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OAWB Behind the Lens with Chris Campos & Marissa Gagliano
99 Plays5 months ago
Join us with our new Bonus Content. On A Water Break Behind the Lens. Join Chris Maher as he and his fellow photographers tell their stories and more about what it’s like to be Behind the Lens at Marching Arts Performances. This episode our Main Show Host Stephen introduces everyone to Chris and a few more panelists.
HOSTS:
Chris Maher - @corpsreps
Russ Tanakaya - @russelltanakaya
Chris Campos - @chriscampos_pm
Marissa Gagliano - @marissa_gagliano
Listen to the main episode to keep up on everything going on in the marching arts with our hosts:
Jackie Brown - @spintronixguard
Stephen McCarrick - @stephenmccarick
Cindy Barry - @leandermomma
Nicole Younger - @o2bnpjs & @thecookoutcg
Trevor Bailey - @t_pain151
Trish O’Shea - @trishdish1002
Beth Beccone - @bether7189
Chris Rutt - @wildhornbrass1
Cynthia Bernard - @cynthiabern
Ashlee Amos - @famousamossss_
Theo Harrison - @harrisontheo07
Stephanie Click - @stephanieclick
Whitney Stone - @dancerwhit
Justin Surface - @J_dex07
Ashley Tran - @itsashleytran
Jack Goudreau - @goudreau_
Ricardo Robinson-Shinall - @ricardorrobinson
Callie Quire - @cnquire
Austin Hall - @Austin_hall10
Jose Montes - @joeymontes57
Music provided by leydamusic.com Follow him @josh.leyda
Avatars provided by @tch.makes.art
#marchingband #colorguard #dci #podcast #onawaterbreak #parade #drummajor
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Special Bonus Episode
00:00:02
Speaker
Hey everybody, it's Chris Marr. I'm here with a new bonus episode of from the ah from On the Water Break. um This bonus is gonna be focusing on the lives and stories of some of the important people in our activity, namely the photographers. ah Join me and some super talented people as we go on a water break behind the lens.
Meet Russ Dankaya: Photographer's Journey
00:00:33
Speaker
Hey, everyone. Welcome to this episode of On A Water Break Behind The Lens. I'm here with another photographer friend who has been doing this for quite a while, and many of you know him. He is Russ Dankaya.
00:00:49
Speaker
Hey, Chris, thanks for inviting me back. It's great to be here. Some exciting times that we're starting this summer, right? The shows have been announced. Absolutely. Yeah. You see the music lists out. I saw some sneak previews of some props on the field the other day. So I'm ready to go. What are you doing? ah This is kind of slow, slow season for me because nothing really has started ah yet. um But I do have a couple of little eat little weekend things. The big thing was last weekend. um The Crossman Alumni Corps were practicing about 15 minutes from here. And they invited me to come over and do some photos for them and write an article for Junk Corps World. So um I got to see about 140 out of the 350 members um learning their stuff. So that was really super, super, super exciting.
00:01:40
Speaker
And Friday night at Lucas Oil is going to be going to be a blast. Fantastic. Did Bones make an appearance? Yes, actually, Bones did was there. um They they kind of kind of had him just kind of hanging up on a mannequin sort of thing. um But but the yeah, the the costume was there and all that, so so that was cool. Very good. So things are looking good with the Pacific Crest? Oh yeah, they've been in moving camps for all week and they've been practicing pretty solid for the last month on the weekends.
00:02:13
Speaker
and You know, we had a ah great run last year where we almost got to Saturday night and it's it's getting real exciting this year because I think they've got a good show.
Introducing Marissa Gagliano: A Dual Talent
00:02:28
Speaker
That's exciting. That's exciting. Well, um I guess, I mean, both of us were we we're just getting ready to roll with the drum corps season. And I think maybe it's time to bring in our our first guest. I've got here with us. I'm Marissa Gagliano. Welcome, Marissa. Hi, thank you so much for having me. So on um this podcast, we have this tradition of doing your life story in 32 counts. And so I welcome you to tell us all about yourself in 32 counts data on the metronome and then you can start. All right, I'll do my best.
