Confetti canons, dancing gorillas, hundreds of balloons, a big plastic bubble...shooting The Flaming Lips is nothing short of sensory overload. The band has been doing the same show for a few years but far be it from me to let it come through the area without shooting it. I was actually very excited for this show, seeing as the Lips have only played festival sets in the greater-D.C. area since I moved here five years ago. Finally getting to see them do their own show was pretty much a must see.
As you can see from the photos, they didn't disappoint. And although I had heard about this big dancing gorilla, I was unprepared for just how awesome it would be. I decided to shoot with wide lenses on both my camera bodies for this show, thinking shooting telephoto wouldn't do the scene justice.
People (including me) might complain that the band haven't changed their show much in the last few years, but I will say this for the band - they are a photographers best friend. I can't think of many acts that pull out all the stops during the first three songs so the photogs in the pit can get all the good stuff before they have to put their cameras away. And for that, the band will always have my respect.
I almost didn't want to shoot the show from the photo pit. While I was dodging balloons and everything else the band were throwing out to the crowd, I kept thinking that maybe the shots would be better from the soundboard or some spot out in the seats. Maybe next time.
Arena shoots generally mean one of two things. A nice big photo pit and a very high stage, or a shoot from the soundboard requiring a very large (and long) lens. More and more I find soundboard shoots are the norm. Outside of the extra gear that's required to shoot them, I don't have anything against soundboard shoots, but it's always nice when it's clear the artist has thought about where the photographers will shoot from. Take Bruce Springsteen for example. The Boss set us photogs up with a platform all to ourselves directly beside the soundboard. We had a nice, elevated view of the show enabling us to get some hands in the bottom of the frame, but nothing obstructing our shots.
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Let's just say the conditions at the Keith Urban show were not up to snuff and leave it at that. When I am in situations like this, I try and speak to the people seated in front of where I will shoot from and ask them not to raise their hands for the first few songs. Most people are genuinely puzzled by the request but comply after a little explaining. This goes a long way making sure there are no arms or heads in your frames when you are trying to document the one time in the two songs you are alloted to shoot that the artist decides to actually step out from behind the mic stand. But I digress.
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One of my favorite events to shoot in D.C. is the yearly ATP tournament, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. It's one of the first hardcourt events of the season and while the event doesn't pull in the the likes of Federer and Nadal, Andy Roddick and many of the second-tier players are regulars. The rest of the field is filled with unknowns, many of whom advance farther than the pros. As a self-proclaimed tennis geek, it's a lot of fun.
It's also a tremendous amount of work. The main draw plays Monday through Sunday and this year I made it Monday and Wednesday through Saturday. I couldn't make the final on Sunday because I was shooting the D.C. United and Real Madrid match. Ah, scheduling.
Tennis is probably my favorite sport to shoot because you have so many chances to snap a great frame. I tend to like shooting backhands because you get a more dramatic pose due to the exaggerated shoulder turn. I generally had the opprtunity to shoot three matches a day and saw plenty of players; Andy Roddick, Juan Martin Del Potro, Lleyton Hewitt, Ivo Karlovic, John Isner, Thomas Berdych, Donald Young, Benjamin Becker, Fernando Gonzalez and a few others. Gonzalez was a lot of fun to shoot, he is very demonstartive and emotional when he plays and that makes for good photos.
Shooting the same players for a week also makes you take notice of the player's tendencies. Andy Roddick always puffs out his cheeks as he exhlaes while striking the ball. Sam Querrey curls his off hand when he hits a forehand. John Isner does this weird Dr. Spock/ Live long and prosper" type things with the fingers on his off hand when he strikes a forehand. Oh, and did I mention Brooklyn Decker (aka Mrs. Andy Roddick) was there each night?
I shot most of these frames with my 70-200mm/2.8. I rented a 100-400mm for the weekend matches and that came in handy during the day. It allowed me to move up to the upper deck and get some different perspectives as opposed to sitting courtside all day.
More photos after the jump.
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On Sunday I braved the oppressive D.C. heat and headed out to FedEx Field to shoot the D.C. United and Real Madrid exhibition match. Real Madrid made headlines all summer by spending exorbitant amounts of money to bring in Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and many other big-time footballers in an effort to return to prominence. This was also a big game for D.C. United, a chance to prove that they can play with the best teams in the world. The final result, a 3-0 Real Madrid win, doesn't do United justice, as the locals played their more expensive counterparts to a standstill in the first half. Real scored twice in a two minute span in the second half and eventually both teams cleared their bench. But it was a thrill to shoot the last two Footballers of the Year in a stadium with 70,000+ people.
I rented a 100-400mm/f4-5.6 IS USM lens for the game, thinking that the zoom would give me a little more flexibility focal length wise. I had rented the 300mm/2.8 and 400mm/2.8 the last few weekends and quite frankly was not looking forward to lugging one of those around all day. So I went with the smaller lens and I was very happy with my results. I cropped some of these photos quite a bit since I wasn't able to blow out the background like I wanted due to the aperture I was forced to use, but overall it performed well and I would rent that lens again for a daytime event. I also used it to shoot Saturday's daytime action at the Legg Mason tennis tournament. I'll have those photos tomorrow.
More photos after the jump!
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Last weekend I got to experience one of the biggest thrills of my photography career when I was given the chance to shoot Sir Paul McCartney during his show at FedEx Field in Landover, MD. This was also my first-ever stadium shoot, and predictably, it was pretty tough.
We were forced to shoot from the soundboard, which, obviously, was a LONG WAY from the stage. I rented a 400mm/2.8 and needed every bit of length from it on my Canon 40D. We were given two songs to shoot and although Sir Paul didn't move from behind the mic stand very much, I was still pleased with my results.
The show was my also my first-ever trip to FedEx Field (where the Redskins play), although I will be back there this weekend for the D.C. United v. Real Madrd match and hopefully in September when U2 comes to town.
For legal reasons I cannot post any of my McCartney pictures here, so head over to DCist to see them all and to also read my concert review.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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.
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