Local Houston noise/rap artist, B L A C K I E, dives into an unsuspecting crowd on day 2 of the festival.

It seems like it’s been forever since last year’s Free Press Houston Summerfest and corresponding post. (Click here to visit last year’s blog post and relive Summerfest 2010) This year sort of snuck up on me. Regardless of my personal thoughts on the actual acts themselves, I’m proud to say that each year since its inception 3 years ago, the fest has gotten bigger and better in the grand scheme. I really appreciate the fact that the festival organizers really put an emphasis on local music. I not only hope that the festival continues to improve and make us Houstonians proud, but keeps the same “local music first” ideals that are apparent now. And with any luck, next year, I will be playing AND shooting. (Omar: Sign Square and Compass up for 2012!)

This year I was on assignment for The Houston Chronicle and their entertainment-driven special publication, 29-95. In past years, I was shooting for different clients that were not on a deadline, which meant that I could concentrate my efforts on shooting the entire show each day and then bother with editing and captioning the next week. For the print edition of the newspaper I had to capture images, download them to a remote laptop that we had set up in 29-95′s vendor booth, edit and transmit the selects to the paper. Ironically, even with the Chronicle building a few blocks away, the poor Internet connection made the transmission process a real headache. I transmitted images to the newspaper’s photo desk for the print edition several times throughout the day since I would not be getting home until after the print deadline.

For 29-95, I sent a healthy amount of selects over each night for use in a web gallery that was live throughout the day. In essence, it was like shooting for two separate clients concurrently. Luckily I had the help of two amazing assistants and a team of editors that made things go smoothly.

Day 1 started at about 10am. After getting outfitted with about 5 or so different wristbands, we set up our laptop station and walked the festival grounds to get an idea of the layout. The festival in general was a lot more spread out than in past years which was a pain since it took a lot longer to walk to between each stage, and since the majority of fans camped out at the main stage, so the exterior stages seemed much more isolated than in past years. You may be asking yourself why I am complaining about a short walk, but it was about 105 degrees F each day, so just being out in the sun, let alone moving is an exhausting task.

After getting the lay of the land, I started looking for details and hot weather features, before heading to the main stage to photograph the live acts. Bun B and Big Boi were the highlights of day 1 putting on amazing performances in the dead heat. I didn’t have any trouble getting access to the stage which was nice. The hip-hop acts were great, but Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings were my favorites for the day for sure. During the golden hour I ventured back into the crowd and made some frames of a bungee attraction in awesome light.

Since we still had a lot of editing to do, we decided to skip Saturday’s headliner, Ween, and head back to the office early to get a jump on things.

Sunday was 110% better for me. After regrouping, I headed into Sunday with cooler clothes, less gear, and a working knowledge of what exactly I wanted to shoot and how the whole festival was laid out.

We started around the same time, at some of the smaller stages enjoying/photographing friends’ The Niceguys and By The End of Tonight before hitting the grounds in search of features. I stumbled on several nice details and a few excellent moments before heading to the main stage where I found local noise/rap/etc artist B L A C K I E  assembling his own stage props alone. After a few frames and an offer to help, we headed into the crowd to find out they were setting up a paint slide. Last year, the paint slide was replaced by a mud slide after a heavy storm rolled through the festival.

This year it was a paint slide, last year it was a mud slide. What will 2012 bring?

Since it was (mostly) dry this year, a black, vinyl tarp was setup, splattered with paint and hosed down before a line of kids started sliding down. It was definitely fun to witness and photograph even though there are still paint splatters on several of my lenses and clothes. After several frames at the bottom of the slide I decided to trek up the hill to see what it looked like from the top. The first thing I saw was a group of friends in line for the slide, covered in paint, having a great time smearing paint on each other. During the few minutes I spent with the group I photographed a nice sequence. Click on the composite below to see the entire 12 shot sequence together.

The 12-shot sequence of the paint-covered kids. Which one would you have selected?

After a quick edit/transmission session, we headed over to the main stage for the evening acts. After a few moments, IT happened. What we all thought we had dodged…the rain. Summer downpours have cursed the festival the past two years in a row and just when we thought we were out of the woods, dark clouds circled and opened for several minutes of rain, and like past years, I ventured out to make rain features while most photographers scurried for cover. Unlike past years, the showers were brief and the terribly uncomfortable mugginess that is usually present after a summer shower in Houston was no where to be found. For a time it was actually pleasant.

Right after Chromeo finished up an awesome set, B L A C K I E was set to perform. I was already familiar with his crazy stage presence (especially after playing with him the Thursday prior to the festival) so I knew to be up front and ready to shoot the insanity. The first several rows of mostly Weezer fans didn’t know what hit them when he started into his first jam. The set, although short, was a full frontal assault and was not only fun to shoot, but a challenge as well. The lead off image above is one of my favorites from a sequence of him diving into the crowd and at the same time completely freaking out about a half dozen unsuspecting girls. It was lovely. (Check out some video of the performance including video of myself photographing the set, shot by Houston artist Blak Joens, below!)