00:03:10
Speaker
So I was born and raised on the Jersey Shore. I got involved with both photography and color guard at high school. And after high school, I went to university for photography. I earned my bachelor's and I've also been involved with both drum corps, independent winter guards. And ever since then, I have also been freelancing in both DCA, DCI and WGI groups. And I'm so happy to be a part of the the photography community here. OK, good job. yeah So so i I know Marissa from both um a fellow photographer, but also the subject of my photography. ah I've had the pleasure of watching her perform. She's a wonderful performer um as well as a wonderful photographer. So all that has it lovely to have you here. um One of the things
00:04:06
Speaker
that that I always wondered about you is how how much does your performing influence the way that you photograph? A lot, actually. You know, being a performer myself, you just understand what performers are looking for and what they would love in their action shots. So It's just like, you just understand what the performers are just looking for. And a lot of the time I also am inspired by a lot of other other stuff that I put into my photography as well.
Chris Campos: Drone Photography Insights
00:04:38
Speaker
Our next guest, I've known for a couple of years because he is a super volunteer out in Pacific Crest in Southern California. He's an extremely multifaceted photographer. I see him year round because he shoots winter guard, winter drum line, summer drum corps, and and and I see him at every Pacific Crest event. So please welcome ah my good friend, Chris Campos. Hello, good evening, good to be here.
00:05:08
Speaker
So why don't you give us ah your 32 count but introduction of you. Awesome, let's do it.
00:05:19
Speaker
All right. Well, I'm originally from Santa Barbara, California. I came down to the Inland Empire area to go to Cal Poly Pomona study. My background actually is in mechanical engineering. I worked in the engineering field for over 25 years and still doing it today. I did marching band in high school. I have two sons who've been in music probably since the sixth grade and now do indoor percussion, Pacific Crest. um and just been really around activity, doing high school, multiple high school media, as well as independent groups, Meraki, Pal Pulse, and Pacific Crest now. Fantastic.
00:05:56
Speaker
know Before we let Chris Campos get away from us, I think one of the most intriguing parts of his repertoire is that he is also a licensed part 107 drone pilot. And so we've been using Chris's talents at Pacific Crest to do a lot of our opening high impact videos. and because it's such ah such an awesome genre. And it's kind of new. And I think a lot of photographers mistakenly think that if they can buy a drone, they can fly it around our performance. And that's not really true as a person.
00:06:33
Speaker
No, there's a ah lot of safety aspects that go into it with flight. right um Flying a trying a drone puts
Photographers' Gear Preferences
00:06:41
Speaker
you into federal airspace. Anything one foot off the ground is not city territory, state territory, it's federal federal governed. um error so you know When you're flying around people, flying around hospitals, facilities, and airports, there's a lot to know about. and you know Being a professional pilot, um having a Part 107, there's about a quarter of what a normal airline or airplane pilot would have to learn with airspace, weather, restrictions, codes, and how to properly fly.
00:07:14
Speaker
just And it's a license just like anybody else who's a professional, you know, whether that be a dentist, a lawyer, a real estate agent, you know, you're you're governed by i'm doing the right thing. That's great. um So one of the things that I think photographers probably talk about more than anything else is gear. um And I'm just just curious. I mean, I'm um'm a Sony shooter. um curious what what everybody else is shooting with these things. Sony's the only way to go. I'm with Chris Marr. Mr. Compost says, I'm trying to convince him to get over to Sony, but last time I saw him, he was shooting cannon. Definitely a full on cannon shooter from day one. um Yeah, for sure.
00:08:00
Speaker
Nikon user, but I definitely want to switch to Sony. okay yeah then I've actually passed down some of my Nikon gear to Marissa when I was switching. so so what's what's your What's your normal backpack look like when you go off to ah like to to a show? but what what do you What are you carrying with you? I carry um two Sony bodies and a 24-70 on my hip to get close-up shots when they're walking on, a 70-200 when they're on, and I've also got in my pack a new 60-600
00:08:39
Speaker
Zoom when I'm far away, and I got to get on to those ah students that are way at the back of the ah field. We get those emails from those parents. How come I never see my kid out there on the um the social medias? Well, i got I got a new backpack. Mine got pretty gross after a tour with Crown. So I got my, I guess it's smaller, but it's depth it's definitely more sturdier than the last one. um I mostly carry my zoom lens and with the exception of a 35 millimeter camera ah camera lens, that's pretty much all I need when I go to jump drum course shows. For me, I carry way too much gear um because ah I'm usually driving trucks and can take a little bit more with me. So camera bag wise, specifically, um I usually have my 85 1.2, my 300 1.2, just kind of like a sports lens to get back there.
