foot, I loaded up my ThinkTankPhoto Airport Takeoff (it’s got wheels!) and grabbed a light stand and 60″ umbrella before setting off toward the alley.

All of these photos were made with Nikon Speedlights, due to their portability and ability to be used with battery power.  I could have schlepped a bunch of big studio lights around but the Nikons are plenty powerful, especially when shooting at dusk as we were.  Both alley shots were lit only with the 60″ umbrella, placed directly above the camera position.  The drugstore shots were lit with the same Speedlight but in a Honl 1/4″ grid spot instead of the umbrella.

The band then suggested shooting on the roof of a nearby building which I, of course, jumped at the opportunity to do.  The result is the photo that ran with their article, and it features two lights;  a flash behind them aimed directly at the camera, and another in the 60″ umbrella to the right of the camera.

Thanks to Matt, Jordan, Tawaine, Jenn and Tyler for being so fun to work with.  Now go check out their music.

Union Tree Review Portraits / Promo Photos – Images by Corey Woodruff

As great as LouFest was, last weekend also featured another new St. Louis music festival: STL BluesWeek. Conceived as a week-long celebration of the city’s vibrant musical heritage, BluesWeek festivities included VIP events, blues history discussions, and lots of live jazz and blues music. I was on hand to capture the opening night concert held on the steps of the soon to be re-opened Peabody Opera House, a site that has itself been included in blues lore.

The night’s entertainment kicked off with a tribute to famed bluesman Albert King, played entirely by alumni of his band. Then a trio of harmonica players strutted their stuff before a showcase of local R&B and soul singers brought down the house. It was great to be a part of history and to photograph several musicians that I’ve had the honor of playing with myself. No matter which side of the camera I’m on, when there’s music like this involved I’m a happy guy.

STL BluesWeek Opening Night 8/27/2010 – Images by Corey Woodruff

You probably recognize my friend BriAnn. She’s always up for making some photos and is ridiculously easy to work with, whether she’s standing in a muddy, stinking marsh or posing in a dilapidated log cabin with a pissed-off possum. So when I told her that I wanted to photograph her swimming in a ball gown I wasn’t very surprised when she simply replied, “sure, whatever”. Little did she know that the dress would try to drown her several times and that she’d be blind for about twelve hours.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

You’re The Inspiration

Flipping through a recent edition of PDN magazine, I spied an underwater image shot by Tamar Levine.  The image stuck with me, primarily because it was shot underwater.  I’ve always been intrigued by underwater images, from the famous cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind album to The Abyss–the James Cameron film shot almost entirely underwater.  But seeing as I’m an “emerging photographer” I have zero budget for an underwater rig that will allow me to use my digital cameras.  So instead of shelling out $3k for a giant plastic camera case, I spent $12.50 on a reusable underwater 35mm film camera.  Then I spent almost twice that on a couple rolls of film.

The viewfinder on the camera is tricky to sight underwater, and since it’s a focus-free camera you have to relinquish any notions of control and just go with it.  The results are unpredictable, but interesting nonetheless.  A few of the more successful shots are
below.

Back To 1′s And 0′s

Even though I was excited about the underwater stuff, I knew better than to waste an opportunity to shoot some other stuff around the pool.  After all, I had the pool, a bunch of lights, and a pretty girl willing to swim around in a full-length dress!

We started with a couple splash shots, just to see what they would look like.  Poor BriAnn whacked her head on the water pretty good but still did a couple more takes.  Don’t tell her, but the first one was perfect.  After she regained consciousness (kidding) we did some floaty-hair portrait stuff, some half-submerged shots and whatever else we could think of.  It was a lot of fun just playing with the light and riffing on ideas.

Eventually we took a break and when she dried off I caught her making a movement on the edge of the pool.  It looked promising so I set up a softbox and had her make several more of the twirling movements so I could snap some frames.  When she finally got dizzy, we sat down for some pool-side portraits before she dove back in and we did some abstract slow-shutter shots.  That, and the rear curtain flash accounts for the weird melty-face photos.

