Musicians

Where have I been?

Soooo…… Kevin, where have you been?

Honestly, I’ve been in the same place, sort of. This blog took a nose dive because when I looked at the analytics Squarespace provides me, I noticed that no one was reading it; actually, no one was even visiting my website. Part of that is because I left it in limbo. I never updated it, I stopped writing blogs, I actually almost deleted it all together because it just seemed like I was paying for something I wasn’t using and no one was visiting. I realized I had not quite set it up right and I didn’t have any links to it via Google like I should have so it wasn’t receiving traffic like it should.

Kevin… Is your website receiving traffic now?, are people reading your blog?

* Shrug * I seriously couldn’t tell you. What I've learned being a photographer in these crazy social media times is… it doesn’t matter. Everyone is a “Photographer” everyone has a website and competing for “likes” and followers is draining and over time it will beat you down so damn much you may even want to completely walk away from photography because you feel like a failure. That was me! I watched people start photography years after me, get way more successful, end up with thousands of followers of socials and end up with a ton of opportunities that I wished I had and that made me feel like I was a failure and I should just give up. I stepped away from doing photos for people for a bit, but I kept shooting, just things for myself and slowly my love for it all came back. Here’s where we are today.

For those of you, if there are any of you, who have followed along the entire time, Might have noticed that my photography kind of changed. A lot of the conventional portraits disappeared, The Family Portraits disappeared, all the model work went away…. this is because I took a 5 year long dive into the music industry. Photographing live music is where I started in photography years ago at The Embassy Hotel in London Ontario, Canada. In those days you could just walk into a show with a camera and no one would care at all.. no applying for shows, now getting escorted around, very different from today.
So 5 years of my life dedicated to doing live music photography and band portraits, photographing Single Release Images for bands and website work, Promo work and it was incredible. Guess what happened next? after 5 years of busting my a** off, staying out till 11pm then driving home, going to bed and getting up at 5am for work…. the world broke down because of a virus that was played up 1000x worse than it was… maybe you remember that? you know.. the reason why the world is completely destroyed now and almost impossible to afford.. yeah… After that happened, it seemed like the music industry took a step back, re-evaluated the need for 10 or more photographers to be at shows and made some changes. Can’t say for sure that’s what happened, but I was getting into a lot of shows before, and now it’s very challenging to get in, almost like starting over from the beginning again, like those 5 years had zero merit. Recently, I decided that battling it out to try and get into concerts which I wouldn’t be paid to photograph was not a smart business plan and I have stepped back. Focus shifted from Live concert work into working more one on one with musicians to create their website imagery, Press Kits, Single Release work etc… This is where we are at…

Kevin… Are you still photographing other things though like engagements, Families, Couples etc…. ?

Oh hell yes! of course! I know you haven’t seen those kinds of images on socials because I wasn’t focusing on those, but I also wasn’t getting any requests for those bookings. So to clarify, YES! please reach out through my Contact Form here on the site and get booking.

So i’m going to leave you with some of the work I have been doing over the last 5 years with musicians .. most of these are Country Bands because honestly.. the rock bands don’t seem to want to be photographed or make it very challenging to be able to photograph them and Country, they love it! such a wicked family, they understand how important a photography is tied in with their music. I make a face for their music and I try really hard to match the image with the mood of the song and the title or the story behind the songs… that’s what gets me excited.

KELSI MAYNE - AS I GO VIDEO SHOOT

Some of you may know over the past 2 years I have been working with country music artist KELSI MAYNE. We met in my home town of Woodstock Ontario where Kelsi and her band were performing at the annual Woodstock Truck Show. Kelsi approached me as I was handing out business cards to other artists so they could see the shots I had taken that day. After sending the images off to Kelsi when she emailed me, she loved the shots and the rest was history.
A text message came through, it was Kelsi “ Hey Kev! how are ya… we are filming a new music video, for a new song in Aylmer Ontario, you should come out and shoot some behind the scene’s work for the video it’s going to be amazing, lots of explosions, fire, dirtbikes doing tricks and jacked up trucks ! “ … ok A. That sounds incredible.. that in itself I can’t miss seeing and B. being on set of a music video with Kelsi and the band having fun and creating… hell yes I’m going!

Call time was for 8am, on the outskirts of Aylmer, it was a bit chilly but really not that bad for winter, and as always, I was the first one there because I’m always worried about being late. Soon after everyone else started showing up…… oh and I forgot to mention, I was upgraded to one of the camera men filming the video, Kelsi’s brother, Cory was directing and filming as he is in the film industry. Here’s the kicker.. I don’t know much of anything when it comes to video, so of course I was a little panicked but hey… this is a HUGE learning opportunity, so I googled as much as I could about video and set my cameras up according, learnt some of the lingo and was ready to go!

