Another Friday night at Pickwick's Pub

Day 63: Another Friday night at Pickwick's Pub, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Friday night, my husband and I had a wonderful night listening to Bob Cowsill and visiting with friends at a local pub. But wait, who's that with Bob? She was one of the patrons last night who got up and sang a few songs and harmonized on some others.

Date Taken: March 4, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 1/40
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Finding My Zen

Day 55: Finding My Zen, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Today's Daily Shoot assignment was Illustrate your idea of peace and harmony--or maybe just peace and quiet--today with a photograph. This is my attempt at illustrating peace and harmony.

I can often find inner peace and calm through music and this song, Some Good Years, just puts me in a good place. The harmony part? Well, have you heard The Cowsills sing? Definitely harmony!

Date Taken: February 24, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 1/320
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Bob Cowsill & Friends (& Family) at Molly Malones

Day 48: Bob Cowsill & Friends (& Family) at Molly Malones, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

This one is a slight cheat because I did not take this photo today. I took it last night but since I already had a photo for the day at that point, I decided to share this one today anyway.

I have loved The Cowsills since I was 11 or 12 years old. It still amazes me today that I actually know them and that I am the webmaster for their website. Bob Cowsill's son is currently in a band called The Cocanuts and they perform every Wednesday at Molly Malones in Los Angeles.

This week, The Cocanuts billed their show as having a special opening act, The Cowsills. While it wasn't actually The Cowsills, the band did have four members with the last name of Cowsill: Bob Cowsill (guitar & vocals), John Cowsill (drums & vocals), Brendon Cowsill (guitar & vocals) and Ryan Cowsill (keyboards) along with Timmy Bryson (lead guitar & vocals) and Derrick Anderson (bass & vocals).

It was a fun night with great music but man is it dark in there. I shot at 3200ISO wide open at f2.8 with shutter speeds of 1/40 & 1/50 and the shots were still underexposed! I should have put my 85mm1.8 or 50mm1.4 lens on for some shots.

Date Taken: February 16, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
Exposure: 1/50
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 38 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Band Night Fun

Band Night Fun, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Every month Bob Cowsill and his band play at The Fox & Hounds Pub in Studio City, CA. January's band night was January 8th. Knowing that Bob's brother, John, was going to be the drummer I decided to take along my camera and capture some of the action.

If you've never been to this pub it's hard to believe how low the light actually is so I'm always happy when I'm able to capture anything without a flash. This is one of my favorite shots of the night which shows that it's not just the audience that has a good time on band nights!

Date Taken: January 8, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/50
Aperture: f/1.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Q: Who does "The Most Interesting Man Alive" go to see on Friday night?

Q: Who does "The Most Interesting Man Alive" go to see on Friday night?, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Answer: Bob Cowsill, of course!!

There was a cardboard cutout of the Dos Equis XX spokesperson standing behind Bob last night at the local Pub so I just had to get this shot!

Date Taken: January 7, 2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure: 1/50
Aperture: f/1.6
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Week 44: Bob Cowsill Entertains

Bob Cowsill Entertains, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

The first Sunday of November is St. Martin's Day at the church associated with our school. Bob Cowsill has provided the after service entertainment for a few years in a row.

Yes, once again a Friday photo not taken on Friday but it does start a new week.

Photo Taken: November 1, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm f2.8
Exposure: 1/200
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Auto
Flash: On, Fired

Week 20: The Set List

Set List, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

I have made a lot of friends at Cowsill.com and one of them was visiting from Arizona to celebrate her birthday. She brought a small notebook with her to keep track of the set list for the night. In this photo, you can see a few of the songs sung by Bob Cowsill on Mariann's birthday!

Date Taken: May 15, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/50
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
No Flash

Week 15: Cowsill Trio Smooth

Cowsill Trio Smooth, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Another Friday at the Pub enjoying music from Bob Cowsill. Recently, Bob has been joined for his first set by his son, Ryan, on keyboards and harmony vocals, and his nephew, Brendon, on guitar and harmony vocals. I had seen Brendon & Ryan play with Bob before but this was the first time I had been in since the younger generation of Cowsills had started to sing as well as play.

This was another try with high ISO and no flash with a point & shoot camera. I am impressed with the IS on this camera but my 40d is definitely the clear winner with noise and high ISO especially with my fast lenses.

Date Taken: April 10, 2009
Camera: Canon PowerShot A590 IS
Exposure: 1/8
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 7.9 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off
In camera sepia with curves adjustment in Adobe Photoshop CS2

Week 8: Friday Night at the Pub

Friday Night at the Pub, originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky.

Bob Cowsill spends his Friday nights entertaining people at a pub in Woodland Hills, CA. I also spend many a Friday there enjoying the music and once in awhile I take a picture or two, too. I have been a fan of The Cowsills since I was 11 or 12 and I first walked into this Pub in 1990 to see Bob and his sister, Susan. I've been a regular there ever since and now I am even the webmaster for The Cowsills. Amazing the twists and turns that life can take.

