Like Mark said, the two of us drove up to North Bay Ontario last week with the goal of capturing some awesome black metal photos of Vanquished.
So much to say about that night really...
Mark took some 'indoor' shots of the band in corpse paint and battle gear in the daytime and then we ventured out into the forest to do these pics at night. To start, it was -20 C. in North Bay (-30 with the wind), the sky was clear and there was a bright full moon.
Upon arriving at the edge of the forest, we encountered two Deer, just hanging out, who just starred at us from about 50 feet away before taking off as we advanced into the woods. Next, one of the most epic scenes from last night was Vanquished, Mark and I + 4 others (friends/crew) walking single file through a trail in the forest with Mark carrying his camera equipment and the rest of us carrying huge arm-fulls of dry wood to burn at our destination. That moment alone should be re-created for a video in the future!
After choosing a spot, we dug a hole in the snow until we reached the earth, and then began building what would be a rediculous bonfire. Vanquished, already painted and suited up, stripped down into show mode (keeping in mind that it was -30 out there), Dertah and Grimnyr (the guitar/vocalists in Vanquished) took turns blowing fire and Mark began shooting pictures.
The entire shoot lasted close to an hour and Vanquished really toughed through it, with their back sides freezing from the night air and their faces burning from the heat and the sparks flying from the fire before them. It was intense, and very real, and the band were being vocal about it, which only added to the moment.
The shoot ended when the band ran out of fluid to burn, at which point we covered the bonfire with snow which sent a huge puff of smoke into the sky (which we could still see 'travelling' in the sky from far away for quite a while afterwards). Then it was back to a house to pound stiens and eventually crash.
More photos coming, + I'll post more, as I start to remember more things from last night...
David - \w/
P.S. I've said it before...
"Big Ben" / Grimnyr is a monster!!! 
