The Barndogs are local part time musicians and full time characters! They asked me to create a shot of the band to help them promote an upcoming fundraising gig they were playing in support of the Wolfe Island Music Festival (organized by the amazing Virginia Clark) at www.wolfeislandmusicfestival.com.

Given the band's name, it only seemed fitting to scout local barns and I found the perfect spot. The wonderful owners of the barn generously donated the location for the day (it turns out that the owners knew some of the band members - we love living in a small town!) I arrived about 4 hours before the band and set up 6 lights, a haze machine and moved hay around.

We first shot with the barn wall as the background (shown below). This was a solid image but it didn't feel particularly special. As nice as it was, a lot of photographs have been taken in barns - we were looking for something that stood out a little more.

So we added two additional elements. The first was props. I had brought along a bunch of vintage-type hats and some industrial goggles. I spread them out and asked the band to grab whatever they wanted. I didn't have to ask twice! The second element added was a rustic circus tent backdrop created by Sarah Oliphant (www.oliphantstudio.com), who is widely considered to be the greatest backdrop artist alive. She is in incredibly high demand by photographers shooting for Vanity Fair, Vogue, etc. and I was undeservedly privileged to enjoy the benefits of her remarkable talent.

Once the backdrop was set up and a few props were adorned, things really started to gel. We ended up getting some incredible images. Ultimately the image the band selected to use was my favourite too (it doesn't always work out that way but it's nice when it does!). The band put their chosen image on a poster (below). This was a great experience with fabulous people - thank you Barndogs and congratulations on a sold out show!

The band-designed poster with their selected image