London Band Photography

13 January 2010 – In December I got to work with one of my favourite bands again back in South Africa. Zebra and Giraffe are still quite new in music terms but they really have big potential and I absolutely love the work they are doing.

I have worked with the guys a few times on some amazing projects so it was completely natural and I think we all felt at ease together. The guys are super nice so it was good to get to spend the time with them together. We shot some new portraits at a dam in the blazing sun on one of the hottest days I can remember. The sun was full strength so it was quite a challenge to fight the shadows that were being cast as well as make sure the guys didn’t burn to death. It was really nervous being that deep in the water with my camera but it was all worth it after seeing the guys struggle to stay up after posing and paddling in the water for ages (obviously except for the shots where they are standing).

I shot using both digital (Nikon D3) and film (35mm on my Nikon F90x and 120 on my Yashica 124G). I haven’t received the 120’s back from the lab yet but these are the digital shots and then one of the 35mm shots (last one of the post) but I will try get a few of the 120’s up when I have them. I also shot a few portrait shots of the guys in the rain which was a LOT harder than I thought and I am still working on these so I will get them up in another post later too.

For now, make sure to check out the guys on www.zebraandgiraffe.co.za and keep an ear open because I know we will all be hearing more of them in the future. They are currently working on some new material and I cannot wait for the day that I get to hear more of it.

The day ended off amazingly when Alan decided to go and change while the rest of us finished off. As normal he thought it would be a good idea to strip down naked and give us a little “show” which we always think is funny but was NOT taken in the same light heartedness by the HUGE Afrikaans killer watching with his wife from the distance. He immediately thought we were making a porno or something and ended up swearing at us and threatening to come kick all of our assed which he actually attempted to do by racing up to us in his AMG Mercedes and getting out like HEMAN. I almost burst out laughing at the length of his SHORTs but realized it might not be funny when his eyes turned red followed shortly by veins coming out from everywhere on his body. We did some SERIOUS quick negotiating and explaining and he ended up leaving us, luckily with all our heads in tact. Funny now but CRAZY then.

I was assisted by Ravi Panchia for this shoot and it was good fun working with him. He is also a photographer with some exciting ideas so make sure to check out his work if you have the time.