In the Fam

Outtakes from the first two shoots of the day.

PEACE to you all!

Controllerism by Moldover

So, last night I dusted the cobwebs of my digital camera (that can almost be taken literally) and went down to the DNA Lounge for the bi-monthly BOOTIE SF mashup party. Not normally my bag I know, but I was shooting a very interesting DJ. You have heard of turntablism? Well, Moldover is all about Controllerism. He uses hacked controllers to digitally mash up and mix tracks live and on the fly. Really cool shit I must say, and he was awesome - lightning fast hands.

Here is a rad little clip MTV produced for Moldover called the How To Show on how to build your own hacked controller, followed by a few shots from last nights gig at BOOTIE.







PEACE to you all!

A photogs paradise.

If you are a photographer and you shoot a lot of film - then San Francisco is your city. Of course the city, and for that matter the entire Bay Area, is totally beautiful and photogenic. But what makes the city so fantastic are the photographic facilities, Newlab, Rayko, Photo Epicenter (Hamburger Eyes), and so much more.

I have taken a liking to Photo Epicenter, which also serves as the home of the Hamburger Eyes photo zine (check it out). The facility has a few enlarger rooms for both color and B/W, a few scanners, and a gallery space.. I bought a package of hours and spent the better part of the night scanning some negatives, unfortunately I am not super happy with the results. The sleaves that hold the negatives don't allow you to scan the whole frame, but I have a feeling that I can just put the negatives on the glass and get the full scan I am looking for.

Here are a few scans from last night.





PEACE to you all!

I am alive, and still making images!!!

I think it is just hitting me that I have been on the road now for two months, both Magera and I living out of our suitcases and crashing with friends and family. We spent the entire month of June in Hawaii, which buzzed by WAY to fast. Then, from there we flew to San Francisco to spend a week and try to find a place - which we accomplished. From there it was off to Austin to stay for two weeks at the Co-Op. After two weeks in Texas it was time for a road trip, so Magera, our friend Camilla and I hopped into our whip (UHAUL) and drove across country, taking our time and hanging out in Santa Fe and Phoenix.

But now, we are home. Nestled into a lovely brownstone chock full of history right smack in the middle of San Francisco's coolest neighborhood, the Haight.

So many stories to tell from this past two months, and so many images! I think a fundamental change has occurred in me in the way that I create images. I no longer see an image as a string of 1's and 0's, the photograph is now to me a very physical thing. Negatives and prints filling up boxes and notebooks, tangible items that can be handed down for generations, not just a few integers on a memory card. While we were in Austin I spent every night in the darkroom often working myself into exhaustion during the wee hours of the morning developing film, making contact sheets, and making prints. I would spend hours crafting a single image - really making a truly personal connection with it, not just moving a few sliders with the mouse.

Aside from the rant here are a few images from the light table. The quality is poor, as I just laid down a few slide negatives onto the table and snapped a few pics (yes, with the digital, HA!). These shots were all from Hawaii, if you look closely at the second one (the jellyfish shots), you can see one of digital's major downfalls - the inability to handle absolute color. When I was shooting a lot of live music, I would always run into this problem when the stage lighting would be purely red, blue, orange or purple.

Anyways, I have about 20 more rolls from Hawaii, Austin, San Francisco and the road trip that still need to be processed, hopefully I will be purchasing a scanner soon and posting some images.



PEACE to you all!

LA

Well, in case you haven't noticed it has been sometime since I have posted a blog entry, which is quite unlike me. I will post sometime soon about why - mostly it has to do with an artistic crisis/block. But, I am doing my best to work through it.

I just got back from a fantastic business trip to LA, I was a panelist and exhibitor at the ASCAP "I Create Music Expo." Here are a few shots that I snapped.

LA metro.
My hotel room.
Self portrait.
Shadow box.

peace and love!

Play from your heart!!

Comedian, philosopher, and shaman Bill Hicks is one of my heros. A self described "Chomsky with dick jokes," nothing was taboo for Bill. Politics, religion, porn, drugs - he spoke of the things that dwell in everyone's mind but thanks to social conventions most of us are to afraid to discuss or even acknowledge.

I was looking at the photo below, reflecting on the experience and one Hick's quote kept on replaying in my head...

"When did mediocrity and banality become a good image for your children? I want my children to listen to people who fucking rocked. I don't care if they died in puddles of their own vomit. I want someone who plays from his fucking heart.

"Mommy, mommy, the man that Bill told me to listen to has a blood bubble on his nose!" Shut up and listen to him play!