Afterwards Cut Copy dove into an awesome set while I ventured out into an impromptu dance circle that I witnessed was started by 1 crazy fan that began dancing on his own. It quickly grew into a huge group of fans dancing like there was no tomorrow. At one point a shirtless guy on crutches hopped into the dance circle much to the excitement of the crowd.

Just as the sun was setting, the festival headliner, Weezer, took the stage and devled into a lengthy set full of old fan favorites from mostly the Pinkerton and Blue Album eras. As a fan of the band, it was awesome to get a chance to photograph them whilst hearing all my favorite jams from back in the day. After photographing the first half of the set from both in front of the stage and a little bit further back, we headed back to the office to edit the days selects.

Three of my images from day 2 of the festival appeared in the print edition, including one A1, above-the-fold.

The entire weekend was long and exhausting and even though I don’t know how I can possibly top last year’s images, I had a blast and came away with some frames I am definitely proud of. The print edition of the paper used 3 of my images on the Monday following the festival. Check out the layout above. As always, a full slideshow of my favorites is below. Check out the images and let me know what you think.

If you know anyone in any of the images, please link them!

SUMMERFEST (JUNE 2011) – Images by Todd Spoth

Rapper, Lil B, performs live at the Fader Fort during SXSW 2011.

As I mentioned in my post last week, the past month or so has been crazy. A lot of actual shooting has given way to a lot of time editing and while I still have a ways to go to catch up (do we ever really catch up?) I wanted to pause for a second to reflect on one of my favorite events of the year, the annual South by Southwest festival.

SXSW, held in Austin, Texas, is a now-massive multi-week festival held in early to mid March every year that covers everything from interactive design to film and music. There are tons of amazing things that happen throughout the entire festival, but the majority of the time I focus my efforts on the music portion. I really want to check out the interactive and film portions, but oftentimes scheduling prevents it. Even if just for the music, I have attended the festival for years and will continue to as long as I am able. Every year I have an absolute blast, whether I am attending as a fan or photographing musicians or live shows for a client. For those new to my blog, I have written a SXSW follow up post for the back three years, check those out if you’d like. Each year I walk away with the feeling that I really didn’t photograph much, or at least as much as I had hoped, and every year I surprise myself with a few good frames from the trip.

SXSW 2008
SXSW 2009
SXSW 2010

Every year brings a new twist to the usual flavor, but I have to say, this year stood out more than the previous. Several friends and colleagues in the newspaper photojournalism world made their first trips to the festival, including Gerry McCarthy of the Dallas Morning News and Christian Murdock of the Colorado Springs Gazette. Since schedules were hectic and since the festival (unlike any other festival) spreads itself across all of the City of Austin, I sadly did not get to meet up with either of these guys, but click on their names above to check out their respective works from the festival.

I should also note that good friends and colleagues Ariel Zambelich and Zoneil Maharaj, both from the Bay Area, who I conquered the festival with during the past two years, were MIA this year. Hopefully they will both make it back out next year. They were missed.

The biggest difference this year was the fact that I would be participating (for the first time) as a musician. Usually my routine, weeks prior to the festival, includes securing credentials, researching official and unofficial showcases, scheduling and doing a good bit of research, however the week’s leading up to this year’s festival were packed with rehearsals and playing shows with my band, Square and Compass. We played several shows prior to leaving for SXSW, so by the time I arrived in Austin, I had barely even looked at the lineup for this year.

Three images taken with the iPhone4 and processed with the Instagram app during SXSW 2011. Notice the theme?

My thought driving into Austin was that since I was not officially credentialed (this doesn’t mean much as you can still have a GREAT time without a media credential or a general admittance badge) nor was I on assignment, that I would simply go with the flow, have no expectations and have a good time…off the clock. I think as photographers, especially freelance photographers such as myself, we  (or at least I) find it hard to put down the camera and just enjoy the moment. I believe this is both a gift and a curse. On one had I would love to not have to lug heavy gear around all the time and be free to just watch and enjoy, however on the other hand, this is what I do, and work or no work, making images is my passion, so as long as I have two arms and two eyes I will have a camera up to my face, making these images, which is why, even in years where I am not on assignment to photograph the festival, there are still images made. Even if my intention was to not shoot, there are still pictures. When I get home, weeks later, and go through the images, reliving the moments that unfolded in front of me, I am happy that I took my camera out and this year was no exception.

Although this year’s SXSW excursion was somewhat truncated, I still managed to see and photograph a handful of acts.

When we arrived in Austin during the day, Friday, March 18th, we immediately made a B-line to the annual Flatstock poster art convention that is held in conjunction with SXSW. I am constantly inspired by poster art and make it a point, every year, to stop by the convention center to browse, be inspired and spend money on posters. The rest of the day and night Friday were spent just walking around the area and hanging out. Usually I am running around like a madman, shooting, running to the next venue, shooting, breathing, running, etc, but this go-round I had no expectations. That is, until I saw that the Australian electro-pop group, Miami Horror was playing a showcase that night. Miami Horror, French Horn Rebellion and a deluge of awesome electro acts were playing a showcase at ND Studios. I have been a fan of Miami Horror for a few years now and sadly missed them during SXSW 2009, so when I saw the show was a possibility, I went for it and was glad I did.

