[Photos] Rock The Bells Photos w/ Nas, The Roots & Talib Kweli

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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.

[Photos] Roots @ Roots Picnic in Philly

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Last weekend I made the trip uo to Philly with some friends to check out the 2nd Annual Roots Picnic featuring The Roots (playing two sets), TV on the Radio, Santigold, Public Enemy, Antibalas, Asher Roth and more. You can see a full set of photos over on Pitchfork. Yes, that's Donnie and Jordan of the New Kids on the Block above.  They made a surprise appearance during The Roots early set.

Despite the main stage eventually running over an hour late, I thought the whole event was run really well. The second stage was in an air conditioned tent and the edia area was sponsored and run by the Philadelphia Tourism Board. The whole event, in addition to being a kick-ass concert, was a great advertisement for the city of Philadelphia. I can't wait to go back.