“ AS I GO “ Is the name of Kelsi’s new song/video and let me tell you… incredible song and this video is going to be equally incredible. Fire, explosions, shotguns, Jacked up Trucks, Dirt Bikes, ATV’s, Fireworks and of course the band.. there is so much action in this video, it is going to be so stimulating to watch. Not only is the band ( Kelsi, Cory, Ciaran, Ryan and Annette ) so down to earth and amazing individuals, but everyone on set involved with this production were too. Cory, Kelsi’s brother, great guy with a clear vision of where this video was going, a hard worker definitely putting the time in. Eric, the guy who provided the location for the shoot, the daredevil driver, fire starter, wild man… such a nice dude who pretty much acted as the producer for this, getting everyone together, throwing some pretty cool ideas for the video. Kelsi’s Mom and Dad, who came out nice and early to lend a hand and show support, they are phenomenal parents and people, so kind, brought out all kinds of food so everyone on set had something to eat, brought all kinds of gear we needed to make this happen… loved them. Last but definitely not least…. all of Eric’s friends that came out with their trucks, dirt bikes and ATV’s who also starred in the video as the riders, stunt drivers and extra’s around the fire… these people had never met us before and were so welcoming and kind, couldn’t have asked for better people to work with.

All in all, this was a long day, 13hrs or so… and definitely worth every minute! The band was dead on with their performance, they looked incredible and this video is going to be insane! Keep an EAR out as Kelsi’s new song “ AS I GO “ Will be released Jan 31st, I believe and also Keep an eye out because this video is scheduled to be released Feb 21st! You definitely will NOT want to miss these!

HUGE thank you goes out to Kelsi and the band for including me, yet again, in another one of their endeavours and always staying true to bringing me out, can’t wait for more this summer. Also a HUGE thank you to Cory (Kelsi’s brother) for working with me and teaching me some new techniques, it was a pleasure. One last HUGE thank you to everyone else involved for being kind and opening up themselves, their “toys” and their time…. it was a lot of fun and such an amazing experience… hope to see you at some shows this summer.

Cheer
Kevin Vyse | Photographer

Here’s some Behind The Scene’s images I managed to snap in between Filming:

KELSI MAYNE - “ AS I GO “
Video Shoot - Aylmer Ontario.
📸: Kevin Vyse

JUDAS PRIEST WITH SAXON & BLACK STAR RIDER

   When I heard Judas Priest was coming to London there was no doubt in my mind I was going to apply to photograph this concert, it was however a doubt in my mind that I would get approval, but thanks to the beautiful people over Live Nation, approval happened. 
    Not really knowing who Black Star Riders was Google educated me a bit and a few of the members were in the band Thin Lizzy, which is pretty awesome. Black Star Riders hit the stage as the openers and were amazing! great sound, loud and all metal. Next up SAXON... UK's massive Metal band formed in 1977 with multiple hits.. let me tell you, they ripped the stage up with so much power, so loud and so much energy. I will be the first to admit, I did not know much about SAXON as I don't really listen to that kind of music but being there and seeing some Metal Music History still rocking out and sounding exactly like they did back in the 80's, just incredible to witness and photograph. 

   JUDAS PRIEST: Standing stage side listening to random people yell, scream and whistle out waiting for the band to hit the stage, I wasn't to sure what to expect. Honestly the first thing I thought about was " There's a massive sheet covering the entire stage and I know it's going to fall... do we go in the pit before it falls or after? if before is it going to fall on us and how long will it take for them to remove it before we can see the band and shoot " .... We were told we can go into the pit.... the sheet had not fallen yet.. hmmmm... ok so the lights dim, you can see colours changing behind the sheet, I could hear movement... guitars ring out and BAM!!!! the sheet drops then somehow blows off to the side of the stage very quick.. barely even touched me except for the tail end that slapped me in the face lol. There they were, Judas Priest right there on stage rocking out. Standing there taking pics, now the only thing going through my head is how many of the old great concert photographers have been right in this spot taking these images... on film.. which is insane to think about.. and now here I am doing the same thing, it's incredible. This show had amazing lighting, so much light it was tough finding exposure with it constantly changing. One guitarist with aviators on was all over the place, back and forth, up on speakers, throwing the guitar around quite a bit, so much fun to photograph and I'll be honest here, he was my main focus just because of how much action he was throwing out there. Over all this was an incredible experience, great performances by all 3 bands, I was thoroughly captivated by each band and what they were putting out for everyone. So if you're thinking about hitting one of the tour dates on the rest of this tour... don't think to long, you won't be disappointed. GO! 

