Future Music Festival 2015

Bianca Holderness May 13, 2015

Having gone to a Future Music Festival as a punter before I knew I was in for a pretty crazy ride when I got asked to photograph it. Although I was slightly terrified at the prospect of pouring rain, mud everywhere and people being crazy all day the line up was too good to refuse.

I walked into the gates and immediately (almost as if it was planned) I heard Sandstorm being played by Darude in the distance. That pretty much set the tone of craziness for the day. I quickly got my bearings, lost and found my photo lanyard in the sea of people and started to get too excited.

The stages were absolutely amazing, and also very terrifying. With nearly every drop in the music either fire, confetti or streamers were launched into the air and I quickly learnt to shoot with both eyes open and to be constantly on edge.

Although I am very very bias in saying that Drake was my favourite act of the day, looking back the Prodigy and Die Antwood were definitely life-making acts to photograph. Anyway here are some photos from the day as well as a few of my photofrands and me being a goofball at the end of the day.

And then on the other side of the lens...

(Thanks for the pic of me being an idiot Matt)

Markus being a total creep waiting for The Prodigy to come out.

My Photopals walking into the distance :)

Until next time!

- B

Black Milk Clothing x Christmas | BTS

Bianca Holderness May 12, 2015

We may be five months into this year already but I thought i'd post some of my behind the scenes photos from the giant Christmas Shoot Black Milk did for their collection ( a long time ago).

The idea was that these cute little elves were sewing all of the clothing and that each set was a different stage in the production line. It sounds simple but combine that with giant props, metres and metres of tulle and an extensive set of equipment it quickly went from simple to absolutely insane!

With Charli designing the concept, Bonnie shooting, Maddie producing, Paul assisting, Alicia covering Social Media, Tristan filming, James and Cam stopping in to offer assistance (and some hilarious photos) and the collaborative efforts of the models / make up artists and everyone else it was a pretty giant production. Here are a few snaps!

Full Blog as well as pictures and the lookbook can be found ~here~.
Beautiful video which Tristan made can be found ~here~.

- B

2014 - A Photographic Review.

Bianca Holderness December 31, 2014

To say this year has been crazy is a bit of an understatement. It was about this time last year that I had just graduated from my course and had now entered the world as a "Photographer". Obviously, I was terrified of the thought and basically reacted like the video below.

After calming down and tackling things bit by bit instead of trying to "be a photographer" I started working for Treats Collective which was later Alphabetics, and this was my introduction into the music world. Ben, Lucy and Stu all took me under their wings and basically set me free in a field and let me play on any idea that I had. The idea of having to pull through really excited me and although the gigs I were covering were tiny it felt amazing to get closer to the action and to get a taste of what the Music world had to offer.

I eventually racked up a few big gigs under my belt and also befriended a bunch of Brisbane artists and it was exciting to hear that they are normal people just trying to do what they love. I mainly had a love affair with The Jungle Giants and whilst working at the company I got to help with shooting their gigs and creating a bit of content which was a giant learning curve for me. Below is the very first Video I made out of college based on footage filmed over their tour of last year. Although it was only a short time spent there I am so thankful for the opportunity because it was the perfect platform for me to realise the potential in the industry but to also have a low stress environment to grow.

My initial dream in College was to photograph Music and in the space of a year I have photographed over 300 musicians, worked on four music videos, helped cover seven music festivals, toured with artists and have worked for a huge number of talented music companies and people. That just blows me away. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would "make it" into the industry but looking back it's been an absolute thrill the entire way.

My definite highlights of the year were the friendships I formed along the way with some very inspiring people who let me run around. In at #1 we have Dan Graetz and his crew of Benjamin Evans and Jamis Loveday who are the magicians behind Violent Soho's Music Videos and a lot of other Brisbane based bands. They are three incredibly down to earth people who clearly love what they do and enjoy helping people who deserve it. I was somehow lucky enough to work on their music video for "Saramona Said" and also another music video and it was such an experience to see them work together and witness their unconventional but highly affective methods being used.

Most of these photos are from content that was never released so this is the first time they have been seen!

Another giant highlight was photographing Laneway.

