Another Day. Another Portrait.

Drac. Jam In The Van, 2025.

Last month I got to do some work at Jam In The Van in Culver City. If you’re not in the know. Jam In The Van is a solar powered mobile recording studio that helps showcase bands on their YouTube channel. They have been around since 2011 and I have been working with them since 2014. I need to go through my hard drives and talk morevon my journey with them, but I’ll save that for later.

I usually get hired to be the photographer, but recently I have been getting jobs to film little interviews on the phone for their socials. Since I can’t help myself I still make pictures while I’m there, but with a little more freedom to shoot what I want when I want.

This specific day we had the band Drac and The Swamp Rats playing. I’ve always loved this band. Anytime they come around I set up a small portrait studio to make a few pics with them. This specific set up I used an Alien Bee 800 with a Photek umbrella as the key. To give it a little more pop I added another Alien Bee with a grid behind them and to camera right. My go to set up is usually one light, which I like to call “One Light To Live”, however I came to the realization that I need to stop being lazy and try some different set ups when the opportunity arises.

I’m a sucker or set ups like this. My favorite portrait photographers are Richard Avedon and Irving Penn. I feel like when the background and lighting are consistent it’s up to the photographer and subject to create something special. It was a great day and there were a lot of characters that came through the office that day. I find that doing small set ups like this help get the creative juices flowing. It also feels good to come up with a plan and execute it, even if it is simple. Hope ya’ll have a great week. Carpe Diem.