Winter

2021: Where do we go from here?

January 23, 2021

Woah! A blog? … a new blog post?! what is happening?

hahahah I know, I forgot about this, not going to lie, just be real with all of you about this. With all that has been going on in the world with this Covid-19 stuff photography, blogging, leaving the house has really taken a dump. So you might be asking yourself, just like I am.. what now? what happens with Kevin Vyse Photography? what happens with photography in General? to be honest with you… I’m not sure.
2020 was a rough year, we lost the entire Festival season in music, Lost the ability to meet with people over the summer and book shoots, all the good weather passed and we ended up in Fall, things opened up a bit but sadly I did not receive any bookings.. and seeing as how I told you I was going to be 100% transparent, I didn’t mind.. it was nice having a break, no stress just shooting things I wanted to shoot for myself. Most photographers want to book a year a head to ensure they have the income to make ends meet… but things are much different now.. will we be able to book? or if we book will we be able to shoot? it’s very very stressful booking then having to reschedule everything. I have one wedding on the books for Sept.. that one wedding is all i’m taking in regards to weddings because I don’t do them anymore ( this is a very good friends weddings that’s why I said yes to it), but is it going to happen? can it happen? as of right now, no!

What will Kevin Vyse be doing for 2021? …. honestly, 2021 is up in the air. As of right now i’m not taking anything on.. simply because I can’t and I don’t want to put myself into the stressful situation of taking bookings this far ahead for the summer months then our Government saying it can’t happen and me having to contact all those people who booked and try to answer their questions on rescheduling and what the rules are, trying to rebook with my busy full time job schedule which is pretty much everyday but Sunday so then everyone is fighting to try and book for a Sunday… it’s a head ache, so for now.. I’m not booking.

Where is Kevin Vyse’s mindset on shoots for 2021? : 2021 is going to be a lot different… over the years I’ve shot many different things, weddings, products, landscapes, portraits, bands, live music etc…. Over all these years and many different shoots I’ve learnt what I love to shoot, what I can shoot, and what I don’t want to shoot. 2021 will be filled with what makes me happy, sounds selfish I know… but let me put it this way… If I shoot what makes me happy, stuff I really think is awesome to shoot, stuff I have fun shooting, I feel comfortable shooting, then the people I book get the best and most creative work I can put forward with the level of skills I have in my back pocket at this time. Concerts, definitely… along with concerts comes Bands portraits, Single release images, band album artwork, and live shots… 100% top of my list.. this is where i started in photography and my love for it never stopped. Portraits to some extent will also be a go.. headshots, environmental portraits… that’s something I’ve always loved and what I consider to be my “niche” .. the lighting aspect is right up my alley… biggest issue is not having a studio but it can all be done in your home, maybe my new apartment once it’s built or even outdoors on location…. Landscapes is 100% no doubt in my mind happening.. this is maybe my second biggest love to concerts… you’re just out there in nature seeing what you see and capturing it the best way you know how.. no posing, no stress/pressure, no judgement.. just pure freedom… only issue is, for me… travel is required… I’m not stimulated by Ontario… don’t get me wrong.. it’s nice, the North is beauty but once I went out west ( BC and Alberta) and I went to Iceland… Ontario is pretty dry to my eye. Right now we can’t travel.. or shouldn’t and with 14 day quarantine involved that eats up my vacation time from work and therefore wrecks that aspect of things.

What has Kevin Vyse been up to seeing as how he can’t photograph the usual stufff?: DRONING!!!!! Yes, that’s right… for a few years I’ve had the Mavic Air and I never used it…. hahah why would I spend that much money on something and never use it… simple answer… I was afraid to fly the damn thing… it’s a lot of money to throw up into the air and try not to crash. Over the last couple months I’ve had time to get out there, get comfortable with flying it and after educating myself on the best ways to set up the cameras and how to get the best RAW shots out of it I’ve been using it quite a bit to get some new perspective kind of shots and I love it! the top down perspective of it all adds a whole new world to photography which I’m in love with right now. I’ve changed my Instagram Grid up with these shots.. working on my “Winter Grid” right now obviously as we’re in Winter.. lots of blues, whites with hints of some other small colours. Mavic Air will be worked into my Instagram Grid from now on trying to focus on seasonal colours and influences.

So hope this helps explain some things.. more of a central love of photography for this year.. taking on clients work that I feel i’d love to shoot, turning down others and I will try to direct those clients to Other photographers who I know specialize in what they are looking for and who I believe will give them the best results which also helps out my other photography friends!

Hope everyone stays safe, healthy and happy! wash your hands, wear your masks.. get the vaccine if you want… lets get everything back to normal so we can all continue on our lives, not sitting here wasting it away one day at a time. <3

For now.. here’s some of the new’er images I’ve been creating:

WE WERE THAT SONG TOUR

February 20, 2018

Brett Kissel has blown up like crazy! If you don't know Brett Kissel and you like country music then you should definitely check him out, you won't be disappointed. Another great country music artist... Dan Davidson, again, if you do not know Dan Davidson check out his music.
London Ontario, Canada these two played on February 10th, a sold out show at the London Music Hall, my favourite venue in London, and then because this show sold out so quick, they decided to add a second date to the tour.. February 18th. Great things were said about the 10th show so needless to say I was pumped to be photographing the show on the 18th.

