Dear friends. Thank you so much for your support in following this blog of my photographic successes and failures. I’ve moved my host for this site and it requires you to sign up again. I really hope you’ll take a second and enter your email and continue following me. I’d hate to think that I’m only typing to myself. Just go to RIBSHOTS 43 and sign up. You’ll see a box for your email address on the right side. You can’t miss it.
2 things I hope you’ll check out.
1. I was very surprised and excited to be asked to participate in Swimmingly’s 2013 year end round up of music and food. I can’t tell you how many times I wrote and re-wrote my answers … I tried to edit and shorten each time and I still think its a little long, but I’m happy with it … And my bio line, holy crap, Swimmingly makes me sound so tenured! Here’s the site, check it out, let me know what you think.
“Swimmingly”
2. I’ve also secured a domain. Finally! I struggled with getting a domain for a while. I bought a few and didn’t care for them … ribshots.com is taken by someone just sitting on it thinking that a BBQ Rib restaurant is going to buy it from them. Bastards. I’ve watched their asking price go from $1500 to $800 to now $2600. I offered them $100 and they said I was too far off the asking price to be considered. I hope they end up getting nothing for it. So, I decided upon http://www.ribshots43.com … Just to explain: I have an old nickname of Ribeye who’s origins I will not go into, but that nickname is still with me, with some people, so I grabbed “rib” from there. “Shots” I used because you take “shots” when you take pictures … Plus I like the ambiguity … ribshots could almost be a boxing term for getting hit in the ribs … And 43. 43 was my football number in high school, but it’s a number that seems to appear in my life and almost follow me around, plus I like the number, so I added it to ribshots. So that’s the story. http://www.ribshots43.com will simply bring you to this site, but it looks cooler than having a “wordpress” address on my business card …
I forgot to mention that I updated the bands section with a few new photos. If you go to “IMAGES” you’ll see “bands” under that – The bands are listed by name.
I was reading a post by fellow photographer Michael Ares and he did a year end, “top ten” list of his favorite shots of 2013. After reading his post, I thought it was a great idea. A great way to look through your work throughout the year and see how your are improving or if you’re stuck in a rut … So I decided to copy him, I hope he doesn’t mind … I wonder if he even knows that I have a blog …
In 2012, I was really focused on Street Photography. I was taking workshops, participating in “meet-ups” and just shooting in general. This continued into early 2013, when things changed with a simple phone call from a friend asking if I wanted to shoot stills on a set of a video interview show that he was starting … That lead to shooting in recording studios, portraits, live music and very little street photography. I guess 2013 was the year of expansion and learning … Here are a few that I like:
First, honorable mentions:
Iggy and the Stooges at Ink and Iron Festival in Long Beach. I printed an edition of 43 of this shot (plus 7 APs). I have a few left, but it was a good experiment and learning experience for me … 99% of the people who bought them were friends …
Next honorable mention: Rocket From the Crypt secret show at Bar Pink, San Diego, Easter Night. This was a weird show for me. I was really uncomfortable as I was right up in front, right in John’s face … I’m usually in the back or on the side of the stage when Rocket plays … but not this time
Riot Fest, Denver, CO audience shot with my wife and friends … I love the focus on Matt …
One of the best shows I attended this year: Dragon Smoke at The Mint in Los Angeles.
Now the top ten …
10. Shot during a one on one class with Rinzi Ruiz. “Mischief Alley” Downtown, Los Angeles.
9. Rocket From The Crypt at the Del Mar Race track. I love the look on Pete’s face and the giant crowd behind him
8. A portrait I shot for a salon’s website … I love the eyebrow, the attitude and the LensBaby blur.
7. Shoot I did for a messenger bag / back pack line … The boss didn’t like this one, but it’s the “pick of the litter” in my opinion.
6. Portrait of one of my childhood heroes. Lee Ving.
5. Shot on the set of “Death or Glory,” the host and creator. He was going over his lines in his head …
4. The Holi Festival of Color. This was a fun shoot. I had multi-colored boogers for weeks after.
3. Foo Fighters secret show at Rock & Roll Pizza in Moorpark, CA. This image brings me right back to the show. I feel like I’m right there, in the middle of the energy. And yes. next time I’ll tell you when i get tipped off to a secret show (maybe). I want to blow this one up – I think it needs to be BIGGER!