00:09:37
Speaker
um
Managing Large Photo Collections
00:09:38
Speaker
And um if I'm in the lot watching the drumline or front ensemble, I usually try to shoot, bring something a little bit wider. I've been playing around with the 16 1.8 just to be like in the moment, like and in amongst as close as I can get. um And then I have a a small little gimbal mount for my iPhone and a 3D camera, which I haven't had a chance to play with very much because I always forget I have it. I never bring it out because I'm shooting shooting with a regular camera, but I want to try to just get a little bit more creative and look at different angles and things. Very good. I've got a lot of gear and I've travel with different things at different times. with the you Usually there's there's something wide and something long you know on the two bodies for for drum core and and marching band. And for indoor, there's often three bodies involved. So it just kind of depends on the situation. My new favorite thing is the the new Sony 300 F2.8. Nice, light, little prime, really sharp and fast. So I've got to start working that into ah into my drum core.
00:10:42
Speaker
ah photography this year So, you know, different people have different styles of shooting. Do you have a sense of like how many pictures you typically would take? Let's say, let's take a typical, you know, drum corps performance, start to finish. you know what What do you usually come out with? ah think you Depending on the size of the show, you know when we're in Indianapolis shooting, we want to make sure that we don't miss a single shot. and I go crazy because I've got that new Sony A1 speed demon and I press that shutter down and I walk away with 10,000 images. and
00:11:21
Speaker
in an afternoon, which is just way overkill. But I haven't missed too many shots lately that way. But I wish I was more disciplined about that because it's just way too many shots. Typically, I'd probably be in the range of about 500. I try to pick and choose you know that at that optimum moment. And I try not to get too many where I'm having to like go through and you know choose out of five photos. I usually try to get three of ah of a one good shot. And just waiting for that moment, and i'm I'm always looking at the performer. If their horns up or if there's a flag coming across or a rifle throw, you kind of see them. you know And I really, when I go to practices, try to study the show. And I actually will sit back and watch a run and um record on my iPhone what I'm seeing on the field so that I know certain moments are happening or when they're going to happen. And obviously, it's going to progress over the year. but
00:12:15
Speaker
um I'm trying to look for key moments and then at different shows, I'll probably position myself on side one or side two and try to focus on capturing whatever that highlight is going to be and do my best to capture everybody because I don't want to leave anybody out um you know for those kids who like to see a shot for themselves. I try to you know post things up so everybody can be seen and appreciate the the performance that they're doing. I agree with chris Chris on that. I mean, I love to make sure everybody gets an action shot. um As for me, I can go past 600 or more. i I love photography so much. Sometimes I just get lost in it and I just just keep taking photos, you know?
00:12:59
Speaker
and Sometimes the number can get lower when I when i memorize the show well enough. And I know like those key moments in the show that I'm like, that would make a great photo. Now the three of you um have a group usually that you're kind of most ah closely associated with. um Pretty much all my photography is is whatever is there at the show. um There's no no group that i I spend my time with. so um A lot of bands, particularly in the fall, I see them just once. um So I am trying to get everybody that I can. um But my goal is always to get um good shots. And sometimes people just don't give you an opportunity to give to get a good shot. um So you just got to kind of have to live with that. But I try to take some wide shots to compensate for that. um Marching band, I'm usually around 150 shots or so per band. And ah for
Chris Marr's NAS Setup for Photography
00:13:50
Speaker
for drum corps,
00:13:51
Speaker
um It's usually like around 2, 250 per core performance. I wish I was as smart as all the rest of you guys. all
00:14:04
Speaker
so One of the things um that that becomes important when you're you're out there taking a lot of shots, i mean you know you shoot all day, youre you're going to come back with 5,000, 10,000 photos. um How do you deal with your your digital asset management? like i travel with 3 or 4 terabyte SSDs so that i you know when I get home, I can download them to a desktop that's backed up by 22 terabyte um um large disk that I keep for the season so that I don't throw away anything too early. But yeah, that's that's ah that's a big problem because we've got so much information there.
