Yesterday, I posted about my photo shoot with Kevin Burdick for his new album cover, The Ivory Coast. While we were there, we shot a few images for Dixon Golf, for whom kevin is a celebrity spokesperson. Dixon Golf makes not only the best ball in golf, but the only ecologically friendly golf ball. It really is a long ball! And Kevin needed it, to get out of this sand trap.

It really is nothing but sand out there…

The Ivory Coast: The anatomy of an album cover. from Jared Platt on Vimeo.

Making an album cover photograph for piano rockstar, Kevin Burdick, gets increasingly difficult, as we continue to push to limits of where we can take his pianos. His most recent album, The Ivory Coast, took us and his piano to the sand dunes in Yuma, Arizona, where we suffered through extreme heat as we tried to hoist this heavy piano through the sand. It was fun, but challenging to put the album cover together.

This video includes interviews with Kevin Burdick about the making of the album cover, video footage of Kevin’s exclusive sand dune performance of Freight Train and many of the photos from the album photo shoot.

The video was edited exclusively in Adobe Premier CS5, which uses the 5D Mark II video file natively without requiring a conversion like Final Cut Pro. One more reason that Adobe is the best choice for image making professionals.

The final album cover contains four different photographs: the piano, Kevin on the sand dunes, the ocean and boat and then the texture.  Follow the post below to see the various elements of the album cover and the progression of the album cover.

Moving the piano was very difficult.  We obviously could not get it to the top of a 30 foot sand dune, so we found some small “mini dunes” that were accessible by truck and off loaded the piano there.  But even then, it took three of us to move the piano and I think all of us almost popped a disk in our backs.  This was one of those old pianos and it was HEAVY!

Our first photograph was the piano.  Since it was the hardest thing to move, we figured we would start with that and match all of our angles for future photographs to that.  We shot the piano early in the morning as the sun rose so we could get the same lighting we would get at the top of the sand dunes down the road.  We had to shoot pretty quickly so we could get out the the large sand dunes before the sun got too high in the sky, so we got our shot done and sped off for location 2.  The Sand Dunes.

This is our second shot, which is not too complicated a shot to create, it is just getting to the spot that is difficult.  In order to get out to a spot that has the same angle as our piano shot we had to hike in a mile or more into the Sand Dunes.  This is not like walking on the beach.  First, it is hot as hell.  Second, the sand is very deep.  Third, walking up hill while the sand falls downhill makes for some very intense stair step workouts that create the sense that you are not going anywhere.  Fourth, did I mention it was HOT!  And of course, Kevin is not wearing shoes!

Once we climbed high enough to get a shot from above looking down on Kevin and a series of dunes behind him, we got many many variations, as well as some video footage for music videos, etc.  We also got some cool shots for Dixon Golf in the United States’ biggest sand trap (watch for tomorrow’s post).  And then it was up to me to get the rest of the shots.

This photograph, which I had taken earlier at a wedding in San Diego worked perfectly for the background.  We wanted our Sand Dunes to overlook the ocean with some kind of a boat back there, so I searched my image catalog for the terms ocean and boat and come up with this image.  I worked perfectly.  I suppose, had we been going for realistic, the clouds would have been completely wrong for the photo montage, but we were looking for a dreamlike album cover of a place that exists only in the mind, so this fit the bill.

Then it was off to the image catalogs again to find the right texture to distress the image a bit.  The texture also helps to mold things together that otherwise wouldn’t fit all that well.  I keep a collection of textures for this very purpose in my image catalogs.  When I am shooting weddings or travel photography, I keep my eye out for interesting textures and collect them for uses just like this.  Being organized enough to find them is the real key.  So, I typed in the word texture into my Lightroom Image Catalog and choose the texture I wanted.  If you are having trouble finding your images, you need to do more key-wording!

This is what the photo composite looks like without the texture, before it is cropped and placed into the album cover design.

And again, once we have added the texture and the text to the photograph.  You can see how much the texture helps to soften the look of the image and make it a bit more dreamlike.  I actually prefer the tall skinny version of the image more than the square album cover.  I miss the days when you purchased a CD in one of those long skinny cardboard boxes that you could further design.  This would have been a perfect photograph for one of those.  But alas, now you will simply go to iTunes and purchase Kevin Burdick’s new album, The Ivory Coast, on iTunes and see only the square front cover.

But of course, if you do that, you can see the back cover here.

We actually set up the piano the night before the shot so that we wouldn’t have to cary that thing in the dark.  So as we left it for the night, the sun set in the desert and the lonely piano stood quiet and alone among the shrubs.  I love this shot.

Photo Shoot Details:

Photography: Jared Platt, Platt Photography
Music: Kevin Burdick, (follow him on Facebook)
Photo Location: Yuma, Arizona
Video Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Video Editing Software: Adobe Premier CS5

God Made You Just for Me: Wedding Photography by Jared Platt from Jared Platt on Vimeo.

