IMAGES BY DeMEGLIO - Photography by Anthony J. DeMeglio

I love a low light challenge!

2011-06-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to lie here but my first love (besides my wife) has always been lighting design. It was only natural for me to fall back into photography because lighting is such an important aspect of it. In order to document some of my lighting designs (for theater, concerts and corporate events. You can see what I've done here and also on my main company website for Brilliant Events and Meetings, Inc.) I had to learn how to take photos under mostly low level lighting conditions - without a flash.

Initially, I used a point and shoot camera and would place it on my lighting console, set it to low light and then set the timer. This helped limit any motion blur that occurs when you press and release the shutter. Eventually, after I got serious with my photography again, I started using an SLR on a tripod. I still used a timer though for the same reason and not to mention it's hard to operate a lighting console for a concert AND take photos at the same time. Anyway, I feel this experience has helped me hone my low light skills and if you go to my music galleries you'll see where I got even more experience. Depending on the situation, I mostly shoot hand held but when I can, I try and use a mono pod to keep things steady. Image stabilizing lenses help even further. It's not cheating. It's using the right tools for the job.

Last night, I was back at the Indio Performing Arts Center taking photos for Palm Springs Metromix photographing the hip hop group OFWGKTA. I managed to come up with two favorite shots. It was a rare moment when the right lights turned on at the right time and I was able to get that split second composition to really capture the energy of the artist. The second image worked out great to and also gave me a laugh. The entire time during the concert, fans kept trying to climb on stage and where grabbing the artist. In a brief moment, the artist seemed to have this brief look of... well, judge for yourself!

Speed Addiction

2011-05-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

I love it. The smell of race gas, burning rubber, the excitement as everyone is getting ready. It's race day! Cars, motorcycles, whatever. It doesn't matter. While I would love to be out on the track, it just wasn't in the cards for me this year and I just don't have enough track time to do it competitively. That's just fine.

Instead, I got to hang out at one of two spots where I could take some descent photos as my brother rode his practice laps. My only regret? I forgot my extension tube for my 70-200mm f2.8 lens that would effectively doubled my range to 400mm. I made the most of it and you can see the entire gallery here.

The wind picked up big time and they were only able to race two groups, neither of which my brother was in. The wind was so bad that when the last riders came off the track and stopped, a scary amount of sand came out from the motorcycle. Race officials decided it was just to risky and shut things down for the day. A good call if you ask me.

BYOC

2011-04-17T00:57:00.000-07:00

Last month, I attended a BYOC party. That's Bring Your Own Camera Party. Sponsored by the Photography Collection Council of the Palm Springs Art Museum, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Springs Life, Taylor Sherrill, The Studio and David Dixon Design.com.

It was an opportunity to photograph professional models with the aid of professional studio location lighting. It was great because all I had to do was show up with my camera and just start snapping. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time and you had a broad range of photographers from amateurs to professionals.

Here are a few of my favorites...

The next photo, I added a little extra lighting with my flash, hand held with a wireless trigger and a cyan gel taped to it. I also played with amber, yellow and blue gels.

You can see more here.

Sandra Martinez

2010-12-18T01:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo I took of model Sandra Martinez.

This one is a favorite because I love how the sun setting behind her created the lens flare.
You can see additional photos here.

A good man.

2010-09-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

Milen wasn't just an extremely fast motorcycle rider on and off the track. He was, as my brother put it, a humble rider. He wasn't the guy looking to prove himself as the better rider or person for that matter. He truly loved riding and was extremely passionate about it. That's not all, he was a great guy that would help his friends out without ever thinking about it or expecting anything in return. He was someone you could count on.

This afternoon, I received the sad news that my dear friend was tragically killed while riding of all things, his bicycle. He wasn't doing anything stupid and he wasn't taking unnecessary risks, he was riding in the bike lane with the company of another friend when a driver struck him from behind.

We will all miss our dear friend and as my wife consoled me, he's currently riding the most challenging and fun track in the sky and looking down with us with that big smile.

Love you like a brother....

More Fashion

2010-05-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hello out there!

As usual, I have neglected my blog for some time but hey, I've been busy and you know how it is. So I don't have much to say and besides, you would rather see some photos.

Destination Palm Springs was at it again and this time I stopped by to see what they had to offer.

This is just a tease, there's much more on here my website.

What I'm up to this week.

2010-03-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

So this week I'm shooting for the local magazine publication "Palm Springs Life" and thought I would share a few photos I took of the runway show after my initial assignment (photographing guests as they enter for the show). I've photographed a couple of other fashion shows before but this one is on a much larger scale as it is the annual Palm Springs Life Fashion Week on El Paseo. I didn't have to stay for the show but who could resist the opportunity. I'm in the midst of processing other photos including a wedding I recently photographed (I can't wait to share some of those!) but I'll have runway photos posted for each day that I attend in the events gallery soon enough. Take care!

The Right Light

2010-03-08T01:44:00.000-08:00

I was photographing a drag show at Toucan's Tiki Lounge for Metromix tonight and it was coming to the end of my time when I saw this opportunity.