I can’t thank BriAnn enough for being such a trooper, as always.  Even though the chlorine rendered her nearly blind for half a day (try opening your eyes underwater continuously for 3 hours) and the wet dresses weighed a ton even in the water, she never complained.  I can’t wait to see what half-baked photo ideas we cook up next.

She did mention skydiving…

Briann At The Pool – Images by Corey Woodruff

Last weekend marked the inaugural LouFest, the first music festival of its kind in my adopted hometown of St. Louis. It featured a number of national and local indie artists, a family-friendly atmosphere and a carbon-neutral footprint. Conceived and organized by promoter Brian Cohen and modeled after the Austin City Limits festival in his former home state of Texas, the event was a smashing success and I was honored to be a part of the history by working as the official festival photographer.

It was a grueling two days of constant movement as I tried to document as much of the festival spirit and performers as possible, but the weather was sunny and the vibe of the crowd was amazing so I just kept moving, and kept making photos. I won’t bore you with all 3,500+ frames that I shot, but the highlights are broken into a pair of slideshows below. If you wish, you can see the whole set of 450 photos HERE.

LouFest Day 1 Highlights – Images by Corey Woodruff

LouFest Day 2 Highlights – Images by Corey Woodruff

I am using Kickstarter.com to fund my biggest project to date, and I need your help to make it a reality. The project is 30% funded, but I don’t get a dime unless it reaches 100% by the October 1st deadline, so I need your support to make this happen. Why should you help out lowly old me?

Read on.

I’ve spent the last 10 months obsessively building a body of work that I can present to the world, but I now have a tremendous opportunity to create something truly stellar AND bring my dream of a photography career one step closer to reality. You can view some of that work at http://www.coreywoodruff.com.

This October, one year after I flipped the switch on this crazy adventure by walking away from my day job for the life of a photographer, I will be attending the College Music Journal Music Marathon in New York City (http://www.cmj.com/marathon/). Not only have I been invited to photograph several of the 1300+ bands performing there, but I will be able to network with dozens of record labels and publications. In short, this is the MASSIVE opportunity that I’ve spent the last 10 months trying to secure.

But I can’t do it without you. I need your support to finance this project, as shown below. I will be documenting the entire trip with photos, video and an exclusive travel blog. The resulting body of work will be combined into a photo essay, book, and a multimedia presentation. I will also be creating prints from the project for a future gallery exhibition, some of which you can receive as a reward for your support. As a backer of the project, you will have access to all of these items and more, including signed prints from my archive and even photo sessions.

Here’s how the money will be used:

Travel (airfare, taxis, trains, tolls): $400
Lodging (6 nights, one-star accommodations): $1300
Food expenses: $300
Printing, editing fees: $500

I’m not buying a fancy new camera with your funds or wining and dining label execs. I will simply be busting my rump every second of the trip in order to create photos that document the performances, the festival itself, and my experiences as a first-time NYC traveler.

In addition to the rewards listed, you will have my heartfelt thanks for your support of a young artist struggling to move his career forward.

Paul

This hip young gunslinger approached me a while back for some promo portraits.  He’s one incredibly talented young musician that embodies the phrase “old soul”, as his knowledge of American roots music is astounding.  And every star in the making requires some nice promo photos so here are a few from Paul’s session.

Nick & Jeff

Recent college grads, Nick & Jeff both earned their degrees in recording arts from a local university and wanted some photos to use in their impending job search.  With any luck these shots will help them land an internship at a great studio.

Ella & Melissa

These two young ladies needed some test portraits for a local agency seeking hair models.

Best of luck to all of them in their respective searches. If you are considering a high quality portrait to sweeten your resume or grab attention when applying for a new job, get in touch. In fact, click the KickStarter project on the right for a great deal on portraits that will help fund my upcoming NYC project.

It’s the end of a week’s worth of festivities that have included livestock judging, determining who grew the best tomatoes this year, consuming food of highly suspect nutritional value, inhaling massive amounts of diesel smoke and funnel cake fumes, and churning your digestive tract on a number of spinning carnival rides. But there’s one more night of the fair left. How do you cap off a week like that?

Two words: Demolition. Derby.

