April 26, 2008 – Led by Dan Layus on guitar and keyboard, Augustana brought their sincere, driving melodies to the big hall of the Chaifetz Arena.
Despite a host of sound problems, the California-based band played a heartfelt set that drew heavily from their breakout 2005 release, All the Stars and Boulevards, including their hit song “Boston.”
Augusta received support at the event from Chingy and The Starting Line, the latter of which performed one of their very last shows before taking an indefinite break.
Photographer’s Notes:
This was a fairly relaxed shoot, in large part to the fact that there was no song limit for Augustana, unlike all the rest of the bands on the evening’s bill. With nearly an hour-long set and a relatively slow pace overall, it was a nice change of pace to be able to slow down for this shoot, especially since Augustana were the last of five bands.
Lighting:
Lighting for this gig was fairly straight forward in that it was almost entirely directed at singer Dan Layus in the form of spotlights. This treatment provided plenty of relatively bright white light on the frontman.
The rest of the band didn’t fare as well, mostly lit with strong color washes from both behind and the front.
Exposure & Metering:
Thanks to the spotlight, I shot at a consistent exposure of 1/320 and f/2.8 at ISO 4000 for the majority of the shots of Layus.
Lenses & Equipment:
I shot this set with the Nikon D3 and Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8, switching up to the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 for a few tigher shots.
End Notes:
OK, so I’m reaching back into the archives of Spring shows for this one. Can you tell it’s the Summer doldrums of the concert season? Don’t worry, I’ll have fresh content served up soon, starting with sets from Al Green and Gladys Knight shaking it at the Fox Theatre.
This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 10:54 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with all the stars and boulevards, boston, Chris Sachtleben, Dan Layus, Jared Palomar, John Vincent, Justin South, one three hill, piano rock. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Nice approach, from what I ear and see of them in MySpace and Youtube they really have a calm show, however I think the shots reveal that this artists are full of energy although the relaxed stance they seem to present…
Once again a really good job from you… I’m afraid that in a while I will start to sound like a scratched vinyl, repeating myself over and over…
Oh and I think I got yourself another fan! I sent a link from IshootShows to a friend and he tells me he’s glued to it, reading all the writeups he can!
So, best regards from Portugal where it’s 5:12AM and I will now go to sleep… I hope :/
Hey Celso, as always, thanks for the comments. The set was somewhat slower than what had come before it, but I think Augustana were working at their own pace, and still had some energy.
Please tell your friend to stop on by and to feel free to join in the discussions! It’s always good to hear from readers.
I really like this set. The colors of the lighting provide for a wonderful spectrum between all the photos. You picked a great series that spreads that color out. Even though the rest of the band wasn’t lit well, I sure appreciate the light they did have on the frontman!
Hey Andy, thanks for the feedback, glad to hear the series has a nice balance of color to your eye.
The lighting on the frontman certainly was appreciated. While they’re not always ideal, I’ll never turn down spotlights.
Hey Todd, I’m the friend that Celso mentioned ;)
It’s all true what he said. I’ve been reading a lot about the concert photography world, and your blog has been a constant reading. I don’t plan to be a professional photographer, but I’d love to be able to join two things I like a lot (photography and music), as a hobby, but still, with work I could be proud of and that people could see.
For now it’s all just at the beginning, but your blog has had an great effect on me. You photos are simply amazing, and the fact that you care to add some detail about them, and the show they where take, is great. Not too technical, but detailed enough.
You have an amazing blog, not only because of the support material, but mainly (and that’s what matters) because you have fantastic shots.
I’ll keep following the updates, and maybe even start to “nag” you about some tips ;)
Congrats on your fantastic work,
Daniel
Hey Daniel,
Thanks so much for the kind words, I’m very glad to hear that ishootshows.com has had a positive impact.
As I mentioned to Celso, I always intended this site to be a resource for other music photographers, of all levels, so I’m glad if it can help you in any way.
Please feel free to ask me any questions that you don’t see covered in the FAQ or in the posts, and I hope to see your comments here more regularly, too!
You see Todd, I told you that you are gathering a fan group here in Portugal! I myself admit that I’m a learning a lot from you and despite I do want to struggle my way into the professional world I agree with all the the things Daniel said…
Keep inspiring us please!
Best regards!
Hey Celso, thanks again for mentioning the site to Daniel! The “professional” world of concert photography is certainly an interesting thing, but of course it’s possible to produce amazing work even as just a fan or passionate “amateur” in this endeavor.
Haha, what fun times. I know my certainly don’t compare, but I can’t help but see some of your shots and think about how similar mine are. Man though, that D3 has some lovely, lovely noise control.
Hopefully more posting will come soon — I return the 20th! Looking forward to getting back, for sure, and for concert photos!
Hey Chris! Great to hear from you. Actually, if you’ll be back July 20 and wouldn’t mind a drive up, you should hit Keith up about maybe shooting together.
I’m photographing the Rockstar Mayhem Festival tour July 23 and Keith is also trying to get credentials, so maybe you can get hooked up for that date too. I know you’re out of the country, but check with Keith and maybe you guys can work something out.
Just a thought.
As for this set, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if we had some similar shots. There’s only so much to shoot when the lead singer is lit up with a spotlight and the rest of the band is in the shadows!
We’ll have to shoot some shows when you get back.
I love the lighting in this set. Great job!
[...] delivered an upbeat performance for the Rock, Rap, and Rawhide event, which also featured Chingy, Augustana, Tyler Hilton, and The Starting [...]
Very nice pics Love this band