There were several things that I was interested in catching on Saturday during the day, however, since my own band’s showcase started in the late afternoon/early evening, I didn’t have time to see anything prior to our show. This only meant that we got to sleep in, leisurely lunch on the amazing food Austin has to offer and relax until we performed. Our showcase went off without a hitch. There was a good crowd and we had a great time playing. Austin is the live music capitol of the world, so it’s not surprising to say that our best shows (in my opinion) have been in Austin.

After our showcase I changed, and headed straight for the Fader Fort for the Saturday night showcase. Last year I did the same thing and was able to enjoy and photograph both Bone Thugs N Harmony and Sleigh Bells, so this year had a lot to live up to. Thanks to acquiring the proper wristbands the day before, I was able to avoid any lines, and headed straight into the tent right before rapper Lil B was set to take the stage. I made my way to the front of the stage and in a similar fashion to year’s prior, was smashed up against a ton of other “photographers” trying to photograph one person. I was armed only with my trusty 35mm 1.4L lens and a limited amount of memory cards, but I made it happen. I had never heard Lil B prior to his set. I must say it takes some getting used to, but at least he was interesting to photograph. I love photographing live music and it makes it that much easier when the venue, stage, and lighting are top-notch as they were here. There is only so much you can do when you are photographing one person with one lens and cannot move, but I think despite the setbacks I made a few interesting frames. Lil B was very animated throughout the set, but for most of the set was wearing a ball cap and sunglasses, so the frames of him without the accessories, especially the few playful ones of him smiling and being lighthearted, I thought were special. There is even a frame of him standing next to me, with a bra in mid-flight, next to his head. He doesn’t seem to notice.

After Lil B’s lengthy set, something happened that was only a mere rumor prior to the show. Sean “P-Diddy” Combs, of Bad Boy fame, hip-hop and entertainment mogul, came on stage much to the audience’s surprise and performed a few of his hits including “Mo Money, Mo Problems” and “All About Tha Benjamins”. As a fan of 90′s rap and RNB, it was definitely exciting to witness and photograph the moment. As photographers, especially for live music, we are there as working photographers, not fans, but it seemed like all of that was thrown out the window during Diddy’s set. It was the last few songs of SXSW at the Fader Fort and it seemed like the photographers, security and other personnel were all actively having a good time. So if you can’t beat em, join em. I then started singing along to the songs while photographing Diddy. Apparently he realized that I was the only one who actually knew the entire verses to the songs so before I could react he was reaching down to shake my hand during one of the songs.

Not soon after Diddy wow’d the crowd with his surprise performance did the entire Odd Future crew take over the stage. These guys again, are a new/different breed of hip-hop that Diddy called, “the next generation of hip-hop”. They are definitely different and interesting to photograph with a lot of characters. I wish I had the chance to photograph their full set the day prior, but I fancied what little I saw and photographed.

After the excitement of the Fader Fort we called it a night, slept in the next morning and headed back home Sunday afternoon.

The Fader Fort website has videos of all of the sets previously mentioned on their website. Check out THIS ONE of P-Diddy and snoop around for the rest.

So like every year, SXSW was a blast and I can’t wait for next year. I might note that this was the first year I didn’t photograph ANY indie, punk, rock or hardcore acts. Everything I photographed and pretty much everything I saw was either of the electro, rap, or hip-hop variety. This year was also a total success in that I performed as a musician and not only did that go swimmingly, but I got props from P-Diddy less than an hour or two later.

Until next year, South By…

For now check out the images from this year, compare them to the images from the years prior and tell me which set you prefer. Also check out the videos at the bottom of this page if for some reason you are wondering what Miami Horror, Odd Future or Lil B sound like. NOTE: For those of you that work for “The Man”, the latter two videos might not be safe for work. If you don’t know what “Mo Money, Mo Problems” sounds like, then shame on you!

SXSW MUSIC FESTIVAL 2011 – Images by Todd Spoth

Miami Horror – “Sometimes”

Odd Future – “Yonkers”

Lil B – “Wonton Soup”

The cover of the December 2010 issue of PDN which features an image by Todd Spoth.

Back in October, I was browsing through my issue of PDN (Photo District News) magazine and came across an ad that was promoting one of their contests. I have never really paid much attention to contests, the few that I have entered in the past have been in the photojournalism realm and most of the contests that are advertised in PDN are more on the commercial side. This one was interesting though. The Ultimate Music Moment photo contest sponsored by Billboard Magazine sounded right up my alley.

I have been involved in the music scene in some way ever since high school, whether that meant playing in bands, touring with bands, reviewing or photographing live music or just being a passionate lover of all things musical.

The Billboard/PDN Ultimate Music Moment photo contest consisted of professional and amateur divisions, and had three categories; artist portraits, performances, and crowd. Not only did the contest appeal to my interests, but it sounded familiar. I pondered for a few moments before it hit me. Just a few weeks prior I was working with former Life Magazine photographer, Joe McNally here in Houston. During a break, his first assistant, Drew Gurian, and I got to talking about music, as we are both musicians and love photographing live music, and he had told me that he was a winner of this same contest the year prior.

I knew it sounded familiar!