Get Bent

The idea is simple:  strip down a nearly worthless car to its essential components, reinforce it with a roll cage, and slam it into the cars of other like-minded participants until only one is left running.  If you win, you move on to the next round.  If not, you get towed to the pits in a sort of “walk of shame”.  But even if your ride gets smashed up or breaks down, you can repair it and give it a go in future contests.

Walking through the pits before the derby began, I had no trouble distinguishing which cars were veterans and which were newbies.  The guys that were performing bodywork adjustments with a sledgehammer in order to keep the tires from rubbing on crumpled sheet metal were not driving fresh cars.  The car covered in so much mud that you couldn’t even read the numbers painted on the side had clearly seen some action.  But the dent-less bright blue 1986 Honda that still smelled of spray paint?  That one’s virgin territory.

Oh The Humanity!

What on Earth possesses someone to spend so much time and money on something that they clearly intend to destroy?  There are a number of highly philosophical theories I could present, but instead I’ll offer up this explanation:  all the participants are male.  Yeah, it’s a guy thing.  Sure, there are probably some female derby drivers out there but the spectacle of giant, battered sedans powered by roaring motors (with the minimal exhaust pipes jutting straight through the hood) smashing into each other at full tilt is most attractive to those carrying a Y chromosome.

But I can’t deny the obvious symbolism inherent in the derby being held on the last night of the fair.  After a week of celebrations and fun events, the grandstand and bleachers are packed to capacity as the deranged motorists annihilate both the cars and the track that as served as concert venue, rodeo arena and parade ground for the previous seven days.  There’s something poetic in the celebratory destruction, as it sets the stage to build a bigger, better fair experience for the throngs bound to return next year.

At The Fair – Demolition! – Images by Corey Woodruff

When you’re a kid, as I was when I last attended the county fair 15 years ago, the biggest draw of the fair is easily the carnival rides.  The Ferris Wheel, bumper cars and Tilt-A-Whirl are iconic thrills that have captured the imagination of children for generations.  And while the classic rides still draw thrill-seeking crowds, there are all sorts of dazzling new nausea-inducing attractions to choose from these days.  One fact remains:  kids love them all.

Characters Welcome

Let’s be honest, carnival work is rough.  It’s a hardscrabble living that requires backbreaking manual labor, toiling away the day in scorching summer heat and enduring hordes of screaming kids.  Factor in the less than stellar pay and constant travel and it’s no wonder that the job tends to attract citizens from the margins of society.  Urban legends abound of creepy carnie stories but the truth is that the folks that setup, maintain and operate carnival attractions should be celebrated and respected.  And you can’t deny the fact that they tend to be very visually interesting folks.  I’m already contemplating a new project documenting the life of a carnie, and I think it would make for some fascinating stuff.

Do It For The Children

Even the most jaded and cynical adult is forced to crack a warm-hearted smile when watching kids enjoy the carnival.  Their eyes light up at the myriad of sights and sounds, their energy reserves continually replenished with every swoop, whoosh and spin.  Even when the unabated sun bakes the midway to over 100 degrees on an afternoon in late July and sweltering parents are seeking shade, the collective excitement of the children barely wavers.

And I’m betting that both parents and kids alike sleep well when they get home.

At The Fair – On The Midway – Images by Corey Woodruff

Simultaneously revered and reviled, the food you ingest at fairs and carnivals can induce both nostalgia and nausea.  Who doesn’t have fond memories of huge puffs of cotton candy and giant black cauldrons of kettle corn?  Well, sufferers of juvenile diabetes I guess.  Anyway, “fair food” has always held a special place in my heart (and stomach) and when I first visited the midway at this year’s fair the scent of funnel cakes and grilling sausages flooded my brain with memories.

Whole Lotta’ Shakin Goin’ On

Given that this fair is held at the end of July each year, attendees tend to get thirsty early and often.  And when they seek to quench that thirst, they overwhelmingly choose the venerable Lemon Shake Up which can be purchased from nearly every food vendor at the fair, although the original “Famous Lemon Shake Up” stand still sells the best version.  The simple recipe is both delicious and profitable:  squeeze half a lemon, toss it in a cup with ice and sugar, then shake vigorously.  Parched patrons fork over anywhere from $2.50 to $5.00 and sip away their thirst.