00:14:48
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, ah usually, when um when I'm shooting indoor, I have plenty definitely a lot more time. um yeah If I'm supporting drum corps, I'm not with Pacific Crest, I'm not. um i'm going I shoot because I'm there. But usually I'm driving trucks or last year was on food crew. And so, you know, we go to the show, we get we have nothing to do. So we go and watch shows, but I'll be double duty. um you know, shooting shooting the show from different areas of the field and try to not only be on the field but try to even be in the stands up a bit if I can ah get away with it. but um And then just get them into a driver as fast as I can and whatever time I have available on the road, um try to then go through those super fast and just dump as much as useless stuff i can I can get rid of and then go back and do
00:15:39
Speaker
editing when when I have time. But when you're supporting in multiple multiple different areas, and even I work on props. you know I helped build props last year and this year. And if there's a prop issue that comes up, you know I jump on that wagon too and try to do what I can to amongst everything else. so i mean yeah chris Chris Mard, didn't you just have a NAS system built for yourself? too I did. i I just got a synologyy Synology NAS um network attached storage. and it's ah got RAID configurations, so there's there's redundancy built in. um It's 96 terabytes, 64 terabytes of which are usable. The rest of it's dedicated to the the replication for the NAS.
00:16:24
Speaker
and I've got about 12 terabytes of free space left. ah so um it It's a lot. so it and and you know i i definitely you know I delete the stuff that's that's not good, that's not worth posting, but um that's only like five to seven percent of what I shoot. so um Most of my stuff I keep. and You can access that from your laptop anywhere in the country when you're traveling. so It's Apparently, we haven't tried that yet. ah But ah we'll we'll we'll see. I think you need to have a good internet connection to be able to pull that off. But um yeah, um'm I regularly like move stuff over there you know during the course of the season. For me, Winter Guard is little easier to go through my shots. Throughout the day, I like to go through my camera and just quickly skim through what I've taken photos of. I'll delete some I don't like.
00:17:16
Speaker
um Winter Guard, it's like it's like you have prelims and finals, so the photos just start to add up. So whatever I get, I just i just um deal with at home. Drum card's a lot difficult because I don't feel comfortable bringing my laptop. I didn't feel comfortable bringing my laptop with Crown either, but I had to, so I so i can edit on the road, obviously. The worst part, though, is when you go to schools and the Wi-Fi is horrible. And it just makes it so much harder to work, you know? Yeah, I almost never bring my my computer with me, but I did for um one four day event that that we had the end of the indoor season. and I just kept like loading cards and pulling things in. And it's a lot to try to kind of manage that and take pictures at the same time. I like to focus on one thing at a time. So, you know,
00:18:09
Speaker
it's such a headache and then like the buses have wi-fi but they don't even work either so that you just can't win you know at Pacific Crest we bought media teams specific hot spots so that when our team is on the bus and they're they can edit through the night if they want to people like Chris have got other ah jobs that they're doing, so they might be driving at the time. But we have interns that, you know, they they they can't stand it if they don't start editing right after they get off the field. So we put them in the bus, turn on the hotspots and get all of their stuff done. Might be something to look into. Yeah. Well, people people want to see their their photos right away because that's when they're they're most excited about them is right after you took them. So yeah write about you want to you want to you want to feed that beast. It's always like opening a little present, right? You're just like so excited. What did I get? exactly Okay, um so we're going to send everybody out to the band room um to get your uniforms and get lined up um so we can get our band picks taken. We will be right back with more Behind the Lens.
00:19:18
Speaker
Hey everyone, it's Jeremy the producer from on a water break the main show and while you're enjoying this great bonus content from some amazing hosts. There's a whole other show happening with guests news and plenty of other fun things that you and your friends are talking about on a water break. So take a moment, go subscribe so that you can get your notifications every week for the main episode of On A Water Break. If you have news or know of somebody that would be a great guest or maybe you would be a great guest, email us at On A Water Break podcast at gmail dot.com. And don't forget to follow us on social media at On A Water Break. And now back to this fantastic bonus content.
Memorable Photos and Their Stories
00:19:55
Speaker
And we'll see you at the show.
00:20:05
Speaker
Okay, we are back on the sidelines and we want to ask our guests to go back in their memories and dive into some of their photos that they've taken over the years. And hopefully we'll get some pretty fun stories out of it. So let's see, how about the best photo ever? Chris Campos? Well, I took a great photo I thought. I like doing candids. I'm i'm not one photographer to have people look at me and pose or smile. I like them actually in the performance or get them in amongst them, you know, the other members hanging out. and And we were doing a Pulse preview show at the beginning of this year for Indoor. And Snareline was just lazily sitting against the wall. And there were just some guys were talking, some were just like lazily sitting there.