Sitting in my car in the parking lot waiting for 6:30pm to roll around and doors to open, everyone in the line up started yelling, right away I knew Brett had made an appearance outside to see the fans so I quickly grabbed my camera, jumped out of the car and started snapping shots of him from the parking lot.. he was only out there for maybe 2 mins. Fast forward; Standing in the media pit looking out to this massive crowd, the stage lit with some dark blue light, fans awaiting the start of the show, checking my cameras to make sure I have them set up properly... the worst part is not knowing what kind of light you're going to get once the show starts... all white, not so great, not enough light horrible.. all red or all blue.. horrible ... it's just a waiting game then rolling with the punches. A stage hand comes out from stage right and shines his flashlight to the soundboard, HERE WE GO! Out walk to radio hosts to announce the opening act, photographers out into the pit for the first 3 songs.. ok.. went well.. lighting was a bit dull but thats ok, expected.. give's me a good starting point. Out come two more radio hosts and BAM almost instantly Dan Davidson's band comes out on stage, they start playing and out run's Dan, first song kicks off, lighting is pretty good and I'm feeling great, happy to be there. Let me tell you Dan Davidson killed that performance, best I've ever seen him, so much energy and the fans were singing so loud.. such an amazing thing to experience and capture.
Now, a quick little tidbit of info for you.... when photographing these shows the typical thing that happens is, photographers get to shoot the first 3 songs from each artists, after that we have to leave the pit until the next artists hits the stage. Now, some places, usually bigger venues like stadiums will have a separate room we have to go sit in so we miss a lot of the show, but typically smaller venues will just allow you to step out and off to the side and watch the show, you just can't shoot, then when the next band hits the stage you're back in the pit for their 3 songs.

BRETT KISSEL!!!!!!! crowd goes insane, ear piercing screams everyone is going wild, the energy doubles, Brett comes out with high energy like always, jumps up on these wooden crates he has out on the stage and throws his arms out to everyone to say "HEY EVERYONE, I"M HERE AND I'M READY TO PARTY WITH YOU! ". From that moment on the party really grew with every song. Everyone singing back and with Brett was so loud it matched the volume of the band, it was crazy. Ok ok... no matter how I write this you just won't understand the vibe so I'm going to stop here and let the images do some talking.. hope you enjoy!

HUGE thank you goes out to INVICTUS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP for providing me with access to photograph this show, much appreciated you guys and gals are doing great things!

DAN DAVIDSON

BRETT KISSEL

Maddy & Diesel: A Girl and her Pup!

December 15, 2017

Maddy and Diesel were something a little different for me as I haven't really photographed portraits for someone and their dog, but it was a lot of fun! We were originally going to do this shoot back in the fall with all the leaves on the trees, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to change the date which led us into winter .... pre-snow winter.

This time of year the "lake" where I live gets drained out, not completely but quite a bit gets sucked out through the damn which leaves a nice, sandy beach look. Later in the day as the sun set we headed on down to utilize the park area and of course out on to the sand. Diesel was having a ton of fun running around and finding sticks to bring a long for the walk, which ended up in a few of the shots because getting that stick away was near impossible lol. Over all, with the sun set, the beach vibe, the lake and a great person and dog, it was a fantastic shoot!

- Shutter Click.

NEW YEARS 2015/2016

January 01, 2016

"When he woke his, body was covered in coke fizz ".

SLOAN!!!! SLOOOOAAANNN!!! was being chanted by the crowd in Victoria Park - London Ontario and when they took to the stage the crowd went wild. Playing many different songs of many albums, Canadian Icon rock band SLOAN put on an amazing show despite the -4ºC weather and the bit of snow. Once the band started to play, it was like the cold didn't matter, no one cared, people were singing along, jumping around and dancing having a great time.

Ivory Hours is another Canadian band from London Ontario who is now getting national attention. This energetic band with an original poppy sound came out to open for Sloan and were a fan favourite as many people knew their lyrics and the band mates names, constantly yelling out " LOVE YOU! " "PLAY " so and so song... also chanting for an encore at the end of their set.

Once Sloan hit the 30 min before midnight mark, the countdown clock popped up on a screen behind the band on stage. They filled the 30 mins with a few hit songs including " Money City Maniacs " complete with the siren, which told everyone what song was about to be played and made the crowd lose their minds. At the 29 second mark everyone started counting down, when 1 second hit, the fireworks went off on top of the London Life building. Sloan's lead singer and bass player disappeared off the stage and their guitar tech jumped on bass as the band started to play AULD LANG SYNE ( the New Years Song ). We could hear the lead singer singing but no one knew where from until the band pointed out he was behind the crowd on the ice rink skating around with a wireless mic singing... how Canadian is that?, EH! What a great way to ring in the new year. Happy 2016 to all! - Shutter Click.

Oh PS. I didn't think I would be able to get as close to the stage as I did, seeing as how I read that last year there was 10,000 people attending the event, so my lens of choice was my 70-200. This lens is quite long and with me being so close my images had to be individual members. If I would have backed up to get everyone the crowd was so dense that it would have just been band members heads so I stayed where I was and did the best I could with what I had.

© Kevin Vyse Photography All Rights Reserved 2015 SLOAN — © Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

SLOAN

IVORY HOURS

Kevin Vyse Photography Blog:

Featured posts:

2021: Where do we go from here?

WE WERE THAT SONG TOUR

Maddy & Diesel: A Girl and her Pup!

NEW YEARS 2015/2016