Being a lighting designer, I had a pretty good idea on how I wanted the photograph to come out. The follow spot had followed the artist into the audience and I lined myself up so that her head hid the light source and because I didn't have much time, I dialed the camera to one of the custom settings I have set up for low light situations knowing that it would also disable the flash so that it wouldn't ruin the effect I was going for. I made some minor post processing changes in Light Room including converting it to Grayscale, boosting the exposure, brightness, and contrast. Since the exposure was at 1/80 sec at f/4.5, ISO 3200, I had to also use a little bit of Noise reduction. Copyright 2010 Metromix, LLC [Credit: Anthony J. DeMeglio | IMAGES BY DeMEGLIO]

Coachella Chamber of Commerce Mixer

2010-01-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

Last night I decided to stop by Fantasy Springs Casino's new lounge, The Penthouse to join in on the Coachella Chamber of Commerce monthly mixer. I always enjoy meeting new people and it's a great way to network. Here is a small sample of photos I took while I was there.

You can see more pictures on my website at www.imagesbydemeglio.com/Events/cccmixer0110. Enjoy!

Delicious!

2010-01-15T17:56:00.000-08:00

Last week my lovely fiance and our friend Kate Franco got together at my place to whip up their first attempt at Paella. A flavorful Spanish dish with mussels, shrimp and plenty of seasoning mixed up with rice. It was perfect and while you can't taste it here, you can see the flavors. Don't be jealous!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T17:03:00.000-08:00

This is a photo I took in December of 2008 of the San Jacinto Mountains which are north west of Palm Springs. I'm pretty sure I took this with the camera mounted on a tripod that I set up in the bed of my pickup truck. Exposure was 1/320 at f/11, ISO 100 at 80mm. I did some minor exposure adjustments in Lightroom . One of the pleasures I have in living in Palm Springs is that when it snows, we can get beautiful scenery such as this and still enjoy comfortable winter temperatures of 60 degrees. We haven't seen anything like this so far this winter season but it's still early. Happy New Year to you and may it be a prosperous one.

Aloha!

2009-12-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

I took some photos for my friend and Kumu Hula of Hälau Hula O Wailehua hula school, Kekoa Yap for the school's first annual Hula recital. It was a great show and the dancers danced from the heart. Here are some photos from the gallery.

For Sale: 1958 Ford 1/2 Ton Short Bed

2009-11-27T09:55:00.001-08:00

Last month, while I was setting up the booth for the Palm Springs Corvette Club Fall Classic Autocross, a gentleman walked up and was admiring the two 18 x 24 posters I had up. One was a blown up photograph of my truck on the autocross track from the last event and the other was a poster I had made up with information about my services. A light bulb when off in his head and he asked if I could do the same for him. He has a 1958 Ford 1/2 Ton Short Bed pick up that he had recently restored and is currently taking it to different car shows in the Southern California area. He wanted to have a poster that he could show in front of the truck with a list of all the specifications and what he had done to the truck. He also wanted to be able to use a smaller version for fliers he could hand out.

When we first met to go over the design, he just wanted me to create the poster and use one of the snap shots he took in front of his garage. I'm no snob but I suggested that for a few dollars more we could take the truck out to a barely driven road in the desert in Whitewater California and get some really good "buy me" photos.

Whitewater, California is about 20 minutes west of Palm Springs and I still consider as part of my Coachella Valley travel limit before I start charging extra. It's a spot that I've taken models and customers to before. He was up for the idea and after we spent about an hour photographing the truck. He was very surprised by the amount of time but I think he was impressed that I tried to cover every detail including underneath the chassis. I did minor touch ups to the photos to remove random telephone poles and to enhance exposure but what you see is what you get, one really nice truck.

I charged my normal fee for a vehicle portrait but instead of getting digital files or photos, I am providing the posters and added a few hours of graphic design. To add value to the package and for no additional cost, I suggested adding the web gallery to the bottom of the poster so that potential clients could easily go to the site and look at detailed photographs I had taken. The entire gallery can be seen at www.imagesbydemeglio.com/1958ford.

Adorable

2009-11-25T09:49:00.000-08:00

I recently had the opportunity to take photos of a long time client and friend, Caroldean and her six week year old baby boy, Declan. I admit I was a little nervous, although I shouldn't have been because he's not the first infant I've photographed. It probably had to do more with me worrying that the photos won't be up to par or that Caroldean would be disappointed. It is very important to me that the experience and the photographs exceeds the expectations of my customers.

We did have a good time and as I tend to do, I went a little over time because I wanted Caroldean to have more than one pose and clothing change to choose from. I also attempted to apply some of my theatrical lighting to some of the photographs but unfortunately towards the end of the session, Declan decided he had had enough. That was OK though because he gave us some great poses earlier in the evening.

Thank you Caroldean and Declan.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T23:19:00.001-08:00

Halloween isn't usually my cup of tea. After high school, getting dressed up just seemed to be too much work although last year, I managed to pull off what I hope was a decent "Joe the plumber". I know, too easy, but that was the point :-)

This year, I didn't get dressed up but I did go out shooting. I had a blast taking photos and seeing many cool costumes. You can see photos of BB's 25th Annual Halloween Bash on the Palm Springs Metromix website. The party was enormous with several of the main ballrooms at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort hotel packed with costumed party goers.