Being inches away from my favourite artists on my first huge scale Festival and then backing it up with Big Day Out, Soundwave, Big Sound and Listen Out. It's been such a wild experience seeing the other side of Festivals and i've had some crazy encounters. Watching the BDO headliners from side of stage, having half of the Soundwave line up knocking on my door in the Artists area asking me where to go and me replying with a shocked / crying / so happy with life face, meeting Haim backstage in a random turn of events, having Mac Demarco climb on me to get out of a crowd, Danny Brown singing above me and the countless artists who have locked eyes with my camera and scared the hell out of me whilst editing. It's just all been so crazy and I swear if I didn't have my camera with me I wouldn't believe it all. Here are a few of my favourite photos from the year.

Of course this all wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for AAA Backstage and Control Zine allowing me to snap away under their name and get to see my favorite artists in action. I'm a very lucky girl.

Also seconds before Flume entered the stage at Listen Out festival I was eagerly standing at the stage waiting to start snapping, when out of nowhere I saw flames next to me, ran, and pressed my shutter button. Turns out Flume decided to have fire as an entrance and I am now stuck with the hilarious memory and a horrible photo of me running away here: (something that didn't make it to the gallery)

Whilst I was at College I also decided I would never photograph Weddings and Fashion and now I find myself assisting in both. A few months into the year I got a job at Blackmilk and although I haven't done much Fashion based photography i've been able to document some of their progress and it's been a really exciting project for me which has allowed me to grow a lot and practice thinking up new ideas.

I've realised how much I enjoy fading into the background and capturing moments that I see and to have such a performance at my hands made the job so exciting and engaging just because I was in awe of all that happened. In saying that the entire process wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for a few people who decided to keep me around. The creative trio of Bonnie, Charli and Maddie have set the scene all year round for Blackmilk and their efforts combined with Cam, Alicia, James, Jess and Paul they have created something magical that i'm excited to help out with next year.

Here are a few things i'm proud of so far. I'm currently working on a few more videos and i'm excited to see what the end results are and what i'll work on next!

And last but not least, we have Weddings. I haven't photographed one in a while due to time constraints but this year I witnessed so many loved up couples tie the knot and make me cry with happiness. I was determined in College not to photograph them because I had this narrow minded way of thinking that they were cliche but after getting to know the people involved and how excited they are it's hard not to get sucked into the happiness and love of it all. So here are a few of my favourite snaps from Weddings!

So thankyou to everyone who has been there for me. Even if it's a simple like on a photo, a comment on a blog or anything it all, it just helps me to realise that what i'm doing is going out there and that people are enjoying what i'm making. I've been able to experience some crazy things and I can wholeheartedly say if I didn't have a camera in front of me for most of this year none of this would have happened.

So here's to 2015 and utilising my new camera that little bit more!

And here are some more of my favourite snaps from Adventures with friends.

Until next year!

Blackmilk x Pulp Horror | BTS

Bianca Holderness October 19, 2014

It's easing up to the time when things start to get a little spooky and fortunately I got a good warm up with the recent Halloween photoshoot for Blackmilk. After helping out with their Disney photoshoot a few weeks prior, I knew to expect a lot, but even that didn't prepare me for the craziness that happened behind the closed doors of the Old Museum.

I walked into this giant and very eery room early in the morning to see a stage surrounded by hanging flasks and unusual and terrifying props. I got a quick brief on what would be happening throughout the day and just like that it began to get crazy.

With three make up artists / hairstylists, three models and a very large crew, the room began to convert into what felt like a film set due to the on stage action and the brilliant lighting used for the shoot and video. I can't really explain what the atmosphere was like but with a very Halloween inspired playlist, constant onstage performances and a hell of a lot of smoke machine, it definitely left us all slightly delirious after a full day of shooting and a very full day of hilarious moments.

So here are a few photos I took over the day, I hope you enjoy!

Website: https://blackmilkclothing.com/collections/pulp-horror

Main photos: http://blackmilk.io/lookbooks/pulp-horror/

Head Designer: jL

Photographer: Bonnie Cee

Photo Assistant: Paul Castle

Creativer Director: Charli Burrowes

Production: Madeleine Weston

Hair and Make Up: Amelia Axton, Penny Antuar & Maria Rivera

Models: Ashleigh Wesseling, Samie Robinson & Yani Booth.

