Tag Archives: Music

Violinist Lewis Meitz Takes the Stage

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Shooting environmental portraits is a completely different experience–creating beauty, as opposed to finding beauty occurring naturally.

I found flash photography to be difficult skill to master. However, I also think that the ability to create and control the properties of light–intensity, direction and so forth–is absolutely fascinating and worth learning about.

I had one flash and a Nikon 35mm 1.8 lens with me when I shot violinist Lewis Meitz, 16, as he practiced for an upcoming concert for Stony Brook University’s Pre-College Program in Music.

The photo shoot was in one of the concert halls of the Staller Center Music Building. The lighting was dim enough for a flash to be necessary and bright enough for the limited control over the lighting. The flash provided an added function to compose the photo. I took a few shots balancing the lighting over Meitz’s face.

After, I turned down the lights to almost completely off and got a little more creative by making a snoot to mimic a spotlight that could be used during a concert. I found these photos to be more dynamic and powerful, so I kept testing my angles.

While I enjoy the artistic elements of shooting portraits, I prefer the honesty of a well-composed candid photo.

 

Cleaner by day, Jazz pianist by Night

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This piece of web video by the BBC features the story of Dan Msiza a porter at Pretoria University in South Africa. However there is more to his story than the eye reveals, he is an accomplished jazz piano player that has played all over the world.

The video works really well offering both interesting angles (from the floor up) and a glimpse into Dan Msiza’s job at the beginning of the video as it shows him sweeping. The video shows many tight shots such as the man filling the toilet roll holder at the University, then transitions to views of the man playing piano.

The video shows many interesting shots of normal things to make them more appealing and cooler to look at such as the view inside the grand piano as the strings and keys move in various patterns as the man plays.

The location for the interviews, a music store is also a good choice considering the mans background.  The video is also perfect length at 2:46.

DOINK: Make it, or Break it

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DOINK from Jess Stallone on Vimeo.

Colin White discusses his feelings about his Bob Marley tea while Conner Creavin and Dylan Brady fight about the placebo effect. Until, Cody Brady strums a few chords on his bass to the melody of “I Got You,” by James Brown.

“I feel good, I knew that I wouldn’t of” Conner says as he shakes his hips and points to Cody for his cue. “So good, so good, I got you.”

Today’s band practice for the 13-year-old members of the local Long Island rock band DOINK is held in the basement of twin brothers Cody and Dylan Brady’s house. They are getting ready for an upcoming gig at Oheka Castle in Huntington, N.Y. on Oct. 23.

“It’s going to be all acoustic, so I can’t play the drums,” said Dylan, the lead singer and drummer of DOINK. “It would be too loud.”

The band was formed about a year ago when Colin, Cody and Dylan began lessons at the iSchool of Music, in Syosset N.Y. In February, Conner joined the band as a keyboardist.

“We just kind of fit together,” said Connor. “And the band, became the band.”

Cody, the bassist of the band, used to play piano, but he decided to stop playing when it became too much of a time commitment. The bass became Cody’s new instrument when he began playing last year.

“I picked this up pretty quickly,” said Cody. “My teacher was kind of impressed.”

The band name DOINK came from Cody, Colin and Dylan’s many ice hockey games. DOINK is the sound that the puck makes when it bounces off of the goalpost.

“The name just stuck,” said Colin, the guitarist of DOINK.

Recently, the band has begun discussing writing and playing their own songs in the near future, but for now, they do cover songs of popular hits.

“We make good music and we have a lot of fun together,” said Colin.

With the help of their parents, the band has been consistently booking events at community fairs, bars, proms and such.

“I just love being the center of attention,” said Dylan Brady, the lead singer and drummer of the band. “I just love the feel of everyone knowing that we love to do it and they love listening to us.”

RockYoFaceCase Goes Punk Rock

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As stage monitors shook from the aggressive chug of distorted guitars, Stony Brook students thrashed, kicked and shoved each other around the floor of the school’s University Cafe last Friday, kicking off the first RockYoFaceCase concert of the fall semester.