00:20:46
Speaker
and I shot them a pretty good group of them of just hanging out and I turned into black and white and it was just this really cool just hanging out and um it was like a bunch of wise guys and I and i had put on their the pulse mafia snare mafia or something like that and those guys started running with that Um, because I mean, I mean, they took world championships, right? the Third one in a row, but these guys were just killers and and what they were playing and you know, Rami and, and Kobe and all those guys, like they, they loved that shot. Um, I gave it to them. I think I gave a copy of that to some of them at the awards banquet that they had, but it was just, I just liked catching people in the moment and that's just part of life, right? Those are just life memories. um Great point. I know Marissa's got one.
00:21:30
Speaker
Oh my God, it was so hard to pick best photo because i i there's so many I like and I keep the ones I like. um There is one photo i I did think about and it was this time at Crown and it was during spring training and there was this part where the snare line comes, the whole snare line comes forward and I was taking a photo of them but I was laying on my stomach and my camera was on the ground and I was just taking photos from there and I really liked the perspective of how that photo came out where you can obviously say I'm on the ground. Great. Unique angles. That's what it's about sometimes. and you know Oh, absolutely.
00:22:12
Speaker
I think, you know, I've worked with Chris Maher for many years, and I'm interested to hear what he says about his most famous photo and what genre it really comes from. Is it Drum Corps? Is it Drumline? Is it Wintergarden? So every every year um I go through my, you know, 250, 300,000 photos um and and and pick out my top 100 photos. um which is just absolutely brutal to do. um But once I get that down, then I end up with my favorite photo of the year. So every year if you go back to my blog, back to 2013, you'll read the story of my urine photography and and my favorite photo will be at the end of that. um One of my favorite photos that I've ever taken was um
00:22:59
Speaker
of ah Southern Regional High School at championships in the rain, three snare drummers were kind of coming from the backfield coming at me and they just had such attitude on their face and the rain was just pouring down. um And it was just, it was a moment that that they all remember, um that the parents all remember, that people bring up to me all the time with that band. And interestingly enough, a few years later, my favorite photo ah was also of southern regional high school in the rain um at a championship event. There was a regional championship event and at it the show had been delayed because they thought they'd be able to get more of the show in before the rain came.
00:23:45
Speaker
but the rain came earlier and it just really came right down upon Southern Regional. Southern Regional and the group after them, Brick Memorial, had the worst rain. And it also, by that point, had gotten dark. So the rain really was effective in the photo, which is the most important thing. So when you're shooting in the rain, you want to slow slow your shutter speed. Um, so that you really elongate those, those raindrops. So I'm shooting slower than I normally do. So you got to worry about stabilization. At the very end of the show, this one saxophone player just kind of like stops and just points up to the sky and the rain is is falling down. And, you know, it was just, it was a really emotional moment. And I knew as soon as I took that shot, that was gonna be a favorite for that year. So, so rain shots are some of my favorite shots.
00:24:33
Speaker
Me too, except when you're in the rain. Well, yeah, what you got to go through to get those shots. And the other thing, that second shot, I ended up getting rain damage on my camera, even though I had them in pretty good rain covers. Some rain kind of got down in there, and my back button wouldn't focus anymore. I had it could only focus with the shutter. So I had to send that off for an $800 repair. Oh my gosh. but it was worth it it was worth it because i had i had bought the warranty so the camera store paid the $800 and i got the photo how about you Russ what's what uh what's the what's a favorite uh photo for you and you know i i think my favorite photo from last year was actually inspired by chris compost
00:25:21
Speaker
He takes such awesome pictures because he's so selective, we know. And last year he shot a scene at Pacific Crystal, it was called her, Jenna's Hurricane. There was about a three or four second scene where the guard is just swirling on the field like a hurricane. And I had seen a shot that he had taken. I thought, man, I really want to take a shot like that. The guard members are just hyping with their faces, with their bodies, the flags and the rifles are going everywhere. And Jenna was sitting on top of um a young man's shoulders who also is hyping. And there was 10 or 12 faces in the photo with everybody just bringing the emotion. And was, yeah, that was my best shot or my favorite shot last year. There's a good moment in that show. Yeah.
00:26:09
Speaker
I remember you telling me about that and and and how much you were trying to get that shot. So um it's that's it's always good when that happens. so so um So what about like a weird photo or ah a funny photo or bad photo or something like that? Anybody have any stories about the the less successful situations? I have the scariest photo. I think it was of the ceiling of Lucas oil field because ah Chris Marty, remember in the olden days, we could actually almost go to the sidelines on Lucas oil field. We had less restrictions there. And I had never seen the Phantom Regiment shows that year that they played um the swan. Remember that? And I was standing on the field and I heard whoosh. And when I looked up, a flag had just been
00:27:02
Speaker
swooshed around my head. The girl had come off the field. She was standing maybe five, six paces off the field where I was standing in and still in her routine swung it and I could feel the wind on the side of my face. And when I snapped a picture, of course, my camera wasn't aimed anywhere close to the field. It was straight up.
