In April I was invited along to Band Camp Fast Track, a four day music workshop for emerging musicians put on by the Moreton Bay Region Council.

I was asked to run 45 minute press sessions with the bands and musicians in attendance and show them the ropes of having their photos taken.  With each band I attempted a few different looks with the aim to deliver 2 – 3 photos each.

With an hour before hand to location scout this shoot had the challenge of being shot at QUT Carseldine campus, a location that proved to be not very inspiring.

Armed with 400W strobes and a bit of creativity we were able to pull 5 different looks from the grounds.

Julz de Maria

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No Sleep Til, what can I say. The first shoot of my summer festivals and it definitely left me and my cameras a little battered and bruised. Even though this shoot was the first of the SUMMER festival season with the weather it definitely felt like a festival not dissimilar to the weather produced by the mid-year Splendour festival. A lot raining and a little bit cold, considering to throw on a scarf to shoot this festival was definitely not something that felt at home in December.

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Neal McGuinness - the "English Gentleman"

So two weeks ago I decided to undertake a series photographing men who had grown a moustache for Movember. I decided I wanted to test out a style of lighting I had only really played with at home, a simple black and white portrait, showing off the mos in a serious, yet hopefully comical way.

I pushed myself a little with this project and set out to also interview all my subjects to find out a bit more about their experiences and reasonings behind participating in Movember. I quite enjoyed playing interviewer as well, the first time I had done this. This is something I’d definitely love to do again (both the interviewing and the portrait series).

Mike Fritz - the "German"

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So a few months ago I spent half a day collaborating with electronic pop-folk act My Cerulean Heart along with local fashion designer, body artists and make up and hair stylists. It was a fun shoot that saw me test out a few ideas, a handmade paper backdrop, fire and chicken wire hearts and shooting through a toy camera. Though the toy camera achieved rather off results (soft and dirty with a lot of dust) I kind of liked how it turned out. I think it suited the look that the guys were going for.

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Last month I worked with a friend on his final year QUT project. He had to style a shoot with a concept that got me excited, a movie inspired men’s fashion shoot. The three I got to photograph was the Fight Club, Anchorman and Pulp Fiction inspired shots. These will be appearing in the QUT fashion magazine Frock Paper Scissors which will be out in a month’s time.

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So most, neigh all, of you would know me as Elleni Toumpas, your local Brisbane music photographer. But what you don’t know is there are other facets to my photography love then working with musicians and attending shows. I also shoot weddings, something I resisted for a while. But once I realised that I can shoot weddings how I want to shoot weddings, come up with shots that I actually like, and work with couples that I actually enjoy working with, I have arrived at the point where I actually enjoy it. I have been battling for months over coming up with a business name for my side wedding project and at this present time still finding it hard to settle on one (but we are getting close people!) Anyway this morning I spent some time building a print folio for a potential client (until I settle on a name and therefore URL, I don’t have an online presence for these photos).

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So what would be Parklife without the millions of requests for a photo. Here is a blog dedicated to the shots taken throughout the day of all the fashion and fanfare that didn’t occur on the stages.

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Just after Splendour I photographed up and coming band Calais in a promo session. We tackled a couple of safe shots plus one idea I wanted to try using fluoros that the band now want to use for branding. All the boys are still in high-school and are currently regularly gigging. Check them out.

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Bela Fleck African Project

Things have been a bit busy in the last few months, but I thought I should try and get the rest of the bluesfest photos up.

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On Sunday the Brisbane Powerhouse celebrated their 10th anniversary by playing host to a day long event for the whole family. From the Bananas in Pyjamas to Vulcana Circus Women, it was a free event that brought the crowds out on this cold Autumn day.

I headed down to photograph two sets for Mess and Noise, with Last Dinosaurs billing first, before Brisbane’s much loved Regurgitator brought a packed mixed-aged crowd out to dance to some classic ‘Gurge tracks.

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