Very thankful for the year we've had here at Lancaster Photography. We met a lot of fantastic people, were welcomed into a lot of family circles, spent time in many photo pits, and traveled around the US and the world... all because of the lens and being decent at using it.
Personal thanks to all my clients from this year for choosing my work (which even included Sony Music Entertainment and Ben Folds), huge thanks to my 2nd shooters and assistants, and to the staff at theFIVE10 Radio.
I was organizing and preparing for the end of the year, when I realized how awesome 2013 was for my photographic adventures. I make my living as a wedding photographer here in the San Francisco Bay Area, but there's a lot more that I've done (and will continue to do) besides weddings.
Don't get me wrong... I love my couples, and I love my job. But if you're a chef and your job is to make pizzas at a restaurant, you don't just stick to making pizzas at home!
To start, this year has been very travel-heavy. Normally I do a bunch of concerts throughout the year, but this time I swapped much of the concert shooting for traveling (and the projects that come with that). Tallying up, my journeys took me to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe (twice), Colorado, Florida, Istanbul, and Paris (twice)... plus all the local outings to wedding venues here in Northern California.
Some of the main highlights:
Paris, France: Worked on an independent film with my brother and a wonderful cast & crew. Crazy experience, and required two trips out there to get it filmed (once in April and once in October). See all my previous posts documenting the trip, if you want more details.
Me (looking thrilled), Barbara Probst, and Kevin Clark as seen through my brother's RED camera
Istanbul, Turkey: After our first round of filming in Paris, I headed to Istanbul by myself. I had never been to that part of the world before, and it was my first trip to another country alone... where I ended up shooting a hip-hop video for a Tunisian rapper/DJ in a dingy basement, with real blood donated by our video's "director" (we couldn't find fake blood)...
Las Vegas, Nevada: Brodie (of the Brodie Stewart Band) few me out with him to meet up with Faith Hill's guitar player, who plays on Brodie's upcoming record. We shot some great interview footage, then had a couple of nights hangin' out with those guys (and some of the stage crew for the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill show at the Venetian). All of it topped off with free tickets to the Tim & Faith show, and my own entire row of seats on the plane coming home for me to stretch out on.
Getting ready to shoot Adam's interviews at the Venetian
Ben Folds Five: The most rewarding moment of 2013 for me was getting my photo on the front cover of Ben Folds Five: Live, which is the first-ever live album for the band. I've been a huge fan of Ben Folds Five since high school, and once I heard their 12-year hiatus was over I pushed to get photo access for their show at the Warfield in San Francisco on their reunion tour. I was just thrilled to even go to the show, let alone shoot photos. But a couple of months later, I get a call from their people and BOOM!... there's my photo on the record cover (released by Sony) and can be found in stores all over the world. Pretty cool to see "Clay Lancaster" on the CD insert, and on the back of the vinyls.
My photo on the cover of Ben Folds Five: Live
The rest of the year was filled with wonderful weddings, trips to visit family and friends, some great shoots and celebrity guests for theFIVE10.com, AND I bought a condo... so I am now a first-time homeowner.
On January 1st of this year I didn't see any of those previous events on the horizon, so I can't wait to see what 2014 will bring. It's gonna be pretty hard to top what happened this year... but, of course, I said the same thing last year.
After 13 years as a band, Thrice are in the midst of their final few shows before taking an indefinite hiatus. They were gracious enough to stop and spend some time with us at theFIVE10.com before their sold out show last night at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco.
Here are a few photos!
Thrice performs one of their last shows in San Francisco. Photo by Clay Lancaster
JC talks with Ed and Teppei of Thrice on theFIVE10.com
Thrice's Teppei Teranishi performs one of their last shows in San Francisco. Photo by Clay Lancaster
Thrice performs one of their last shows in San Francisco. Photo by Clay Lancaster
Thrice's Ed Breckenridge performs one of their last shows in San Francisco. Photo by Clay Lancaster
After many scheduling conflicts, the Airborne Toxic Event finally took some time to chat with us at theFIVE10.com last night at the Fillmore in San Francisco. Nice people, great show. And you guessed it... photos!
JC talks with Airborne Toxic Event on theFIVE10.com
JC talks with Airborne Toxic Event on theFIVE10.com
Airborne Toxic Event performs at the Fillmore in San Francisco
Airborne Toxic Event performs at the Fillmore in San Francisco
Airborne Toxic Event performs at the Fillmore in San Francisco
Airborne Toxic Event performs at the Fillmore in San Francisco
All photos by Clay Lancaster (www.claylancaster.com)
Although a modest affair, Otis Lounge in San Francisco was kind enough to give us a bar tab and host our first-ever theFIVE10 Radio Live! event. Popchips also sponsored, handing out free munchies all night (which came in handy after a couple of drinks).