2. Sean Wheeler (of Throw Rag and Sean and Zander) on the set of Death or Glory II.
1. And my favorite of 2013. I seriously laughed out loud right when I got this shot. I saw it in my head and was able to get it! Mac from Superchunk at Riot Fest Denver. I love the point of view of this one. Being on the stage shooting out toward the crowd and having Mac jump facing me … Very different point of view … Lucky to have stage access for this one!
Monday, December 9, 2013 I found out that the Foo Fighters were playing in a pizza parlor in Moorpark, CA. A Monday night rock show is rough, but this was a once in a life time opportunity, so of course we went … Red Bull in my hand, Go Girl in The Weave’s. We were caffeinated and ready for the 70 mile drive.
I have to be honest and say that the only Foo Fighters music I know, is what I’ve heard on the radio. So I recognized about 5 songs (There Goes My Hero, Monkey Wrench a few others), but holy shit they are a great rock band. They played a 24 song set, that lasted 2 1/2 hours and just killed it.
I found it funny that the people near the front of the stage were pretty polite and saved each other’s spot when one left to go to the bathroom. It was kinda weird … But it made it easier to shoot photos.
I made a really important discover that night … Not only that the Foo Fighters are pretty awesome … But I loved shooting them with my Olympus OMD so much more than with my Nikon D7000. I had the fisheye on the Nikon and I love rock shots with the fisheye … But in general, the Olympus is smaller, lighter, faster to focus, faster recovery time between shots, in general, just easier to use and more reactive to what I needed it to do that night. I made a second discovery the week prior while shooting Dragon Smoke at the Mint in LA … The Eye Fi memory card that I use is slow. I love that card for the ability to send the imagines via WiFi to my iPad so I can see them and send them quickly if needed … But in general, that card is SLOW and cumbersome! I never thought I would notice that a memory card was fast or slow, but believe me, you can tell. I didn’t use it for the Foos.
I’m pretty happy with some of the shots from the pizza parlor … In fact, I’m planning to print and send the one below to the owners of the pizza joint as a thank you for the rock show, even though I don’t know them and had nothing to do with it … I just want to, plus it fits in with their decor (and it’s my personal favorite shot of the night).
EDIT: I guess this is a Pre-Script instead of a “Post-Script.” The book arrived after I typed this blog entry. I was holding off on posting it because I wanted to wait until the book was released, which it is on 11/12/13! Here goes:
I was really happy when I got a call from Jessica asking me to shoot a portrait for her book TELL ME SOMETHING. Actually, I think Gary might have emailed me … But whatever; I said yes right away … I think my actual reply was “FUCK YES, I’D LOVE TO!”
Self doubt, fear and anxiety set in as soon as I agreed to do it. I’d never shot a portrait before, especially not a portrait that was going to be used in a book. I’ve never shot in a studio. I barely know how to use my flash. Plus, I feel awkward around people that I don’t know, so how I am supposed to direct them into poses for the portraits? Yeah, I was nervous. I thought the best way to pull this off was to get the subjects outside, use natural light and use my street photography experience to my advantage.
My first shoot for TELL ME SOMETHING was acclaimed film director Michael Apted. Michael’s been directing since the 1960’s, he’s won several awards for TV and film and recently directed “Masters of Sex,” “Ray Donovan” and “Chasing Mavericks.” I went to Michael’s office, just off of Sawtell in LA, marched in with as much faux-confidence as I could muster up and got to work. After surveying the office and the grounds, I chose a few locations and we started shooting. Michael was cordial and willing to work with me. I hoped he couldn’t tell that this was my first time. I tried a few self-deprecating lines to get him to smile or loosen up when really, it was me who needed to loosen up. “My wife tells me that I look scared when I smile. Do you want to smile?” The end result was a slightly awkward shoot that produced a slightly awkward portrait. Don’t get me wrong, I really like this shot, but I know that I need to bring more confidence and enthusiasm to a shoot like this. My discomfort translated to the subject and into the images.