Weeks passed and the deadline for entry loomed. During mid-October I found myself on a trip to Europe. It was during that trip that friend and colleague Eric Kayne reminded me that the deadline for entry was that same night. Eric was eager to enter his own images of indie band, Arcade Fire, and here I was, in Europe, about to miss the deadline.

I was away from my image archive and on the road with my Mac Book Pro. Thankfully I was able to find high-resolution versions of the images I wanted to enter in my Photoshelter online archive. Phew. I went to the contest’s website, entered my 2 images (seen below), begrudgingly paid my entry fee and hit submit.

"Warped Tour Hands" by Todd Spoth, winner in the "crowd" category of the 2010 Billboard Ultimate Music Moment photo contest.

Image of The Flaming Lips at Summerfest 2010 in Houston, Texas taken by Todd Spoth.

After a few more weeks had passed, I had all but forgotten about the entered images, until I received an email from an editor at PDN magazine informing me that my image was a finalist and that I needed to submit a higher resolution version of the image that made the cut. I excitedly submitted the image and eagerly waited for the December/January issue of PDN, where the winner’s gallery for the contest would be published.

About a week or two ago, I finally received my copy of that issue, opened it up, and was excited to see one of my submitted images, an image I captured at a local Warped Tour music festival, published in the winner’s gallery. My black and white image of the hands of a crowd of Warped Tour spectators has always been a favorite of mine and now it had won in the crowd category of this contest.

Each winning photo was accompanied by a short blurb that the photographer wrote about his or her particular image, detailing how the image was captured and although I too submitted details for my image, it seems they pulled the generic caption information from the file’s IPTC data and printed that. Regardless, my image is there, and my name is with it, and that’s all that matters.

Maybe now I’ll actually get around to updating my website with more live music images.

Below are the scans of the title page of the contest’s winner’s gallery section in the December/January issue of PDN, as well as the page where my image is featured. They are scans so apologizes for the ghosting as PDN’s pages are pretty thin.

Please let me know what you think!

The title page for the Ultimate Music Moment photo contest winner's gallery.

The Ultimate Music Moment photo contest winner's gallery page featuring a photo by Todd Spoth.

The cover of the Photoshop User magazine Jan/Feb 2011 issue featuring an image by Todd Spoth.

About a month and a half ago I got an email from Mike Mackenzie, Associate Publisher of Photoshop User and Layers magazines, letting me know that they wanted me to be featured in Photoshop User magazine. I was thrilled to be featured in a magazine that I receive and read every month, especially after getting a personal tour of the NAPP/Kelby group headquarters just a few months ago. (see that post here)

I have been a NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) member for years now and have enjoyed the benefits greatly. The guys over @ NAPP work hard at creating the most thorough training content for creative professionals using Adobe software. If you need to know how to do something in Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Bridge, et al, they know how to get it done. Like many of the professional organizations I belong to, I probably only use a fraction of the member benefits, but my favorite is the free 3-day shipping on every order from B&H photo. If you’re anything like me, you are frequently placing orders for this or that with B&H (one of the largest and best photo/video/audio retailers in the country). Being a NAPP member not only gives you complimentary shipping on every order, but upgrades it to 3-day rather than UPS ground. This benefit alone has made my membership worthwhile. Check out the NAPP website at http://photoshopuser.com.

I have been an Adobe Lightroom user since its beta release in 2006. Back then I was trying out Apple’s counterpart, Aperture, as well as Lightroom and ultimately decided on Lightroom. It was just a lot easier to use. The most recent release, Lightroom 3, has made my life a whole lot easier. The things you can do with the software is amazing.

Mike interviewed me about my usage of Lightroom and some of my basic theories concerning my approach to photography. The resulting interview, bio, and image gallery can be seen in a multi-page feature in the January/February issue of Photoshop User magazine. The issue should arrive to NAPP members this week, and hitting the shelves around January 4th according to the NAPP team. I always see the magazine front and center at places like Barnes & Noble, Borders and other places magazines are sold, so pick one up if you can! To read the actual bio and interview text simply click on the image of the spread below or click here.

The cover to the special Lightroom section featuring images by Todd Spoth.

Photoshop User magazine has a special Lightroom section, which is where my feature can be found. A selection of my images are on the Lightroom section’s title page (seen above) and the actual feature is comprised of a two page spread which includes a short bio, the short interview, another batch of images, as well as an additional page featuring a few more images (seen below) The actual design of the spread is meant to look like the layout of Lightroom itself, complete with basic camera settings for each of the highlighted images.

The main, two-page spread featuring a bio, interview and photos by Todd Spoth.

An additional page featuring more photos by Todd Spoth.

In addition to being featured in the issue, I was surprised when just a few days ago, when I received my own physical copy in the mail, that they had chosen one of my images for the cover as well. The interesting part is that the cover image was actually not taken with one of my expensive SLR bodies, but my point-and-shoot Canon G9, which has since been sold. Oh the irony! Regardless of the tools that captured the moment, I think the image looks great.

I initially sent Mike and the guys over at NAPP about 30 or so images to choose from, so the final selection of images was ultimately left up to their team. Below is a short digest of the images they chose for the issue and links to their respective blog posts. There were several other, smaller, images the guys chose to fill out the thumbnail bar towards the bottom of each page, but the main images are all detailed below.

