July 2009
July 29, 2009
I distinctly remember the first time I heard Depeche Mode. I was watching MTV at Nikki Bovender's house in middle school and MTV played the video for "Enjoy The Silence." It was unlike anything I had seen or heard at the time and quite frankly blew my little teenage mind. (It was also my first exposure to Anton Corbijn, but that's a story for another time.) So it's hard to believe that in my 17+ years of concert-going I had never seen Depeche Mode until last night.
The show itself was wonderful. It doesn't appear that they've changed much from their mid-90's heyday, and the set list focused mostly on the latter part of the career, with enough hits sprinkled in there to keep everyone happy. "Policy of Truth" was the highlight for me, with "It's No Good" a close second. The band put on a great show and I would highly recommend going to see them if they are playing a town near you.
The shoot itself was very challenging. The band allowed us four songs (one more than the industry standard) but getting a good variety of shots proved difficult. The stage at Nissan Pavilion is about six feet high and the band had a row of monitors at the lip of the stage, adding another foot or so to the height. Because of the monitors, I knew 1) the band wouldn't be coming up to the edge of the stage and 2) I was only going to get photos from the waist up. The band also had three video cameras in the photo pit, and while they weren't difficult to shoot around, it made maneuvering in the pit a bit difficult. The lighting was great, save for some side lighting that produced a good bit of flare, preventing me from shooting across the stage as much as I would have liked. Their giant video screen washed out most of the background, so I tried to shoot more angles to get some darker background and smoke to frame the band members.
More photos after the jump. If you want to see what i am shooting next, just follow me on Twitter.
Continue reading "[Photos] Depeche Mode @ Nissan Pavilion"...
July 25, 2009
Who says Americans don't like soccer? Last night close to 72 thousand people filled M&T Stadium in Baltimore to watch Chelsea and AC Milan, two of the best football teams in the world, square off in the World Football Challenge. The match was incredibly entertaining, especially given it was just a pre-season friendly. World-class players like Ronaldinho, Didier Drogba, Frank Lamprad, John Terry, Alessandro Nesta and John Terry absolutely wowed the crowd with their football skills. Ronaldinho in particular looked very sharp, making defenders look downright silly as they chased him. He has an amazing array of stepovers and change of pace moves, not too shabby for someone that is reportedly washed up. Didier Drogba was the other standout player of the match. He opened the scoring in the seventh minute by hitting an absolute laser from about 35 yards out. It was INCREDIBLE.
The best part of the night was at the very end of the match, in stoppage time. AC Milan had a free kick deep in the Chelsea half of the field with one last chance to tie the match. Everyone in the stands stood up and started cheering, not wanting the match to end. After the match, both coaches remarked that they were very impressed with the passion of the crowd.
I can't wait for the D.C. United v Real Madrid match in early August!
If this is your first time visiting, you can check out my Gold Cup photos as well as my other sports photos.
If you want to stay up to date with what I am shooting, just follow me on Twitter.
More photos after the jump!
Continue reading "[Photos] Chelsea v. AC Milan @ M&T Stadium in Baltimore"...
July 22, 2009
I was surprised at the lack of photographers in the pit for Sunday's Stone Temple Pilots show at Merriweather Post pavilion. I went just hoping to get some good shots of frontman Scott Weiland but ended up staying and enjoying the big rock show. You can read my review of the show over on DCist.
I quite enjoyed shooting this show, Weiland never really let loose but the DeLeo brothers were definitely mugging for the cameras. At one point Dean, the guitarist, stuck the neck of his guitar directly in my lens and held it there so I could take a few snaps. After he pulled away and did a turn, he made eye contact with me, cracked a smile and winked. I gave him a thumbs up and kept shooting.
More photos after the jump.
Continue reading "[Photos] Stone Temple Pilots @ Merriweather Post Pavilion"...
July 21, 2009
You might have seen footage of last week's Washington Kastles and New York Sportimes match on Sportscenter. There was a dust up between the men's doubles teams after two players (neither of them John McEnroe) hit each other during the course of play and exchanged words. I won't get into it because it overshadows the tennis.
After the doubles match was done, McEnroe went on to beat Scott Oudsema, a kid over half his age, in singles. It was a sight to behold. McEnroe deployed his entire arsenal of angles and spins, completely befuddling his young opponent. I'm a huge Johnny Mac fan and it was a special thing to see. McEnroe played Oudsema last year and was blown off the court by his power. It was quite a turnaround.
More photos after the jump.
Continue reading "[Photos] World Team Tennis Featuring John McEnroe"...
July 19, 2009
For the second straight year I had the opportunity to shoot the biggest hip-hop tour of the year, Rock The Bells, featuring artists like Nas, The Roots, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi from OutKast, RZA & Raekwon from the Wu-Tang Clan and many more. And for the second straight year, the lighting for the show was absolutely horrible. I'm not sure why the lighting people inisisted that the artists play in the dark (especially in the middle of the day) but they certainly weren't doing us photographers any favors.
The shots you see here are processed much more than normal (at least for my general workflow) but I think they still work. There are more photos after the jump.
Click here for the photos that ran on washingtonpost.com along with Sarah Godfrey's review.
Continue reading "[Photos] Rock The Bells Photos w/ Nas, The Roots & Talib Kweli"...
July 15, 2009
Shooting the US Men's National Soccer Team has long been a goal of mine, so naturally I was quite chuffed at the chance to do it when the USA faced off against Honduras at RFK Stadium as part of the 2009 Gold Cup. The US team had just come off a tough 3-2 loss to Brazil in the Confederations Cup so head coach Bob Bradley switched up his roster a bit, calling in, amongst others, D.C. United's very own Santino Quaranta. Needless to say the RFK crowd went crazy when 'Tino scored the first goal of the home team's 2-0 victory.
Head over to DCist to read a recap of the game and see more photos.
More photos after the jump!
Continue reading "[Photos] Gold Cup: USA v. Honduras"...
July 13, 2009
I spent most of the day yesterday at Merriweather Post Pavilion shooting Nas, The Roots, Common, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, The Rza, and more as part of the 2009 Rock The Bells festival. Click over to washingtonpost.com to see more photos and read the review.
I'll have more photos from the show later this week.
July 13, 2009
Last week, hot off of her runner-up finish at Wimbledon, Venus Williams took the court here in Washington D.C. as part of the 2009 Word Team Tennis season. Her Philadelphia Freedoms were in town to play the Washington Kastles. Her sister Serena is the pro on the Kastles roster. She is in town tomorrow night and followed Thursday by John McEnroe.
More photos after the jump!
Continue reading "[Photos] Opening Night at Kastles Stadium with Venus Williams"...
July 9, 2009
Last night I had the chance to photograph the US Men's National Soccer Team during their Gold Cup match against Honduras. It was quite a thrill for this soccer/fitba lover. It was quite a treat. I'll have some photos for you later, but in the meantime, head over to DCist to read the game recap as well as a post focusing on D.C. United's Santino Quaranta, who scored the first US goal last night.
July 6, 2009
Last week I got the chance to see one of my favorite local bands play just a few minutes from my house. Middle Distance Runner (you might have heard them in commercials for HBO or Harley Davidson) were testing out some new material in advance of their upcoming record release this fall. I hadn't seen the band in a loooong time (too long really) so it was nice to get reacquainted with their live show, which has improved quite a bit since I saw them last. Keep an eye on these guys, big things are ahead of them.
More photos after the jump. A few more over on Flickr.
Continue reading "[Photos] Middle Distance Runner @ State Theater"...