Experimenting

2009-10-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

I recently came across some event photos taken recently at a local club by photographer, Kyle Hendrix. He had taken photos in a way I never thought to for events and I was curious to find out how he did it. He never did get back to me with all of the details but I was surprised when he told me how long he "dragged" out the shutter speed, sometimes to over 1 second. Knowing the space he was shooting in, it explained why he was able to get the background to look the way it did and his flash(s) took care of the subject matter just great. The rest of the look, I'm assuming, was done while post processing.

So last Friday night while shooting for Metromix, I decided to experiment a little. So I kept my ISO down to about 500 (which can be low at the Red Barn) and set the time to about one second, aperture at around f/10 (which is REALLY small for the Red Barn) and snapped a few. Well, I'm sure shooting a portrait of people standing still would great but when you're photographing musicians who are all over the place... not so good. I of course got the ghosting I expected but I did get a little bit of a sharp subject matter. I didn't give up there though. I had always wanted to try a zooming technique. Basically, as the shutter is opened, I would change the zoom. Well all I have to say is, "way cool", especially when you have neon lights behind your subject! That's how I got the photo of "D" singing.

The next photo is "Mondo". I'm posting that here because, while I didn't deviate to much from my usual shooting style, I did have the shutter set at 1/10 of a second, where normally I'm at about 1/60th.

This allowed me to catch the ambient light behind him nicely. What I really like about this photo though is that I feel I captured "Mondo". He's got that big smile on his face and it's genuine. He loves performing and B Movie Superstars as a whole love being on the stage and singing their hearts out. The last photo is Martin, their lead guitarist. Here's a guy who would never look up while playing and when he does and I've got the camera ready... lol. I get the meanest looks but it's all in good fun (I like to think we're pretty good friends).

By the end of the night I already had what I needed for Metromix so I decided to have some fun and pulled the flash off the camera and attach the wireless trigger. I shoot with a Gary Fong Origami Fold Flat Diffuser attached to my flash and held the flash pointed so that the diffuser reflected light up towards Martin and slightly towards the wall. So even though the light was primarily an up-light, the wall acted as a reflector and filled in nicely from the side, still giving me the shadows I wanted on his right side.

Here are the rest of the photos from that night. The very first photo is an example of the first technique I tried.

Take care for now.
-A

-B Movie Superstars website-

Good Times

2009-10-12T12:58:00.001-07:00

Once and sometimes twice a week you'll find me wandering around the local watering hole camera in hand taking photos for Metromix Palm Springs. Metromix Palm Springs is THE local internet entertainment website guide to find out what's going on in the Palm Springs area. It's a website that I wish existed 8 and a half years ago when I first moved to Palm Springs. Then again, there wasn't much going on for folks my age.

I truly enjoy going out and photographing for them because I have an opportunity to catch people having a great time out on the town and many times I get to see talented local artists performing or attend some of the coolest after parties.

These past two weeks I was at Shakerz in Palm Springs and captured everyone enjoying the Afro Classics, Provoked, Three Strykes, Jack Patron and DJ Odysey and then "One Night Only", a show put on at Confession Night Club in Palm Springs to benefit the Desert Aids Project.

If you see me out there, say hi and don't forget to smile for the camera!

Work Life -vs- Personal Life

2009-10-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went mountain biking for the first time in a really long time. Something I've been promising my brother I would do once I got a bicycle helmet (The last time I really rode bicycles, there weren't bicycle helmets). Well, my cousin visited last month and was nice enough to purchase a helmet and left it for me. You would think that for my first time we would go for a nice easy ride. Yeah right. The climb up was painful. I thought I was going to pass out, throw-up, and or have a heart attack... several times. The ride down, painful, but only because I crashed into a bush that happened to be on the ground. I'm not really complaining though. I had fun and while I probably walked most of the time, I spent that time with my brother. Something that I take for granted. It's always work work work and now I've realized that work is just something you do to pay the bills. What is important is the time you spend with your friends and loved one's. If only I realized that eight and a half years ago, I may have not devoted as much time to my job as I had.

After my ride, I took some time to help my friend, Richard Byford of Byway Entertainment, out and take some photos of him for a website he is working on. Richard has been making a large effort to show that even in the event industry, they can do their part to help the environment. It was nice spending time with him and catching up on things. Richard is a very hard worker and you would never believe how, eh hem, how old (or young?) he is. Sadly, as hard as he works, I don't feel that he gives himself enough "Richard" time and I wish I could get him to realize that it's ok to put the phone down after normal work hours, sit down, grab a drink and relax for a few hours. The work will be there tomorrow.

sigh...

2009-08-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

I know, It's been over a month. I'm currently going through some personal troubles (don't worry, Monica and I are just fine and still happily engaged).

