Atlas Clothing, a stylish vintage threads shop in Capitol Hill, hosted their one year anniversary party at Sole Repair Shop. The evening was replete with a full bar, hip guest list, runway fashion show and a photo booth. Julie Harmsen, the photographer shooting all the promotional and event imagery for the party, asked if I could lend an extra lens or two and help document the evening. As I had recently acquired some new lighting equipment, I offered up the idea of building a photo booth to capture the oh-so-debonair party goers.

Julie and I had several discussions about what we’d like to do photographically, and to pull it off I needed nearly every piece of lighting and grip equipment I owned. I arrived at the space around 5:30, about an hour and a half before the start of the event. Julie already had my “Strobist” kit setup to get some pre-show photographs of the models. The Strobist kit consists of lightweight flashes, stands and umbrellas—essentially the kit I used to photograph this busted lens. Inspired by the website for which it is named, the Strobist kit offers portable, quality off-camera lighting solutions for almost any situation. Check out Julie’s shots here—they turned out great.

While Julie photographed the models, I began building the photo booth on the second level of the space. I hung a nine-foot white seamless background and setup two Bowens Gemini 500 watt-second monolights. The plan was to setup the photo booth with a large softbox and beauty dish. I also hit the background with an SB-800 to add a little flare. Check out this behind the scenes shot on Flickr for details. For the fashion show, I’d move one of the lights to the runway, swap the beauty dish for a grid, and use it as a high-powered, off-camera flash to capture the models.

Since it was pretty dark during setup, I attached a 60 degree reflector to one of the lights and turned on the modeling lamp so I could see what I was doing. The event’s producer, Bethany Papenbrock, saw the lamp and immediately had an idea. In addition to using the monolight as a strobe, she asked if we could leave the modeling lamp on so it would act as an additional spotlight on the models walking the first floor runway. As the show was only scheduled to be 10-15 minutes long, I wasn’t too worried about heating up the grid—although it did get a little toasty.

With the gridded strobe/spotlight in place on the second floor, I consulted with Bethany and dialed in the optimal angle and power. By taking incident meter readings from where the models would pose, I found that with the strobe at half power I could shoot at f/4.5, 1/250th of a second and ISO 200. During the show, I mingled with the guests on the main floor, pointed my lens and triggered the second floor strobe via a pair PocketWizard Plus IIs. The directional light gave me a nice contrasty look. Thanks to the inverse square law and the distance the strobe was from the models, the light did not fall off too much from the foreground to the background walls. The wood paneling at the Sole Repair Shop really tied in quite handsomely with the whole “Mad Men” motif.

For the rest of the evening, Julie and I traded spots running the photo booth and encouraging antics. There is nothing like taking schwills of PBR and blasting 1100 watt seconds at party guests. Even Andy Fitts of The Banyans showed up to get in on the fun.

What impressed me most about the evening was the collection of talented people that came together to pull it off. Producing, photographing, styling and hosting a fashion show/party is no easy task. Big props to the folks from Atlas, the stylists, the models, the bar staff, Bethany and my photog pal Julie for getting this thing together. It was a privilege to shoot and hang out with yall! To check out more photos, head over to Flickr, or watch the slideshow below. Also, if this whole photo booth thing looks like something you’d like at your party, give me a holler at andy@explosion5000.com.

It’s birdie time! Last weekend we had more than just the mojo working when the Explosion 5000 met a college tradition: Tennis Hoes & Golf Pros. A familiar cast of characters, clad in their country club finest, descended on Seattle’s Belltown and proceeded to paint the town plaid.

Warning: Images of Superfisky in women’s tennis clothing follow. Also, this post contains photographs of original artwork by Superfisky, which might make your boss question what exactly you’re looking at on the internet.

All the photos here were made with my Nikon D300 camera and Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. I also fired a Nikon SB-600 flash with a Sto-fen Omnibounce. For most of the shots, I held the flash in my left hand and triggered it wirelessly via Nikon’s Creative Lighting System.

