The Blight    

Each of the two shows for the Storytime Festival were divided into two halves — the first was akin to an international dance competition, featuring troupes from all over in vastly different styles, while Vau de Vire filled the second half. The afternoon show was Vau de Vire’s first “kid-friendly” and theater-style performance, as well as the largest venue at which we have performed (two sold-out shows of 1,000 people each, and the stage itself was as big as the DNA Lounge). The first show was a bit rocky, in terms of practice and other technical aspects (sound, etc.) details I’m delighted not to be privy to nor involved with (a classic example of “not my job!” and I’d only be in the way anyway).

The first photo above shows one of our lovely Vau de Vire girls doing a front-flip over a flaming rope, and the second is my favorite shot I’ve ever gotten of Angelo Rodriguez flying above the audience — I last saw this in February at the Super Bowl show we did with 944 Magazine, but the circular nature of his path makes autofocus nearly impossible. I managed to capture it this time. Go see the full gallery here.

Hubba Hubba Reuve Christmas Special took place the day before the Storytime Festival (and Dickens Fair the day after) making last weekend one of the longest in recent memory. If you’ve ever wondered why you occasionally find black-and-white photos scattered throughout my image galleries, it’s not because I’m trying to be artistic. No, let me tell you a secret: It’s because I couldn’t fix the color balance or the lighting was awful. The gentleman responsible for lighting Hubba Hubba Revue likes to wash the stage in a single color (never good) and is a huge fan of pink, of all colors (even worse). The vast majority of my post-processing time I spend on Hubba Hubba Revue photos is just trying to fix the color to make skin look like, well, skin and to provide my viewers with something other than a blasted pink landscape of pasties and pretty girls. See below for a few examples of before-and-after:

Before and after, showing post-processing

Before and after, showing post-processing

As you can see, the original images on the left were lit with pink (blue and red) lights, full-on and direct, with the backgrounds largely ignored. I’m no theatre lighting expert (ask Mr. Devon aka Baconmonkey for a separate rant regarding this if you want more detail) but I know that the DNA Lounge has some excellent lighting rigs, and they’re responsible for making a show look as good as it can possibly look. And in terms of photos, while you might not notice a particular color wash when you’re watching the show, a gallery of pictures that are all lit the same become monotonous and it’s difficult to differentiate between the various acts (or even tell what color their costumes were). From a photographic standpoint, the performers themselves need to be lit with pure white light, with colors supporting the sides and background. Or at least give me a white spotlight or throw a few white lights in the mix? A camera’s sensor is a mix of red, green and blue filters, so if you only use one or two colors to light the stage, my camera can only use a fraction of its light-capturing capability, and image quality suffers heavily.

Go see the full gallery of HHR’s Christmas Special here.

Coming up on Friday the 19th of this month is Hubba Hubba Revue — Christmas Special. I shall be your photographer for the evening.

Then, on Saturday, December 20th,  your favorite circus troupe Vau de Vire Society, joined by the buffoons of Fou Fou Ha! and the goofballs of Gooferman will entertain you with not one but two (2!) shows at the decadent Palace of Fine Art in San Francisco. The first show is family-friendly (shocking, I know) and the second a bit more like you’re used to (similar to Cirque du Soleil meets burlesque with a two-drink minimum).  Get your tickets here: www.storytimefestival.org. I’m the official photographer for this event.

And, coming up in January is the inimitable and fabulous Edwardian Ball, about which I’m sure you’ve heard so much. Three days of yesteryear decadence are yours for the taking, and tickets are available here: www.edwardianball.com. I am most delighted to be the official photographer for this event as well (an honor, indeed).

Also upcoming is the Sea of Dreams New Years Eve bash by Anon Salon, at which they’ve asked be to be a photographer (but negotiations are yet underway). It’s very likely you’ll see me there, joining my friends The Mutaytor from Los Angeles.

All jam-packed in this extra-special bonus post! Separate descriptions and writeups coming soon.

GWAR, Kingdom of Sorrow, Terror, and Toxic Holocaust at the San Francisco Regency Center Ballroom in November.

Bohemian Carnival at the DNA Lounge, at which my 24-70 2.8 Zeiss was knocked down and broken.

Hubba Hubba Revue’s Girl Gang at the DNA Lounge.

Black Rock Art Foundation’s (BRAF) Artumnal Gathering at the Bentley Reserve, at which I ran a portrait station the entire evening.

5 & Diamond’s 1-Year Anniversary party at Supperclub San Francisco.

This Saturday saw the second installation of the Crazy Hay Maze party in Half Moon Bay by Circus Metropolus and Anon Salon. The Nexus party the week at the same location a scant week earlier stole much of the thunder this this party, for people were fairly wrecked after the first (or so I’ve heard). I ran a photo studio tucked into one of the rooms in the maze; pictured above is Star St. Germain.

