Disconnect

lately I have been sorting out a whole lot of things in my life both physically and emotionally, this combined with work and friends has taken up a large amount of my time and hasn't left a lot of time for other things. And in a way it's almost as if I have disconnected from the hardcore/metal scene to an extent. I don't go to shows nearly as much as I use to, I once would go at least 2 times a weekend now it's once every now and then, I don't see my friends from the 'scene' as much as I use to, which has allowed me to see my friends from school a lot more, well that and me and my girlfriend breaking up.
But with all this I have still been able to do a lot of shooting, as my weeks are usually free due to a majority of my shifts being over the weekend. So I have been shooting a few promos throughout the week.

Last Sunday I shot We Stand Alone's promos once again, due to a few reasons, new drummer, new music coming out, etc. And I was more than happy to do them as I wasn't so happy with the last shoot. I was hoping to have my flash fixed by this shoot so i'd have two, but no such luck.
We went out on location to....Blacktown, which wasn't the most pleasant of locations, or safest, but we were able to find some good spots and get some good shots:
Tried doing some differently cropped single shots from the usual;

Also had a go at a, guess you call it, story shot? But wasn't happy with how it came out, really needed that second flash and a bit more planning;

Later that week my friend Jonny Blackwell, another local photographer who dose some sick stuff asked me to take some stuff for one of his bands Creations, a really sick sounding band composed of members from America and Aus. Very Impending Doom, Acacia Strain sounding, so if your into your heavy stuff, deff check em out, they are deff going somewhere.
Anyway as Jonny was a photographer it meant i was able to borrow equipment, namely a second flash which made a real difference and i was really happy with how they came out:
-The Man Himself (Jonny Blackwell)



Got some other good shots, but had a deadline of last night to get the best of the individuals and group shots done for use on the myspace layout.
Also even later In the week shot my Good friend Felix's band, Facebreaker. Pretty much the only Blue Mountains Hardcore Band getting around, check em out it was also his first show. Pics will be done soon.
Also checked out the page for next years 'Sydney Tattoo and Body Art Expo' which I shot for last year and saw the gallery with my pix in for last year. Which was good to see.
And Got some mail on yesterday with my prints which were displayed in Bare Your Teeth 2009 exhibition in Melb. Non were sold there, but if you want to buy one of the prints or a print of any of my photos just contact me through my myspace.

Also if you have the time check out my younger brothersnew film 'Blood Orange', he stepped it up with new editing programs, new camera and new actors (although the actors let him down a lil). Anyway defiantly check it out here.

-My Brother

VENT

The last few weeks have been hell for me, some much has been happening, more bad then good, and its really getting to me. Firstly many personal issues brought me down and have been taking a huge toll on my morals, then on top of that I owe $700, $200 to the government for a fuckin train fine, and $200 to my dad for phone bills, and $300 for a new flash. I'm only gettin about 2 shifts a week from work which means its impossible to live a life which doesn't only involve sitting at home, and be able to pay back all of my debts. But then on top of that, went to see Have Heart for their last Aus show ever. And my flash broke just before their set, not by being physically damaged, but because of some malfunction. And further more It seems I have been ripped off with my order, the flash may have been second hand, even though I bought it from an ebay 'company', as I do not have a warranty slip. So now I'm fucked.
Still was able to pull through some alright pix from have heart, but don't expect good quality as my cam is shit in low light.
But in the end all though it seems a whole lotta things are goin shit for me and makes me wanna give up on photography and not try, I think about the fact that there are people SO SO SO SO much worse off then me. So I'm just goin to keep saving and pay my dues, buy a new flash and just see what happens.

In other news, found some muck around and other shots from the xSTPx shoot from awhile back;

-Chris

-'Man Love'


Also keen to here how Bare Your Teeth went, the exhibition open on Friday, so hopefully at least that went well. Also did some promos earlier in the week and will be putting pix from the Have Heart show soon.

A Long Week

Again it has been awhile since I've posted anything, But it's been a busy week, I have a lot to write about and so alot for you guys to hopefully read.. Over Last Weekend I went up to Brisbane to get my tattoo finished by Rachi Brains at All Star Tattoos. I was really happy with how it turned out;
-Still Fresh

Saw my friend Josh on the plane going to get his tattoo finished by Rachi aswell, so he was able to show me where the private All Stars Parlour was and i took a few pix of the joint.


-pleasant environment...

But while up there I decided to make a lil 'holiday' of it, so the first night did promos for xStrength Through Purityx, Funnest dudes, make sure you check em out, they'll be touring with xLiferuinerx From US around Aug. Anyway had a really great time and got some good results. Also was a good chance to test out my newly cracked photoshop CS3.


-The Crew

Also took some tourist snaps;
-Brizvegas
-Casino right in the city centre

And went to the Modern Art Museum where these was a sick show called 'The China Project', so interesting,

check out more pix here

As soon as I got off the plane I took advantage of the rare situation of being in Sydney at a late time with money to spare and went to Brisbane to buy the camera and lense I have been planning to buy for awhile from Craig Nye, A Nikon F70 film SLR, with a 50mm AF lense.
Haven't had a chance to try it out, but i have played around with the lense on my digital, good shit.

Also after getting back from Brisbane had to sort out my shit for the Bare Your Teeth Exhibition comin up at the end of the month. Originally was goin to have 3 prints but ran outta money and time, so stuck with 2 pix; the oneof Sam From Ghost town, and the pic from Internal Affairs Last show in Syd. Some of my favourite pix from this year so far.


There are some good artists playing and displaying at the two day exhibition so make sure if your in Melbourne around the 29th-30th of this month (MAY) go check it out.

Grey Days

Again it has been awhile of not shooting music of any type recently, parties, working and girlfriend have taken up most of my time, which is good. But I have been doing some random bits of photography here and there. Such as head shots for my good friend Caius, who is applying for acting in TV and movies;

and also did a few shots of some merch Im selling which was a bit a lighting practice at the same time.

-Check out the stuff im selling click 'here' and then go to the album 'For Sale'

Also keen to be sending some prints of my photos to Melbourne for the up and coming 'Bare Your Teeth' exhibition featuring some of Aus's best artist in the punk, hardcore, metal scene.
Let's just hope I can produce them within the next 2 weeks...

(Photo by Chris Ensell)

Been listening to some much of the New Gallows album called 'Grey Britain' , Loving it SO much. Can't wait till they make it down this way, if they do.

And finally I finally figured how to torrent programs and I was able to hack a version of Photoshop, not the newest one, but still alot better then any other program I have right now which is always good. But it also meant I was finally able to use the water mark that Mez made for me awhile ago. (ill make it a lil smaller in future)