"Birds and bands don't mix"

I've been busy. The curtains are opening and closing beautifully.

It also seems I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about photographs recently.
I've got the ones back from the developers from my trip and they look stunning...

I just don't have the wall space to put them all up. Oddly enough the 6x4's I've had printed have come with two identical thumbnail copies stuck on the side. Is this normal for photo printers?! It wasn't anything I chose to have done, or asked for, but it is a little bonus. May try something funky with a collage, who knows.

I went to a band meeting last night to discuss photos for the band with a local photographer. She seemed to have some good ideas and I liked her. The thing that came out of the meeting for me was the idea that; with digital cameras getting better, a photographers role is now about generating ideas not just capturing them... Any old idiot with a decent camera set to automatic will get perfectly focused well balanced shots. But the best camera in the world cant decide what to shoot at!!!

So it looks like we're going to be in a very forced pose, carrying the girls in to a factory/industrial setting with the girls made-up to look like shop window mannequins. Its a little odd, but that's kind of the idea... A band needs an arresting image to grab peoples attention and stop them from strolling past like they (and I) tend to with "yet another band standing around trying to look cool" photo.

The mannequin idea is good but doesn't give any clues, or have any standard imagery to help a potential listener with the style of music...

Is this a problem or not? Hmmm...

My mind is not made up on the subject, I'll have to think about it.

After a tiny outburst from one of the girl vocalists (at one of the guitarists) I started thinking about the points the guitarist made...

He thought the imagery should be "an exaggeration of reality, not complete fantasy" justifying this with any posed image we go for that is too "fake" we'll never carry off. (this was in reaction to the suggested idea of the two girl vocalists having a fight)... I think he had a point...

My mind shot off to the bands image assets and how we should/can best exploit them...

A very long time ago, a bass player (who I still play with in other bands) once said to me "birds and bands don't mix". We'd been discussing interpersonal relationships between band members and how they can get in the way of the band progressing. They almost always lead to arguments and band break-ups... hence "birds and bands don't mix!".

I have to admit, every band I've been in with female members has had some kind of "relationship" between the girl/s and fellow male members (if you excuse the use of the word "member").

Does he have a point? I don't know... If it is all above board, than what's the harm? Well the best argument for keeping relationships out of band environments is simply this...

Any "couple" have a power base within the band and leverage over each other on band political points, also if the relationship is going badly then there is a horrid tension that other band members have to endure... this alone should be enough to stop this silliness from happening, but it doesn't.

Anyway back to my photo... The two girls in the band are good looking, sexy girls which should be exploited to its fullest. In previous photos of the band (before I joined, with a very different line up), the girls have complained about looking too sweet, and want a "harder" image.

I believe if you see a girl in a band (singer or otherwise) then you ask yourself a simple question... Which of these guys, assuming its not an all-girl group, is lucky enough to be enjoying a relationship with her?!

I kind of thought well lets take that assumption to the extreme and set up a pose suggesting that ALL the band members are "enjoying" a "relationship" with BOTH girls. I believe this is a much harder image and will quite suit the music...

All I have to do now is convince the other band members (and their partners).

I have quite a bit more to add to this but I have to dash...

Take care.

D