Our own host JC took the first DJ spot and spun some old school hip-hop, along with a rad Hall & Oates remix. Stepping up to the plate next was Danny Lannon (also known as the vocalist for the San Francisco band The Frail).
Music and drinks all night long... set on Maiden Lane; a little European-esque street crammed into Union Square and right in the heart of high-end fashion stores that I can't afford to even stand in front of. Enjoy some of my favorite photos from the evening!
Film maker Michael Franchetti and The Frail's Danny Lannon
theFIVE10 Host, JC
Calibree Photographer Jen Cash
theFIVE10 web ninja, Long Vo
Lucky ticket winners!
Host JC, Todd Buller and Isaac Bolivar (Happy Body Slow Brain)
Calibree Photographer Mike Cash, and theFIVE10 photographer Clay Lancaster
theFIVE10's JC and Clay Lancaster
theFIVE10's Long Vo handing out tickets to some lucky winners
Relatively last-minute, I was granted press access to the Rockstar Mayhem Festival at Shoreline in Mountain View, CA. Similarly to Warped Tour, I only really cared about one particular act: Megadeth.
If you've known me for a while, you know that I have a soft spot for some good, heavy, melodic metal. I learned to play guitar when I was 12, and a big part of my education came from sitting down and playing along with Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction in my bedroom for hours on end. We even jammed some of those tracks in our band rehearsals.
So, although I've largely moved on to different musical preferences, Megadeth has and will always hold a special place in my heart... and I was thrilled to finally get to snap photos of them.
Not only was I in the pit, staring at Dave Mustaine and Chris Broderick shred away on the guitar from 7 feet away, but I also had access to the press area backstage. I found myself sitting at a table by Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick and his family, with bassist David Ellefson pacing back and forth next to me on the phone, Sully (from Godsmack) about 12 feet to my left doing an interview with radio station The Bone, the guys from Testament eating dinner, and David Draiman of the band Disturbed coming in and out of the area. It was interesting.
To get my bearings and learn the press process (each venue is different in policy), I decided to shoot Machinehead as well. As always, here are some of my favorite shots:
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View
Chris Broderick of Megadeth performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View
David Ellefson of Megadeth performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View
Machinehead performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View
Machinehead performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View
Machinehead performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View
For the San Francisco area leg of Warped Tour this year, we at theFIVE10 Radio headed out to Shoreline in Mountain View to cover the event. I was joined by my SF Weekly lens-wielding pal Jen Cash as we jumped in and out of the pits all day long, leaving our host JC and web-ninja Long backstage to talk with the bands all day.
Was hot, but a lot of fun. I'd have to say my highlight was finally getting to hang with Fred Mascherino of the band Terrible Things (formerly of Taking Back Sunday), as we have similar friends and acquaintances.
Black Veil Brides sure put on an entertaining set, as did 3OH!3. JC managed to sit and interview a number of groups on our show, including: Simple Plan, hellogoodbye, Sharks, Passafire, MC Lars, and Less Than Jake.
Here are some photos from the day!
Unwritten Law performs at Warped Tour. Mountain View, CA.
Skating at Warped Tour 2011. Mountain View, CA.
3OH!3 performs at Warped Tour. Mountain View, CA.
Shut Up and Deal performs at Warped Tour. Mountain View, CA.
Crazy dry ice drinks. Warped Tour 2011 at Shoreline.
JC interviews Simple Plan at Warped Tour. Mountain View, CA.
Warped Tour. Mountain View, CA at Shoreline.
Less Than Jake performs at Warped Tour. Mountain View, CA.
Warped Tour 2011. Mountain View, CA at Shoreline.
Fred Mascherino of Terrible Things performs at Warped Tour. Mountain View, CA.
Clay Lancaster getting a doctor checkup at Warped Tour. Photo by Jen Cash.
Clay Lancaster at Warped Tour for theFIVE10 Radio. Photo by Jen Cash.
theFIVE10 - Long Vo, JC, and Clay Lancaster. Photo by Jen Cash.
Clay Lancaster and Fred Mascherino (Terrible Things, Taking Back Sunday). Warped Tour 2011.
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