Sticky Fingers

Bianca Holderness October 12, 2014

When Sticky Fingers were last in town I went along to the Hifi and shot them for AAA Backstage. I was familiar with a few of their songs but did not imagine that i'd be walking into the most packed out room i've ever seen, filled to the brim with so many different types of people!

I was sitting down the very front of the barrier with my fellow photographer friend Markus at one stage, and whilst we were talking I turned around to see that before the band had even come on that the crowd was going absolutely psycho and security had to jump in to calm everyone down. Now i've been to a few gigs with rough crowds but this one was definitely the most unpredictable and crazy that I had seen, I was convinced that they were going to push the barrier over they were that psycho!

Besides being terrified it was probably one of the best and most enthusiastic atmospheres i've ever seen at a gig. The incredible lighting matched with the pitch perfect performance from the band made me realise just why the fans were acting the way they were. 10/10 gig for sure.

Matt and Jayde get married.

Bianca Holderness October 9, 2014

When I was in College I befriended a lady named Erin (Poco Rojo Pictures) and have since photographed a few weddings with her including this one. She called me with the details and having photographed a wedding in the same friend group a few weeks prior to this it was very exciting to see another couple tie the knot and to shoot again with a good friend.

To say it was a traditional wedding would be stretching the truth, but that's the reason why I absolutely loved it. The groomsmen were all covered in tattoo's, the ceremony was in a forest and everyone was ridiculous but that's what made it so memorable.

Being typical boys they scared the hell out of me by doing the following things:

Don't have scissors to cut the tag, all good, that's why we have teeth!

What's that, your belt is a little too small, let's just go down to the shed and grab the drill!

And then this cheeky monkey just loved being a model for me.

And due to some technical difficulties the poor groom had his pants located at a venue 30 minutes away so he spent most of the time at home running around in his jocks just before his wedding. Lucky he was the calmest groom i'd encountered and handled it like a trooper.

The Royales

Bianca Holderness October 2, 2014

When I was running around at Valley Fiesta a few weeks ago I ran into a bunch of guys who turned out to be pretty awesome. I had no idea who they were or why they were there but before I knew it we were running around to get on stage to watch the main act and they were still complete strangers to me. Turns out that they were all members of "The Royales" and had played Valley Fiesta and I didn't even know!

Fast forward to Saturday night and I got to photograph their gig at the Zoo celebrating the launch of their brand new single with their pals "Outliers" band supporting. The gig ruled and was full of a lot of people going crazy and having a good time and was exciting to see a good bunch of dudes doing what they love.

Now here are some of the photos I took!

B.

Valley Fiesta - Live

Bianca Holderness September 19, 2014

(Not so) Recently, Brisbane had it's huge free festival within the streets of the Valley and it was a huge success. Last year it was my very first festival that I had gotten to shoot and unfortunately due to the weather it got rained out before the headliners could even grace the stage. I almost thought we were going to have a repeat but fortunately the weather cleared up for an excellent two nights.

This year the main headliners were The Preatures, Dan Sultan and Allday as well as a bunch of well known / up and coming artists from Brisbane and the rest of Australia. The festival was over two days and with three different stages and it was very chaotic.

Whilst I was running around frantically trying to photograph everything I ran into Lauren Carney who was face painting at Beach Burrito. I didn't really get to chat to her due to the chaos but her going all creative on peoples faces made me realise how great this festival is for bringing local talent together and letting everyone experience it.

If you want to check out the other things this magical lady does then click here.
Anyway, back to the music!

It was about at this time I got a phone call telling me to go to the end of a laneway, walk up to a door, say a name and then walk up a flight of stairs. Once I reached the top I realised that I was in the Artist Lounge and that I was about to meet everyone (screams internally!).

The Preatures were absolutely lovely and the entire interview I kept copping cute little glances from Isabella who refused to say anything to save her voice before her gig.

The Preatures - Killing me with cuteness

And then there was the heart-throb Allday. I was a fan of his songs whilst in the photo pit and once I walked around the side after the gig had ended this huge crowd of fans sprinted to him to get photos and autographs and it was absolutely terrifying. I could see on his face that he just wanted to be alone but he stuck it out and gave the fans what they wanted.

When I was up in the artist lounge I got myself a drink and out of nowhere he walked in the door, walked straight up towards me and introduced himself. I tried to act cool (obviously did a horrible job) and I chatted to him a bit and then took a photo of him I really like.