00:27:27
Speaker
Well, that that that I mean, that that's one of the reasons why we're a little further back now, right? That's exactly yeah the safe safety zone. So yeah, I always feel like there's a contract between the the photographers and the designers to like make sure they don't cross that line. And in some situations, those those frontline, particularly like exhibition things or college bands, I i do a collegiate festival and You just never know what's going to happen, where they're going to go, when they're just going to rush the stand. So, so i I know like where safe places are to stand, like right near the speaker, um because they have to go around that so i'll or go, go hide like in front of the pit. yeah Good point. I've never been to college band shows. So. I, if I went there, I wouldn't know what to expect either. For me, in terms of worst photo, um, it's hard to get switch up from shooting a performance to shooting a group. And, you know, I couldn't get back to my camera bag to get the lens I wanted to use kind of wider. And I just had an 85. Um, so it's kind of, you know, shooting kind of close up in an in for an indoor show. But, um, you know, pulse always brings all the members from alumni and everybody sits there.
00:28:41
Speaker
Um, and I was just kind of felt rushed for some reason. Uh, and you know, they want to post that as you know, part of the peers that we're going to get started in the new year. But, um, it just, my focus was off was felt rushed and like, Oh, you want to do a group shot. So it just wasn't great that I had one or two and I'm looking at it and I shot about maybe four or five pictures just to see, and none of them came out great. And they're like, Oh, did you get that shot? Awesome. Yeah. Thank you so much. It's like, yeah, I got it, but yeah i didn't I didn't have the right f-stop, but my lighting changed and just felt rushed to where like, I mean, I got it for you, but I'm not sure how happy you're going to be with it.
Challenges in Group Photography
00:29:20
Speaker
But it's, you know, you get into some of those weird situations sometimes and have to switch up and you don't have the right things. You just try to do the best you can. And and sometimes it doesn't always work out as as you hope. I agree with Chrissy.
00:29:34
Speaker
Group shots are always making me nervous because it's so hectic to get everybody together and to make sure everybody's there. The worst was the time we had I had to take a group shot of the brass with a crown and somebody was not in the photo and they asked me, can you Photoshop them in? And I was like, yup. No one knows that they were Photoshopping. I'm not gonna even say who. sophi
00:30:06
Speaker
So yeah, that's always hectic group shots. Cause lighting's bad. Yeah. Yeah. It's never just right. Or somebody like out of five shots, somebody's turning, looking the other way or somebody's talking or like, come on. like They're blanking. Yeah. Yeah. It's never good. Makes me nervous. not Not my favorite thing either. So I think we probably all have, have group shot photos we could, uh, we could complain about, but I remember one, one of the funniest things I i thought to happen to me. was um I was at the MetLife Stadium and doing awards photos. And they did this outside the main arena um where they had this little stage and and behind it they had this computer graphic. And um it turned out my eye autofocus grabbed the eye of the of from the picture that was being displayed. So of course my photo was out of focus. But I didn't know I didn't realize it right away. So I couldn't retake the
00:31:03
Speaker
Take the shot. So that was, I learned that when I shoot there, turn the eye auto focus off and just, you know, aim for a body and then, then just go with that. Uh, but it was like, what are you doing? You know, when I have had that happen, you ever had that happen with like any other, um, like props or things like that, that, that the camera thinks, Oh, that's the really important thing. Let me go grab that all the time, all the time. Um, could be funny. I mean, yeah. If you get reflections in a window or a mirror. That'll do that too, you right? Because you have a good reflection and think that's the person. And it's just not, no, that's not it. Or somebody's arm or leg. So so ah where are places that you really like to shoot? What are your kind of kind of favorite locations? I like the big professional football stadiums that have the best lighting. I love shooting there because you can get your best work done there. some of the
00:32:03
Speaker
challenges of these smaller high school stadiums. I think they're trying to save money on the lighting or something like that and you're shooting at the limits of your camera and the photos just aren't as good as they are in places like Lucas or Mercedes-Benz or San Antonio, stuff like that. Yeah, definitely. You got some good lighting spread around. Yeah, high school stadiums, they're tough. um They're not meant for good photography. It's meant just to see a football game. um Indoor as well. Indoor is bad because, again, it's not great lighting and it's just ah not intended for good all-around spatial lighting.