After eight and a half years and countless hours of sacrificing my free time, sleeping on the office floor to get the job done, coming up with ways to save money, and working closely with clients on both small and large projects, I was laid off from The Show Factory, Inc., where I ran the lighting department, due to the bad economy and complete lack of work. I was told that they would possibly bring me back in October depending if work picks up for them.

In the mean time, I have been neglecting my photography while I try and figure out what the next step in life is. I still take photos whenever possible and have a couple of galleries on the Palm Springs Metromix website from the past month and a half.

Start spreading the news...

2009-07-15T19:15:00.001-07:00

Today is the day after one of the biggest moments in my life. I proposed to my girlfriend of over two years. I don't like to brag but I think I pulled it off very well with a nice romantic stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge a drop to one knee and then the question. I think she was pretty happy, as I am.

Taken by a random couple that happened to be standing nearby. I walked up and asked "Can you please take a picture of me and my new fiance". Their response was "aw, when did you get engaged?" to which I replied "two minutes ago". I think they were just as surprised as Monica.

This is a random un-touched photo I took while Monica made a 'few' phone calls.

Adventure Time!

2009-07-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

I'm off! Well, actually, I've arrived already... to NYC that is. I'm on a little vacation get away to visit family, friends, and the city I love and used to call home, New York City. It's day one and I've just finished uploading my last Metromix assignment, the "Move" party at Dink's Ultra-Lounge. The point of the trip is to get some rest and have some fun so I'm not sure if yet if I'm going to post photos while here. Here is one photo though from last Friday's party. You can find more HERE. There will be more posted on the Palm Springs Metromix site on Monday.

What's going on?

2009-06-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

So I've been busy. What does that mean? I'm a little behind where I would like to be as far as uploading new photos.

So just to keep you posted if you're looking for photos.
*I'm uploading photos of the 6/20/09 Eeka Mouse Concert to Metromix. They typically will have them posted on their website by the following Monday. I'll have even more photos from the concert posted on my website within the next few days.
*6/12/09 Red Barn Show (Wyte Gye & Roads of Rome), I'm pretty close to having those posted.
*6/7/09 Encore Car Show. Haven't even started but I'm sure I have some good photos in there.
There's more but I tend to do the most recent first and then work backwards to catch up. Paying jobs of course go first and the photos I shoot for me follow.

There's plenty to see on the site now so Thank You for your patience!
-Anthony

Here is some samples of recent work...

Color me this...

2009-06-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

At the end of last month I photographed a Hip-Hop show at The Point After in Cathedral City, Ca. The venue has a slightly elevated dinning area for a stage and does not have any type of stage lighting. I've photographed at this space one other time and knew the challenges that were ahead of me. I decided to take another crack at using saturate theatrical gels on the flash (you can find my first attempt here).

This time around, there was enough ambient light to see what color I was putting onto the flash and easily get rid of the one's I didn't like. Here are samples of what I ended up with. There is no editing to the photo other than minor adjustments to levels (Exposure, Recovery, Fill, Blacks, Brightness, and contrast). All colors were Apollo Gel from Apollo Design Technology, inc.

Purple - A Favorite (it also results in good black and white conversions)

Yellow - Another Favorite

Amber

Cyan - Ehh... Not too bad

Blue - was really a hard read and I did adjust how the color was translated.

Blue to Black & White Conversion.

Red - I think. Red was a hard color to work with but I haven't given up on it yet.

Green!

There are plenty more colors for me to try in the future and as I try them, I'll share them with you.

Take care for now!
-Anthony

Mmm Mmm Good!

2009-06-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of dining out with my lovely girlfriend a few weeks ago at Copley's On Palm Canyon located in downtown Palm Springs. The restaurant was having their annual "A Taste of Hawaii" themed evening and I just happened to have my camera with me. You can find the pictures here but I just had to share a few of the food photos I took. It still makes my mouth water.

Rock & Roll

2009-05-26T21:06:00.001-07:00

My recent Metromix adventures gave me the opportunity to photograph the bands Staind & Hoobastank at Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella, CA. The evening started with taking photos of concert goers as they entered the show room before the concert. Once the show began, I was allowed to take photos of each band for the first three songs. I'm not exactly sure why the bands limit how long we photographers can shoot but one theory I have is that they don't want us photographers in the way of the audience for the entire concert.

So what to do when you have such limited time? At this point a little experience helps. I've been shooting concerts, usually from a good distance back because I'm usually running a lighting console at the same time, for a few years now. What I do is set the camera in manual mode, the metering mode to Spot and open up my aperture to the max, which for my primary lens is (28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS) is F/3.5 at its widest setting. I try to keep the ISO to no more than 800 but will bring it up to 1600 and sometimes 3200 (but it gets a little to noisy for me). My shutter speed varies depending on the lighting but I try and keep it faster than 1/60 of a second. Images Stabilization is definitely on and makes a big difference. One important setting is your drive should be set to High. Even though I usually have the shot in mind, by having the drive set to high, I can press and hold the shutter down to take a few rapid shots. The first shot may be blurry because the camera WILL shake a little when you first press the shutter button down but the second and third will probably be ok and the last show may be blurry as you remove your finger from the shutter.