“God Made You Just for Me,” is one of Kevin Burdick’s latest songs on his new album, The Ivory Coast, which is now available at www.kevinburdick.com and on iTunes. Kevin has really outdone himself on this latest album, every song will be your favorite new song.

Enjoy a taste of The Ivory Coast with Jared Platt’s wedding and engagement photography from Platt Photography.

Get Kevin’s new album on iTunes.
Hear more of Kevin Burdicks music.
Kevin Burdick on Face Book.

See more wedding photography.
Jared Platt on Face Book.
Follow Jared Platt on Twitter.

I have always loved the stage.  Looking out into an audience you know is there, when you can not see them is an exhilarating feeling.  And even though you can not see them, you can feel their energy as they get wrapped up in the performance.  As I posted earlier, I attended Kevin Burdick‘s concert in Arizona and took a few photos there.  I didn’t take a lot of them because I was attending the concert with my kids, so I only took a few at the beginning and a few at the end.  It was a great show with great music and a worthwhile message about following our dreams.

Good work Kevin.

Kevin talks about his little girl, Dempsey during the show and shows a slideshow of images from her life when he sings his song “Too Good for this World,” a tribute to his daughter.  It is a powerful thing to watch.  Especially for me, because I was there for those 30 days while she ws in the hospital fighting for her life.  I photographed her and her Father and Mother as they held on to each precious moment.  Every time I hear that song, or see her photos, I am reminded to thank God that I was allowed to keep mine with me.  But in the end, I truly believe (as Kevin sings) that the “fathers welcomed her home” and that she looks down on us all now.  Someday I will share that set of images, but for now, here is one of them as a backdrop to the performance.

Kevin’s drummer, Aaron “Chives” Chavez, who plays the strangest concoctions of drums and boxes, etc.  He is finishing up his masters in World Percussion and quite a talented man.

And finally, my favorite shot of the evening.  Like I said, I am fascinated with the darkness of the theater.   Enough said.

I have had a few questions about how I accomplished some of these photographs, so I will add a few technical notes to the end here.

Tech Talk:

Photo Settings (for the above photo): 1/60 – f 3.5 – ISO 640 – 16mm – No Flash – Canon 5D Mark II – White Balance Full Sun

Color balance:  If you are shooting in a theater you have to turn your camera off of Auto White Balance.  The color jells and temperature of the theatrical lighting will fool your camera every time.  Theatrical lighting is closer to the temperature of the daylight.  First, try to figure out the actual temperature in kelvins of the lights, but if you can’t get it or don’t want to test or get a custom white balance from one of the spotlights with no gels on it, you can always just turn your white balance to the full sunlight setting.  Shooting in the wrong white balance will result in all sorts of bad color shifts, and even in RAW, you will have a hard time getting the color balance back into line.

Exposure:  Your camera will always meter and expose to make everything middle gray.  Which means that if you are in a dark theater, your camera will see all of that darkness and try to over expose the shot.  So instead of having black blacks, you will have grey blacks and as a result of the over exposure, you will also gain additional noise in what would have been the shadows.  So simply turn your camera to manual exposure and make the decisions yourself.  Fortunately, once you have the setting, it won’t change all that much because the lighting is going to remain fairly constant for each given scene, assuming you have professionals managing the lights.

Focus:  Focusing in the dark is difficult for auto focus.  Don’t even try it.  Instead, look to the rim lights on the body to grab a manual focus.  Remember that auto focus is always looking for contrast to register focus, so if it is dark, you will have a hard time grabbing focus on the subject.

Kevin Burdick is one of my favorite musicians, and it is not just because I know him very well.  He has a very unique story telling ability and is an incredibly talented musician.  Well, he will be in Arizona at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts on March 31st at 7 PM.  If you are anywhere in the area, you should come.  Not only will you hear some great music, but you will be supporting a great cause.  All of the proceeds from the concert go to The Dempsey Burdick Memorial Foundation and to the Coronado 8th Grade.  The Dempsey Burdick Memorial Foundation helps struggling and grieving families pay for headstones as they bury their young children who have died.  The concert is only $5 per person and $20 per family.  It really is for a great cause.  Please take the time to come and have a great time with your family and help other families in their deepest hour of need.

I will be there.  You should be there too…

DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 – 7:00PM – 8:00PM

LOCATION: Higley Center for the Performing Arts‎ – 4132 East Pecos Road, Gilbert, AZ 85295  MAP

Kevin is a talented and entertaining performer.  You can listen to his music on iTunes or at KevingBurdick.com.  And if you can not make it, please go toDempseyBurdick.com and consider donating the price of admission to help a family in need.  It really does make a big difference in a family’s life.  I hear stories from Kevin all the time about people they have helped.  Anything you can give will make a difference.