Deep Fried Madness

When I last attended the fair 15 years ago, the funnel cake was the undisputed Champion Of Fried Pastry.  My how times have changed.  These days you can choose from a wide array of sweet treats that have been dipped in funnel cake batter, deep fried and dusted with powdered sugar.  Foregoing the fried Twinkies, candy bars and peanut butter cups, I opted instead to try the Oreo cookies.

Imagine a funnel cake filled with a screaming hot melted Oreo cookie and you’ll get the idea.  Even the modest portion of four cookies was difficult to polish off so I enlisted the help of a friend who remarked that she’d like to try a version with white chocolate-covered Oreos.  Overkill?  Only time will tell.

Tubular Meat Snacks

As Anthony Bourdain has repeatedly pointed out, all civilized cultures feature some version of street food based on grilled meats in tube form.  Hot dogs, polish sausages, bratwursts, corn dogs–they’re all celebrated icons of festival gastronomy and all were well represented at this fair.

As tempting as it was to sample them all, I opted instead to tackle a single one:  the 14-inch long Giant Corn Dog.  Longer than my forearm (but thankfully less hairy), this massive meal costs $6 and requires both a strong will and a strong stomach.  When I paused for a photo after eating half of it, I thought to myself, “this is ridiculous”.  Then I smiled like a little kid and chowed through the rest of it.

And I think that’s really the point. Now where’s the Pepto?

At The Fair – Eats & Treats – Images by Corey Woodruff

I’ve already mentioned how the fair and many of its activities are vitally rooted in the agricultural economy of the surrounding communities.  And while livestock judging and equestrian events capture the imagination of many fair-goers, the largest crowds gather for an orgy of horsepower celebrating that most famous of farm icons:  the tractor.

Hardcore Hobbyists

If you’ve never experienced a truck and tractor pull in person, you might be inclined to dismiss it as a hillbilly hobby that appeals solely to primitive males, grunting and hooting their approval as they revel in the smoke and noise.  You could hardly be faulted for such an assessment, but to witness one of these mechanical beasts at full roar as it hauls a leaden sled the length of the arena (AKA a “full pull”) is to celebrate the ingenuity and inventiveness of mankind.  The tractor and overall mechanization of farming throughout the last century has allowed for massive increases in productivity, safety and profitability.  And besides, who would pay to see a mule pull?

Fans gather to watch the trucks and tractors roll off their trailers in the pits, and early birds even stake out seats in the bleachers at the end of the track by placing rocks on seat cushions.  While that tactic might not fly in a big city ballpark, the honor system is in full effect at the county fair.

Pow, Pow, Power Wheels

The pulls feature everything from stock antique tractors (some lovingly restored, some looking as if they drove straight from the fields) to highly modified 4×4 machines that are essentially 1000 horsepower dragster motors bolted to a pair of giant tires.  But enthusiasts can get in on the fun without spending a fortune, thanks to garden tractor classes.  That’s right, even Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor would grunt in approval at the sight of these modified lawn tractors hitching up to a scaled-down version of the weighted pull sled, especially given that they are frequently piloted by youngsters.

Old Meets New

At the other end of the spectrum, age-wise, are the old timers that tend to favor restored classic tractors dating back to the early and mid-1900′s.  They lack the wheel-standing drama of their modern, modified counterparts but watching these relics calmly sputter down the track like Aesop’s tortoise breeds nostalgia in even the most jaded viewer.  Once these classics have put on their show, the modified tractors start going to work.

As the night progresses, the tractors and trucks become more and more powerful.  And with each increase in horsepower comes a whole new level of smoke and noise.  The puffing and clattering of the antique stockers quickly gives way to towering clouds of black diesel smoke and the ear-splitting scream of exhaust pipes.  Mufflers and catalytic converters are a foreign concept to the modified classes.  I must admit that a tinge of the tree-hugger in me winces every time I see those ominous, oily clouds rise skyward, but as a friend joked, “it smells like freedom”.

There’s a lot of truth to that, actually.

At the Fair – Full Pull – Images by Corey Woodruff