For this concert, I went back and forth between my 28-135mm and 70-200mm f2.8L IS lenses but in the end I preferred the wider zoom since I was so close and I was happier with what I was seeing in the view finder. I did try aperture priority mode but what happens is since the lighting is constantly changing, if you meter point hits a dark spot, it will slow the shutter speed down WAY to much and you will actually end up with an over exposed image that's also blurry. I recommend playing with ISO and shutter speeds to see the different results you can end up with. I'll crank the ISO up to 1600 when I need to get the shutter speed up (if I'm not using my monopod) and also when I want to get a little more background into the photo. You can find more photos of the concert at the main Staind & Hoobastank Photogallery.

I really like this photograph of Staind Bassist Johnny April (f/4.5, 1/1250, ISO 800 & a little Light Room Love).

The back story...

2009-05-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

I've been a Lighting Designer for almost 15 years now having started back in high school when I joined with Stage Crew.

Originally, I was an aspiring photo journalist and had even become the high school's youngest Photo Editor, taking the position in my freshman year (the position was usually reserved for seniors). I had really gotten into photography and obtained my first SLR, a Pentax K1000 and a few lenses. I had no direction and no real idea to what I was doing other than understanding how to get a good exposure.

One day, I was asked to sign a piece of paper by the art department head, Mr. Lopez, who was the Stage Crew advisor. Little did I know, by signing that paper, the course of my life changed dramatically. I had instantly become an officer of the Stage Crew club. I was intensely involved from that point on. I typically handled audio for sporting event but in the theater, I was responsible for lighting events and productions. I taught myself through reading by observing the occasional proffesional that came through and just having a natural understanding of lighting. I was drawn to how controling the light for a play or musical could evoke emotion or create the mood for the scene. I became passionate about lighting. What a happy day to discover I could make a living playing with light!

So after much research and traveling to colleges in the North East, I ended up in the South East where I attended the then called "North Carolina School of the Arts" (now called The University of North Carolina School of the Arts). I could not have been happier. For four years, I studied Design and Production for theater, specializing in Lighting Design. My freshman year my love for lighting was cemented in a simple dance solo for the all school production of Brigadoon. The lighting that was done to highten the emotion of the solo (which was a dance for mourning) just struck me in such a way that connected with me.

Fast forward to today. I left the theater and NYC in 2001 to try my hand in the corporate world. It, for a time, allowed me creative freedom with a little more budget and a good learning experience. After 8 years and a few cycles of different types of production work, we've mostly been doing rock and roll. The acts have been getting bigger and typically, the bigger acts have bring their own designers. This leaves me with the simple job of providing the requested parts, hanging up in the air and twiddling my thumbs on the side lines ready to pounce if there is a problem. Boring.

Last year I fell in love with photography all over again. I purchased my Canon 40D and never looked back. This time I'm armed with my design training and a greater appreciation of light. I'm also continuosly learning something new everyday so it keeps photography fresh for me. Last night I attended a seminar, Digital Wakeup Call with photographer David Ziser (check out his Digital Pro Talk Blog ). I found it to be very insightful and educational. There were a lot of "a huh" moments for me and I would recommend the seminar to anyone (both pro and ameture). My head was spinning with ideas the entire one and a half hour drive home.

One of his suggestions was to blog and to blog often. So I'm going to make more of an effort to do so. Today's post was just to give my audience a little back story to how I ended up here with "IMAGES BY DeMEGLIO". While I've made some posts in the past, I'm still unsure of what I'm doing.

Send me a comment or email me. I want to hear from you, What do you want to know? What will you find interesting about me? Do you want to know what I'm working on these days?

I look forward to hearing from you!

Anthony

Latest and greatest...

2009-05-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

I feel like it's time for confession. Bless me father, for I have sinned, it has been one month since my last blog...

Seriously though, I've been busy with my other life. My other life? Well, when I'm not wielding my camera and capturing the souls of my sometimes unsuspecting victims, I'm subjecting others to bright and hot lights. My other 'profession' is Lighting Design for production. These productions range from private parties to corporate events to rock and roll concerts. As slow as business has been for us in this economy, April ended up being pretty busy with several small jobs mixed in with a few big one's including lighting India.Arie for a concert at Fantasy Springs Casino (sorry no photos for that one) and Mary Wilson for another Evening Under The Stars concert benefiting the AIDS Assistance Program of Palm Springs.

Somewhere in there I managed to also keep busy shooting photos for Palm Springs Metromix, a company whose website is your one stop local entertainment guide for the Palm Springs, CA area, at least once a week. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to link to the photos on the Metromix.com website although, in the El Dorado Desert Rock Festival and my recent gallery for The Point After do include links to the photos I took for Metromix in what I consider the main gallery for the bands.

This brings me to a new change that I'm going to do. I think visitors to my site who may have been trying to find their photos that I took while shooting band photos are having trouble finding their photos. I like the idea of creating a main gallery for the date and venue that the bands have played and using links to get to the individual band galleries for that evening. Within the list, I will include a separate candids gallery, what I now consider part of "Around Town". You can find an example of this with my most recent rock and roll gallery here.