The occasion? A birthday, naturally. Alli’s birthday, specifically. If you could read the tag affixed to her shirt, you’d know that. Pictured with Alli is fellow photog Ray Loyola.

Curtis “Ironman” Cappel graced Buckley’s with his wit and his plaid.

As the name of the party suggests, every pro needs his companion. Alongside Curtis is Ashley.

“Love 40? More like game, set, match.” – Christine.

Through the drinking glass with Chris.

B Cox as the Baller.

Superfisky might be larger than life, but he’s never too big to fit into the smallest of women’s clothing. Since he obviously never heard the latter half of the “Tennis Hoes & Golf Pros” theme, Superfisky jumped high-heels first into a wig and skirt.

The drawing above started out as a simple diagram. Nick and I were brainstorming ways to hang me out over a river to photograph rafters. Superfisky made a few “improvements.”

The throng eventually made its way to Spitfire, where the country club elite joined a Cowboys and Indian party already in progress. Whether you were a Maria Sharapova, Tiger Woods, Dot, Feather or John Wayne; the drink of choice is clearly Pabst Blue Ribbon.

For more pictures, visit my Flickr set or watch the slideshow below.

Also, be sure to become a fan of the Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000 on Facebook.

This weekend the folks at Seattle’s Bold Hat Productions staged the seventh annual Hop Scotch Spring Beer and Scotch Festival in Fremont. Over 50 microbrews and imports, along with Scotch and Tequila samples were featured at the event. The tasting is a benefit for the Seattle International Film Festival.

So to summarize:
Lots of beer.
Fremont.
Cool charity.

Of course The Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000 was there.

Gus, aka Goose Gus, rolled with me to the event and subsequently made his Explosion5k debut. Since arriving from Southern California last fall, Gus has quickly adapted to life in Seattle. Gus seems to be content with trading smog for the Space Needle and douchebags for drizzle.

Fortunately, beer drinking is a co-ed sport in Seattle. Mira (above) went mini-mug for mini-mug with us. We also happened to run into Christine (below), formerly of St. Louis. The event was truly an eye-opener for her as she learned that there are other beers in this world not called Budweiser.

Matt, Bill (both pictured above) and Ben were also wandering Fremont Studios with me. The event took place in Studio A, a large sound stage lined with projector screens featuring iconic images of Seattle and spring. The beer vendors dominated most of the room. A roped off section in the back served Scotch and tequila. I was in the northwest corner of the hall when I ran into Brandon. He was pleading with me take the rest of his tokens. Apparently, the small six-ounce glasses caught up with him quicker than expected. Already having had a healthy helping of microbrews myself, I agreed to accept a few tokens if he got a beer with me. We found a man pouring Full Sail and indulged. He might have been the happiest person in the room.

Check out these photos and few others on Flickr, or watch the slideshow below.

The night kicked off at the District Lounge in the Hotel Deca. I know what you’re thinking… a little classy for this group. We are talking about the same collection of people who demolish boots of beer, turn quiet mountain cabins into dance parties and carelessly jump off giant logs in unison. Everyone was on their best behavior, although this quickly changed as the night progressed.

This is Pat Min. He turned 26 on St. Patrick’s Day. In light of his Irishness, I’ve composed an awful limerick to celebrate the occasion:

Twenty-six years ago was born Patrick
March Seventeenth to be specific
In honor of this day
We bar crawl’d and we pray’d
That all this drinking didn’t make us sick

Nick “Boilermaker” Postorino bravely sported his alma mater’s colors in the heart of Washington Husky territory. Earlier that day, Purdue’s basketball squad eliminated the U-Dub ballers from the NCAA tournament. Luckily, the passive Pacific Northwest hardly noticed Nick’s bold choice of evening wear. Had he been wearing a George W Bush t-shirt, things would have been very different. Btw, WTF is a Boilermaker?

I do not remember how much a can of Rainier costs at Earl’s, but I do remember thinking ‘for that price I should just get two!’ And so I did.

