Halvo

Eric Halvorsen of A Rocket to the Moon during shooting for their new music video.

Maybe I'll make Mondays Mandatory...

For posting. I really suck at updating this lately. I guess it's because work has been slow/ all my time this past week has been editing Hide&Seek photos. Saturday I did a photo booth at a friend's insane birthday party. I learned that some people on coke are really mean, while some are just really annoying. I should write PSAs for the anti drug movement. "Hi. My name is Megan. Cocaine use has been shown to lead to you thinking you're much cooler than you actually are. This overconfidence isn't attractive, and neither is screaming into the microphone you've stolen from the band while dressed like Lady Gaga. Seriously, we can all see your vagina. Don't do drugs."

Photo of me by The Cobrasnake

AJ, Danielle, and I were The Baby Shoes Gang.
I haven't been able to sleep for the last week either. I've been waking up at 9am no matter what time I went to bed. It's not conducive to me being in a good mood. Last night I was completely out cold by midnight after spending 12 hours helping to move three truckloads of grip gear at Pollution Studios. Three AM rolled around and my neighbors, with what are usually adorable British accents, decided to have a party... outside... even though it was below 50 degrees... right under my window. They stopped the shenanigans pretty soon after they started, but it didn't matter. I was awake, and my brain started doing this weird "the sky is falling" race over every possible topic I could stress out about. "How am I going to make rent? What if I don't go on Warped Tour, then what am I going to do? Should I have shot that show tonight after all? What if I pissed off that chick at the coffee shop because I didn't have money to tip her? Why isn't he texting me back? Do they not have cell service in Northern California or something? There's no gas in my car. What if I get sick? Ugh I ate too much junk today. I need to go hiking tomorrow or something. I need to edit though..." and so on and so forth... So I watched Hulu (Archer is the funniest cartoon I have ever seen in my life ever by the way) and eventually my brain slowed down to a pace that I could blank out at, and I had really insane dreams/ nightmares all night until I slogged out of bed at 11am.

I spent all of yesterday out at Pollution helping them unload multiple tons of new gear that they bought. My arms are killing me today, in a good way though. Near the end of the day Julien opened a random mystery box and discovered it was full of a couple dozen folding knives. Pretty awesome basically. So now all of us are armed and dangerous, and after a couple hours of practice none of us are any better at throwing knives. Just another day at Pollution Studios!

Ok I'm off to upload 200+ photos from Saturday's photo booth before I start getting angry emails from the guests wondering where their photos are... because that's what most of them will be doing on a Monday...

Update: You can check out all the photos HERE! I think doing a photo booth is kind of like childbirth. Right after it I say, "NEVER doing that again ever!" then I look at the photos and get all nostalgic for the party that I never really got to be a part of because I was stuck in a room all night taking photos. I think to myself, "Next time maybe I'll get to have fun!" and sign up for the next one...

Hide&Seek Clothing Behind the Scenes

Byron and I survived Zombie Prom for yesterday's shoot for Hide&Seek Clothing. I somehow managed to pull it together on four hours of sleep, after AJ and I thought it was a good idea to run around and stay up after prom until 5am. I woke up at 9am, completely awake and anxious about the shoot. Seeing how half the models were partaking heavily in Zombie Prom festivities, I was wondering if we'd have any hangover casualties or no shows. Surprisingly people showed up early, bright eyed, and bushy tailed, ready to knock out the photos. We had AJ, and Aaron from Saint Motel; Sierra, Blake, and Devin from Versa Emerge; and my friends Lili, Megan, and Mitchell. I honestly couldn't have hoped for a better shoot! This was my sixth time working with Byron and Hide&Seek and by far the most successful. We've really taken the things we've learned from the past and put them to use.
Here are a few behind the scenes photos that I liked.

Lili, Megan, AJ, and Aaron waiting while I test lights.

Sierra

Zach and Megan

Alex, Julien, and Mike of Pollution Studios. They let us invade and we love them!

Happy Valentines Day from Saint Motel

Last night was Zombie Prom, and I think it was the most fun I've had since moving to LA. Sooooo many more photos coming!

Bolten Inc. Interview Translated...

I recently did an interview with a Spanish publication called Bolten Inc.. It's a really nice interview, and unfortunately Google Translation slaughters it so here are my 12(+1) Preguntas Con Megan Thompson in English! (Click HERE for the Spanish version with Pictures.)

