We now return to our regularly scheduled program

Winter quarter has been in session for over a month now. What started out as a slow 15 mph ride has now gone to 98 mph pedal through the floor one way trip to Stress City population me. Which explains the lack in updating on this blog, but hopefully getting things back on track now.

I'm currently starting to add video to my projects and I'm looking to work within the world of documentary films. I've been working on a project I'm calling "Trucker's Chapel" for the past three months and just finished editing an introduction piece for the project. I'm planning on adding more content and interviews to this so that's why I'm just referring to it as an introduction for now.

Since I'm now going from shooting stills to shooting video here's a small list of what I've learned so far entitled From Stills to Video or Matt is an IDIOT.

1. Patience is KEY. You're going to have to have your camera on a tripod and wait for the action to come to you. Which sounds like something you think you would be able to handle, but being so used to shooting stills the feeling of wanting to chase the action is hard to fight. The urge to just pick up the tripod and start running after shots seems like a such great idea at the time (IDIOT) trust me just like Axl Rose we all need some patience.

2. I'm not a fan of the term B-Roll. Recently I was given a lecture by my adviser about why we shouldn't refer to B-Roll as B-Roll. I waited fro him to drive his point and was hoping he would sign my extended equipment check out form which was the reason I stopped him in the hall in the first place. As I began to work on my first edit of the project the point my adviser made about the term B-Roll started to make sense to me. When I hear the word B-Roll I think of the footage the news shows when there's been an accident or arrest and there's that zoomed in shot of a police car or random shot of a building that makes no sense with the story. From now on B-Roll will be refereed to as "rocking awesome explosion footage that will drive your story the next level...of awesomeness!"

3. Whenever you think you have enough rocking awesome footage...you don't. After shooting five tapes of footage and grabbing an interesting interview I thought I was ready to wrap up this story, yeah not even close. There's no such thing as too much great footage, just keep shooting.

4. Working on a project for a few months is a roller coaster, wait maybe it's like the pitfall or maybe it's like the demon drop. I don't know just insert your favorite crazy amusement park ride here. At first I felt like there was a lot of potential with this story, half way through shooting I had no idea where this story was going and feared that I was going to be left with a dead end story. Then I showed a rough draft to my class and got a great critique in which my peers pointed out that their is a story there I just need to to keep digging. Keep showing your work to everyone you can, the more fresh eyes viewing your work the better.


So with that said comments or e-mails welcomed. themattadams@gmail.com

Congrats Jamie and Mike

Few select photos from my cousin Jamie's wedding. I wasn't the main photographer for this so it gave me a chance to shoot whatever I wanted. It's nice to have that freedom and not have to stress over every detail that you need to shoot when covering a wedding.

Nightmare on Court Street

Halloween in Athens is serious business. I heard all about the famous Court Street block party and was told to be prepared for the chaos that was about to ensue. Although things did not get as crazy as I had first envisioned it was still a great time. Events like this just make me love Athens more than I already do. I was always a must live in a big city type of person, but I love the location of this place and what it has to offer. This is only temporary I'll be moving on in another two years to another city and a new home, but for now I'm happy in Athens.

Who would of thought that it was rock n roll...

When you spent a great deal of your high school life hanging out at VFW shows and trying to declare you're belonging in "the scene" you may someday grow up and become very jaded. I know I did, seven years of shooting music and trying to hold on to old values left me disgruntled with how things have turned out. Through those seven years I took some really bad photos, maybe got lucky with a shot here or there, but for the most part a lot of them were overexposed or lacked sharpness. I kept on shooting, I think I'm at the point where I can say that I'm "ok" not great or the best, but I have a better idea with how this side of the industry works. Over the years I've got to witness some amazing live shows, been inches away from my idols and even got to see life from the back of a van. With this dance/auto tune/neon shirts/head-ban wearing attitude taking center stage these days I really thought about moving on to something else. You know that feeling of being over something or forgetting why you even started down this road in the first place? That feeling stayed with me all through the summer and followed me into the fall. That feeling finally moved out of my apartment this afternoon when I saw this video






Frank Turner is the real deal and he's made me realize why I started down this path seven years ago. Thanks Frank for reminding me that this is all about the moments and how that one little song can change our lives forever.

Not only has Frank Turner changed my outlook, but Ohio U has definitely awaken me from the old gloom and doom feelings I carried this past summer. Time for me to get back to work.

So with that said who needs promos done?

You mean everything to nothing.

Manchester Orchestra performing at an in-store at Waterloo Records located in Austin, TX. The first image is a never before seen shot that I was saving for a new web site that never got off the ground. So consider this blog an unveiling of sorts for work that has just been sitting on my desktop. New site should finally be ready to go sometime in December, if I survive this first quarter of grad school.

Political Forum

Photographed a recent forum of the candidates running for Ohio's 18th Congressional District. Shooting events like this is pretty cut and dry, candidates sit at a table and debate over issues and play the blame game with each other. Trying to find some interesting angles I started to notice how each speaker would gesture with their hands to get a point across. I really don't know how I feel about any of these candidates, but since I'm new to the area I'm interested in hearing what these guys are promising to do to help out the local residents.

BB King vs Matt Adams

This past summer I was given the chance to shoot the blues legend himself BB King when he performed at the Trib Total Media Amphitheatre in Pittsburgh. During the set he tossed a pick at me that almost caught me in the eye! Dude was trying to ruin me! I envisioned a revenge story where I track down the legendary figure who took my right eye and challenge him to a duel...of air guitar. Sure BB King can shred on the real thing, let's see what happens when he has to use his imagination. Although I'm pretty sure he could shred even without a real guitar in his hand. Seriously, this guy is amazing.