The Sunshine Underground
17th April 2010 marked the third anniversary of (International) Record Store day. Since it’s beginnings in 2007/8, this annual event has grown to be one of the biggest events of the year for music enthusiasts and record collectors around the world, with this year’s event seeing more than 150 special releases put out for for rarity-hunters to snap up. I spent much of the day at Leeds’ very own Crash Records, shooting the huge crowd of people amassed outside before opening-time (one patron had even slept rough, determined to get his choice of the special releases!), and the various in-store events and shows put on throughout the day. Headlining the festivities were local heroes The Sunshine Underground.
Lots more fun to be had below the cut!
This shoot presented a chance to use a new (to me) technique for the first time – free lensing. This process involves removing the lens from the body of the camera, and manually adjusting the lens to find a sweet spot of focus. This leads to lensbaby-esque focus effects, and a dreamy quality not often found in digital photography. I’m no expert on the subject, but it sure was fun to try it out, and I’m pleased with the results. The lead shot for this post and the shots below show what the results of free lensing look like. (NB: I’ve previously seen this technique used for portraiture, but I’ve yet to see any other free lensed live music shots – a first, maybe?)
Notes:
Shooting for Crash and TSU was a real pleasure. I’ve always supported buying music from local independent record stores, and I like nothing more than seeing them succeed and grow their relationship with their customers. There was a great atmosphere at the store all day, and the guys from The Sunshine Underground played a great set to close the day. I’d be thrilled to work with either of them again!
Click any of the photos for larger versions, or check out more shots from their set in the gallery below.