After submitting the chosen shots to Jessica, I honestly thought that she was trying to figure out the nicest way to tell me that they sucked and needed to be re-shot with a better photographer … Seriously. But, she not only picked one, she asked if I was available to shoot a second director … Again, I agreed right away, and though I was a little less anxious, I was still nervous to try it again.
The second shoot was much less intimidating for several reasons. First, Doug Pray had made movies that I was familiar with (Surfwise, Hype!, Art & Copy). Movies that I had sought out and watched. Doug was closer to my age and we decided to meet at a record store in Highland Park … So I felt like I was meeting with a peer and not an assignment. Something else that added to the ease of this shoot was that, through a little miscommunication, my friend showed up at the shoot. My first though was, holy crap I’m going to look like an unprofessional dick in front of Doug … But, what happened is, Doug and Scott hit it off and were talking the whole time … So I just shot at will, interrupted a little bit for some direction, but it ended up making the shoot smooth and painless … I think Doug even had fun. I knew right when I released the shutter, that I got the shot we were going to use. It needed a little more editing than I am capable of, so I called on my buddy Dee Snider (no, not the Twisted Sister guy) to help, and he nailed it. Thanks Dee! (Edit) I just got the book and they used a different picture than I thought – I’m still stoked and I like the picture …
Doug left with an armful of records … Thanks to Gimme Gimme Records for allowing us to shoot (after we simply barged in and started).
I was excited that, after submitting the Doug Pray photos, Jessica asked if I could shoot another one. Hell yes I can! The third and final portrait shoot I would do for Tell Me Something was with Marina Zenovich. She is an Emmy Award winning director and has created some amazing films on Roman Polanski (“Odd Man Out” and “Wanted and Desired”) and had just finished “Richard Pryor: Omit The Logic” when we shot her portraits. I was happy and as comfortable as I could be … which is still uncomfortable and awkward, but I felt confident in the fact that this was my third shoot and that I’d be able to hide it pretty well. Marina suggested we meet at French Market in Venice. The location was great. I seriously felt like we got a good shot after the first 2 minutes. We were outside, the light was great, the background of the ivy wall was awesome and Marina was great, smiling, happy, talkative and comfortable in front of the camera. While we were shooting, Marina’s husband and son showed up. This made things even better, I let her son shoot a few pictures, I shot a few of him … and the best part was being able to shoot Marina while she was looking at her son … It was perfect. Just before we called it a day, I said, let’s go in the market for a couple shots in front of these shelves that caught my eye. With her son just out of frame to her right, we got the shot … My fav of the lot … 
Marina just emailed me and asked if she could use it for her IMDB photo … So she must like it too … which makes me happy! At the time of typing this long-ass blog post, her IMDB photo has not been changed … We shall see if/when it happens.
I always “over-share” and I cannot resist the opportunity to do so again.
This shot of Doug will show you the fun we had while shooting … Yes, that’s Scott pretending to be peeing in public, in the background … The second shot of Doug is the one I thought was going in book, but I really do like the one they chose.
And here’s the shot of Marina taken within the first 2 minutes or our shoot …
Riot Fest, Denver (Byers), CO – DAY TWO
First band I saw was Chuck Ragan (no photos).
PEELANDER-Z
I HAD TO POST 2 OF NAKED RAYGUN
NAKED RAYGUN
PUBLIC ENEMY
AND TWO OF FLAG TOO
FLAG
BAD RELIGION
(without Hetson)
We watched RANCID from the stage and I really couldn’t get a shot. I’m bummed, but no RANCID photos.
I just want to post some pictures:
DAY 1
SUPERCHUNK
(no photos, but I watched Against Me!)
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT
Â
IGGY and the STOOGES
Â
THE REPLACEMENTS
Day Two I had better access and full media/press credentials … which allowed me to get closer and get better photos.
We recently returned from an amazing trip. Nashville, various cities and towns in Kentucky, Cincinnati and Denver.
The Denver post will have to wait as I have a ton of photos from Riot Fest Denver that I want to share … But this one is about Kentucky and bourbon.
The first thing that was an eye-opener was that they distilleries are pretty far apart. It’s not like wine tasting Paso Robles, where you can hit 5+ wineries per day … Bourbon tasting allows you to hit 2 maybe 3 per day with hour long drives between them.
