*Edit: Setup shots at the end!*
On a lazy weekend, my older brother mentioned wanting – essentially – a portrait with the “ringflash” look. Alas, I don’t own such a device. However, that was not to be the end of it.

One hour later, I’d come out with the above photo, which I believe mimics the look fairly well. That time also includes the time it took to set up, break down and edit the final shot.
Click here to read how I did it!

There’s barely a month between the world and Eisley‘s third full-length album, “The Valley,” and I’m stoked. The band is about to embark on a tour with Rooney to begin supporting the album, and decided to treat their hometown to a tour warm-up show.

Do I even have to mention how awesome it was? It’s going to sound like I’m paid to say it, but I pretty much have more fun with each of these shows. It’s not just a social thing, either (though it helps that I got to hang out with some truly awesome people), because Eisley killed it.

The show saw the live debut of new album cuts “Better Love” and “Mr. Moon,” which bookended the show in resounding fashion. The band is striking a perfect mix of their old energy and imagination with their need to progress and grow as a band.

Eisley sibling Christie DuPree took the stage with brother Collin to open things up, and were followed by Max Bemis. Christie continues to get better, and Max’s candor makes for a good time.

So instead of rambling on, go over here and check out my Flickr set of photos, and make sure to buy The Valley. It’s GOOD stuff.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theantrider/sets/72157625809671415/detail/

Unrelated photo of Cassy on a rooftop in Dallas. She rules.

Here are some photographers and others who have inspired me lately:
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This has been one heck of a good year. When it came to doing my traditional annual “Top 10″ list for the year, I quickly realized I was trouble. And then I thought, “why do I have to limit myself? I have all the space I want!”

So here we go, a marvel of the capacious confines of the Internet: My top 30 photos from 2010.

Click here to see it all

This portrait of my friend Meagan was snapped one night after she took photos with another KC student. I had assisted with the lighting, and definitely had my fill of straightforward “nice” lighting, so I want to try something a little more adventurous.

I started by switching out the usual large soft box on the main light for a grid, which reduced the light to a hard spot light. From there, I can’t quite remember, but I mostly only had fairly dim lighting on the rest of the white, seamless background.

To record the motion, I used a 1/8 shutter speed, which is fast enough to record motion, but not so slow that she disappeared completely or blurred beyond recognition.

So how is her face and tattoo in such great focus? That’s where the grid spot comes in: Because her face was pretty much in darkness, and because she was spinning, the only light that was really recorded for her face was the much-brighter main light, which was heavily restricted by the grid, so it didn’t go mussing up the whole photo like it would have through the soft box. In effect, the gridded light basically recorded a second image that was controlled by the f/stop.

That’s the technical side of all of this, but the main thing about this photo is Meagan and my interpretation of her. She was dressed a bit wildly for her previous shoot, and I didn’t bother having her change. It is very fitting of her to appear out of the ordinary, and her tattoo definitely tells of her personality. What good would “normal” lighting do for her?

It’s all a bit outside of the lines, and less conventional, but there’s a definite beauty, dignity and depth. Perfectly fitting of the subject, if you ask me.