I got a Nikon camera, l love to take a photograph
August 20, 2007 9:29 PM Subscribe
Can you recommend any cool locations to do a band photo shoot in Philadelphia?
Indie band needs some photos. Where should we go in Philly that will make for a good setting?
Indie band needs some photos. Where should we go in Philly that will make for a good setting?
One of the hundreds of murals; South Street; overlooking Boathouse Row and the Schuylkill, City Hall; if you can get a tall shot, then the big clothes pin in front of city hall, the Italian Market; in between Pat's and Genos; in the Reading Market; and the obvious Old City stuff, the art museum, that weird angled building near Drexel.
posted by daninnj at 9:51 PM on August 20, 2007
posted by daninnj at 9:51 PM on August 20, 2007
Oh yeah, I forgot to ask: Do you want stuff that reps Philly? Cause that's what I listed. Also check the Eastern State Penitentiary, LOVE park, Rittenhouse square, take a picture of the band on a SEPTA bus, or on Main Street Manayunk or the center of Chestnut Hill if you want a quaint but urban feel.
posted by daninnj at 9:56 PM on August 20, 2007
posted by daninnj at 9:56 PM on August 20, 2007
It's been many many years, but when I was in school out the main line, the High Speed Line always impressed me with its retro-shabby electrified-diner spark-shoooting aluminum-sided coolness. Is it still all that? 'Cos if you could capture it on film, I'd say yes.
posted by mumkin at 9:58 PM on August 20, 2007
posted by mumkin at 9:58 PM on August 20, 2007
Ah, just realized you're not from the area... Uh, one more post...
Reading Terminal Market is an enclosed market in Center City. The amount of people, the stands, the food, and the neon signs might be a cool photo shoot.
South Street is a hopping area and has a gum tree and a funky house made of funky stones like this.
The clothespin might be interesting to stand in front of. LOVE park is cool but overdone.
Those are the coolest to me.
posted by daninnj at 10:09 PM on August 20, 2007
Reading Terminal Market is an enclosed market in Center City. The amount of people, the stands, the food, and the neon signs might be a cool photo shoot.
South Street is a hopping area and has a gum tree and a funky house made of funky stones like this.
The clothespin might be interesting to stand in front of. LOVE park is cool but overdone.
Those are the coolest to me.
posted by daninnj at 10:09 PM on August 20, 2007
Consider Your Move, a little-known sculpture which consists of over-sized chess, domino, and other board game pieces. It's located at the Thomas Paine plaza at 15th and JFK.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:41 PM on August 20, 2007
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:41 PM on August 20, 2007
just steer clear of the brick walls.
That's all i'm gonna say.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 1:14 AM on August 21, 2007 [2 favorites]
That's all i'm gonna say.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 1:14 AM on August 21, 2007 [2 favorites]
Do you already have a photographer? (I ask for a specific reason.)
I really hate most band-members-against-urban/suburban-background photos. Really. Hate. Ugh. Ugh.
So, just a suggestion... you might want to go with a really plain, mostly featureless or really contained background, or straight up black or white, which gives an publication/website art director a lot more latitude in case they want to maybe do an arty layout.
Cool (yet still fairly, um... minimal) natural or fun fake settings can be great if you have a talented photographer who can compose the shot well and do nice post effects. But don't do this kind of thing, even with a somewhat more interesting backthing.
these are not my examples of best (or worst) band shots ever, but just ones that struck me as nice or ick while quickly googling.
posted by taz at 4:06 AM on August 21, 2007 [2 favorites]
I really hate most band-members-against-urban/suburban-background photos. Really. Hate. Ugh. Ugh.
So, just a suggestion... you might want to go with a really plain, mostly featureless or really contained background, or straight up black or white, which gives an publication/website art director a lot more latitude in case they want to maybe do an arty layout.