Day One we tasted at Four Roses. We were too late to take the tour but squeezed in a tasting and hit the merch store.
Day Two we were up and hit Buffalo Trace first. We wanted to do the hard hat tour, but it was full, so we did the regular tour … which was totally cool. 
We toured to grounds, saw a video, went inside warehouses and even got to see Pappy Van Winkle being bottled – It was interesting to note that everything was done by hand … the labels were placed on the bottles by hand, they were corked and foiled by hand … A machine filled about 5 bottles at a time, but other than that, it was all done by hand. If you know bourbon, you know the Pappy Van Winkle is extremely expensive and extremely difficult to find anywhere … And no, we were not allowed to purchase any of the bottles we saw being filled.
I was surprised to learn that Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare are made from the same “white dog” (or moonshine), it is the taster/blender that decides whether or not the barrel is Buffalo Trace or if it has the characteristics of Eagle Rare. The entire Van Winkle line is distilled and aged there too … As were a few others. I also learned that “small batch” bourbon refers to the number of barrels used in the blending process of the bourbon, not that a small batch is made, but a small batch of barrels are blended to obtain the taste.
We quickly ducked in and out of Maker’s Mark to hand dip a couple couples in wax. I’m not a big fan of Maker’s but I HAD to had dip my own bottle.
May favorite stop of the day was Willett. It was the smallest of the distilleries we stopped at … they said the could only house 50,000 barrels of aging bourbon on their entire property while other, bigger distilleries (like Buffalo Trace) could house 50,000 barrels in one warehouse. 
We arrived early at Willett and had about 45 minutes to kill before the tour started … this was great, we got to walk around the grounds and take pictures … 
I was really drawn to their warehouses …
This is their still … Which is still in use … It looks like a giant moonshiner still … This one is about 30 feet tall.
IGGY AND THE STOOGES
I want to say a few things about this decision. I have always wanted to try something like this, just like I really want to do a kickstarter campaign to fund a book … Not to make money, (you’ll see this is true when I get to the pricing) but just to see if I could pull it off. To see if people would actually buy my work. To see if having 5000+ views of an image translates into anything other than people simply looking at a photo. To see the work and research and time that goes into something like this. Just to experience it. I have a few friends who have a few images of mine that I gave to them and, as silly as it may sound, I’m a little proud when I see them hanging in their homes and offices (thanks guys).
I decided to do an edition quantity of 43 and added 7 “artist proofs” to make the number a round 50. Those of you who know me, know that 43 has been my favorite number, and my high school football number, since 1981. Plus I like having an odd number edition. I did test prints at photo labs, I ordered sample envelopes, I got a rubber stamp to stamp the back of each image, I got photo friendly pens to sign and number each one with (thx Weave), I got rubber stamp ink (later replaced with archival rubber stamp ink), I got acid free/archival bags to protect the photos, I checked the postage prices, I opened an “Etsy” page to have a place to sell the edition … All said and done, the images, including shipping and packaging would cost me about $10 each. Multiplied by 50, yep, that’s $500. I thought I should sell them for $20. This seems like a very user friendly amount, and where can you get a limited edition anything for $20? I also figured, if I only sold through half of the edition, I’d still have a chance of breaking even or at least not losing too much money.
I ordered all the parts from the places I could get them the cheapest; envelopes from one place, interior padding from another, acid free bags, rubber stamp, ink, etc … all from different places. Once all of the items arrived and all the pieces were in place, I opened the Etsy store and announced the image for sale … I then decided that I should put one together, the complete package, to see how it looks. I really want the package people receive in the mail to look like I took the time to think about it, because I did and the fact that people are actually buying something from me is something I take seriously. The idea is/was: Each image will be hand signed and numbered by me, each image will be rubber stamped on the back with the official “ribshots usa” stamp (thx again Weave), the photo will them be placed in an acid free bag, sandwiched between 2 cut pieces of cardboard (which will also be stamped), slid into a cardboard mailer (also stamped), insert a thank you note, hand address and ship.
