The Myrke...

As part of my Project 52 last year, I was hoping to photograph Barrie; he is a musician and husband to a colleague of mine; Sandra. I thought a guitarist would make a good portrait. At the time I had never photographed a musician. But sadly, between one thing and another, it never happened.

Then one Friday afternoon I got a phone call; Barrie's band, called The Myrke,  were rehearsing tomorrow, Saturday afternoon, could I come along and take some photographs? I love these last minute impromptu shoots; nothing like a bit of pressure. And, oh, yeah, they wanted to be photographed around a tree. Okay, I said, looking out at grey winter skies and the promise of rain. I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

That night I started my research. Moodboard, an iPad app, came into its own. I sourced some pictures that I thought would start the ball rolling and sent an email of it to Barrie. A fantastic little app that I use again and again. They set the mood and we hadsomething to talk about and throw a few ideas around.

Barrie lives near Eton where there are lots of playing fields. So next day I headed off to Eton, met the band and after hearing them play; fantastic music guys! off we went in search of a suitable tree. Their sound is a latin soul jazz kind of sound and it is very good. (where is my CD guys...?)

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The Myrke

Having found it, it was a matter of setting up the band as quick as I could; it was a freezing cold afternoon. At this point a big thank you to Sandra. She was an invaluable assistant and softbox holder for the afternoon. I used a single Ezybox with an SB800 triggered by wireless. Simple set up; it had to be it was just too cold for shooting outside.
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Sandra and softbox

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We then retired back to the warmth of Barrie's house and I set up some individual headshots.

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Phil

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Sukh

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Simon

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Barrie

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Be sure to check out The Myrke on their Myspace page, here, a great band.

This is the 'Moodboard' that I

compiled for the shoot.