Yo.
What’s up?
Any sweet text messages lately?

Rum ‘n Coke vs Gin ‘n Tonic?
Quadraphonic straws?
Fishy faces?

This beautiful piece of artwork is all Curtis. Completely unprovoked by me (I swear this to be true), Curtis was inspired to create an homage to his favorite culture/news/technology/music/literature/nonsense blog on the internet. I’m not sure the bar staff appreciated his enthusiasm for all things Blog Mule, but I salute you, Curtis Cappel.

Money cast!

More photos of Patrick Min’s legendary birthday bar crawl on Flickr. Check out the slideshow below go full screen.

Last night Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground played the recently re-opened Crocodile in Seattle. Croc 2.0 is gorgeous. The back bar is huge and well staffed; it didn’t take long to get a PBR. All the fixtures and finishes, from the balcony to the men’s room, are first class. The new, wide stage also suited Kay Kay’s large ensemble perfectly.

I counted 11 members in the troupe for last night’s performance. A violin, melodica, euphonium, lead guitar, trumpet, bass, backing singer and drummer joined the familiar of core of Phil on cello, Kyle on keys and Kirk fronting the band and playing guitar.

The Crocodile features an amazing lighting setup. Unfortunately, no one ran the board during the set. The band was draped in red lights for the entire performance. While the lights were bright and covered the entire stage, I found it difficult to create a variety of styles with my exposures. What I didn’t realize was that the harsh lighting acted as a de facto red filter. The results I pulled off my memory card were ripe for creating black & white images in post with Adobe Photoshop CS4′s calculations feature.

Most of Kay Kay’s set comprised of songs from their debut album, Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground. The performances were as tight and polished as ever. After several of years of playing together, the band makes executing a near flawless performance look easy while still being relaxed and having fun on stage. The whole ganged stomped along in unison at the end of “Simon Courage Flees the Coop” and at one point Phil even bowed his cello while laying on the floor.

Kay Kay also debuted several new tracks from their forthcoming album, Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground. Songs included “My Friends All Passed Out” (mp3), “Diggin” and a song that I think is titled “Dirty Motherfuckers.”
[audio:http://www.trentdrum.com/mp3/MyFriendsAllPassedOut.mp3]

I was near the front for most of the show. Ask any “taper” and they’ll tell that the optimal sound in any given club is where the audio guy runs the board. Since the recording medium I chose was visual, not audio, I compromised and got near the lip of the stage. With the main speakers behind me, I heard a mixture of the live band, monitors and house PA echoing off the back wall. The sound was still pretty good, and certainly better than being up front at The Moore. Once I moved a few feet back, the room sounded great. For a club, I still think Neumos has the best sound anywhere in the room. If you disagree, feel free to leave a comment and tell me how wrong I am.

Find links to Kay Kay’s blog and listen to more tunes on their MySpace page. Visit The Crocodile’s website here.

BONUS: Michigan State University, Seattle Campus

Before Kay Kay ever took the stage, several Spartan Seattleites gathered at Spitfire in Belltown. The Michigan State men’s basketball team staged one of the greatest March Madness comebacks in recent history. Despite the fact we were only steps away from the Space Needle, the amount of green and white present made the bar feel like East Lansing. Thankfully, it still smelled like Seattle.

Overheard: “That’s just like the flag my roommate hung in our Brody dorm room.”

Overheard: “I’d totally murder a Wolverine for some Big 10 Burrito right now.”

Overheard: “The last time I was surrounded by this many excited Spartans I was at The Dollar.”

“We did it, man.”

Watch a slideshow of all the photos here and a few others at Flickr.

The following is a case study of a group of 20 somethings from Seattle, Washington as they battle cabin fever near Mount Baker.

Part I: How to diagnose Cabin Fever.

Card Games.

