Naughty or Nice

Orange County Photographer Greg Garcia shoots Kymree and Lyndsey  for a Christmas Card set.

This is Kymree and Lyndsey. I will probably post a few from this shoot. We had a great time shooting this and it cracks me up every time I look at these shots. These girls really worked it for these shots and managed to have a good time even though we were in less than desirable conditions. But then again, what kind of shoot would it be otherwise? This was shot in a warehouse in Long Beach shortly before Christmas. Of course it was freezing and the last thing you would want to do is run around in your underwear but here they are... What started out as a Christmas pin-up shoot evolved into a number of scenerios as we found various props in this warehouse, collaborated on ideas and thought of ways to keep the girls warm...

Canon 5D, Strobe and Halogen Lights for warmth... literally!

METAVENGE

Orange County Band Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Metavenge
Metavenge shot in San Pedro with a Canon 5D, Strobe and Brolly.

Metavenge from Houston Texas. I got the opportunity to see these guys perform after the shoot and they are heavy, hard and shove their music right down your throat. You’ll definitely be hearing about these guys in the future.

We shot in San Pedro and in typical fashion, not free of incident. We arrived, late afternoon, scoped out the area, and set up to shoot. Within minutes, not even ten frames into the shoot, security stopped the shoot. I was escorted by security to see the Regional Director or something like that. By the time we got to the office, there wasn’t anyone to talk to and the Security officer kinda shrugged his shoulders and said I couldn’t shoot there. Meanwhile, the band’s manager called me on the cell phone and in code, we were able to communicate to move the equipment around the hill and behind a wall where security won’t be able to see us. Security escorted me back to where we were originally shooting and I kinda dismissed it like they had to get going to their show. Once security was out of sight, I bolted over to the guys and finished the shoot. As you can see, we were racing daylight. This was one of the last shots of the day. The guys were great and we got some great shots. Of course I had to harass them for not warning me about Security. “How could you guys not see him...? He had to cross a parking lot and a grass field to get to us!” I guess they were just too into the staring down the camera.

Steven Adler

Orange County Band Photographer Shoots Steven Adler of Guns & Roses for Peace Calendar
Shot at Backline Rehearsal Studios with a Nikon FA on Fuji Reala Film. Three strobes with a brolly and colored gels were used for this capture. This was shot right before rehearsal for Adler’s Appetite.

This was shot as a promotional calendar piece and advertisement for Peace Drums. Steven was passed out in a van in the parking lot 20 minutes before this shot was taken. They had just gotten into town from Las Vegas. Steven lit up and turned it on as soon as he saw the lights, he was ready to roll. We quickly shot a couple rolls of Fuji Reala using a Nikon FA and strobe. This was not the shot featured in the Calendar but I thought it kinda captured a different mood for Steven.

Warrant - Crafter Guitars USA

Orange County Band Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Warrant for Crafter Guitars
Joey Allen and Robert Mason were shot with the Canon 5D and multiple strobe.

Tonight I shot Joey Allen and Robert Mason from Warrant for Crafter Guitars. This is a promotional endorsement for Crafter Guitars USA out of Virginia. This shoot went about as smoothly as they go, even with all the friday night traffic to get to Burbank from OC. Rob Shean assisted me on this shoot to ensure a speedy set up and tear down. This was shot at their rehearsal studio, the last 30 minutes of their scheduled rehearsal. When we arrived, they were outside taking a smoke break. We were greeted and introduced, then escorted to the rehearsal room. The plan was to set up while they were rehearsing their final set. Everything timed out perfectly. They finished the last song and we were ready to shoot. We shot a variety of poses for about twenty minutes, wrapped, and got on with our Friday night. I love it when a plan comes together...

Poogie Bell

Poogie Bell photographed at the Vault in long Beach. Canon 10D and multiple strobe.

