Crash-Endo!! The FINALE!

Photography by Angela McConnell

Sigh…all good things must come to an end But never fear, Derby will be back in 2010! But what a crazy insane year that was – awesome, awesome bouts so I think I will have to devote a whole blog post to my favourite Derby shots for 2009 – watch out!

Anyhoo back to the story.

Crashendo was the Season 4 finale held at Puckhandlers on December 5. This was a completely SOLD OUT bout – tickets were GORN 10 days before the big day! Dont say you weren’t warned and thank goodness I remembered to buy Geoff a ticket the Monday after the Movember bout!

Another AMAZING bout – Dead Ringer Rosies and the Toxic Avengers squared up to be the champions of VRDL Season 4. You always know its going to be good, when you are nearly flattened by a skater in the first 5 minutes.
The Toxics seemed to have the bout under control with some great scores racked up by jammers Kittie von Krusher and Swish Cariboom. Swish had a great bout – she is going to be a force to be reckoned with in Season 5, she really seems to have picked up some speed after her first few bouts and was blasting through the pack.
So Geoff was starting to look a little sad, since his beloved Rosies were falling behind (unfortunately he hasnt quite managed to deck himself out in pink yet, but i will have him in a skirt an angel wings…maybe if I let him have long hair and an awesome beard like the rest of the Rosies Cheer Squad…hmm).

So second half was looking good for the Toxics with the points racking up on the leaderboard and leaving the Rosies a fair bit of work to do. With minutes remaining on the leaderboard..Skate Bush pulls out the most amazing jams to take out the bout Rosies 132 to Toxics 128. Pretty much the whole crowd was on their feet screaming, yelling, clapping, making loud noises in the last few passes. Truly awesome atmosphere.

Special mention for the biggest stack of the night and the “OMG the looks like its going to leave a mark” award….would have to go to You Sooz You Lose. Sooz launched herself across the track to take out the jammer…gotta admire the committment shown but I hope you are feeling better Sooz.

Final Score
Dead Ringer Rosies 132 to Toxic Avengers 128

Thanks ladies for a great year – it has been so much fun to shoot and will see you all again in 2010 for Season 5…

Here are some shots from the night. More can be viewed at my Zenfolio page

Movember Proskate Awareness..

Photography by Angela McConnell

There was a moment of panic when we rocked up at 6.15pm just as the sign went up saying “Event Almost SOLD OUT”. Given that I never seemed to be organised when it comes to anything photography related, and that normally Geoff buys his ticket at the door, we were crapping ourselves..
Gallantly, Geoff offered to sit in the car for the bout, but LUCKILY he managed to get one of the last tickets..YAY!

So the Movember bout was between Toxic Avengers and Dead Ringer Rosies, with the girls parading their best mo’ styles to support the Movember charities Beyond Blue and Prostate Cancer.

Yet another hard hitting bout with the old rivalry between the Rosies and Avengers with Berzerker getting sent off and Punani Tsunami keeping the seats warm in the sin bin. Punani is heaps fun to shoot – as soon as she gets hit, you know she is going to get straight up and target the offender.

So after a punishing and agressive bout, the Rosies take it out (which Geoff loved)
Dead Ringer Rosies 142 vs Toxic Avengers 118

So here are some shots from the night

Next bout
VRDL Season Final – CRASHENDO
Puckhandlers
Cnr Blake & Davis St, Reservoir
Saturday December 5 2009
Tickets available online from the VRDL blog THIS BOUT WILL SELL OUT!

To see more photos from the bout visit my Zenfolio page and look for the Movember folder

My New Love

About 3 months ago I discovered early 20th Century Photography and how completely awesome it is!

Image by Alfred Cheney Johnston

The tones are absolutely amazing.

Whilst on my travels for more vintagey goodness I happened across contemporary photographer using processes common to the early 20th Century photographers. Mark Sink uses Wet Collodion plates to achieve some truly amazing imagery.

So this sent me off on a little tangent to try and replicate some of the tones in Lightroom by tweaking some existing B&W presets and mixing with some Follies inspired presets I had created.

This was the result…

(Model is Leo)

So its not exact by any stretch, Lightroom doesn’t exactly give you the flexibility of adding texture but I did shoot at a reasonably high ISO to get a bit of grain. It did however, encourage me to do a happy dance for Geoff to indicate I was reasonably impressed with the effect. And it means that I think I am heading down the right track with my project for 2010.

To see more from the Kommune shoots see my Zenfolio page or my Kommune gallery here

More from Kommune

Photography by Angela McConnell

My first couple of months at Kommune has come to an end and Kommune2 is about to start…bring on more shooting action

Here are some more images from shoots in September and October 2009….

To see more from Kommune visit my Zenfolio page

Frightening Strikes!

Photography by Angela McConnell

And I am converted….
I am now a hardcore Reservoir Dolls fan…gotta love an underdog – especially when they step up to the mark and pull off the win

Sorry Rosies, but be heartened that you still have a massive fan in the McConnell-Lester household and he cant believe that I am a Dolls supporter.

Another amazing bout, it would have to be one of the hardest hitting matches I have seen, with Bustup Bambi from the Rosies appearing to cop it left, right and centre. She took one of the biggest hits I have witnessed, I swear she had to be at least a metre in the air after a block to the chest from Misty Peaks (aka Hotrod Stacey). To her absolute credit, she got up and kept going…

Kitty DeCapitate again had a great bout and after a slowish start, had an absolute blinder against the very impressive Skate Bush in the final Jam to take out the win. Hidden Magenta, Skate Bush and Berzerker from the Rosies went hard to take out a lead against the Dolls towards the end of the first half but a strong fight back from BB Bombshell (loved the outfit), Kitty DeCapitate and Foxy Terrier kept the Dolls within striking distance.