A rapidly developing affinity for vintage card games is one sign that you’re coming down with a case of cabin fever. Good luck trying to actually play these card games though. It requires multiple players, which means you’ll need to encourage participation and explain rules to fellow cabin fever sufferers (who are likely self-medicating already). One possible solution is to infuse a “boozing element” into the game—more on this later.

Chasing Cake with Beer.

This only seems like a good idea when a severe bout of cabin fever has set it. Be careful. “One bite” often turns into eating half the cake.

It’s also recommended that you cover the cake and hide it after the initial birthday celebration. One poor, inebriated soul will inevitably decide it’s a suitable alcohol sponge and drunkenly finger the cake into crumbs and smudges of frosting. Read about previous incidents with cake and beer.

Pets acting like humans.

If you notice that your dog is acting like a human, you probably should get some sun and go for a run or something. Or just look at more pictures of Bella.

DJ REDDY.

If Sharat starts playing non-bloghaus hits (read Ariz/Pullen playlists) off of an iPod that he DOESN’T own, he’s probably lost his effing mind and you should proceed with caution. Exercise extra vigilance if he starts doing a Brooklyn/Hipster-ish dance to JT’s “My Love” or similar jam. A quick way to re-route this debacle is to put on Ratatat’s “17 Years.” (Don’t worry, it’s on Kristen’s iPod).

Seventeen Years – Ratatat

Labeling “baking a rack of cookies” as a “productive day.”

If you feel accomplished and all you did was bake, you’ve got some serious CF.

Adding ‘boozing rulez’ to innocent games.

If you and 10 other people agree on a way to play Spoonz that requires consuming mass quantities of Coors Light, you probably are experiencing the early stages of Cabin Fever.

Pets talking to stuffed animals.

It’s actually okay to think your pets are talking to you. Bella kept staring at me all weekend and I kept asking her, “why so serious?” However, if you find yourself enthralled by the discourse exchanged between a boxer and a stuffed bear, you might have Cabin Fever. The bear definitely cannot talk.

Imagining things to be instruments.

I wish those crutches were guitars. Then breaking your leg would be AWESOME. It’s actually okay to rock out with a pair of crutches. Just don’t rock out too hard—you don’t want to actually need them.

Head Bands.

Fashionable and progressive accessory? Or an indication your friend has a “duele me cabeza?”

Photog.

If you see this guy without his camera, the best thing you can do is give him a beer. CF is likely setting in, and he’s probably spent too much time updating his blog. An Amstel or Coors will do the trick.

Part II: How to cure cabin fever.

The Laura.

If The Laura has been unleashed, you’re actually in good shape. The ridiculousness that is about to ensue will cure 90% of Cabin Fever cases.

The Detroit Lean.

As demonstrated here by Mr. Cappel, the Detroit Lean is an effective way to burn calories and stave off CF during the long winter months. Give it a try in front of your computer.

Plaid vs Argyle.

Sharat and Liz are demonstrating classic anti-CF looks. Sharat sports a scarf and argyle sweater. He’s sticking his tongue out because it is too cold to flick me off.

Hoods.

Keep those ears warm, Liz. An important part of reducing Cabin Fever is listening. If your ears get too cold and fall off, how will you be able to hear the Backstreet “OMG-you-have-this-on-your-iPod-let’s-play-it-for-irony’s-sake-yet-I-secretly-still-like-this-band” Boys song coming from the stereo inside? You won’t. Keep the hood up.

Can’t raise the roof? Pound the floor.

Security deposits are nice to get back. You’d like to tear the roof off the sucker, but you should probably just ‘beat down on the ground.’

Jean Jam.

You are probably wondering how your parents’ generation were able to fight Cabin Fever. They didn’t have all kinds of great technology like iPods, wide-mouth beer cans and DJ REDDY. I hate to say it, but nothing cures the winter blues like a little ‘blue on blue.’

Meet new people.

This is also a reason why you should always leave the house with a clean pair of underwear on.

Do the Pullen.

This dance has similar benefits to the Detroit Lean, but it takes an advanced user to properly maneuver.

Ears are safe.