The main thing I got from his interview that he is still trying to figure out how to adjust to crowds. It really made me understand what he must have been feeling when he saw that huge mass after his gig but it was kind of humbling to know that it's still all new to him.

When I was hanging upstairs I befriended the guys from The Royales and I don't know how but they convinced me to follow them backstage to get a better view of The Preatures gig. I was absolutely terrified walking up there thinking security would throw me in the gutter but to my surprise I got to watch all of the show from on the stage and sneak a few photos of Izzy going crazy and being terrific. Probably a giant highlight for the gig.

After the craziness of Day 1 it was a little bit calming knowing that Day 2 only had a few acts and only one stage. It started off with a little interview and photo with Jeremy Neale for AAA Backstage which was a lot of fun. I befriended Jeremy at Valley Oporto at about 4am last year at Bigsound and he is probably the most interesting person i've ever met. His thought process and take on life is so refreshing and anytime I see him (which is in small doses spread throughout the year due to being the most popular man in Brisbane) I always feel motivated to kick butt and do more.

I then stole him, put him up against a wood wall, told him to look cool and took a photo. And then the other photos of those of the great people in his band that I made friends with that night so it was really nice.

In summary, Valley Fiesta ruled. It was the wildest two nights for me running off to After parties and sneaking into places I wasn't supposed to be. It was all very harmless fun but I feel like that's what it's all about, socialising with new people and creating wild memories. I was fortunate enough to meet a lot of new and creative people, catch up with friends / musicians I haven't seen in forever and I got to take photos of them all at their happiest. Can't wait until next years adventures!

B.

Blackmilk x Disney | BTS

Bianca Holderness September 5, 2014

So as most of my friends know I not only take photos in my spare time but i've also landed myself a job working at Blackmilk. I've always admired the company from afar and saw a position available, applied immediately and since then my admiration for the company has only grown.

Recently i've started putting myself out there and helping out with a few of the shoots and it's been a really incredibly opportunity. Although Blackmilk has been on a constant up and up climb I feel like i've landed amongst a creative team in the brink of conquering new territory and it's exciting to witness not only people achieve their own creative goals but also to see the customers so passionate with the results.

The last major licensed collection (and my very first step on a Blackmilk shoot) happened to be for Disney and I was silently freaking out at how cool it was all going to be. Due to the hype amongst everyone I didn't really get briefed on what to expect so it was only when I walked into the studio that it all sank in.

Now this studio in itself was ridiculous. No paper backgrounds to be seen and instead there's an entire white room which you could drive a truck into and shoot, but instead of a truck we we're setting up six sets for six princesses in 12 hours.

The entire concept came down to a lot of talented people putting in collectively thousands of hours of work all for this one day of shooting. Charli had meticulously planned down every set in her scrapbook of ideas, Maddi was on everyones case making sure the entire day ran smoothly and that everyone was happily caffeinated (thank god) and Bonnie with her assistant Paul tackled the challenge of figuring out how to shoot, where to shoot and how to light it. Throw in some beautiful models and make up / hair styling magicians and the shoot was all ready.

It was actually a blessing in disguise that I got to do behind the scenes work because it practically felt like I was a random person off the street witnessing something crazy because it was all new to me. I was sneaking around and seeing the tiny details in everything and it was a total adventure. I think my favourite thing about doing behind the scenes on this shoot was kind of showing how it was all a beautiful lie. That somehow the team had managed to convince us all that these were real princesses and that they were in their own castle when in reality they were in a studio in Brisbane surrounded by lots of people staring at them and lots of equipment everywhere.

Anyway here are a few photos that I took throughout the day. I can honestly say it was the craziest shoot i've ever been on and the fact that Blackmilk encourages their staff to think up absolutely crazy ideas and run with them was a beautiful thing to witness. That trust in peoples abilities, the highs, the lows, the having-to-lift-a-really-really-heavy-bathtub, the not being able to get the glitter out of my shoes (still), just all of it was absolutely great.

Huge thanks to the creative team for having me and all of the people / links are all down the bottom!

And lastly, the one only photo of me taken on the day. Taken by Paul on his very cool Polaroid.