Every now and then you get a stressful, nightmare shoot. This was one of them. This was Murphy’s Law in full swing. Let me just say upfront, Poogie was awesome! This was a promotional shoot for Poogie’s cymbal endorsement and was shot at the Vault in Long Beach. The plan was to get some live shots at sound check before their show. Everything was arranged with the venue and the light man to run lights to look like show while I got my shots. That seemed simple enough, right? I arrived at the venue at the scheduled time and there’s no band, no Poogie. Apparently his flight from Pittsburgh had been delayed. I waited two hours and I asked the cymbal rep, what are we going to do? His answer was pretty much, wait a little longer and shoot what you can. We were about fifteen minutes from doors opening when they finally arrive. Of course they need to sound check so they get onstage and the monitors do not work. So now the sound guy is pissed and doesn’t want anybody on the stage. The house is screaming they need to close the stage curtains because they need to open the doors. I’m getting nervous so I start unpacking all my cases for lighting and start setting up for another back up plan. I knew once they close that curtain, that stage is dark. All the front lighting is outside the curtain line. They close the curtain and the band is ready to go to the hotel. I’m feverishly trying to set up lights to get some shots. I lit Poogie with an umbrella from the front, I put light with a red gel on a boom overhead and I threw a blue light behind him aiming at the curtain. Meanwhile, Poogie’s band mates are yelling “C’mon! Let’s go! Bus is leaving…” I told Poogie, just a few shots and you’re outta here… I’m set, ready to go. Let’s go… Poogie sat down; wearing the shirt he was traveling in and I said, just play. It wasn’t but a few seconds before the stage manager stormed the stage furious because doors were open but I had already gotten my handful of shots. I’m not exactly sure what Poogie is so happy about in this shot. Maybe he could see behind me and new I was about to get my head chopped off. I don’t know but it works for me. Istanbul chose to run a different image at NAMM and I’ve included that image as well. All in a days work, right?

Orange County Photographer Shoots Poogie Bell at the Vault in Long Beach

Jimmy Camp

Orange County Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Jimmy Camp for New Record

This is my long time friend, recording artist and political insider, Jimmy Camp. We shot this in his living room for his album “Captain America”. From what I understand, “Captain America” is the first Album to be recorded entirely on an iPod. You can view a “making of...” movie about this on Jimmy’s website: www.jimmycamp.com.

Dark Angel

Orange County Phtographer Greg Garcia Shoots Kymree as the Dark Angel
This was shot with the Canon 10D and Quantum Q Flash off Camera

This is Kymree. Obviously this is the Angel Motel on Bitterbush St. We shot this a little later than planned but the image still comes across. I was concerned that being on a major street we might cause a little commotion so I wanted to be in and out as quickly as possible to avoid any trouble. I parked up the street at a 7-11 where Kymree got ready in my truck. Meanwhile, I asked her to wait for my call to join the shoot while I metered and set up lighting. I walked up the sidewalk with my lighting assistant and we weren’t there 30 seconds when the cops showed up with their lights on me. We had just walked up and I had gotten on my side to compose the shot and my head was close to the curb and gutter. The police officer thought I had passed out or something. We had a chuckle about that and he let me carry on with what I was doing. I called up Kymree. We blasted through shots for ten or fifteen minutes and got out of there. Kymree was great to work with and we have continued to shoot together since.

Lighting for this we used a Quantum QFlash mounted on a mono pod powered by a Quantum Turbo Battery.

Rod's Liquor

Rod's Liquor, originally uploaded by greggarciaphoto.

This is Candice and my brother in front of Rod's Liquor in Downtown Orange. we needed an image for Candice's 21st B-Day invitation and this is what we came up with. That's my sofa from home that we brought out and we had most of the "props" already. Ambient light was metered with a hand held Sekonic Light Meter and I set exposure, close to match. Lighting was provided by a JTL Mobil Light and Brolly. I had to drag the shutter a little to get the neon to burn in.

We were probably in and out of there in a total of about 20 minutes. We did start to get a little bit of a crowd of onlookers but for the most part, they viewed from across the street.

It was a fun shoot. Candice was totally fun to work with and a go getter and props to my brother for playing waiter and making it happen.

Billy G. Wrant

Orange County Band Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Billy G. Wrant of D-Cup
Billy was shot with the Canon 5D and JTL MobileLight & Brolly behind Perry’s Pizza in Newport Beach.

My long time friend Ky, rang me up that he needed images to send for a band audition. This was obviously one of the more serious shots. There are some more shots that are a lot more fun that I’m sure will make it here soon. This was shot in a back ally in Newport Beach.

Hear Kitty Kitty


Orange County Band Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Hear Kitty Kitty

Hear Kitty Kitty shot in Jay's driveway in Torrance. This was shot with multiple strobe, brolly and warming filters. Captured with the Canon 5D and 5D Mark II. This image has been mocked up for their upcoming show at House of Blues May 10th. This was a fun and kick back shoot. I was going to blog about it but Julie and Nikita expressed the vibe of shoot so well, on the Hear Kitty Kitty blog, I stole it! See below.

hi!! what up?!
well! we just shot this super rad photo set with greg garcia friday.

Photoshoots: This past Friday HKK went to Jay's house in Torrance and shot a whole bunch of promos for Jackson Guitars, HipTrix and Pickworld (our proud endorsers). Beer, vintage cars, carne asada, a pit bull named Bronco=awesome. Thanks to Greg Garcia for his photography skills, Jay for letting us overrun his home with clothes and glitter, and to Danielle for hair and makeup and glitter.