12(+1) Preguntas con Megan Thompson
by Rodrigo Rangel

Since photography and Rock met, they decided to stay together forever. And this is a story that specialized photographers must know very well. That is why we concluded that definitely Megan Thompson must have one of the most incredible jobs in the world. She is only 26 and begins to take on the world. Megan is from the small town of Bozeman in the state of Montana but she moved to Los Angeles in 2008 to follow her dreams and continue her career in the photo after graduating from Montana State University with a BA in Photography. A couple of months ago I found a picture of Megan, i had a look on her website and I was really impressed by ability of her to illuminate and guide, it looks so easy, but believe me it is not and if go deeper inside, the truth is that in the rock world in the image, body language and fashion can become very important, even sometimes more than the music itself. Megan's work createing unusual surreal environments, but above all her work is very fresh and it is unlikely that her photos bores you , on the contrary, in my case I became a bit addicted and wanted to see a little bit more.
Megan Thompson has worked with Hello, Astronaut, Saint Motel, Mark Hoppus, Tom Delonge, We The Kings, Astronautalis, The Used, Lorene Drive and many many more, her work has been published in major publishers such as Photo District News, Alternative Press, People and Spin. So she doesn't really needs a c.v. In this interview we had the chance to meet and discover that besides being a brilliant artist, Megan is a great person, with defined values and an incredible ability to see a little further. So without any further here, we leave them 13 questions with Megan Thompson.

1. When at work, Which part of the day inspires you the most?
The part when I wake up and have an inbox of emails waiting for me with new
potential clients. Right after that, would be the part where I find coffee and
become human again for the day.

2. How would you define your work? What are you looking for with it?
I just want to make photographs that the person in them will be remembered
for. I hope that I can make iconic photos that define musicians, actors, and
people in the same way that Sam Jones, and Annie Leibovitz are able to do.

3. Can you define the evolution of your artwork?
I evolved from being a very dark fine art photographer. I thought everything
had to be super moody and disturbing to be "Art". I still am drawn to darker
artwork and I love that style, but I've brightened it up a lot since moving to
LA and working commercially. I love being a commercial photographer, because my
work can be fun and exciting and completely random and it doesn't need to have
a specific reason or be making a statement to be that way.

4. In your art-making, do you experiment or your rather have an specific
method?
I'm pretty specific with my work flow, but every now and then I screw up a
layer or something and have an "ah ha" moment that changes everything. I don't
experiment so much with my paid jobs, but I do in my personal work a lot.

5. Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
I read a lot of messed up books that give me ideas. Chuck Palahniuk's novels
like Chokeand Invisible Monstersare super detailed and well written. I want to
make photographs that are that detailed visually. My sister, Amy Thompson, is a
big inspiration too. She's an amazing letter press printer and binds her own
books. She's the opposite of me artistically; incredibly organized and patient.
When I get frustrated or am over complicating what I'm working on I kind of ask
myself "What would Amy do?". It helps me to take a step back and not make
mistakes.

6. If you could ever meet one artist, living or dead, who would it be?
Salvador Dali. His paintings were always a huge inspiration to me when I was
in school. If I could trade my photo skills for another skill it would be oil
painting. I wish I could do that!

7. What music is exciting and inspiring to you at this point?
I'm really really into LA bands from my neighborhood right now. I love the
music that's right in my backyard. Favorites currently are Saint Motel (they
are going to be the next big thing I know it!), Castledoor, Army Navy, and
Links. All of them are based in Los Angeles.

8. One movie you could recommend...Why?
I think everyone should always revisit the movies they watched as a child.
Especially if you're a child of the 80's like me. Jim Henson creations like
Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal are favorites of mine. Movies like that are
probably why I'm so weird as an adult.

9. Can you tell us one city or place on earth that inspires you... Why?
I'm from Montana and now that I live in Los Angeles, I appreciate where I'm
from a lot more. It's so beautiful there. Bozeman, Montana is really amazing in
the summer, and I would totally spend a month there every year if it was
possible.

10. What is your opinnion about this generation?
I think there's a lack of ambition that came about really recently. My
friends and I are all super hard workers, and eat and sleep our dream jobs to
make them a reality. So many kids are coming out of high school thinking that
you can just go out into the world and being "myspace famous" is enough. They
don't want to work for their dream career, so they just give up on it and
become jaded.

11. What makes you happy and what makes you mad?
I have a top five list of things that make me happy, 1.Songs by Queen; 2.
Songs with clapping as part of the percussion arrangement; 3. New sweatshirts; 4. Huge photography books; 5. Coffee... in any shape or concoction.
I try not to focus on the things that make me mad, but not being able to own a
dog because I live in a place that doesn't allow it is at the top of that list.

12. Do you have any exhibitions soon?
I do! I'll be showing my rock photography on March 13th at the Strange
Gallery on Melrose in Los Angeles. It's a group show of LA rock photographers,
and a big rock and roll concert! Plus there's free alcohol, so it will be a
great time.

13. When is Bolten Inc and Megan Thompson working together?
Good question. When are we?

Julien gets a Tattoo

I've been playing with the video on my 5D MkII more lately. I shot this last week while Julien was getting tattooed.