Final score Reservoir Dolls 156 – Dead Ringer Rosies 151

Grand final on December 5 – teams to TBC

The VRDL have really come into their own this year and the fact that they consistantly have to turn people away from the door is a testament to the hard work and determination they have all put in to promote themselves. If you want to see a bout, you will need to turn up early or purchase an online ticket from their blog

Next bout

Saturday November 14 – Dead Ringer Rosies vs Toxic Avengers
Puckhandlers
Cnr Blake & Davis St, Reservoir

To see all the photos visit my Zenfolio page

Becoming a Kommunist

I joined Kommune in August. It has given me the opportunity to familiarise myself more with studio shooting and using light in studio shoots. Although I always seem to be the one asking for less light to make the shots more contrasty.
What can I say, I love dark and moody imagery and negative space…

Hopefully this will help me to start my own small little studio, in my brand new 1950’s house which we will be moving into in a few weeks…eeek!!

Seems funny after all my resistance to shooting people when I first picked up my camera in April 2007, and insisted that all I was interested in was abstract work and architecture

Here are some offerings from shoots at Kommune….

Theresa

Theresa

Theresa

Aurora

Aurora

Aurora

Triptych Burlesque

How hot is the poster??

Neverwhere – Fitztroy
In conjunction with Leatherpride
Friday September 18th

Three fantastic performers..

Miss Nic

Miss Rosy Rabbit

Kerry X

Some very sultry performances from the gorgeous Kerry X – gotta love a fan dance

Miss Rosy Rabbit in a gorgeous sparkly LBD in a saucy french number… and as a lover scorned

Miss Nic as her alter ego Drucsilla Monte Carlo (keep an eye out for her new character, which I cant wait to see “Kitty von Twinkle”) and then reprising her Gore-lesque roll by bringing out the coffin. Special mention must go to the fake blood, which was so spot on it nearly made my boy faint.

To see more visit my Zenfolio page and look for the Triptych Burlesque folder

Pump up the Jam!

The rise of the Resevoir Dolls….

Another great night of Derby last weekend. The VRDL debut a new team, spawned by the fresh meat intake at the start of 2009, The Resevoir Dolls. The goss on the inside says that the Dolls name is short lived however, due to a team in the states already claiming the name. So stay tuned for a revised name appearing soon…
Well done to everyone who made it out on a dark and stormy night to support the VRDL

Highlights of the night would have to have been…

the showdown between Denim Destructor (Double Dee) and Kittie von Krusher, I have never seen Kittie so angry before! Made for some interesting jams later on in the evening!

the advent of the fresh meat, in particular Foxy Terrier and Kitty DeCapitate. Kitty has some amazing pace, although would have loved to see her extend the jams a bit longer…

Resevoir Dolls were downed by the experienced Toxic Avengers but will be bouncing back with the next bout

FRIGHTENING STRIKES
24th October see the VRDL site for more details and tickets

To see more photos visit my Zenfolio page and look for the Pump up the Jam folder..

Red Door Burlesque

Photography by Angela McConnell

The Order of Melbourne
Level 2
401 Swanston St
Melbourne

“On the last Sunday of every month, Red Door brings you the finest in burlesque, vaudeville and circus at the elegant Order of Melbourne. An evening at Red Door is like taking a trip back to the golden age of burlesque, with dazzling performances from Hi Ball Burlesque, seductive tunes from DJ Emma Peel, saucy pinup girls, and death-defying aerial acts performing right above your table.”

On the last Sunday of August, I took a trip to the Order of Melbourne to visit Red Door Burlesque… and I was not disappointed. Be warned people, if you want a seat right up close to the action, you need to get there early!

Starring the lovely ladies from Hi Ball Burlesque, Lil Thelma Thunderbird as the sparkly MC and (a new experience for me) Boylesque! Oh how I love boylesque! The aerial acts will amaze you, literally above your head as you sip on your cocktail. This is one burlesque show you should not miss.

To get a taste of Red Door Burlesque – head to The Order of Melbourne on September 27th, doors open at 6pm. If you are a Facebook fiend you can find the event listing here

Here are some offerings from me – I was waiting for my brand new Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 which I was meant to get on Friday So unfortunately couldnt get as wide shots as I would have liked, but get to save them up for next time

To see more visit my Zenfolio page

Muffy Manhattan

Lil’ Thelma Thunderbird

Hi Ball Burlesque

Rusty Nail

Dolores Daquiri

Brandy Alexander

Gorelesque!

Photography by Angela McConnell

Gorelesque…..”A night of blood, beer, booze and broads”
A production by Miss Nic and Vesper White

Held at the Noise Bar in Brunswick on Friday night, Gorelesque was chock full of burlesque beauties from the Melbourne scene performing routines with a twist…
Included performances by
Miss Nic
Vesper White
Samantha Diamond
Jasper Le Jewel
Rosy Rabbit
Velma Valentina
and special guest band King Cannons

I must make a special mention for Jasper, unfortunately I didnt get too many good photos since she performed to SuperMassiveBlackHole by MUSE and I am a MASSIVE fan of MUSE, I spent most of the time singing and dancing away that I either forgot to take photos or made the camera shake too much…so my apologies to Jasper

It was an amazing night and I have to say that I have lots of new favourite routines now. With any luck we will see many more nights like this from Miss Nic and Vesper. Congratulations ladies on an awesome performance…

To see more photos visit my Zenfolio page and look for the Gorelesque folder

Miss Nic

Miss Nic

Gorelesque MC’s

Vesper White

Samantha Diamond

Jasper Le Jewel

Rosy Rabbit

Velma Valentina

Miss Nic as Drucsilla Monte-Carlo

Vesper White