RYFC shows have typically been built around a specific theme and last week’s was no different; the concert served as a celebration of punk rock and hardcore punk music.

This semester, however, marked a major change for the concert series from behind the scenes.
Until last Friday all RockYoFaceCase concerts were run by lead organizer Patrice Zapiti, a Stony Brook student and musician who started the concert series in 2006 when she discovered that there were no regular concert events for rock bands on campus.

Zapiti graduated in 2010 and remained lead organizer throughout the 2010-2011 school year as part of a transitional period, making Friday the first official RockYoFaceCase she did not take part in.

The concert was not without its hiccups. Four bands with limited material were slated to fill a three-hour concert. When hardcore punk act Downtime canceled on the night of the show, the event staff was tasked with finding a new band willing to play that night without time for rehearsal.

A band called Soda Bomb took Downtime’s place as the second act. Consisting of only singer-guitarist Taylor Berke and drummer Jon Gusman, Soda Bomb’s songs were short and raw; their opening number was less than a minute long.
But the audience danced and cheered for the two-piece band and Berke said that they would gladly play RockYoFaceCase again.

The closing act was Lost in Society, a touring three-piece band from Asbury Park, New Jersey. Singer-guitarist Zach Moyle said that the crowd didn’t disappoint.

“This is our first time playing on Long Island and we’ve traveled a lot further for much worse shows. This was amazing.”

Soda Bomb singer-guitarist Taylor Berke, left, and drummer Jon Gusman play “i wanna die,” from the band’s first EP, “Hooligan.” They played the entirety of the EP and two newer songs totaling in a 20-minute performance, the shortest of the night. September 28th, 2012. Photo by Mike Klapak.

Lost in Society’s lead singer and guitarist Zach Moyle, left. shares a smile with bassist Nick Ruroede during a cover of Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So.” Lost In Society’s longer time slot led the band to begin playing covers before their closing number, “My Door,” a song that does not appear on either of the band’s two albums. September 28th, 2012. Photo by Mike Klapak.

The crowd occasionally broke into mosh pits throughout the night, with some students backing off and forming a circle around the pits. This student is slam-dancing during Lost In Society’s set. September 28th, 2012. Photo by Mike Klapak.

From left to right: Guitarist Zach Zajmi, singer-guitarist Nick Ohrnberger, drummer Brian Marion and bassist Dan Sandoval of the B-List perform. The band’s four-piece lineup initially posed a challenge for arranging the equipment onstage, which forced Sandoval to take his position in front of the stage at the beginning of the set. Later on during their performance, a stage hand was able to move some of the monitors out of the way so that Sandoval could join his bandmates. September 28th, 2012. Photo by Mike Klapak.

The B-List’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist Nick Orhnberger belts out the chorus of the band’s closing number, “Don’t Say Forever.” September 28th, 2012. Photo by Mike Klapak.

Lost In Society’s singer-guitarist Zach Moyle, left plays a guitar solo next to moshing bassist Nick Ruroede and drummer Hector Bonora. Lost In Society was the only non-local band to perform at this event; Lost In Society is based in New Jersey, while all of the other bands that performed are from various towns across Long Island. September 28th, 2012. Photo by Mike Klapak.

For their final song, “Don’t Say Forever,” the B-List’s singer-guitarist Nick Ohrnberger, top right, laid down his guitar to lead the audience in the last few rounds of the song’s chorus. Several audience members rushed the stage, leaving a stage hand, far left, scrambling to move some of the onstage equipment out of their way. September 28th, 2012. Photo by Mike Klapak.

Apple Pies and Blue Skies.

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Benjamin Baron, 3, of Lindenhurst gets his face painted like his favorite Superhero, Spiderman at The Apple Festival in East Setauket. The festival took place on September 23rd, 2012. Photo by Briana Neuberger.

This past Sunday marked the 23rd anniversary of The Annual Apple Festival in East Setauket, New York.

The festival was held at the Sherwood-Jayne farm complex and ran from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm. The prices of admission were four dollars for children and seniors and six dollars for adults. Every person who entered got a voucher for a free apple at the apple stand in the back of the farm.

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