Fuck that! I want my rock stars dead! I want them to fucking play with one hand and put a gun in their other fucking hand and go "I hope you enjoy the show!" ( BAMMM! gun-fire noise) Yes! Yes! Play from your fucking heart!"


For more on on the late, great Bill Hicks, go here...
peace and much love!

Ride hard!

As you may know I am a full time cycle commuter, which definitely has it's plusses and minus. Plus - not paying for gas and insurance. Minus - having a photoshoot on the other side of town and lugging 30+ pounds of gear on your back on a fixie.

Here are a few great cycling quotes I picked up from the BikeSnobNYC blog, a very entertaining must read even for the most casual cyclist.

"The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets." --Christopher Morley

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." --H.G. Wells

"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle." --Ernest Hemingway


peace!

Intro to HDR

Although I have been aware of HDR (High Dynamic Range) Imaging for a while, it was not until last night that I first attempted it for myself. True HDR images combine two or more identitcally composed images, each exposed for a different area - for instance one exposed for the sunset and one for the darker foreground. Once these images are combined and tone-mapped, the new image can be stunning, with rich details in the shadows and highlights of a normally high contrast scene.

I created these HDR images using only one RAW image, but I duplicated the image and exposed each instance for a specific area. Although this works well, it is best to use two or more images (shot using a tripod) and combine them. The original image is on the left, as exposed with no correction. The HDR version of the same image is below. Even though I only used one RAW file, you can see there was a lot of information that was stored in the file not being used to it's full potential.


Original.

HDR version.

peace and much love!

Portraiture

For a limited time I am going to be doing gratis portraiture in the metro Austin area. I need to bolster my protfolio a bit and exercise some of the wild ideas running around in my head.

If you are an artist, individual or band who is interested please contact me, ryan.chahanovich@gmail.com.

Here is a shot of the lovely Magera Moon...

peace and love!

best of SXSW

well, i survived sxsw and now i shall tell the tale. i saw 50+ official showcases, countless street bands, attended several day parties and so much more. here is my rundown of the best of the best!

Best Japanese Act
Avengers in Sci Fi from Tokyo.

Best Surprise
This one is a toss up between street band 1 and street band 2.


Best Former RATM Member Solo Performance
Tom Morello!

Best Brit Band With a Wicked Long Name
Joe Lean and the Jing Jang jong

Sexiest Bassist That is Not Kim Gordon
Kamara from Earl Greyhound, and I love her.

Best Local Band That is Not White Denim
Grady

Only Band(s) Worth the Effort to See Twice
Another tie, this time between White Denim and Black Mountain.


Best In Show
Hands down, Thurston Moore and band. One encore just wasn't enough, the second time around Thurston had some help from the audience during his guitar solo which made me pee a little.


much love and appreciation to all those who made sxsw so wonderful

lush life austin/jules
meow poww media
the lovely magera moon
marc urselli
diego (and driego)
old friends
new friends

peace and love

SXSW madness

day 3 is about to begin - neeeeeeeed sleeeeeeep......
ben harper
random hero
graveyard (sweden)
peace and love!

missing in action

what a busy week it has been! i have been running around all over town shooting venues and resteraunts for lush life, working my day job (eSession.com), launching a podcast, and preparing myself mentally and physically for the madness that is SXSW.

speaking of the podcast, make sure to go to freeradioaustin.com, we just posted our special edition mess with texas fest edition podcast in conjunction with transmission entertainment. make sure to check out the mess with texas fest during SXSW - featuring NOFX, the breeders, islands, and about 20 other bands. aside from music, the fest will feature comedy by janine garofalo, human giant and so much more.

so kiddos, here is some home work for you:
Mess With Texas Fest!
Free Radio Austin!
Lush Life Myspace!

here are a few shots from the last few days.

enoteca vespaio.
south congress cafe.
peace!

secret spot

peace!

lushlifeaustin.com

looks like the site is going to be launching next wednesday with a video trailer. last night i shot the household names at trophys and the mock tigers at beauty bar.

for now check out the lush life myspace page at and enjoy this shot of the mock tigers!


peace!

black sand

no filters were used and little if any post processing applied (BW conversion, shadow's boosted +3) - this one is all exposure!


peace!

sunset in the shipyard

peace!

ghost ship

ten points if you can nail this movie quote, "a schooner is a sailboat stupid head."


peace!

life is good

peace!

lost

peace!

sunset paddle out

peace!