Getting your brass kick

Around 12 years ago I had the pleasure of welcoming Christof Schmidt to the Klett Verlag, where we worked side-by-side for several years until he left to pursue his passion of playing the trombone in various ensembles. He has now pretty much made it to the top, having recently taken over the helm of Stuttgart's Protestant Brass Choirs from Hans Holzwarth, who had the job from 1978 until July 9, 2016, 

Variate, a select group of brass musicians conducted by Hans Holzwarth, here in the Markus Kirche, Stuttgart

In addition, Christof leads a couple of ensembles, including the Hohenlohe Brass, the Hohenlohe Brass Quintet and Trombana, Aside from playing and touring with these ensembles, he regularly plays in regional orchestras when an extra trombone is needed: Mozart's Requiem, Strauß, Mahler, Bruckner. 

His newest project was formed at the request of the Landesmuseum Württemberg, which has opened an exhibition about the Swabians in the Altes Schloß in Stuttgart. In March 2017 Christof's ensemble Trombanda will play with the former Olympic gold medalist, Dieter Baumann, who has now focused his energy on cabaret. It will be an entertaining concert!

In need of publicity photos, he turned to me and I was more than happy to oblige. The day before the shoot I went into town to scout out locations. Then I made some sketches to remind me of the visions I had for the shots. This was the first one we got.

I had actually imagined him running through the picture, but while we were warming up and getting to know one another, we weren't quite loose enough for that yet. However, in our third (and next-to-last) location Dieter suggested that himself, so it was much easier to capture (see below).

After shooting in the courtyard of the Altes Schloß, we went to one of Stuttgart's art museums. I like the lines there and the view of Stuttgart that one has through its glass facades.

 

Out in front of the Neues Schloß we got some nice shots as tourists walked by, shooting our shoot as they enjoyed the sunny day.

As we were setting up an "Abbey Road"-style shot there, a group of tourists were standing in the way. Dieter, self-assured as he is, asked them to move and they did!

It was a very fun job because every one was relaxed, the weather was on our side and I had a very competent assistant - thank you, Robert!

The "Abbey Road" shot