00:32:42
Speaker
But I tend, for Dremkor, I know we kind of go on early in the evening so that that twilight or even that golden hour sometimes we get just right and you can catch the skies just perfectly for setting in the background and um so i' kind of I kind of favor that early, you know, maybe seven o'clock hour of showtime that that we normally sit in and kind of give you some some pretty awesome lighting effects. Okay, before we let you go, we're goingnna we do a segment on the water break called What what Are We Doing, um where you get to talk about anything that may be bugging you or you think would you'd like to see better in the marching arts.
Frustrations with Event Layouts
00:33:22
Speaker
So Russ, why don't we we kick it off with you.
00:33:28
Speaker
What are we doing? I think my biggest observation at this point is that, you know, the photographers, we all want the same thing. We want to show these incredible people doing incredible things, but what are we doing? We don't even know what part of the field they might be on, especially at the beginning of the season. I wish that designers or the creatives would share that information, just like they prepped the DCI judges ahead of the season on what the show's about, things to look for, where the moments are so that their judges are zeroed in on all this incredible talent. And then I find myself standing on side two when all this stuff's happening on the side one. And I think, what are you doing?
00:34:15
Speaker
Okay, ah Chris, how about you? Yeah, I kind of something along with lines with the rest of the scene too. um We kind of get, you know, in the art is very it can be very abstract, right? And trying to understand shows and I probably don't get the show until mid season and I finally figure out, you know, what, what is the background? um i would I would like to have in a show program kind of give that to us, right? Because then we can kind of interpret what what those objects are, what the shape is, what the color scheme they're using, and it makes sense. Some aren't some are easily readable, some aren't. um But if you have if you could give that from um everything they take in the design aspect of pre-show to make it and and so so the average person can interpret it,
00:35:03
Speaker
it would help just bring a lot more appreciation for what they're presenting. um And then for us photographers to be able to like see those elements um quite vividly and then capture those specific items um to so we can present that show um even better. I'm on the same page with Russ and Chris. I feel like we need more context with each show that comes out, both Winter Garden Drum Corps. I mean, like Chris said, art is subjective, and it's it's so cool to see everybody's creation. But sometimes, you know, we're not all on the same page. So sometimes I don't understand what I'm looking at, and that's fine. But I would like to know, I would like to get into the inside, inside um of the artist, you know.
00:35:48
Speaker
Yeah, i know that that that makes sense. um I think at this point, I've kind of given up trying to understand shows. um and And what I what i do, my my whole thing is to try to center myself and feel where energy is coming from. um and And basically, who who's saying i I'm ready for a photo now? um and try to listen to the performers deep inside myself. um And so, you know, what what i what I always want from a show is a show where the designer brings everything to me.
00:36:26
Speaker
um And you see this a lot, you know, an indoor where, you know, you have shows where yeah you can pretty much count everybody's going to move around enough that you're going to see everybody. And then you have shows where the only time you see certain people is when they're in the back in the flag ensemble. you know It's like like bring everybody to me. That's that's probably my biggest thing. is like you know make make it Give everybody the opportunity to shine um and and and have them you know give forth that energy that that's going to draw my my camera lens to. Because I can't keep track of. People can tell me, oh, like and the second beginning of the second number, over on slide two, there's going to be this thing.
00:37:04
Speaker
I will forget that as soon as you finish telling me. um Sometimes parents will tell me like you know something like, oh, my kid, whatever. I was like, here's what you need to do. You need to tell me right before they go on because I've already forgotten what band you're talking about right now. um like I can't hold on to that information. There are too many things that are happening today, too many bands, and I don't know any of the kids. so they're all just They're all just out there for me. so Yeah, and it goes by in a blink of an eye, right? I mean, yeah it's so people even ask me with my music background, um what do you think of the show? And I'm like, well, i I think I hear some elements here and there, but I'm always focused on my frame and what I'm shooting and waiting for that rifle to be thrown or the sticks from the from the battery to be in a certain position. I'm so focused on my frame and what what I'm trying to capture and tell a story with that image.
