Mary Jane Farmer

I would like to be a staff photographer for Seven Peaks Music Festival in 2018, and am making this proposal in application for the position. I can also send a more detailed resume of my music experience over the last 40 years, if that would be helpful. Many many other photos (than those linked below) are also on my Flickr site, Mary Jane Farmer Scene In Town.

Contact info:

Phone: 903-814-8257, Email: MaryJane@SceneInTown.com, Facebook: Mary Jane Farmer,  Website: SceneInTown.com

Here are 30 or so more recent photos, with a description in the file. As you can see, I have already photographed many of the stars who are playing your festivals.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/102233188@N08/albums/72157660472189502

I will take photographs of the music on any/all stages, along with set-up, crowd and vendor shots, plus any other photographs for which management specifically asks, such as Meet-n-Greets. I will have those photographs returned on DVDs or Drive to festival management about a week after the event, and they will be in 360-dpi resolution, good for printing, enlargements, or any other use desired. On a bottom corner of each photo, there will be a watermark in small print, not to distract from the photograph. I would like to reserve the right to use the photographs and to allow any musician to use them as well, of course, as can Festival management.

I can shoot with or without flash, preferring to not use a flash in order to capture the complete mood that stage lighting provides, but also like to shoot a very few with flash in order to capture those more “animated” moves that many musicians are famous for, or to get one or two without “hat shadows” across or hiding their faces. If flash is a “no no,” no problem, it will be done with no flash.

With the use of the desk/table being asked for below, I can also provide you with good photos to be sent to Associated Press or other media before and during the event, if management asks.

I can be there ahead of time if  your festival would like, to photograph the set-up and staff, and stay, if needed, until it is completely torn down.

For this, I will need:

• Complete access to the stages, front, back, and sides, including any photographer/videographer alley between the stages and the audience.. Note/promise: I do not “pester” the musicians backstage!
• A secure place to plug in camera battery rechargers, and to leave my equipment, including computer, when not in use, maybe a corner backstage or in the green room area.
• A small table or desk, to make notes as the day progresses.
• Any other niceties given other staff, such as meals, beverages, and merchandise/t-shirts.
• WiFi access would be a definite plus.

Accommodations: I can camp onsite in my van (aka Hippie Van).  If camping, I would prefer it be as near the stages, bathrooms, and showers as possible, or have the use of a golf cart if it is a distance from the stages (being slightly…only slightly…handicapped). Or, if it is in the budget, a hotel room would be great.

Remuneration:   I have never asked for payment for shooting these events. Gas to and from Texas would be a great advantage, (I live on Social Security and part-time work and it is NOT easy to do that!) plus one or two guest tickets, also with backstage privileges, as I only bring a guest if they are willing to help me.

References:

• “There are lots of people with cameras, only a few who know how to use them. With her never-give-up attitude and ability to make things seem larger than life through her lens, this woman is nothing short of professional. What you want from a live music photo is to capture the atmosphere. No one does that like Mary Jane Farmer.” — Dustin Perkins, singer/songwriter
• “No one catches the depth of music like the eye of Mary Jane Farmer.” — Big Gus Samuelson, KHYI 95.3 and the band Swampadelic.
• “Fantastic eye and a great sense of composition” — Ronny Cox, actor and musician.
• “I get so nervous when most people take photographs at my shows. I don’t when Mary Jane does. She is always professional and considerate.” — Darryl Lee Rush, singer/songwriter
• “You ought to be working for me,” — the late Mel Tillis said while autographing (for sale in fundraising auctions) photos I’d taken of him. I laughed, handed him a card and said, Call me,” but he didn’t, as he went into the hospital soon afterward.
• “You can get on and work on our stage anytime you want to.” — Cody Johnson band.

Printed photos (not a complete list):

• East Texas Outdoors magazine, spread of photos from the Red Dirt Revolution festival in Deport, Texas
• Big Gus & Swampadelic, CD cover and inside panels
• Jason Elmore, CD inside panel
• Darryl Lee Rush, CD cover and inside panel
• Vicki Penhall, Novelist
• Buddy Magazine
• Paris Life Magazine
• Paris News

Festivals as “official” photographer (not a complete list):

Kerrville Folk Festivals, WoodyFest, Mountain Jam, Wounded Heroes (fundaising) Fest, Larry Joe Taylor fests, CrudeFest, Honky Tonk Festivals, Red Dirt Revolution Fest, Texas Music Revolutions, Cooler’n Hell Fests, Kevin Deal Fests, Ida Road Fests, Po Boys Picnics, Pawless Fests, ChippyFests, others

Venues as “official” or “house” photographer (not a complete list)

Choctaw Casinos in Durant and Grant, Okla.; Hank’s Texas Grill, McKinney, Texas; Southern Junction in Rockwall, Texas; Overdrive Entertainment, Durant, Okla.

The following is from an article written about Mary Jane Farmer, and the advantage of this information to your music festival would be that you understood that I do know festival production and how tedious and time-consuming it can be, and so your festival management would also understand that I won’t be bothering anyone for unnecessary reasons. “Been there, done that,” so to speak.

Article

“Although she had volunteered and been around music festivals for several years before, Mary Jane jumped into the music business with both feet in 1980, when she accepted the position of assistant to the producer for the world-wide acclaimed Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas.

“It was a year-round, full-time job in which, during festivals, she was responsible for overseeing the hundreds of volunteers over 18 days of the big festival, and at several other events throughout the year, plus working as each event’s business management, allowing producer Rod Kennedy the freedom to host the stage with ease. Together, the team also produced classical, bluegrass, and country music festivals, and traveled and held festivals across Texas, the United States, and Mexico.

“In 1986, Texas Governor Mark White invited Mary Jane to produce the state’s 7-stage, 2-day official Sesquicentennial Festival at San Jacinto Battleground State Park. She culminated that event by combining Willie Nelson and his band with the Houston Symphony. She has also been a booking agent and office assistant for several performers, and a record distributor, all while holding down “real” jobs, including delving into the newspaper reporting business.

“In 1999, after moving from Kerrville to Grayson County, Texas, Mary Jane became the police and fire beat reporter for the Sherman Herald Democrat. Five years later, she convinced the paper to begin publishing more about live music. That continued until the newspaper shrank (as newspapers are doing) and the music scene page was eliminated.

“She retired from that full-time job in 2012 and has devoted her time and talents to all aspects of the live music business since then. Currently, Farmer is photographing music events, concerts, and festivals, booking musicians, booking venues, and writing for Buddy Magazine, the oldest music magazine in Texas.”