Cool (yet still fairly, um... minimal) natural or fun fake settings can be great if you have a talented photographer who can compose the shot well and do nice post effects. But don't do this kind of thing, even with a somewhat more interesting backthing.
these are not my examples of best (or worst) band shots ever, but just ones that struck me as nice or ick while quickly googling.
posted by taz at 4:06 AM on August 21, 2007 [2 favorites]
btw, notice how all the clothes chromatically work with the settings in the ones I pointed out. Important!
posted by taz at 4:09 AM on August 21, 2007
posted by taz at 4:09 AM on August 21, 2007
How long are you going to be here? I have no idea if this kind of thing suits your taste at all, but I'll add it to the mix anyway. There's a local artist named Isaiah Zagar who's covered lots of alleyways and walls and entire buildings along and near South Street in his surreal murals of mirror and grout and bottles and broken china and trash and statuary and other stuff. He has a studio on South Street which is fabulous, and an outdoor room he calls The Magical Garden. This is a surreal photo I took of part of The Magic Garden. Here are photos at flickr tagged with Isaiah Zagar. You can see parts of the Magic Garden here and here and here. I love this photo of the steps leading to the garden. Here's his website if you're at all intrigued and want more info. he encourages people to walk around and take photos.
I had to add these close-ups I shot of parts of a wall around the corner from his studio in case you wanted to see details.
posted by iconomy at 6:56 AM on August 21, 2007
I had to add these close-ups I shot of parts of a wall around the corner from his studio in case you wanted to see details.
posted by iconomy at 6:56 AM on August 21, 2007
don't do stereotypical philly if you can avoid it (love statue, city hall, museum, rocky). i really like the suggestion of eastern state penn--there's some cool looking stuff inside.
the italian market might be cool. it's stereotypical, but not photographically, if that makes sense.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 7:01 AM on August 21, 2007
the italian market might be cool. it's stereotypical, but not photographically, if that makes sense.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 7:01 AM on August 21, 2007
On a Philly Duck! With the tourists and Ben Franklin impersonators at the Independence Center! Or maybe in front of the Liberty Bell with one of the rent-a-cop Wackenhut guards?
posted by footnote at 7:29 AM on August 21, 2007
posted by footnote at 7:29 AM on August 21, 2007
Bustleton Ave, between Tyson and Disston. In front of Able Cleaners and Rappaport Pharmacy. Delightfully grungy and retro part of my old neighborhood.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:22 PM on August 21, 2007
posted by Afroblanco at 12:22 PM on August 21, 2007
The abandoned (?) trestle (?) at 12th and Callowhill streets. If you get onto it, it's raised to about a second-story level and overgrown with weeds. Pretty cool looking.
posted by bokane at 6:38 PM on August 21, 2007
posted by bokane at 6:38 PM on August 21, 2007
2nding the abandoned trestle at 12th and Callowhill (I live a few blocks away, but you might want to be armed when you go up there....the bums can be vicious).
Also, try just walking down the Schuylkill, on the path next to Kelly Drive. There are some really cool areas down there, and some weird statue work. Plus there's that tunnel carved out of rock, which is awesome.
Anything BUT Love Park. Walking into that place is like walking into a club with all the strobing flashes.
posted by nursegracer at 7:35 PM on August 21, 2007
Also, try just walking down the Schuylkill, on the path next to Kelly Drive. There are some really cool areas down there, and some weird statue work. Plus there's that tunnel carved out of rock, which is awesome.
Anything BUT Love Park. Walking into that place is like walking into a club with all the strobing flashes.
posted by nursegracer at 7:35 PM on August 21, 2007
Response by poster: Sorry it took me so long to follow up, I've been doing some travelling.
I do already have a photographer. No, we aren't trying to represent Philly, that just happens to be where we're going to be shooting. I actually am from the area (Cherry Hill, NJ), but don't know the city as well as I could, so thanks for the ideas.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:37 AM on August 22, 2007
I do already have a photographer. No, we aren't trying to represent Philly, that just happens to be where we're going to be shooting. I actually am from the area (Cherry Hill, NJ), but don't know the city as well as I could, so thanks for the ideas.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:37 AM on August 22, 2007
Response by poster: Followup: I think it went quite well. We basically went to south street and wandered around from there. Things were a bit rocky (pun intended) at first, but everything started going well when we all sat down for some Pat's steaks, which is probably the only identifiably Philly location of the shots we did. We also did some in front of Geno's orange tiles, and a few other random colorful South philly locations. Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe I'll link to the photos when they come back.
posted by ludwig_van at 11:04 AM on August 24, 2007
posted by ludwig_van at 11:04 AM on August 24, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by caddis at 9:37 PM on August 20, 2007