VELFILM Blog
My name is Vadim Elkind and I am a freelance filmmaker and photographer living in Denver. This blog contains the latest news and information about my media projects, photography, travel stories and other creative pursuits.
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Tag Archives: DJ
Nightlife Photography: TheHundred 6th Month Anniversary Party at Beauty Bar feat. Bit Funk (4.28.12)
If you haven’t seen them yet, here are the photos from TheHundred’s 6th Month Anniversary Party at Beauty Bar on 4-28 with Bit Funk, Option4, Jinro, Roger That and Collin McKenna. You can view the entire set in TheHundred Facebook Photo Album.
Collin McKenna:
Bit Funk with Beauty Bar co-owner Michael Barnhart and Option4:
Peter Washington (aka Jinro):
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Posted in Nightlife, Photography
Also tagged Beauty Bar, Bit Funk, Collin McKenna, dance party, Jinro, nightclub, Nightlife, Option4, Photography, TheHundred
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Nightlife Photography: Lipgloss at La Rumba 4.27.12 with Guest DJ Roger Samson
Happy Friday! Here are a few photos from last Friday’s Lipgloss dance party with Guest DJ Roger Samson. You can view the full set on Flickr, share and tag yourself on Facebook or check out the slideshow at the bottom of this post.
Posted in Nightlife, Photography
Also tagged boyhollow, dance party, La Rumba, Lipgloss, nightclub, Nightlife, Option4, party, Photography, Roger Samson
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DJ Rockstar Aaron EPK Promo Video
Rockstar Aaron, Denver’s colorful mohawk-clad dance party DJ, recently commissioned my services to produce and edit a promotional video for him. Over several months, I gathered bits and pieces of footage of Aaron spinning at various venues, which I then edited together with some of his older archival video footage, promo flyers and stills.
This particular project was fun to work on, but also one of the more demanding editing jobs I’ve done recently due to the sheer amount of effects and filters used, as well as the quantity of third-party material that was incorporated into the video. Let’s just say that rendering took a while! My footage was shot on Canon EOS 7D with a 17-55mm F2.8 IS USM lens on a neck-strapped monopod and with a Carry Speed LCD viewfinder loupe for stabilization and focus assistance. I also used a dimmable HDV-Z96 on-camera LED light for illumination.
A little bit of history: Aaron and I go way back. We met many years ago, when we were both working as master control monkeys at a certain large cable TV company. Already back then, Aaron was pursuing a DJ career on the side and encouraged me to take my photography (which wasn’t more than a hobby at the time) to a new level. In 2007, he was the one who introduced me to Tyler “Danger” Jacobson and Boyhollow, two of the founding fathers of Lipgloss (Denver’s popular indie club night at La Rumba), where I’ve been a resident photographer ever since. That connection has lead me to many more photography and video production gigs down the line, covering events at Rockbar, Bar Standard, Bender’s Tavern, Hi-Dive, Beauty Bar, and many other venues around town. For about a year, I was also the Denver Nightlife Photography Examiner on Examiner.com, which gave me an all-access pass to covering events such as the Westword Music Showcase, Electric Avenue Music and Arts Festival, DJ Tiesto at Beta Nightclub and dozens more. Looking back, I have to say that Aaron was pretty much responsible for giving birth to my nightlife photography side career. Even though I’ve slowed down on nightclub photo gigs in the last couple of years due to my main focus being shifted toward video production, I’m still shooting for Lipgloss and TheHundred on a somewhat regular basis.
If you would like to know more about DJ Rockstar Aaron and to book him for your next party or event, check out www.rockstaraaron.com!
Nightlife Photography: The Hundred at Beauty Bar (12.17.11) with DJ MyKill, Dylan LeDisko and Matt Ferry
In case you missed it, the second installment of The Hundred dance party took place on December 17th at the Beauty Bar. Below is a slideshow of photos I took at the event (you can see the full set here):
Don’t miss the next The Hundred dance party on 1.28.11, which will feature Kris Barman of InnerPartySystem and other guests!
Posted in Nightlife, Photography
Also tagged dance party, Dylan LeDisko, Matt Ferry, MyKill, nightclub, Nightlife, Option4, Photography, TheHundred
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Nightlife Photography: Lipgloss at La Rumba with Le Castle Vania (11.11.11)
Le Castle Vania played a great set at Lipgloss on 11.11.11. As always, check out the Lipgloss Flickr gallery to see the entire set of photos from that night, or view the slideshow at the end of this post.
