Photo Courtesy of Nina Bradlin Facebook page - Photo by Pierre Pallez

This past weekend a few members of PhotoWalk:Michigan accompanied Alex Alexander on his shoot with international singer Nina Bradlin. We were able to see Alex work first hand and take notes on how to direct and model and shoot them.

The shoot took a little longer to prepare as the time kept getting pushed back. There were little difficulties with waiting on the makeup artist. Once they arrived, The crew met them at the River walk Downtown Detroit between the nature preserve and Chene Park. From there we all met Nina and Alex on top of the hill. From there, some of us assisted Alex with what ever he needed help with to get the shot. After about 20 minutes or so we changed locations to just up the street to an abandon business building with graffiti on it. The spot was a heavy traffic location, cars and people were in consent rotation. Alex was able to get the shots we was looking for, and after he was finish we allowed us to take a few shots of our own. There was a bit of confusion as there was a third location that concluded near the Tigers stadium.

I was able to few behind the scene shots (BTS) from the shoot itself that shows Alex at work. This Wednesday (8-5-15) Nina will be performing at the Motor City Wine and some of us will be there to show our support.

"The Firing Squad" - Left to Right - Alex, Maurice, George and Dedan — "The Firing Squad" - Left to Right - Alex, Maurice, George and Dedan

Wednesday (12.17.2014) there was a performance showcase with multiple talents from Detroit artists. The acts ranged from rappers -- single and groups, singers -- single and groups. Also, it hosted a comedian and tap dancers. Before the showcased a cypher, where artist were able to put forth their freestyle skills before the show began.

The beautiful hosts for the evening were June Elaine and Miss Melody Fresh to open up and introduce the performers for the night.

List of Performers

Biance Badd
Danny Mellz
Blaz Reco
Paris Noel
Dre Butterz
Comedian 7mile Faygo
Nino
Malinda LeBeu
Hydro
Erica Page
Richy Marciano
Young Hitch
June Elaine

I might be missing a few people, but were a few I was able to find on instagram through the host page.

As I was great to see and hear the different styles from local artist, some critique is sure to follow. As every performer did a great job, there are a few pointers that are needed across the board.

The first is rappers who rap over their own vocals. I get it that sometimes you might forget the lyrics here and there, but when they don't have a performance track the audience get the echo effect. In turn it creates that awkward feeling of being in a listening party or in the car. Some artist did not have that issue at all. Granted every DJ has their own style but often times you gotta listen to the artist. It was times when the music was too loud for us to really hear those that were on stage.

The showcase was held at Hazel's Place Lounge in Detroit, MI. The venue was small, and the stage itself was only 10% of the total space with a mirror extended along the end of it. Due to the poor lighting I had to bum up the ISO. by during so created a lot of grain that I did not necessarily wanted. If they were to add some performances lights then it wouldn't be a bad area for shows.

Again it was a great show I really enjoyed seeing some of the talent this city has to offer. At the bottom is Biance Badd's performance of her new single "Private Dancer". Soon I have moments from the rest of the performers from the show case.