Last week at the DNA Lounge was a show with Bloodline, Claire Voyant, and Stripmall Architecture (sometimes Halou) and they played music. And it was good. All three of them. Fans of Halou are still raving about the show. Click image above or here for the gallery.

UPCOMING ~

And now, for some upcoming events at which I’m shooting (or you could just check the calendar):

TONIGHT: GWAR at the SF Regency. I’ve been hired to shoot them. I find this hilarious. (Monster costumed thrash metal? Oh yeah). Going to have to watch out for the sprays of fake blood, however.

TOMORROW: Hubba Hubba Revue at the DNA Lounge.

SATURDAY: The Black Rock Art Foundation’s Artumnal Gathering at the Bentley Reserve; my photos will be on display, and I’m running a small on-location studio for portraits.

SUNDAY: Five and Diamond’s 1-year anniversary party at Supperclub San Francisco.

I’d first like to introduce you to my shared Google Calendar, which has events at which I’ll be shooting as I get booked (and it’s only about 1/2 a mirror of the DNA Lounge’s calendar). Let me know what you think, or if you have any improvements; it is, after all, an experiment.

Secondly, I’m shooting at the Black Rock Art’s Foundation Artumnal Gathering — I’m running a portrait booth. It’s at the Bentley Reserve in San Francisco; get your tickets here. There will be a small gallery of my Burning Man photos on display as well (perhaps 10 pieces).

And speaking of photo booths, at the Crazy Hay Maze party coming up this Saturday (not to be confused with the fake one that took place this past Friday, hosted by Nexus) I will again be running a portrait station (studio-style) where portraits can be had for the low low introductory price and one-time deal of $5! Step right up, ladies and gentlemen.

Upcoming events in the next month at which I will be shooting ~

• Thursday November 13th: Stripmall Architecture (and Claire Voyant + Bloodwire) at the DNA Lounge.
• Saturday November 15th: The Crazy Hay Maze in Half Moon Bay — www.crazymaze.us ; last year’s photos are here.
• Friday November 21st: Hubba Hubba Revue “Girl Gang” at the DNA Lounge.
• Saturday November 29th: Bohemian Carnival! With Vau de Vire Society and Gooferman.

And then in December, still up in the air ~

• Saturday December 20th: The Storytime Festival with Vau de Vire Society at the Palace of Fine Arts.

Erica Mulkey aka Unwoman playing at Queen of the Damned

Eschewing the damp weather of our foggy city, The Blight did set sail for New Orleans this past weekend with Unwoman to join Jill Tracy and Paul Mercer in the French Quarter for two shows — Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned Ball at Rosy’s Jazz House on Halloween, and Endless Night on Day of the Dead at the House of Blues.

Eli at Queen of the Damned

Departing on a red-eye flight, our travel was not without incident: the x-ray machine operator, upon examining my large green German army-surplus backpack — then re-examining, and then once more — laughed to himself and shook his head before calling out “BAG CHECK.” My bag — and I — were escorted off to the side where a bored TSA agent rifled through everything. “Um, Supervisor?” she called out. “There’s residue here.” I respond helpfully: “You mean playa-dust? This has been to Burning Man.” Unconcerned with reasonable explanations — and perhaps due to the soothing voice declaring our threat level “Orange,” they decided a swabbing was in order. The bizarre contraption helpfully declared, in bold red and all caps, “EXPLOSIVES DETECTED.” Great. Because I handle many of those. I’m glad it didn’t beep and flash strobes and demand I grab my ankles. After every minute detail of my bag was painstakingly unpacked and no bombs were found (the gunpowder plot wasn’t for another six days) I was free to go (”let me repack my camera, you nitwits”). We arrived at about 8AM New Orleans time and checked in early to our hotel. “Are you here for the International Gay Rodeo Convention?” ” … No, but that’s fantastic.” And it was (fabulous sequined cowboys — I did titter with laughter).

Sasha at Queen of the Damned

The Queen of the Damned Ball, ostensibly for the born-again author of questionable literary prowess and the pretension* of goths who make up her fan club, but in reality a good excuse to dress up fabulously and hear some good music while sipping a (watered-down overpriced) cocktail, was something of a letdown. While the costuming was indeed fabulous, and Jill Tracy and the Malcontent Orchestra (in this incarnation, consisting of Erica Mulkey (Unwoman) and Paul Mercer (the Ghosts Project)) never cease to amaze, the other performances were uninspiring at best or downright bad at worse (caveat: I may have missed something). We departed on the earlier side and, after dropping off our gear and dealing with the insane mayhem that was the French Quarter on Halloween (read: similiar to Burning Man in the number of costumes, the loud thumping music and the free-flowing alcohol yet with less flame and dust and nicer weather) we snagged beignets at Cafe du Monde and sat sipping drinks and listening to obscure darkwave (Switchblade Symphony I can understand, but how did they ever even hear of Autumn Tears?) at the great bar Pravda on Decatur at Urselines.

