In light of this week’s news of JD Fortune and his inauspicious exit from INXS i thought it might be timely to revisit some photos i took of the band in happier times.

These are photos i took for Drum Media in April 2006, two different shots ended up on the cover of Drum in Sydney and Inpress in Melbourne.

It was a pretty amazing assignment for me to get at the time. I’d hardly had any photos published before, had very little experience using off camera lighting and was nervous as all hell shooting a legendary band like INXS.

It turns out i got the gig based on a recommendation by someone in Melbourne who read my blog and though i’d be up for the task. Thanks Jez!

Anyway, as i really didn’t know what i was doing i enlisted Cybele to help and borrowed a couple of studio lights. The shoot was held at the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney at 10am.

Before arriving, Cybele and i stopped by a local bottle shop to pick up some champagne to use as a prop. I thought it’d be nice to inject some life and party vibes into the shot by having JD burst open the champagne. I was also a little nervous about the idea since i heard that some members of the band were alcoholic and teetotal now.

After arriving we found a colourful backdrop and set up two lights with reflector heads pointed to the ceiling to bounce the light off the roof. That was the one lighting setup i understood from bouncing light around with my flash while doing party photography.

I was using my Canon Rebel XT (350D) and hired a Canon 16-35mm f2.8 lens.

The band arrived and after brief introductions we were snapping away. I was very thankful for JD Fortune’s expressive personality as he really played up for the camera, pulling all sorts of poses and really embracing the champagne idea.

Just as i’d hoped, he popped open the bottle and sprayed it all over me with glee, dousing the ceiling with champagne in the process. Following that he swigged from the bottle and spat it everywhere. Classic rock’n'roll shenanigans.

I was at the hotel the other week, some 3 years later, and had a pang of pride and nostalgia seeing that the champagne stains are still visible on the ceiling.

Now three years down the track i’m shooting pictures full time and have numerous magazine covers under my belt, JD Fortune has kicked his cocaine habit and is living out of his pick up truck, and INXS are prodding the desecrated corpse of INXS considering whether to bring it back to life.

For the aspiring photographers out there i hope this is a lesson that you never know when a dream assignment will pop up out of the blue. If it does, just say yes, even if it scares the hell out of you. But don’t be too proud to ask for help.

It could be the shoot that changes everything.

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Drum is out now on the streets of Sydney with the shot above on the cover.

Here’s a few more photos from the session.

I quite like this one as they all look happy and relaxed. Like old mates. The lighting’s a bit iffy, but we only had a very short time to set up and the band arrived about half an hour early. Excuses excuses.

I brought along a bottle of champagne as a prop, and it worked a treat. JD revelled in shaking it up, spraying it everywhere, drinking from the bottle and spitting the champagne toward me. He’s got that cheeky rockstar behaviour down pat.

The folks at The Sheraton weren’t impressed and came over to tell us to take it easy. I think the wad of notes JD slipped them after the shoot placated them somewhat.

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Look who we’ve got here! Finally unleashed are my shots of INXS that were taken all the way back in April.

Apparently one of them was on the cover of Inpress in Melbourne last week. I haven’t managed to see a copy for myself yet.

I’m told Drum Media in Sydney will feature my INXS photo on the cover this week. I’m rather nervous about it. And i’m still pinching myself that i got to do a photoshoot with INXS, and that the photos are ending up on two different magazine covers.

After Drum’s on the street i’ll post a bunch more from this session.

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