Cabin fever cannot be transmitted through the ear. Have fun!

Sing to the beer bottle.

That bottle has given you so much, why not give a little back via singing it a song? Also a great CF reducer.

Hopefully you are now prepared to diagnose and treat cabin fever. If you have any questions, please see the slide show below. Thank you.

Bonus!

One lucky commenter will win an Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000 t-shirt. Share a story about cabin fever or comment on the nonsense you see here by Monday, March 9 for a chance to win. Be sure to leave a website, Facebook or MySpace link in the “website” section of the comment form. Also, check out last year’s Baker trip on Facebook.

Epilogue.

There are always a few loose ends to tie up in the aftermath of a weekend like this.

Notes on the Photography.

All of the photos here and in the Flickr set were shot with a Nikon D300. Picture control settings are Neutral with +1 saturation. I alternated between the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 and Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8mm lenses (the difference should be pretty obvious). I used a Nikon SB-600 on many of the shots with the Tokina. I typically use this flash at 45° or 60° with a Sto-Fen cover as it bounces the light and evenly lights the foreground and background. To get that “Last Night’s Party” look (bright foreground, dark background), I removed the Sto-fen and shot the flash straight on at 90°.

Kristen, Curtis, Claire, Chris & Kate.
Feierabend. Seattle, WA. September 5, 2008.
Nikon D300. Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens @ 11mm.
Aperture Priority. 1/6 sec @ f/2.8. ISO 1600.

I knew the evening was destined to be a classic the moment I read the email. What Kate succinctly proposed had enormous potential: “Hi friends! This Friday is Chris’s birthday and Curtis and I were thinking what better way to celebrate then a little DAS BOOT!! Let’s say 8:30ish at Feierabend (near REI). ” As a similar email did nearly a year ago, this note was followed up by several references to this movie, and of course this movie too. I immediately thought back to the last time I traipsed through the halls of Feierabend. It was this same group of friends and things got, well, German.

[Click image for larger version, then click "All Sizes"]

Since I’m the one usually behind the camera, Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000 readers never get to see a picture of me. Thankfully, Drew helped us all out and snapped this shot.

Prost! Yours truly enjoys a Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel.

ACT II: The Dubliner.

Some of the gang outside of The Dubliner.
Nikon D300. Nikon 18-200mm VR lens @ 52mm.
Aperture Priority. 1/15 sec @ f/4.8. ISO 400.
Nikon SB-600 fired. 0° w/Sto-fen.

I am not sure how it was decided, but we all descended on the Dubliner in Fremont. Paul, Liesen, and I arrived first. As it happened, I only had $3 in my pocket (debit card yall). The cover charge (for a strange/lousy band) was $5. I confidently approached the bouncer and offered him ALL my money. He took one look at me and uttered, “yep, that’ll work.” A surge of Dutch pride ripped through my body as I strolled into the bar—Grandpa Hoort would be proud! After a few minutes I noticed the rest of our party gathering in the street outside. I knew they were likely debating the value of paying $5 to go to the freaking D U B L I N E R. I immediately texted Kristen to inform that the door staff could be bargained with. Moments later, five of my friends streamed through the door. They had been able to negotiate a 5 for $15 deal—good work, team.

Paul & Liesen.
Nikon D300. Nikon 18-200mm VR lens @ 18mm.
Aperture Priority. 1/15 sec @ f/3.5. ISO 400.
Nikon SB-600 fired. 60° w/Sto-fen.

After only a few drinks, we decided to shift the party one more time. Although we had suffered some attrition throughout the course of the evening, we were still about 10 or 11 people strong since being joined by Rich and Sarah. We ducked out of the Dubliner, hit an alley, jogged across the street and arrived at our final destination.

Kate, Claire & Chris leaving the Dubliner.
Nikon D300. Nikon 18-200mm VR lens @ 18mm.
Aperture Priority. 1/15 sec @ f/3.5. ISO 450.
Nikon SB-600 fired. 0° w/Sto-fen.