*A Pretension of Goths: a new collection noun I coined. It’s true, and sometimes self-referential.

Your humble narrator at Endless Night

The next day saw Jill and Erica (and my new friend Eli aka 10-9, whom I met on the DPW Parade) at Napoleon House, which, surprisingly enough, is named after the fact that it used to be Napoleon’s… well, house. A gorgeous old dilapidated thing with a wonderful courtyard garden, the service was unfortunately severely lacking. Wandering around the town brought us to St. Louis Cemetary No. 1, which closes at 3PM (what the hell? I’ll just have to go back). After getting ready, Eli, Erica and I went to dinner for the second day in a row at Oceana, where I’ve had some of the best food in memory and had our photo taken by many a normal person who found our appearance photo-worthy. We did oblige.

The villainous Jill Tracy at Endless Night

Endless Night got off to a late start, firstly on account of the show before it running much too late, and secondly for a rocky sound check. But once it did, and a slightly-irate crowd of 400 costumed partygoers joined in and hit the bars,  their complaints were quickly forgotten. Paul’s band — The Ghosts Project — consisted of Jill Tracy on piano, incredible gospel/jazz singer Minka, Davis on percussion, Sheryl on citar and Erica on cello, was amazing. For a reason I cannot fathom I hadn’t yet taken close enough a look, and after hearing just the soundcheck, I was embarrassed. Every artist in that group is ridiculously talented in their own right, and putting them together — where half the music is simply off-the-cuff — is mind blowing. You owe it to yourself to take a listen: the sound is a cross between dark neo-classical with a double dash of jazz, and a scoop of gospel mixed to the OOM-pa-pa of a waltz. No really.

Paul Mercer of the Ghosts Project

However, even with the hour gained due to the time change (”It’s 1:29AM! The last time I looked at a clock it was 1:30…”) the night was over much too soon, and still tipsy (*cough*) we quickly ran around the corner to our hotel and hastily packed all of our things, and Eli gave us a ride to the airport (thanks again!). Fortunately my bag elicited far less attention this time through security, and it was only one, long, sleepless, partially-hungover deathmarch back to San Francisco (feeling — and looking — like hell, walking down an isle at Atlanta airport, a stewardess stops me and says “my god, you look amazing.” If only I had felt that way). And as we drop our bags on the floor of my flat (in the heart of the Mission District) at 3PM Sunday, my roommate says “Oh, this is about to be ground zero for Dia De Los Muertos celebrations. Just warning you.”

If you haven’t found them already, here are the galleries:

• Queen of the Damned Ball
• Endless Night

And links to the artists mentioned:

• Jill Tracy
• Paul Mercer — The Ghosts Project
• Erica Mulkey — Unwoman

No one can throw down and party like San Francisco. Violet Blue posts to Twitter, “Street dance party closures @ 16/gurerro and 19th/valencia, plus divisadeo/hayes and castro/market. cops are being tolerant.”

Here is a small gallery of photos from the celebration at 19th at Valencia in San Francisco’s Mission District. Extra Action Marching Band led the crowd in jubilation, and there were many cheers and chants of “Obama” and “U S A.” The mood was ecstatic, and the cops were polite and extremely hands-off; a little after midnight, when they finally asked Extra Action Marching Band — who have a reputation for chaos and noise — to start to shut down, they did so with smiles and were met with the same.

Other celebrations took place at 16th and Guerrero, Divisadero and Hayes, with the largest at Castro and Market / 18th Street, where crowds of thousands were assembled and DJs spun turntables and blasted tunes.

But to paraphrase Violet Blue, “Obama was the party, Prop 8 is the hangover.”

Photo by the inimitable Violet Blue at the Blogger Bungalow

It is but a scant few short hours before we depart for the Big Easy to join Jill Tracy and Paul Mercer for two shows, the Queen of the Damned Ball Saturday and Endless Night Saturday. I can’t think of a better place (or better company) to spend Halloween. We’re also fortuitously escaping the rain currently gracing San Francisco’s streets (though I like the rain).

If I can steal a laptop, I’ll post photos as I can from a cafe somewhere; if not, look for them Sunday upon my return.

Lily, on the rooftop of BMHQ

Some slight degree of trespassing and a small excursion last night brings you a small handful of photos of my friend Lily in her finest (borrowed) Victorian garb, which likely took longer to prepare than the photos did to take (and process).

Just one exposure and no Photoshop, taken on a filthy shoreline in East SF

I do in fact shoot portrait-session photoshoots (not just events!), so if you have something in mind and need some work done, let me know.