chase petra: portraits

I mentioned in my last post that I’d taken some portraits of Chase Petra. Well, here those are!

I took an early bus so I had time for two important tasks before the show: one, pick up some extra AA batteries for my flash; two, scout out some potential locations for portraits. I wanted locations with interesting backgrounds and good light, so I snapped some photos on my phone of spots I wanted to hit. When I met up with Hunter (lead vocals, guitar in Chase Petra), our first spot was in front of a Thai restaurant across from the venue. It wasn’t somewhere I’d originally scouted - but this mosaic background was something I couldn’t say no to.

Up next, we headed to a mural I’d spotted when walking around. Part of the mural was shaded and part was hit by direct sunlight; I played around with my flash to get the correct exposure for my subject (Hunter). Later, in editing, I still had some careful work to do to get things just right. I wanted to make sure to show detail in the white dress Hunter was wearing, while not underexposing everything else.

The last spot Hunter and I went to was an ivy-covered wall around the corner from the venue. I grabbed some shots of her sitting, and switched out my lens to my 50mm/1.4 for the close-ups. I liked both color and black-and-white for these shots; if you look closely, you’ll notice that I didn’t just turn the color image to black-and-white. I wanted a higher-contrast image for black-and-white, with darker blacks and a sharper feel; I wanted the color version to feel softer and almost pastel.

While Hunter went to soundcheck with the rest of the band, I headed to the pizza place next to the venue to grab some dinner. It was a nice vegan slice (the tomato sauce was really fresh and flavorful) - but I honestly wish I’d gotten another slice. I was still a little hungry after!

I reconvened with Hunter and Chase Petra guitarist Genevieve a little while later and we headed to what ended up being my favorite spot: a bank down the block. The reflections in the windows proved tricky to edit; I cleaned them up where I felt the images in the reflections were distracting, but in some cases I left them be. We shot at two different sides of the building to experiment with the light.

As we were about to head back to the venue, I grabbed these last few shots, trying to take advantage of the golden hour light. I like the contrast and simplicity of the black-and-white, but the light really shines in the color shots.

chase petra, sydney sprague, and pool kids at the echo - 7/15/23

I’ve been in Los Angeles for seven and a half weeks now, and still every time I walk around my own neighborhood, or a new part of the city, I get this crazy realization that I actually live here. I’m having so much fun learning my way around my neighborhood, trying new vegan restaurants, meeting new people, and spending time with friends.

The first show I photographed since the move was on July 7: Sam MacPherson and Ruel at the Shrine, next to the USC campus (fun fact: I almost went to USC! It’s wild to think how differently my life could’ve turned out if I had - but hey, here I am anyway!). I had previously been to the Shrine a decade ago, while on tour with PETA and Steve Aoki - I definitely had some flashbacks while waiting in line! Just over a week later, I headed to The Echo in Echo Park. I’d been to The Echoplex years ago (on another tour with PETA, I caught a show there on a night off) but never to The Echo itself.

I arrived early to take portraits of Chase Petra (blog post with those photos coming soon!); with plenty of time to go before doors, I grabbed some pizza next door to the venue (it was super good - really nice, fresh tasting tomato sauce - but I wished I’d ordered a second slice!), and spent some time wandering around a bookstore and a thrift shop and talking to the other folks waiting for the show.

The Echo does not have a photo pit, and the lighting was also… not great. The show was sold-out, too. So my still-pretty-new camera and I were in for a challenge. Chase Petra was up first; I started near the corner of stage left, before making my way around to the other side and then back again. I increased my ISO and played around with shutter speed, and ultimately decided to do the whole photo set in black and white. This way, all my focus could go to capturing the moments I wanted to capture - even if the colors of the lights weren’t flattering. a

By the way, Chase Petra may have been the first act of the night - but that didn’t stop the crowd from cheering for an encore.

Sydney Sprague was up next. I didn’t take as many photos of her set; the crowd was intense (in the best way!), and I needed a breather and also some water. So, after I got a few shots, I filled up my water bottle and sat down to watch the rest of her set.

Finally, Pool Kids closed out the night and holy shit, I knew they would rock, but they put on such a good show. I’d known Andy Anaya since the days of You Blew It! (RIP, btw), and it was great to see him again. (It’s so fun for me to catch up with people as they ask about the move and how I’m liking LA - honestly, I’m thriving and couldn’t be happier that I’m here). Pool Kids put on the kind of show that it didn’t matter if you knew their songs or not; you’d be having a blast either way because that energy was off the walls. (As were the crowdsurfers.)

At shows like this without a barricade, I usually shoot the first three songs or so; depending on the room and depending on the photos I captured in the first three songs, I may go in for a few more shots. Pool Kids had everyone pull out their phones to light up the room towards the end of the set, and you know I had to get a photo of that.

I wanted to share two, non-photo related things I really enjoyed about this show:

1. The crowd went OFF for all three artists! You know how most shows, the crowd goes OFF for the headliner, but not so much for the openers? (Or there are the rare shows where the crowd goes OFF for one of the openers, but doesn’t seem to care about the headlining act?) That was not the case here. The energy was on 10 all night.

2. Gender diversity in ALL THREE ARTISTS! When I started photographing shows and interviewing artists in 2011, it was a Big Deal to me if there was ONE single woman on stage in a three-act show. Have I mentioned that Genevieve, the guitarist of Chase Petra, absolutely SHREDDED? Because she did, and that was SO COOL. I saw so little representation of women on stages when I started out, and it makes me so, so happy to see that happening more now. Here’s to even more in the future.