If you've visited my website and have had trouble getting around or if you have suggestions to how I can improve getting around my site, please let me know here.

Thanks for following.

-Anthony

Sleep is for the weak...

2009-04-13T22:19:00.001-07:00

Last week ended up being fairly busy for me. I finished processing the remaining photos that I took of the El Dorado Desert Rock Festival which took a little longer than planned because I was experimenting with upload sizes. It turns out that if I upload the files below a certain size, my web host won't allow me to sell my small downloads. With that, I had to re-upload all of the galleries for the bands.

I managed to finish just in time to head out for my Metromix assignment for the weekend, the 2009 White Party over at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The folks at the party told the Metromix producers it would be happening at 9PM but unfortunately, that was not the case. On the plus size, since I was there and had a experience shooting concerts, I was asked if I wanted to shoot some photos of the evenings star performer, "Lady Gaga", for the Associated Press. Who was I to say no? While Lady G managed to stall her start to an early 1:30 AM (or maybe it was a little later) and we could only shoot for the first two songs, we both stuck it out and in the end I was really happy with the photos.

By the time I backed up all of the photos from the evening and gone through, processed the photos of Lady Gaga and uploaded them to my website, it was about 5AM. Just in time to take a four hour nap before my busy Easter Sunday.

I was happy to see by the next day, not only had the AP picked up the photos, but several papers across the U.S. grabbed them for their websites. Here is a link to the Orange County Register's website. I have to say it's really cool to see my photo and name credited with the AP. The Washington Post and a couple of others also used some of my shots. I'm pretty happy with the photos, a little to much noise for my taste, but overall ok.

What's up Palm Springs!?

2009-04-04T02:08:00.000-07:00

Whew... What a day! I got in a little late to the office, did a little of this and a little of that, came up with a set design for India.Arie (lighting is next week) and grabbed a quick dinner and off to Indio for the El Dorado Desert Rock Festival (Benefiting ACT for MS) to take pictures for Palm Springs Metromix and myself.

I had a great time! I met a lot of new people and saw some familiar faces from the first time I went out and shot photos for Metromix and I believe I got many good photos of the bands that played this evening.

So you're probably wondering by now, who or what is Metromix? Metromix is a cool new website geared towards 21 to 34 year old adults who are looking for something to do. It's "your one-stop local entertainment guide on where to go and what to do in Palm Springs, from the hottest restaurants and bars, to the latest in events, music, movies, style, and TV". An opportunity came up for me to take some photos for them last weekend and I couldn't refuse. I basically take pictures of people having a good time out on the town, which is basically what my "Around Town" gallery is all about. You can see pictures that I took at the Red Barn in Palm Desert here and pictures from McCormick's in Palm Desert here.

The pictures from the rock concert are now up on the Metromix website.

PSCC 2009 Autocross Photos...Posted!

2009-03-23T00:27:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your patience. The photos from this year's Palm Springs Corvette Club are officially posted online. From the main gallery, you will be able to access the two track photos galleries and three candid photos galleries.

If you are looking for pictures of your car, head over to the track photos and you'll see that the photos are grouped and sorted by car number. Remember to check out both days if you drove both days. There is a link at the top left of the galleries that says "buy" if you wish to purchase a download, print (there are many sizes to choose from), or merchandise such as t-shirts or mugs. Remember all products, except for downloads, purchased through the website are satisfaction guaranteed for 30 days. If you are not satisfied with your product, you can return it for a new print or get your money back.

If you have any questions, please send me an email.

RE: PSCC AutoCross Photos

2009-03-20T23:09:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for your patience. I'm just about ready to start posting photos and will be doing so this Sunday. Unfortunately, I'll be at a job site all day and night Saturday so I won't be able to get to them until then. I'm hoping I'll be able to get internet access to at least start setting up the galleries.

Also, if you pre-purchased downloads, I will start emailing those Sunday too.

I'm really happy with how the photos came out and I can't wait to share with you!

-Anthony

I'm beat!

2009-03-15T22:08:00.000-07:00

What a weekend. Thank you to all the drivers out there who purchased photos at my booth for the Palm Springs Corvette Club 10th Annual Autocross. It was a great time for all who participated and I'm looking forward to next year.

I should have all of the photos posted in at least a week (I have a few other jobs this week and I have MANY photos to go through!) and this includes any downloads that were purchased. Once the photos are up, you'll be able to order prints of almost any size as well as merchandise such as t-shirts and mugs. If you want, send me an email or go to my MySpace page and add as me as a friend. I'll email you when the galleries are posted.

I would like to thank my friends, Tim, Sarah, Steve and his family Erin & Malissa for helping with sales and marketing. I could not have done this without them. I would also like to thank Howard and Real Assist for the graphics now on my truck and of course The Palm Springs Corvette Club for allowing me to take photos for the autocross. Last but not least, I would like to thank my customers for their purchases. Nothing can be more flattering than someone willing to spend their hard earned money on the memories I capture with my camera.

With that, on this lovely Sunday evening... I'm going to pass out!