Website: https://blackmilkclothing.com/collections/disney

Main photos: http://blackmilk.io/lookbooks/princesses-and-villains/

Head Designer: jL

Photographer: Bonnie Cee

Creativer Director: Charli Burrowes

Production: Madeleine Weston

Hair: Sarah Laidlaw

Make Up: Amelia Axton

Models: Laura Evans, Cassie Matthews, Laura Wood, Madeline Rae Mason, Jocelyn Savage, Zoe Hoad.

Andre & Livia Luany get married.

Bianca Holderness August 30, 2014

A couple of weeks ago I ventured on down to Toowong Rowing Club and photographed the wedding of Andre & Livia Luany. It was a beautiful afternoon wedding with the outdoor Ceremony overlooking the Brisbane River, surrounded by big green lovely trees. Everywhere I looked I saw little tealight candles, bottles with flowers in them and other little delicate decorations which made the service seem very home-y and laid back.

Within minutes of snapping the Groomsmen portraits the venue then overflowed with loving family and friends all eager to see these two love birds tie the knot. The ceremony seemed to go so quick (or maybe I was just stressing out trying to get every shot) but although it wasn't long it was filled with so many emotions and the family sharing intimate moments with the bride and groom and it was just beautiful to witness.

Overall it was a picture perfect wedding. Everyone was beautiful, the venue was beautiful and Brisbane put on some amazing weather to help shoot in. After spending multiple hours sorting through and editing the photos I have no apprehensions about how in love these two people are and even found myself questioning just how two people can be so perfect for eachother and look so amazing in every photo.

I don't know how many times i've said the word "beautiful" in this but it still doesn't seem like i've explained it enough. It was beautiful and now here are a lot of photos explaining why.

Bianca.

Violent Soho

Bianca Holderness July 29, 2014

I think everyone in my life now knows how much I love Violent Soho. It started off with their self titled album getting played on Triple J a few years back and then last year I was lucky enough to score a ticket to see them live which completely blew my mind. Since then I have seen them perform seven times and been lucky enough to photograph them four times with this set of images now being my fifth.

I don't know what it is but the more I see them the more I want to see them. They're just a group of genuine guys making good music and offering up an awesome experience for everyone who attends their shows.

Their most recent tour which ended at the Hifi in Brisbane was a National tour playing their killer album "Hungry Ghost" to the masses. And by masses I mean fourteen totally sold out shows and performing to one of the biggest crowds i've ever seen at Splendour.

The last time I saw Violent Soho perform in a venue (not at a Festival) was December of last year when they played Crowbar which can hold a max of 200 people. To think that in a matter of six months they were able to book out a 1200 person capacity venue three times in one city, in one week is ridiculous. And I swear every single person in that place was wearing a Soho shirt or a Soho beanie. It's just so great to see some local talent getting the recognition they deserve from their hometown.

Anyway I don't need to say that they performed an excellent show because they always do. If you haven't seen them yet, do it. And while you're at it have a look at their most recent music videos because they will mess up your brain trying to figure out how they will filmed.

Cheers!

The Strums

Bianca Holderness July 28, 2014

Earlier this month The Strums had their EP launch in a hidden little nook in West End known as The Bearded Lady. After getting told I was able to shoot it on behalf of AAA Backstage I also got told to watch out because they like to jump on / off things so I knew I was in for an interesting night.

The gig started with Dead Zephyr, a local Brisbane band who I had never heard of, going absolutely crazy with just two members making such incredible music which completely surprised me as they were the first support. The next act Cafeine had flown in from Canada and within seconds I felt like I was watching a Future Islands live performance with the lead singer busting out some very interesting dance moves and getting the crowd involved by jumping off the stage whenever he could and then ending the song with a dramatic stance or prayer. Needless to say they were extremely catchy and with the atmosphere of the place, it felt like I was in an underground venue listening to The Cure so huge props to them.

Finally with the room at what seemed to be capacity The Strums came on and even though I had once again never heard of their music it felt like the entire room was singing along to their songs. Between the beautiful lights, the rock and roll music, the smoke machines and the members jumping onto the drum kit it was definitely an exciting gig.

I'm really glad that I got offered to photograph this gig because if I hadn't have I wouldn't have gotten to know some crazy bands and a really nice little venue.