COVER

1. Portrait of Libby Johnston taken with the Canon G9. See “THE RED CURTAIN”.

LIGHTROOM TITLE PAGE

1. Portrait of Kingwood High School swimmer, Matt Barber. See “FUTURE OLYMPIAN?”.

2. Portrait of MLB pitching prospect, Jameson Taillon. See “JAMESON TAILLON”.

3. “Summer Solstice” image created to illustrate the hot Houston Summers. (no blog)

MAIN SPREAD

1. Portrait of my buddy Rob, who is a teacher. (no blog)

2. Matt Barber again. (see above)

3. “Favela Boys” from my 2008/2009 essay on Rio de Janeiro. See “BRAZIL”.

4. Portrait of “The Dog Whisperer”, Cesar Millan. See “THE DOG WHISPERER”.

ADDITIONAL PAGE

1. Portrait of Shawn Welling, filmmaker, dancer, choreographer and painter. See “MORE PORTRAITS”.

2. Portrait from the deserts of Qatar. See “DESTINATION: QATAR”.

3. Jameson Taillon again. (see above)

4. Portrait of friend and fellow photographer, Adrienne Byard. See “ADRIENNE & ELIZABETH”.

The images of the spread above were from PDF’s, I did manage to scan a few more of the pages of the issue, where my images are shown. Since the images below are direct scans as opposed to the PDF’s seen above, I used Photoshop to clean the scans up and make them look presentable for the blog! Go Photoshop! Ha.

Table of contents page featuring photos from Todd Spoth.

About page featuring photos from Todd Spoth.

Masthead page where I am listed as a contributing writer.

A young boy relaxes under the mist tree in Discovery Green Park in Houston, Texas.

One of my regular editorial clients is my hometown newspaper, The Houston Chronicle. Since the majority of my workload lately consists of work that differs from my work as a newspaper photojournalist, getting an assignment from the Chron often seems like a much needed break. The variety of things a newspaper photojournalist photographs is vast, from sports to portraits, and you never know what you’re going to get. From drag racing to triathlons, I have photographed a ton of different events in the first 6 months of this year, 2010. I have also had the pleasure of meeting and making portraits of several interesting characters from MLS soccer stars to skilled surgeons.

The gallery below highlights some of my favorite images shot on assignment for The Houston Chronicle during the first 6 months (January – June) of 2010. The group of images may not necessarily represent the “best” photos in a journalistic sense (depends on who you ask) merely my favorite photos for whatever reason. Although I tried my best to showcase images and assignments that were not previously featured on the blog, some of the images may be familiar. Some of the images made it into either the print edition or the web edition of the publication and some images were simply outtakes that I deemed interesting for whatever reason. Please note that some images may appear differently than those originally sent to the publication for print, as I went back into the archives and did a few different edits, but for the most part the images were plucked from my “sent” folder.

Please let me know what you think, and of course, please use the “TWEET” button at the end of this post to share with friends!

PS: Click here to check out the new blog from the photo staff over at The Houston Chronicle entitled “Depth of Field”.

BEST OF THE CHRON 2010 (JAN-JUNE) – Images by Todd Spoth

Local Houston pitching phenom, Jameson Taillon, at Scotland Yard in The Woodlands, Texas.

This past weekend I was assigned to photograph a local high school pitching star from up north in The Woodlands, Texas, Jameson Taillon. As I usually do before a portrait session, I research the subject to try and understand why they are being photographed and to learn a little bit about them. Jameson who recently graduated from The Woodlands high school was recently selected 2nd overall in Major League Baseball’s 2010 first-year player draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Not only was he considered the top pitching prospect of the draft, Jameson was offered a scholarship to Rice University and a spot on the prestigious Rice Owls baseball team. Given the fact that I love sports (especially baseball) the research on Jameson was more exciting than tiresome. After coming to the realization that this kid was a little more than just decent high school baller, I tried to come up with some ideas on how to approach the shoot.

Saturday morning I arrived at Scotland Yard, the home field for The Woodlands High School baseball team, early, to scout locations. Although there were a few lingering clouds, rain was not an issue, but the 110 heat index was definitely going to play a role. I had my gear set up and ready to go well before Jameson showed up.

“How did you get in here,” Jameson said with a grin.

Little did he know that in the absence of any facilities personnel on a Saturday morning, I roamed around long enough to find an unlocked gate and let myself in.

Local Houston pitching phenom, Jameson Taillon, photographed by Todd Spoth.

Given Jameson’s recent success, it’s no wonder that several of my colleagues in the photo world have photographed him recently, with most of the shoots taking place at this same location. Although it may have been repetitious for him, he was in good spirits and a great sport. Unfortunately for me, since my shoot was taking place after the high school season was over, Jameson was unable to be in full uniform for the images. He had a cap, a glove and a logo t-shirt. The trademark socks, pants, jersey and cleats that set the iconic baseball uniform apart from the rest of the sports world were no where to be found.

Some of my planned shot ideas involved shooting Jameson full length and in a variety of different locales around the ballpark. Since his uniform was incomplete I adjusted my game plan and decided to work in tight and concentrate on Jameson’s look.