I took this one with a point and shoot that I recently purchased to use at school. It went to Catalina with the Middle School chaperones and I wanted to try it out to see what kind of results I would get in a low light situation. I discovered that even though it goes to ISO 1600 there's no way I can take photos without flash at the Pub.

Date Taken: February 20, 2009
Camera: Canon PowerShot A590 IS
Exposure: 1/60
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Auto, Fired, Red-eye reduction (which didn't work!)

Week 3: Guinness? No Snakebite!

Guinness? No Snakebite!
Originally uploaded by Visions By Vicky

My favorite alcoholic drink is a snakebite. What's a snakebite? It's 1/2 Harp and 1/2 Hard Cider. This weekend is the annual Pub Princess weekend for Cowsill.com people so I am drinking plenty of these! This was my first of the weekend at Pickwick's Pub

Date Taken: January 16, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 1/25
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
No Flash

Day 22 - More from Florence Henderson

After the big weekend, I've had hundreds of photos to go through and not much time to do it so today we're featuring another shot taken at the Florence Henderson Show taping on January 18th. This was a quick grab the shot photo taken of The Cowsills with Florence after the taping.

Date Taken: January 18, 2008
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash fired

Day 21 - Another from the house concert

Yes, again I'm featuring a photo not taken on the actual day. This is another one from the house concert that I posted about on Day 20. The concert started at 4pm with Jason & Jackie who were then followed by Susan Cowsill. After Susan played, there was a jam session and this photo is from that and features Susan and Bob Cowsill.

Date Taken: January 20, 2008
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture: f/2.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

And if you haven't ever been to a house concert and someone in your area hosts these, you really should get to one. They are a wonderfully intimate way to see a performer.

Day 20 - Have you ever been to a House Concert?

Susan Cowsill held a house concert on Sunday the 20th and her opening act was the duo of Jackie Jae & Jason Cowsill. Jason is the oldest son of Bob Cowsill and he and Jackie sing at various venues in their hometown of Eugene, Oregon.

Date Taken: January 20, 2008
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Tamron 28-75f2.8
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 66 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 19 - More Cowsills

Okay technically this wasn't taken on the 19th but late on the 18th so close enough. On Fridays, Bob Cowsill has a regular gig at a pub in the San Fernando Valley so after the Florence Henderson Show taping, Paul & Susan Cowsill along with Susan's husband, Russ Broussard joined Bob at the pub. This is Paul Cowsill.

Date Taken: January 18, 2008 around 11pm
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 18 - Backstage at a TV Taping

The Cowsills taped the Florence Henderson Show on January 18th and I went along to document what I could in pictures. This photo is of Russ Broussard tuning his wife's guitar before the taping. This was taken in the backstage area set up for The Cowsills and their guests.

Date Taken: January 18, 2008
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 17 - And it's more music!

The next few days are all likely to be music related since this is a big Cowsill weekend in Los Angeles. This one was taken at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, CA and features Susan Cowsill.

Date Taken: January 17, 2008
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/2.5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 16 - Hey it's not dance!

I am so busy these days I didn't have time to even edit anything so I'm sharing something I took earlier in the month. One of my other favorite things to photograph, other than dance, is live music. I think I enjoy the challenge of capturing things in low light situations. So, here's one of those taken in a very dark pub.

Date Taken: January 5, 2008
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Day 11 - A no photos day

Today I spent my photo time scanning a bunch of things for possible use on a TV show that some friends of mine are doing next week. The only skill that really requires is the ability to get rid of dust since my scanner seems to suck a lot of that up inside and underneath the scanning bed. So, just to put up some kind of image, here's one of the things I scanned today!

My question on this is why oh why did someone dress them like this?

Day 5 - Live Music

A friend recently asked me what my favorite thing to photograph is. As I thought about it, I realized that other than taking pictures of my family, I love to photograph concerts and live music in small venues and dance performances. I enjoy the challenge of capturing the event and the challenge of the lighting situations. With that in mind, I took my 40d along to see a friend at a local pub last night. Since he plays from 9pm until 1am, I waited until midnight and started to take some photos knowing I wanted to use one on this blog. The lighting in this pub is minimal at best - a string of Christmas lights around the alcove where the singer is positioned, a few recessed lights behind the singer, lighting in a hall to the right and a few dim lights in the rest of the bar. Since the light was so low, I set my ISO at 3200 and went for it to get as high a shutter speed as possible. I wanted to test out my new 50mm 1.4 lens and play with hand holding it at low shutter speeds since it's heavier than the 50mm 1.8 lens that I'm used to. I also played with the monochrome picture style on some of the shots to see if I liked it at all. I like to shoot and color and convert to B&W myself but thought I'd give this a try. As far as post processing on these photos went, I did some minor noiseware adjustments on a few but mostly just left the grain and tried to embrace it. I generally upped the midtones a bit and added some screen layers and soft light layers at times. On some of the monochrome ones, I used a hue adjustment to add some warmth to the tones and I added some grunge overlays and borders. And here's my favorite of the night all grunged up ...

Date Taken: January 5, 2008
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon 50mm 1.4
Exposure: 0.025 sec (1/40)
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

If you're interested in the other photos, you can see the set over at Flickr.