Posted in Nightlife, Photography
Also tagged club, dance, La Rumba, Le Castle Vania, Lipgloss, nightclub, Nightlife, party
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Nightlife Photography: The Hundred at Beauty Bar (11.19.11) with Damon Allen, Peter Black, Mike Deez and Option4
Last Saturday kicked off the first monthly dance party at Denver’s Beauty Bar called The Hundred. Created by Brennen Bryarly (aka Option4), The Hundred is a social concept spawned by the love of real music, where a select number of dedicated fans (can you guess how many?) get to vote and decide which talent they want to come out and play at each month’s event. For more information, check out this Westword article (which features a photo of Brennen by Yours Truly, albeit uncredited) and the Kaffeine Buzz interview with Option4.
I know Brennen from Lipgloss, where he is a resident DJ along with Michael Trundle, so I knew he would bring tons of charisma and good energy to The Hundred. However, I think it’s fair to say that the turn-out on Saturday exceeded everyone’s expectations.
I photographed the event with my Canon 7D, sporting a Tokina 10-16mm F2.8 lens and a Canon 430 EXII flash (pretty much, my standard nightclub photography set-up these days). You can see the entire photo set on The Hundred Flickr site, or just play the slideshow at the end of this post (make sure to full-screen it and crank up some dance music to go with it for a full effect)!
Posted in Nightlife, Photography
Also tagged Beauty Bar, Damon Allen, dance, Mike Deez, nightclub, Nightlife, Option4, party, Peter Black, The Hundred
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Nightlife Photography: Lipgloss at La Rumba 10.14.11 (Mark Ronson Meet-n-Greet, Run For Cover Tour feat. The Chaotic Good and Skyler Mendoza)
This Friday, Lipgloss is throwing Halloween-themed Zombie Disco party. Don’t miss it! You can check out some photos from last year’s Lipgloss Halloween bash here.
Meanwhile, below are the pics from Run For Cover Tour with The Chaotic Good ad Skyler Mendoza at Lipgloss a couple of weeks ago. For more photos from the party, check out the slideshow at the end of this post, or visit the Lipgloss Flickr Gallery.
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Posted in Nightlife, Photography
Also tagged La Rumba, Lipgloss, nightclub, Nightlife, Photography, Skyler Mendoza, The Chaotic Good
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Nightlife Photography Mega-Update: Lipgloss at La Rumba (September 2011)
The powers that be at Lipgloss finally got around to posting these last week. For many more photos from each event, click on the links or check out the embedded slideshows at the end of this post. Enjoy!
9.2.11: Lipgloss vs. Double // Shadow (DJs boyhollow and option4 with James Holden and James Yardley):
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Posted in Nightlife, Photography
Also tagged boyhollow, Danger Granger, Double Shadow, I Am Music, James Holden, James Yardley, La Rumba, Lipgloss, nightclub, Nightlife, Option4, Photography, Sammy Bananas, Tokina 11-16mm
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Nightlife Photography with Tokina ATX-116 Pro DX: Lipgloss at La Rumba (8.19.11 and 9.2.11)
During the last couple of photo shoots at Lipgloss, I finally got a chance to play with my new Tokina 11-16mm lens in a nightclub environment. I love the ultra-wide angle and fast F2.8 aperture it provides (although, I almost never go down to F2.8 and usually hover around F3.5-F4 to keep things a little bit more in focus).
As most people know, nightclub photography is especially challenging due to a variety of factors that range from technical issues such as extreme low-light and constantly-changing ambiance to logistical annoyances (impenetrable crowds of drunk people, noise, spilled drinks and etc). There is no time to mess with focus or other settings – a nightclub photographer needs to be able to grab shots on the fly. It’s a battlefield out there! One advantage of the Tokina is that it’s built like a tank. And, even though it doesn’t have a silent motor and focusing is therefore not as fast or smooth as with my Canon EF-S 17-55mm lens, because of Tokina’s narrow ultra-wide range, it’s usually not a problem. The glass is pretty sharp, even if that is not always evident from my quarter-second exposures :) I do wish it had IS, but even without stabilization the lens performs quite well.
I really like the extreme wide angles you can get with ATX-116, such as this shot of former Lipgloss resident DJ Chase Dobson, who came back to play a set on August 19th:
And, even though it’s a wide lens, you can still a little bit of bokeh effect when you get really close to your subject, zoomed in to 16mm at F2.8:
Of course, vertical people shots at 11mm can look pretty distorted, in a fun way :)
At 16mm (below-right), distortion isn’t too bad:
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Posted in Nightlife, Photography
Also tagged boyhollow, Chase Dobson, dance club, Double Shadow, James Holden, James Yardley, lipgloss at la rumba, Michael Trundle, nightclub, Nightlife, Option4, party, Photography, Tokina ATX 116
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Nightlife Photography: Lipgloss at La Rumba
My photos from several recent Lipgloss dance parties at La Rumba have been posted. Check out the slideshows below or click on the links to view full sets on Flickr.
Posted in Nightlife, Photography
Also tagged dance party, La Rumba, Lipgloss, nightclub, Nightlife, Photography
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