This is getting long, but I’m still going … I laid 30 of the images face up on my cleaned off dining room table. I then signed and numbered each one. Once the pen ink dried, I flipped them over and began to rubber stamp the backs. I stamped all 30 and then realized that the ink was not drying. I waited 15 minutes, still wet, I waited an hour, 2 hours, over night, over 2 nights STILL WET! I can’t put the photos in the acid free bags with wet rubber stamp ink on them! Why didn’t I do a test batch of 1 -5 images? Why did I have to do 30? I did so much research, finding the best prices, I asked photographer and art collector friends where I should sign the photos (front or back), I literally did weeks of planning … And I didn’t pay attention to the fucking rubber stamp ink and not its not drying! Not to mention that the cardboard padding I received is too thick to sandwich the image in and will not fit in the envelope, even though the company’s website said that they were made to go with the envelopes I purchased.
This morning, after stamping the images on Monday, they are still wet. I decided that I needed to try to remove the rubber stamp ink. I used “Goo Gone” and it kinda worked, but not really and I’m not sending out a photo with a big red rubber stamp ink smear across the back. I think I have to re-print the 30 images that I stamped. Today I found some “Archival, acid free, permanent rubber stamp ink” thanks to Gary Hustwit for the tip.
Now I need to re-order 30 images, return the cardboard padding that doesn’t fit in the envelope, pay a re-stocking fee, buy new, thinner cardboard padding, I’ve already purchased new rubber stamp ink … adding about $150 to my costs, or $3 to each photo.
Lessons learned: Don’t use regular rubber stamp ink! Don’t test rubber stamp ink on 30 images! Don’t announce a sale until you are 100% sure you not only have everything you need, but that everything you got fits together the way you thought it would. Don’t think that 5000+ views of an image turns into sales, so far, the purchasers have been my friends giving me support. My friends, whom I feel guilty charging for the image … If they want it, I am honored to give it to them, especially if it might end up on their wall someday. But they’ve all paid – Some via paypal, some saying they’ll “flip me a $20 at lunch” and others bought it through the Etsy page and I really appreciate it.
So far 10 of them are gone (or at least spoken/paid for), 40 are left.
I went to the Ink n Iron music festival last weekend on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. I have a strong distaste for music festivals, though I seem to go to a few per year. I’m such a jaded old so and so, that I will only go to a festival if I have a pass (thank you RFTC). I have to be able to escape from the masses and have a little down time or I don’t have any fun. Ink n Iron, even without an all access pass, was surprisingly roomy and spacious. I was always able to find a spot to stand that was out of the way and not in a crowd … Nice.
The only reason I went to Ink n Iron this year was to see Rocket From The Crypt. Though they played an unannounced show on easter Sunday in San Diego, this was their first, official, proper Southern California show since they reunited. In fact, this was their first American show since reuniting.
Rocket was awesome, they played great, the crowd loved them and even though they got cut off during their last song, it was a great show. I also caught The Dirtbombs (I’ve been a Mick Collins fan for a while now), The Fleshtones (never been a fan, but I went with our friends to see them) and Iggy and the Stooges. I specifically remember saying, right before they came on, that I’ve always been a bigger fan of Iggy’s solo stuff than of the Stooges. HOLY SHIT I WISH I COULD TAKE THAT BACK! The Stooges came on right after Rocket, and those who’ve seen Rocket (I assume that’s most of the 3 people that read this) know that they put on a great rock show. High energy, non-stop movement, uniforms … I’ve always had pity for the band that had to come on stage after Rocket … Well Iggy and the Stooges were up for the task. I don’t know how he did it, but Iggy raised the intensity and energy to a whole new level when he hit the stage. And the energy is all Iggy. The band, as amazing as they are, simply hang back and shred while Iggy puts on the show. IGGY RULES!
Here are a few pictures from the day … One last thing, I was worried about getting a photopass, getting my camera in, etc … Turns out that the festival was EXTREMELY lax about photopasses. This is super rare for a festival. I was in front of the barricade, behind the barricade, almost anywhere I wanted to be with my cameras and I had no issues at all. None.
I love this flying headless shot of The FLESHTONES guitarist.
The FLESHTONES
The DIRTBOMBS
The DIRTBOMBS
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT
IGGY AND THE STOOGES
IGGY AND THE STOOGES
www.RIBSHOTS43.com 