March Updates

2009-03-12T01:14:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

I've been a little busy these days getting ready for my favorite Coachella Valley event, The Palm Springs Corvette Club Annual Charity Autocross. This two day event put on by the club helps raise money for the Riverside County Support Group for ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

So what's an Autocross? The quick and easy explanation is that's an event where a make shift track is created in a large empty parking lot primarily using traffic cones. There is a start and a finish and the idea is to make it through the track as fast as you can... without hitting any cones or going off the course. Typically if you hit a cone, a time penalty of one second is added and if you go off the course you get a "DNF" or "did not finish" and your time doesn't count. Only one car runs at a time or if the track is big enough and if it's safe, two cars can be run at the same time. Vehicles are broken down into different classes to keep competition fair.

Anyhow, I like to bring my truck out and give the Corvette guys a run for their money :-) A truck you laugh? Well, some of those guys aren't usually laughing by the time I make it past the timing lights. My truck happens to be a 2000 Ford F150 Lightning plus a little driving experience helps a little. Honestly it's a really good time for all and it's for a good cause.

So this year, I get to spend the weekend with two passions of mine. Autocrossing and photography. I volunteered my services to the club to take photos for them and I will also be selling photos to the drivers that will be there. I'll be donating a portion of what I make to the club. So in preparation I've had to put off processing photos from the past week or so including the Low Low Car Show (3/1), the Hot Air Balloon photos I took the same day and a few recent productions I've worked on.

Thanks for you patience and if you live in the area and want to check out the fun, we'll be at the Indio Fairgrounds this weekend, March 14th and 15th, 10AM to 5 PM.

Take care,

Anthony

Around Town

2009-02-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

So I've been busy these past few weekends. As promised, I created an Around Town gallery which contains galleries of photos from a night on the town. I've managed to get out there every Friday this month so far and posted photos from 2/6 and 2/13 with photos from 2/20 to be posted soon. Most of the Friday nights out have been at the Red Barn, a bar in Palm Desert California and one night was spent at Roc's Firehouse Grille.

In that time, I've covered eight different bands in that time and you can find their photos in the Music Galleries. All of them were great and I had a lot of fun photographing them.

So what's coming up? I have an event that I'm shooting Monday for a visiting Alumni Association and the one I look most forward to... The 2009 Palm Springs Corvette Club Annual Autocross . Not only do I plan on being there both days photographing the event for the club but I will also be racing my 2000 Ford Lightning. I've been racing with the club for the past several years and it always brings a smile to my face when people who have never seen a pick-up truck move around the track faster than some of the Corvettes. I've agreed to donate my services to take photographs for the club's website and they are going to allow me to sell photos. After the event is over and I (hopefully) tally up my earnings from picture sales, I will donate a portion to their charity benefiting ALS research. If you live in the area, the Autocross will be held at the Indio Fairgrounds on March 14th and 15th from 10AM to 5PM and is open to all makes of cars with a low entry fee of $20 which includes one run.

Hope to see you there and that's it for now!

Things to come

2009-02-07T02:22:00.000-08:00

Hi! I know, I know, I'm a slacker. What can I say? I'm still getting into the swing of this blogging thing. I am getting much better at posting photos though. I've added two new main galleries, "Lighting Design" and "People".

I've decided that I'm going to post the photos that I have taken of shows that I have done the lighting for in the "Lighting Design" galleries and have sub categorized those shows into several different genres. It's an opportunity for me to show you my lighting designs and photography all in one place.

In the "People" gallery, I'm currently going to sub categorize into three groups. People at work, people that work with me at The Show Factory, Inc (TSFI) and people having fun.

I've also decided that I'm going to go ahead and start a new category within the next couple of days for a project I conceived recently. As of right now I'm going to call it "Around Town". Within that category, you'll find galleries of photos that I will take at bars and clubs around the Coachella Valley. I'll be hanging around having a good time and of course, I'll have my camera with me. I'll post the pictures that I take up on the site and you'll be able to purchase them for a few bucks (Someone has to pay for my beer!). I'll be posting my first set up within a few days from tonight's adventure at the Firehouse Grill in Palm Desert with the Michael James Band.

Let me know what you think of the idea!

Phew... Still Going!

2008-12-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. It's Saturday Morning and I'm up earlier than I should be on a day off but I just finished posting long awaited (That goes for all my pictures?!?) pictures from my Glamis adventure last Thanksgiving weekend. Since my last post in October, it's been pretty much the same as my last post... busy. I spent several weeks putting together a plan to make some money in Glamis with the idea to sell photos of people doing their thing in the sand. I created shirts and forms and developed what I thought was a good plan to take pictures, hand out my business card and by the end of the day would be able to hand over a proof CD with the customers photos on it.

Well, it may have worked fine except, this was my first time to Glamis (for those of you who don't know, it's a big sandbox for those who like to drive their sand-rails, quads and dirt bikes in, well, the sand) and it wasn't like I expected. My new friends provided me with a quad and we left base camp to drive basically across a big empty desert. Every once in a while you would see other riders but pretty much we were apparently heading to a particular spot with no intention of stopping in between. The only time we stopped for any period of time was when I got stuck. It gets better, just when we were about to reach our destination, which apparently was "Oldsmobile Hill", a rather tall 'hill' that everyone would brave riding up and then coming back down, I had a little accident. I won't get into it here because you can get the full story in my gallery.

