The Vast Bering … Drive?
Cynthia and I were driving to work one morning and from the depths of our sleep addled brains sprung the germ of a joke which we executed on a bright Saturday afternoon at the corner of San Felipe and Bering Drive. Lord knows what the drivers passing by must of thought when they witnessed this sight.
Brad Collett of Media Riot Productions took some interesting photos of the band during the showcase. I especially like the treatment of these shots.
There’s several more in a gallery on the Flying Fish Sailors site.
After receiving 2 e-mails and one phone call from the folks at The Houston Press that indicated they would REALLY like to see us at the award ceremony on Wednesday I had a strong suspicion that my band may have actually won this year.
At the risk of fatal disappointment, I asked my co-hosts on Technology Bytes to cover for me while I attended the award ceremony just to be on the safe side…
There was a lot of buzz about The Tontons who were nominated for Best New Act. They even performed during one of the intermissions.
The Tontons did, in fact, win Best New Act
some of the other winners that evening:
Best Neo-Folk: Sideshow Tramps
Best Miscellaneous Instrument: Geoffrey Muller (Sideshow Tramps, Umbrella Man, Pistoleros de Tejas)
Best Bassist: Nick Gaitan (Umbrella Man, Billy Joe Shaver)
Best Punk: Los Skarnales
Best Rock en Espanol: Los Skarnales
Best Male Vocalist: Felipe Galvan (Los Skarnales)
And did I make the right choice abandoning my cohorts to attend the ceremony?
I can has Houston Press Music Award!
Unfortunately my bandmates could not attend the event so I celebrated for the five of us.
The complete winner’s list can be found here.
The rest of the pics are in the 2008 Houston Press Music Awards Gallery.
I literally agonized over whether to buy the Sony SAL-135F18Z 135mm f/1.8 or the SAL-70200G – 70-200mm f/2.8 when picking out this new lens. They are similarly priced and both excellent lenses.
While the 70-200mm 2.8 is more versatile in terms of focal length, the 135mm 1.8 is unquestionably sharper and more suited for my style of photography. I also had to consider that Tamron’s 70-200mm 2.8 is coming out later this year and is less than 1/3 the cost of the Sony.
I even went so far as to make my sales guy and friend Charlie from The Camera Exchange assist me with some test shots at the store which we compared on the computer. We took the 70-200mm and shot at 135mm and compared the results to the 135mm and you could see that the 135mm was sharper and had better color saturation. After much discussion and me attempting to mentally will the 70-200 to be as sharp I settled on the 135 and Charlie rung me up.
It is quite impressive when mounted to my Sony Alpha 700
And it’s also rather intimidating as evidenced by the expression on Dr. Matthew Wettergreen when he encountered it at close range:
The lens adds a little over 2 lbs to my kit so it’s giving me a workout just carrying it around.
The real test was how it would perform in a concert situation. The focal length means I need to have some distance from my subject. This has it’s pros and cons. On the one hand, I can shoot without crowding the stage which means I don’t have to crowd surf to get the shot. On the other hand, some venues may not have a stage with enough elevation or a clear shot.
At the Houston Press Music Awards I was able to give the lens a proper workout at The Tontons performance at Venue. Venue had outstanding lighting and an elevated stage. The results, well…the results speak for themselves..
While this is obviously some superior glass, I still like to think there’s something to be said for what’s going on in front of an behind the camera. It is, after all, just a tool. A means to an end as it were. But OMG!!!1!1! is it ever a fantastic lens!
Flying Fish Sailors/photo by Brigitte B. Zabak
Excerpt from HPMA Aftermath: Flying Fish Sailors, Umbrella Man, Wayside Drive, Born Liars, Poor Dumb Bastards and Young Mammals:
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Folk music might be an acquired taste for some, but Flying Fish Sailors have found a way to bring that traditional sound to the masses, with lively melodies and clean, unencumbered harmonies. No subject is too small for the likable quintet, whose songs Sunday touched on themes ranging from death and war (“The Flu Pandemic”) to cats (“My Big Cat”).
The Sailors’ songwriting is very witty and smart; it’s not easy to write about things like mythical creatures and have it appeal widely to an adult audience. The band’s showcase performance drew a sizeable number of people, equal parts devoted fans and newcomers. The group’s commitment to its music really came through onstage, especially during “Loch Ness Monster.” The set was instantly contagious, and by the end, there wasn’t a non-smiling face in the crowd.
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The struggle beetween good and evil the I.T. department and sales. It’s a battle that can never be won…
The Great Office War from Runawaybox on Vimeo.
The new lens is a veritable bokeh machine. It takes the background, obliterates it and then reassembles it into the most lovely bokeh I have ever seen. This is just a gloved hand in front of Cynthia’s “What’s For Dinner” quilt.