00:37:56
Speaker
that i'm not listening to music whatsoever it's just focus solely on you know that that moment and i hear things and i kind of like i can kind of give a little bit interpretation maybe i heard you know maybe battery off time over there something but. It's usually not the good things you want to hear coming for me after a show because it's totally about the frame and getting the shot it's not about like hearing or ah You know how many drops or you know this person had or that person or something I just it's just it's just all about the frame for me at at that point Yeah, that's funny. Sometimes I've i've had went down weirdre Weird
00:38:36
Speaker
Okay. Okay. There's some gushing goals. We'll start with Chris Marr. Okay. So um one of the things that that I just absolutely love about about the activity um is the way that it empowers the performers.
Transformative Power of Performance Photography
00:38:53
Speaker
um There's something that's just totally amazing to me about, yeah you you look at these kids when they're you know in rehearsal and they're just on the sidelines or they're They're in the cafeteria and they're just they're just wearing their normal school clothes or whatever. And then you put them in a uniform and you teach them some skills and you put them out in the field and and they become a different person. they They just get transformed. And that's what I'm always trying to capture um in my images is that empowering um feeling that they're feeling at that moment when they are a performer. um And and i that's that to me is just absolutely the best thing about the activity.
00:39:32
Speaker
And how about Chris Campos? I like the intensity that the performers have, right? And whether that's battery, um there's a couple of kids that I always look forward to. i've I've shot them over the years through different independents and even in a drum corps. Like I'm not sure Russ, you know, Carissa from in the front ensemble. they're very passionate when they play and they have so much body feeling and motion in their face and just are in the moment and and that can go for a horn line, somebody on bass drum or anything. it's this They're feeling the music and they're giving it it all and that's you know the essence of whether it's even even ah color guard, right?
00:40:12
Speaker
They're screaming, they're yelling that intensity in their face, and they're just putting it all out there. And that's that's what I love capturing in the moment of that that passion that's coming through them and and putting it all out in the field. And then you know they're full on, exhausted. um even Even the drum majors for that matter, they're out of breath and they're just directing, right? They're not running the field or anything, but they're just sweating just like everybody else and out of breath at the end of the show. you know So I think that intensity is the thing that just keeps keeps me going. Fantastic. And Marisa?
Community and Connection in Marching Arts
00:40:45
Speaker
To me, it's the overall community for me. I've been a part of this um activity since high school, and I'm 30 years old now, and I'm still active. Well, I'm not marching, but I'm still part of this community. And you know having friends and meeting new people and learning new things as both a performer and a photographer in the marching arts, it's
00:41:11
Speaker
It's just amazing what we can do together as a community. And I will admit, taking photographs, it does make me miss marching so bad. It really does. And the intensity, the overall energy you get performing under the stadium lights, watching the audience scream, it's just you just can't it's just something you can't recreate, you know? And then for myself, I have one main gush to share with everyone to- today. Watch Pacific Crest early in the season. They're going to shock you. And I just have one word to leave you with today. Ram-a-lema-bang-bang.
00:41:55
Speaker
and what you talking about
00:41:59
Speaker
All right. Well, thank you to these amazing photographers. We know you'll all be out there capturing memories of the season and and in other contexts. So thank you so much for joining us. there' Just kind of kind of wrap up here. ah Chris, is there a place where but people can find your stuff on social media? Yeah. I'm just primarily on Instagram at chriscompos underscore pm, which stands for photo and media. um You know during during the season I'm I'm posting like crazy and you know posting do some media work just as like scores where we're standing and things like that so Throw up stories and reels on the road and have a lot of fun doing it. Okay, Marissa. How about you? Where where we find your stuff? You could find my stuff primarily on Instagram at Marissa underscore Gagliano and I am in the process of putting putting together a smug mug account and
00:42:53
Speaker
So keep an eye on that and you will definitely see me at some shows just freelancing. So I will definitely see you Chris. Okay, that's great. um I literally just got in on Instagram yesterday. um yeah Here we go. For those of you who've been around the activity and and me for a while, you know that Core Reps is my brand. So my my username, I think you find me with at Core Reps. That's how you'll how you look for me. so And Ross, do you do where where where do people find your your stuff? I'm also on Instagram, I'm on Facebook, and I also have russelltonicaismugmug.com. And Chris and I, Chris Compos and I post thousands of pictures on the Pacific Crest Smugmug every season also.
00:43:41
Speaker
Now you all know what to do. Go subscribe, write us a review, share this podcast with a friend, and follow us on social media at On a Water Break. Don't forget to check out our YouTube for full length video editions of some of our podcasts, and we'll see you at the next performance on a water break behind the lens.
00:44:05
Speaker
The On A Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and Christine Reames. The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lyda. To learn more, visit LydaMusic.com. And until next time, thanks for tuning in.