Pitchers in baseball are known to “stare down” their opponents. There was a certain look in his eyes that showed me he had what it took to intimate batters, but there was also a touch of innocence about him. Here is a kid that was just another high school teenager a few months ago and now is on the verge of a possible multi-million dollar offer from a Major League ball club. Once I took a few tight frames of Jameson, concentrating on his eyes, I knew that my last-minute game plan adjustment was for the better.

After we started shooting, Jameson was very accommodating. Since I was dealing in tight, it meant that he wasn’t able to be as mobile as maybe he would have liked, but we pushed through several different angles and lighting setups and were done well before he had to leave.

I played baseball for about 8 or so years, before I moved to Paris, France in my younger days, so I am definitely proud to see another local Houstonian about to break out in the big leagues. Our area is known for producing exceptional sports talent and Jameson will hopefully go on to become an awesome Major League hurler, whether he decides to jump right in or attend Rice for a few years.

A gallery of some of my favorites from the shoot is below. If you dig the photos, please use the “tweet” button below to help spread the word.

JAMESON TAILLON (10-06-19) – Images by Todd Spoth

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips performs during the 2010 Free Press Houston Summerfest in Houston, Texas.

Last weekend I photographed the 2010 Free Press Houston Summerfest at Eleanor Tinsley Park here in downtown Houston, Texas. Last year was the festival’s inaugural year and I remember feeling really excited and proud of my city for finally hosting a legit music festival as I watched Broken Social Scene, Of Montreal, Explosions in the Sky and others take the stage in the park just blocks from my place. I have been involved in the live music scene for years, whether playing or photographing and for most of that time our neighbors to the west in Austin have held the torch for the best live music scene, and even though that is still the case, the Free Press Houston Summerfest is a testament to just how much Houston can give Austin a run for its money.

This year’s festival was even bigger and better with a larger main stage, more sponsors, and bigger headliners. The festival (both this year’s and last) creatively blends a wide-range of musical genres from hip-hop and metal to indie and jazz. The main draws this year were Girl Talk, Slim Thug and Bun-B, and The Flaming Lips. For the punk/hardcore audience, Cro-Mags and Municipal Waste graced the side stage. In total there were over 70 bands, national and local.

Temperatures were sweltering on day 1, Saturday. I was able to walk to the venue with a small backpack to carry the camera essentials. There was a lot more activities and vendors compared to last year, but after a trip or two around the grounds I settled at the main stage to photograph RaRaRiot. For most of the first day I remained near the main stage photographing the handful of bands that would take the stage throughout the afternoon.

A crowd dances on stage during Girl Talk.

Popular mash-up artist Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk headlined day 1. I had never seen him perform live, but was introduced to him and his jams back when I worked in Baltimore in 2008. I always knew his live shows were a party, but I was not ready for the craziness that ensued. Balloons, toilet paper, dirty dancing, and everything else seemed to be happening on and off stage during the lengthy set. Towards the finale of the set, Gregg leaped up onto the on-stage desk that held his only instruments; a laptop, a mouse and a mouse-pad, (complete with puppy dogs) held his hands in the air and in almost perfect synchronization, an elaborate fireworks display went off in the background. It was a perfect ending to the first of two long days of live music.

It wasn’t until I had already started walking through the gates of the festival when I looked up and saw some threatening clouds. As I leisurely made my way down the natural embankment to the main stage, raindrops started to fall on my head. Within a few minutes of my arrival, several other photographers, a few crew members and I were huddled underneath a tent backstage, watching as a torrential downpour threw a meteorological wrench into the plans of hundreds of fellow music lovers. Last year severe thunderstorms made a muddy mess of the festival grounds, but were thoughtful enough to cease just prior to the opening of the gates. This year mother nature had waited until the fans were settled into their hillside spots and onto their colorful blankets before she showed her teeth.

Festival-goers slide down a muddy hillside, during a rainy day 2.

I have to admit it. From under the (relative) safety of my tent, I had to give it to my fellow Houstonians. There was no mass exodus as the rains continued to come down. Of course there were several groups of spectators that called it a day or at least decided to wait it out elsewhere, but the majority of fans took it in stride. They held their spots on the muddy hillside and continued to enjoy the music. Some even decided dive in head first (literally) into a new event that had spawned as a result of the rains, sliding down the muddy hillside into a puddle of muddy rainwater that had gathered below. After watching a few minutes of this intriguing event from underneath my tent, I too decided to throw caution to the wind and not join them, but photograph them. In the process I think a few of my lenses and cameras paid the price, but some interesting images were made.

After a while the rain cleared and the show went on as planned. The rest of the day’s acts went off without a hitch, but like day 1, I was not prepared for the headliner.

The Flaming Lips were set to finish off the weekend of music. I had never seen them live, and although I knew a bit about their live performances, I admit I did not quite expect the sheer craziness that ensued. In a similar fashion to Girl Talk’s set the night before, there were streamers, balloons, confetti, costumed dancers, elaborate lighting, elaborate set design and of course frontman, Wayne Coyne’s signature bubble.