 Big thanks goes out to Live Nation for the approval, allowing me the opportunity to photograph this concert. Also, big thanks goes out to Budweiser Gardens in London On. Canada for the great as always hospitality. 

- Shutter Click. 

JUDAS PRIEST

© 2018 Kevin Vyse Photography
Budweiser Gardens - London ON, Canada
JUDAS PRIEST

SAXON

© 2018 Kevin Vyse Photography
Budweiser Gardens - London ON, Canada
SAXON

BLACK STAR RIDERS

© 2018 Kevin Vyse Photography
Budweiser Gardens - London ON Canada
Black Star Riders

Tim Tyler: Musician

Tim Tyler... honestly.. I had never heard of him before and I wasn't even sure if I was going to show up to photograph him or just show up to photograph Colin James. All I can say is that I'm damn glad I went to see/photograph him.... WOW! 

Tim Tylers vocal style has been compared to great musicians such as, Sly & The family Stone, Doyle Bramhall, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Ray Charles. Let me tell you.. the guitar work, the vocals.. his band.. just amazing to see live. If you're into that blues/Rock kind of thing, this guy will blow your socks off and I'm so happy to now have him in my portfolio. 

Tim Tyler
Cowapalooza Festival 2017
Woodstock, ON. Canada

THE MUDMEN

If you like music.. you like that Scottish, East Coast kind of vibe, great vocals, bagpipes, drums, bass and guitar with some funny in-between song banter... THE MUDMEN are for you! 

These guys were amazing, had a fantastic time photographing them in my home town at the Cowapalooza festival. This festival happens every year and every Friday and Saturday night there are concerts. In the past we've had bands such as: April Wine, The Stampeders, Trooper and more. This year: The Mudmen, The McCartney Years which happened on Friday Night... then tonight: Tim Tyler and the talented Colin James! I will be heading back down tonight at 7pm to capture both acts. 

Not only is there music, but there's rides for the young kids, horse back rides, all kinds of vendors and food trucks which all takes place is the beautiful SouthSide Park, Woodstock On. Canada... so if you live in the area and want to get out of the house, or want to see an outdoor concert on a gorgeous summers day... WOODSTOCK is where you want to be! As always... if you see me out shooting, feel free to come by and say hi wether I know you or not... I'm always up for meeting potential clients ;) - Shutter Click.

The Mudmen
Woodstock ON. 
Cowapalooza Festival 2017.

Rise Against Cancer 2016

Rise Against Cancer is an amazing charity concert held once a year in Woodstock Ontario. Cover bands from the Woodstock area come out to put on a concert to raise money for Cancer. The band Sweet N' Innocent are the founders and also the headliners for the event and what a show they put on! Not only is there a concert but there is also a silent auction, pizza and  lots of alcohol! 
I was honoured to be asked to photograph the event by fellow photographer Rachael Little, who has been photographing the event for the past few years. Rachael was unable to photograph the event this year so she set me up with Scott from Sweet N' Innocent so he could see my work and bring it to the band so they could decide if they wanted to have me photograph their event. 

These bands were amazing.. the covers were dead on, the lighting was fantastic and the crowed was pretty big, I was blown away. Everyone was having a fantastic time, singing along to old 80's covers from sweet n' innocent, and a variety of covers from other bands. 

This years line up included: 
 

SWEET N' INNOCENT

BLIND DOG JOE

SOCIAL STONE

ECHOING CONCUSSION

Cowapolooza: THE MUSIC Pt. 2

Hope you had a chance to check out Part 1 of this blog which was focused on the first band of the night: AFTER THE LOUNGE. They are an amazing rock band!
 
Part 2 is all about THUNDERSTRUCK! Canada's best AC/DC cover band. Apparently they had played cowapolooza about 4 years about, but honestly, I didn't attend any of the Cowapolooza festivals until 2 years ago so I missed out, and I'm pretty bummed out that I didn't go earlier because i've been missing out. THUNDERSTRUCK is simply outstanding! They look the part and definitely do AC/DC justice. I've always wanted to see AC/DC live, but now they don't tour anymore.. well, accept in Australia but I don't have any plans on going there .. yet. Thunderstruck just blew my mind with how dead on they are with their covers, their outfits and their stage presents! 
 
If you ever get the chance to see these guys play in a city, town, village near you, GO!!!! If you love AC/DC then you will love Thunderstruck because they are the next best thing.

Shutter Click!
 

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013  

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013

 

 © Kevin Vyse Photography

All rights reserved 2013