Portraits: Bryan John Appleby and Band

In February I found myself sitting on a bench next to Bryan Appleby outside of the Conor Byrne Pub.   I had a new camera, a 1938 Rolleiflex Automat 6x6, and was looking to start shooting portraits.    I asked, he agreed and four and a half months later I stopped by their house to shoot six rolls of black & white Kodak Tri-X pan film ISO 320, expiration date 1996.


The day was overcast and it was around 6:30 - 7pm.   We shot in natural light using their house and shack as backdrops.    The portraits were shot at f-3.5 and 1/50 hand held.   I over-processed the negatives by two minutes to bring out more tone and grain.   

Group shot original scan.   Bryan and I discussed the overall look of the final prints.   He was looking for something with a bit of contrast and grain.    To work within time constraints I scanned the film and worked with digital files.   I tried to keep the post production in Lightroom true to what I could have achieved in a darkroom using filters, dodging and burning.     I intentionally kept some of the dust on the negatives to reflect the feeling and mood of their vinyl album which includes pops and crackles in the background of their songs.


 The final prints:

Thank you to Bryan John Appleby, Cole Mauro, Joe Ruppert, Kyle Zantos, and Luke Messimer.
 

You can check out their music here:
Fire on the Vine
Facebook Band Page 


Also, BIG thanks to Vanja Horonic and Matthew Corcoran for the use of their film scanners.  

Also, also, to Drake Hokanson who gave me the film years ago.  Not only for his generosity of bestowing 60 rolls of film on me but for the constant inspiration and guidance he and Carol have given me.