We were only given access to photograph the first song of the set, but after that song I moved back and enjoyed the rest of the set from the rear. As I watched the final songs of this year’s Summerfest I realized how many more people were in attendance compared to last year. I only hope that this festival sticks around, continues to grow (in the best way possible) and draws even larger crowds in years to come.

Check out the slideshow of images below and if you like what you see, please retweet!

SUMMERFEST (JUNE 2010) – Images by Todd Spoth

A comparison of 2 images that feature the similar scene of Vince Young celebrating a big play.

This past weekend I had the chance to photograph Vince Young’s annual celebrity basketball game here in Houston at Butler Sports Complex, a familiar spot for the native Houstonian.

Vince Young is well known in Houston as he drew a lot of attention as a high school prospect in the area, eventually playing college ball at the University of Texas. After a very successful career as a Longhorn, there was notable controversy during the 2006 NFL draft, when his hometown team, the Houston Texans passed him over for defensive end, Mario Williams. Young was picked 3rd overall by the Tennessee Titans where he plays today.

I have photographed several NFL games over the years, several during Vince’s career with the Titans, however one moment stands out above the rest.

It was December 10th, 2006 and Vince, a rookie at the time, was at the helm of the Titans squad against the Texans at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Texans kicker, Kris Brown, tied the game with a 46-yard field goal to force overtime. The Titans won the toss. I was positioned near the end zone with Vince facing me on the other end of the field. It was still early in the overtime period when Vince and the Titans were facing a 3rd-and-14. The Texans had hope. The crowd was on their feet, trying to will their team to the 4th-and-out that would never come. Seconds later I saw Vince running towards me, the ball safely tucked under one arm, his other outstretched in celebration. The 39-yard touchdown run instantly transferred the energy from the fans to the Titans bench and without a moment’s notice I was backed into a corner with a jubilant Vince Young and a stampede of excited Titans barreling towards me.

Vince Young celebrates with teammates following a game-winning touchdown run in 2006.

For those who are unfamiliar with photographing an NFL game, the protocol usually requires at least 2 cameras, 3 if it’s a possibility. The primary camera is outfitted with a long zoom lens with a focal length anywhere between the 300-600mm range. The second camera usually has on a 70-200mm lens which is nice for photographing plays as they come a little bit closer to your position. The third camera body is usually mounted with a wide angle lens. This third camera sits around the neck and is at the ready for fast action. The majority of NFL action images are captured while the play takes place a decent distance away, but the given the unpredictable nature of the game, the third camera is there for times when the play and subsequent action is charging towards your face.

As Vince celebrated his game-winning touchdown (which kept the Titans in the playoff hunt) I put my wide-angle outfitted camera up to my eye and snapped off images as the team rushed over to revel in the moment. In a matter of seconds more photographers, players and other persons joined the scrum, but those initial moments of jubilation were for the most part gone forever.

That game was about 3 and a half years ago and I have photographed Vince with the Titans since then, but that moment is one I will never forget.

Vince Young during a Monday Night Football game against the Texans in 2009

Fast forward to this past weekend.

Even though there were several big names in the mix, the event was for the most part low-key, which meant access was excellent. The game was held at an older local high school basketball arena, which was great for ambiance, but made it very difficult to photograph due to very dim lighting conditions. Among the players were; J.R. Smith of the Denver Nuggets, Mr. 720 (famous for his outrageous dunks), Former Longhorn and current offensive guard for the Houston Texas Kasey Studdard, Texans receiver Andre Johnson, former NBA star Nick Van Exel, rapper and entertainment mogul Master P and his son Lil Romeo. The motley crew of different players was fun to watch. Mr. 720 and J.R. Smith were definite front-runners talent-wise, but everyone brought something to the table. It was like watching a very casual all-star game, with very few stoppages in play, lots of fast-break dunks, and a plethora of no-look passes (some successful others not so much).

During the final minutes of the game, the score was close and the mood intensified. Both the crowd and the players seemed to perk up and for the first time pay attention to the time left and the score. There was a few minutes of give and take, but just like that game over 3 years prior, Vince found himself with the ball and and in a position to win the game for his team and win he did. Vince scored the winning points with a classic overhead slam dunk and what happened next was my deja vu moment.

Within seconds of the game-winning dunk I again found myself shoved against the wall next to a jubilant Vince with his teammates running towards us. Again, I lifted my camera and wide-angle lens to my eye and began shooting. The following image is one from the post-game fray. You can see Denver Nuggets guard, J.R. Smith in the background celebrating with the rest of the team.

Vince Young celebrates after a game-winning slam dunk during his celebrity basketball game in Houston, Texas in 2010.

After the game Master P approached me and let me know that he had to let Vince win on his birthday. So, I guess Vince’s 27th birthday didn’t turn out too bad after all. As I edited the images from this past weekend’s events, I noticed one image from the scrum. I pulled the above image out and compared it with the image of Vince from that overtime game years back. The resemblance was interesting to say the least.

**note** I am currently tweaking different things on the blog so let me know what you think about the new features. One new feature is the green button which is directly under this post that allows twitter users to retweet this post, so if you are a twitter user, please do!