Well, once we made it to base camp and I was recovering, I heard a dirt bike outside and just as I peaked out the window of the trailer I saw Frank Mills jumping the small hill behind the camp ground.

I took many more photos than I had originally planed but I couldn't help it! I had switched to the high end zoom lens I rented and had to take many steps back because I was to close! Afterward, I showed him a few of the pictures on the back of the camera and told him how much it would be for the CD and he seemed excited about it. By the time he had come back that night, I sorted through the photos and got rid of the bad ones and created a quick slide show in LightRoom. When he came into the trailer, I had turned the screen around on my tablet so that the keyboard was behind and him and his friends seemed to really like the photos. It felt good. He didn't and as of this writing hasn't purchased any photos but that's ok because it felt good to see the excitement in his face and it made me realize that I'm doing the right thing. The pictures are still posted here for him or anyone to buy.

I would love to keep going but I'm already a half hour behind on my chores for the weekend. The parents are visiting for the holidays and this bachelor pad needs some work! Tune in soon for pictures from by brother and me at Stone Mountain Racetrack for a track day with Socal Track Days this past December 7th, 2008. Happy Holidays!

I haven't forgotten!

2008-10-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

So I haven't forgotten that I created this blog, I've just been really busy at work and with some needed home projects. I did manage last Thursday upload my first "official" set of photos which you can find here. So take a look, and let me know what you think!

-Anthony

Hello!

2008-08-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

Greetings and welcome to IMAGES BY DeMeglio and my second attempt at blogging.

As of today, I am continuing my efforts to get the layout and elements of by website completed. I signed up for my SmugMug account roughly two weeks ago and have been tirelessly researching how to create certain looks, understanding CSS & HTML, and aligning frames to my liking. I've pulled a few hairs out but fortunately, SmugMug has lived up to it's name and philosophy of being there to help you along and those hairs have grown back (Thank you Barb!).

I suppose a little background on me is due. My name is Anthony and once upon a time, in what seems like a long time ago, while in high school I had developed a passion for black and white photography. I spent most of my free time hanging around the art department and had managed to learn some of the basics before I was able to officially take the photography class. I obtained a Pentax K1000 (Which I still own and still use on occasion) and through books and help from the teachers at the school I learned about the different ways to control exposure, how to develop black and white film and then how to make the prints in the dark-room. I got involved with the school paper and even managed to become the youngest Photo Editor at the school (although I had no idea what I was doing or real direction). I had aspirations to become a photojournalist and travel the world taking pictures.

Well that all came to a halt with one signature. The Art Department Chairman was also the student advisor to the high school Stage Crew and needed one more signature to keep the club official. In an instant I became treasurer of the Stage Crew. When I lived in the Bronx, I had seen some of the older kids working the sound and lighting for the Intermediate School I was attending. I wasn't allowed to work with them because, one, I wasn't old enough yet, and two, the teachers pretty much hinted it was reserved for 'problem' kids. Well now, two years later, not only was I instantly in the club, I was an officer. It also helped that a kid I was starting to know was also on the crew. I immediately took a liking to it and became heavily involved. What photography?

Fast forward a few years and I discovered that really loved evoking emotion through lighting for theatrical productions and soon discovered that I could actually make a living doing it. While I would also set up sound for some of the sporting events at the school, I mostly focused on lighting for the drama club productions. During my senior year of high school I had begun a search for the right college with the right Lighting Design program. A member of the tech team from a visiting theater company at the high school introduced me to a small conservatory college in North Carolina, North Carolina School Of The Arts (Now called University Of North Carolina School Of The Arts) and I dragged my parents to North Carolina to check it out and interview for the school. I was accepted on the spot and much to my parents surprise, I made my decision.

I completed my studies at North Carolina School Of The Arts and graduated as a Theatrical Lighting Designer and returned back to NY City to begin my career. After many shows, I decided to get away from the cold and to find work in Corporate Theater where I figured a steady paycheck and shows with larger budgets would be a good idea. I had also gotten my motorcycle and wanted to ride throughout the year instead of only a few months out of the year. This is how I ended up working in Palm Springs, CA where I currently run the lighting department for a small production company.

So, for the past few years I have had an itch to get back into photography and after careful research, I recently purchased a new Canon 40D. 6000+ images later, I can't stop grinning ear to ear.

In getting back into photography, I have realized how much my Lighting Design skills can apply to photography and that it could be possible to make a little side money to pay for my re-kindled hobby. So I've been getting myself organized, learning basic Photoshop skills, and taking lots of photos.

I created IMAGES BY DeMEGLIO to represent not only my Photography but my Lighting Designs as well. Once I primarily get the site to where I like it, then It will be time to go through my photos and start uploading them.

In the mean time, I do have some photos up, including this one, which the local paper, The Desert Sun, used for a brief in their local section.

There will be plenty more to come!

Take care and thank you for stopping by!