Apollo's Daughter is one of my favorite bands in St. Louis. They have amazing energy, and are super awesome to hang out with. A few months back, they had contacted me to do some new promotional shots for them. They recently had re-formed, with a new bassist, and wanted to get some new images out to their fan base. There was a show coming up at Fubar, so I went out and captured some promos and live shots for them. This band is awesome. Check them out on Facebook, here: www.facebook.com/apollosdaughtermusic/ and click below to check out some select shots from their performance!

 A few weeks ago, Jeff Nizick reached out to me. For those of you that do not know, Jeff is the lead singer of early 2000s band, Blinded Black. He told me that the band was working on new material and a new release, and wanted to get together to do some promotional photographs. Since I got my start shooting bands around St. Louis, MO, I was pumped for this opportunity. 

Blinded Black got their start in 1999. They signed with SideCho Records, who released their second album, Under the Sunrise, in 2007. about a year later, in March of 2008, they split up. The guys have reunited a few times; their latest being a few years ago at the Firebird in St. Louis, MO. 

Jeff told me that they wanted to do a bit of a recreation of their well known shoot in a garage that they did around 2007. Instead of shooting in a garage, we used Jake and Nick's dads' airplane hangar. 

When we arrived at the location, it was freezing, the sun was setting, and all were super excited. I checked out the location, and started shooting. Needless to say, we had a blast catching up and taking pictures. These guys are some of the nicest I've worked with, and this shoot was no exception. 

Blinded Black's newest single, The Next Chapter, is available for pre-order now on iTunes and will be released on March 3rd, 2017. Check out their Facebook page for more info, and to hear a sneak preview of the new song!

Click "Read More" to see some of my favorite shots from the shoot.

Earlier this week, I spent some time reviewing old promotional photographs in my archives. While it was fun to look back at all the old pictures and memories, it was also cool to see how far my work has come. 

For those of you that don't know, Jade Renee Photography got our start when I would shoot local bands at live shows. I started out with film, and would tote my camera to every venue in the St. Louis area. After awhile, I became friends with some of these bands, and would share my photographs with them. Soon, many bands started asking me to shoot their performances, which, due to film expenses, turned into a paying gig.

This gradually turned into me shooting promotional photographs for bands. It was exciting to enter into a new thing, but scary. I was helping to create the image these bands used to represent themselves and their music; it was nerve-wrecking at times! 

I still remember my first promotional photo shoot. I was shooting for my friends in Shall We Dance (the band that got me started in photography). We decided to just take some pictures outside of the venue one day. They were shot with film, they were not the best, but they got the job done. Of course, this sparked my interest in purchasing a digital camera, researching off camera lighting, and shooting portraits.

I have taken pictures for hundreds of bands over the years, but I'll always remember that first shoot.

Click below to check out a small sample of old promotional photographs I have done, and the progress I have made since!

A few months ago I was able to work with up and coming solo artist, Casper Webs. We booked some time in studio to take some photographs. Since I have my own lighting set up and backdrop, I booked time at Utopia Studios in St. Louis, MO and set up the studio space myself. Utopia is awesome for this kind of thing, and I use them pretty frequently. Casper and I spoke beforehand and he had a few ideas of what he was looking for, photographically, and let me know he had a couple different outfit changes. I did quite a bit of research on the look he wanted, but also had a few ideas of my own. Once in studio, we shot for about 3 hours total, which was hard work, but it was also a blast! Casper was looking for more of a Terry Richardson look, which is very direct and harsh light, but also looks very clean. While this look is awesome for the high end trend, I also knew that Casper needed to set himself apart from the crowd. So, after shooting some of the look he requested, I set up some softer lighting and we both loved the outcome. I also played around with a darker, one light set up, that really gave some amazing results and ended up being the look that Casper chose for his first single's artwork. 

Casper Webs' first single, Love Games, was released world wide, today, via iTunes. 
Click here to check it out: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-games/id919281268?i=919281290
The single is listed as pop on iTunes and is very reminiscent of Lady Gaga and the likes. Definitely worth a listen!
Casper's website is www.CasperWebs.com

Click "Read More" to see the single art work and other select shots from our shoot at Utopia!

On July 28th I went old to Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center to take some photographs of a new band called Old State. We did a few promo shots beforehand, and then I shot them while performing. These guys refer to themselves as "aggressive sadcore" and list influences such as Citizen, Title Fight, and Brand New. They're currently gearing up to go into the studio and work on an EP. The show at Lemp was their first performance, and was definitely an energetic set. Due to the venue having a lack of lighting (it's basically a house where floor shows are played), I shot with an off camera flash throughout the set. This gave some contrast to the photographs. Old State's Facebook page is located at www.facebook.com/OldStateMO.

Click "Read More" to see some of the shots from their live performance.