Kingwood High School swimmer Matt Barber, photographed by Todd Spoth

A couple of weeks ago I got an assignment to photograph an up and coming high school swimming star from Kingwood, Texas. The image was going to accompany an article for the All Greater Houston section of the Houston Chronicle which is a special section highlighting outstanding high school athletes from the Houston area. After briefly looking around the internet and my magazine archive for a little inspiration, I packed up my car and drove out to Kingwood High School. On shoots like these I tend to pack way more than I end up using, but you never know what to expect and I have plenty of stories where I have said to myself, “well, we could have done this, but we forgot this.”

I gave myself plenty of time and was able to introduce myself to the swim coach as well as requisition a small conference room to set up. The Kingwood High School colors are blue which worked well with my blue backdrop. I took my time and got everything set. Since the campus was pretty much deserted, save the swim team that was in pool at the time, I was forced (as usual) to test my lighting set up on an inanimate object. Usually for larger jobs I will bring an assistant with me, but last minute, smaller, editorial jobs like this one, I am a 1 man band.

I scanned the room for something that could work as a stand-in model. A small, handheld camcorder on a tripod. It would have to work.

when you don't have an assistant to stand-in, you find the next best thing.

Although the camcorder was a lot smaller (and shorter) than my subject would be, it allowed me to at least get my lights and camera set somewhere in the ballpark.

By the time Matt finished up practice, I was set up and ready to go. He had a limited amount of time so we fired off the shots. I had him jump back in the pool and run back into my makeshift studio so I could capture a few frames with the water droplets on his body. We did some of him in the pool, but I really liked the set of images we did with the simple backdrop

After I got home, edited and sent my image to the newspaper, I took a look at my favorite images from the take. I liked them, but they were all very similar. I decided to challenge myself and take each and tone each a different way for different looks. Some of the edits are obviously a little much for the editorial world, but I like them. After all I am in a creative field, so dammit Im going to be creative! I like the image on the top of this post, because I think the goggles add a bit of mystery to the look, with the catchlights almost looking a bit otherworldly.

Matt was an awesome guy and very patient and willing subject. I hope he becomes the next Michael Phelps, goes to the Olympics, and earns gold. With any luck I will be right there with him photographing it.

MATT BARBER (10-04-19) – Images by Todd Spoth

Late last Saturday evening I got a last minute call to cover the 2010 Lonestar Iron Man triathlon that was taking place in Galveston, Texas.

I was already familiar with the event as I had a few friends that competed in the first portion which took place that Saturday. Sunday morning was the real deal race that featured the professional triathletes. Even though it wasn’t required that I be down in Galveston for the beginning of the race (7am, sharp) I decided to set my alarm for 5am and make the 45 minute or so trek down to the island for the race’s kick-off. Operating on about 3 hours of total sleep, I woke up before the sun and was surprised to be parked, geared up and in position well before the first wave of athletes took to the water.

You can never be too early to events of this scale and this distance away. Football, baseball, soccer and other events where the field of play is pre-determined are a lot easier to cover than large-scale events where the location is unknown to the photographer until they arrive. Although I know Galveston Island and Moody Gardens like the back of my hand, I had no idea where the course was laid out, so for posterity, I gave myself plenty of time to account for traffic, road closures, and scouting. There is nothing worse than speeding to an event, rushing to the starting gate and having the race start before you have had any time to gear up, scout the best shooting positions, draw up a plan of attack (critical for long and sprawling events such as a triathlon) and most importantly, breathe.

Thankfully, this was not my first time to cover a triathlon. Back in the fall of 2008 I covered another triathlon in Columbia, Maryland, so I knew a bit about what to expect, but due to the nature of the events, unpredictability is a factor.

One of the main reasons for making the sacrifice of sleep and being there at the start is the light. Very few events kick off at 7am, when the sun is just coming up and the light is beautiful, so taking advantage of the circumstances was a must in this situation. I could have slept in and made “good enough” images at the tail end of the event at around 10:30am or so, but I would have missed the wonderful light of the early morning.

I set myself up to shoot a few different views of the athletes during the initial swimming portion which are illustrated by the images in the slide show below. After the swimming event, I knew I would have a good chunk of time while the athletes completed the cycling portion. The 56 mile cycling course weaved down to Seawall Blvd and down the West End. Having not only a good handle on the pacing of the event, but a good handle on the area (I was born on Galveston Island) I quickly hopped in my car and drove down Seawall Blvd. I made a few images of the riders with the clean backdrop of the Seawall and headed back to the main event. During my down time I made a few interesting images of things like the portable bathroom units, including a few medium format film images that I blogged about in a previous blog post called “Seeing Squares”. Since the final running portion of the event was fairly self contained within the Moody Gardens facility, the backgrounds were kind of drab, but I managed a few interesting frames.

In all I had a great time covering the event. I was a bit sleep deprived by the time I finally made it off the island (about noon) but my day didn’t end there as I had another assignment to complete before calling it and heading home to recover. Some of the images that I dig which are in the slide show below.

Please remember that the slide show images are not a tightly edited essay, but rather a loose grouping of edited favorites from the event.

IRON MAN TRIATHLON (10-04-25) – Images by Todd Spoth