Severina takes off her pants again

Well it happened during her show in Ljubljana :) I don't think any other text is needed here so here are the pics.

Jinx

I could say my last week was more or less Križanke week. This open theater got 3 events i had to cover and it all started with Jinx. Croatian group made its comeback after 6 years, as expected with a new CD. For me their concert was more work than usual, as i was allowed to shoot the full concert and after party was held in Orto. It ended around 3AM, when i got stopped by the police, had to pass the alco test and after that sleep was the only wish :)

Some Rap from Zlatko

It is funny to see how a totally crazy week can end with a new experience. Katja, David and Martin from Street13 team asked me to come and see a promotional concert of Slovenian raper Zlatko. They published his first CD and this was the first night with a new CD in front of the crowd, and my first night photographing a rap musician. Quickly i shoot some portraits of Zlatko for the collection and soon he was on stage. Reactions of front rows of totally full Gala Hala - folks were goin' crazy and showing respect to Zlatko, all hands were up, people were coming on stage to rap along. I spent some time on side of the stage shooting portraits, i didn't want to use flash at that position, and the light was, khm, very alternative - so a new challenge. Overall, it was so much positive energy from the crowd, everybody was there to enjoy and see this man on the microphone. Here's a couple of b/w moments.

Siddharta Unplugged

Just a few Siddharta moments during their practice and sound check day before their second Izstekani (unplugged) session for Radio Slovenia. Enjoyed it very much and the atmosphere was excellent. Thanks to AOB for flash cable and softbox rental :)

Železniki - the day after

Zucchero in Koper

Zucchero was back in Slovenia on Sunday. After the Ljubljana show in May 2007, which was more or less sold out, around 1500 people were in Koper. Photographing the man was fun and more creative then ever. Well, still, he took his standard start of the show seating position and did not move for the first two songs. Luckily this time we were allowed to move all over the area in front of him and shoot. I focused on his closeups and head movement, back from the microphone, and tried to capture that from several positions. How do you like it?

Yoga and Relaxation Masterclass in Celje

Strange things happened today in Celje during football Euro 2008 qualifiers. Seems like some players enjoy some yoga workout and relaxation :)

(here one of the players is enjoying a simple relaxation position)

(here's another example of that, the gatekeeper way, notice that he's closer to the grass)

(ups, how did he do that - an advanced lesson)

Big Concert - No Lights - Bad Picture - My Experience

I usually only post pictures on this blog that i like for some reason, and not those, that, for some other reason, wouldn't make it anywhere. There are different situations in music photography that will prevent you from doing your work, just like in any other photo branch. Of course, the first problem is the photographer itself, but i would like to speak about the second one. Bad light or no light at all. This is the wicked enemy we all fear and especially during concerts of some big names, where flash is not allowed, most likely this will ruin your day, cause you to stay there for 2 or 3 songs any hoping for a miracle or a shine of light from some distant corner of the hall.

Most often, of course, this will not happen during the time we're allowed to stay in front and work and stage will dramatically lit up just after we'll be gone. I hate when this happens. Here are a couple of shots i made last year during Seal concert in Zagreb. (Yes, this is the one married to Heidi Klum) :)

This concert had it all. First we were hit when they told us that there is no place in front of stage and that we'll be shooting somewhere in the middle of the hall. Ok i can take that. (well some Croatian reporter went mad as nobody told us this will happen in advance and promotor told him, that Seal himself asked this and that he would need to talk to him personally about this). Second hit was the position for shooting, ground floor with no ability to be just those few centimeters above the crowd. Ok at this time i was already ok, so what will be another challenge that day. And it came. Guess what was it? Yes - as the concert started, there was no light we could use, maybe on one or two moments somebody from crowd in first rows had a small compact camera with a little flash, that was all. Well i have to admit, there was no way to take a normal picture at that time.

Even My Grandma Likes Pearl Jam

Well, lots of work to be done later this day, but i'm relaxing with some Pearl Jam music. This ia a good opportunity to show you some shots i did in Zagreb, back in 2006 in Dom Sportova when Pearl Jam tour visited Croatia. This is probably one of the best gigs i have ever seen, i would say it goes to my top 10 list of concert performances. The guys just couldn't stop playing and crowd was totally crazy, following the band and goin' mad. I think we were only allowed to shoot first two songs and one of them was pretty dark as far as the light. Well here are a couple of shots from the archive. I missed PJ this summer in Austria, but i'm sure they'll be back sooner or later. And yes, the tittle of this post is taken from a t-shirt i saw in the crowd :)

Fotorocker goes electronic

So the time came to do a report on DJ Umek show in Tivoli park. This was more or less a new experience for me, as i usually don't work at such shows and also prefer rock music. Well, we have to do it all and try new things, so i went. It was fun, and i did spend some time on stage with Umek and watched him work, then watched people dancing below, screamin' his name and he just kept them up and dancing, for 6 hours. I was wondering how a rock 'n' roll crowd would look after 6 hours of dancing like that? Cool, but i still prefer guitar riffs :) Oh, i must not forget an excellent company of Lucas, Maja H and Fotoholik in the so-called free food and drink area :)

(this is how your photo bag will look like after it gets a direct hit from a smoke generator on stage)

Vlado Kreslin 4x

It looks like this September is bringing more new album releases than i ever imagined. It started with latest album of Vlado Kreslin, slovenian music legend and his new Cesta (Road). Vlado decided to kick off the album release by organizing a two day promotional tour that took him and his caravan of musicians all over Slovenia, basically from the region of Goričko to the coastal town of Piran. This also represents the title of first single release. So, first i had a plan to go with Vlado and do a story about the tou,r but due to other urgent work i only had a chance to catch him in Ljubljana, during a press conference and a small concert for journalists. It was fun, and altough they played only 3 songs you could feel the energy and passion in this man and his music. I was able to catch some nice moments and portraits.

Turbonegro

Ok, this is a first post i english. I must admit that i got some emails from international visitors asking if i could write it so they could understand and not only watch :)

So, after vacation that took us all the way up to Norway, this is a the first norvegian band in Ljubljana that i rememeber in a while. What a nice way to end the summer :) Taking pictures at the Turbonegro gig was not an easy one, mostly because of very very very low light, lots of smoke on stage and we were not allowed to use flash. As i only knew a couple of songs from this band, watching them after our quick 3 song photo time in front of stage was quite interesting. The crowd went mad pretty fast and front rows were not standing still. Also, this was the first time i did work in this club after the non smoking ban and i must say it is nice not to smell cigarette smoke all over my gear :) Anyway, here's a couple of shots that i selected.