All American Rejects

April 11, 2009 – Led by the hyper-charismatic Tyson Ritter, All American Rejects dominated the stage with big, bright lights and a sound to match.

Photographer’s Notes:

As Tyson Ritter leapt around the stage, I almost felt sorry for the spotlight operator. Of course, I was reminded of the fact that moving the spot meant a small motion of the arms, while tracking the frontman around the stage for me meant chasing him the actual length of the stage.

Tracking Ritter was certainly the biggest challenge of the set, as the frontman had a seemingly boundless amount of energy that had me springing in the pit to keep up. In addition, the relatively bright light on Ritter created a large exposure differential between him and the rest of the band.

More than anything, I find that playing “zone defense” is most effective for performers like Ritter. Rather than trying to keep pace with their every move, I’ll work a section of stage, trying to make shots in a certain range of the stage when the subject enters that area, rather than chasing down every trip to the sides of the stage. This approach conserves energy and also allows one to line up shots more effectively than a purely on-the-go attack.

Another big issue for this set was the exposure on Ritter, as he and his white outfit were lit up to blinding effect by said well-trained spotlight. Even after dialing in the exposure, the older spots still have a slight flicker, which can vary a stop or so in either direction.

Still, for all the difficulties, All American Rejects’ set was all the more rewarding when things aligned.

I shot this set with the Nikon D3, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, and Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8.

About the author: Todd Owyoung is an internationally published music photographer specializing in concert photography and band portraits. He also grills a mean steak.

Contact Todd for image licensing and assignments wherever the rock show lives. You can also get in touch with Todd via Twitter.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 5:56 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with aar, all american rejects, images, live, music, Music Photography, photographer, photography, pics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

←

→

13 Responses to “All American Rejects”

1. Todd Owyoung says:

   April 27, 2009 at 5:13 pm

   All American Rejects – teaching concert photographers everywhere how to play zone defense, or sprain an ankle trying: http://is.gd/uZys

   Reply
2. Kevin deLeon says:

   April 27, 2009 at 6:30 pm

   Very nice shots Todd. I think the red foreground/purple background of the singer is my favorite of the bunch.

   Reply
   • Todd says:

     April 27, 2009 at 6:32 pm

     Hey Kevin,

     Thanks for stopping by to comment here, I appreciate it. That image you mention was made at the very start of the show, I think, as the band came out.

     If I hadn’t seen the spotlights in the balcony before the show started, I would have been worried at this point.

     Reply
3. FG says:

   April 27, 2009 at 6:32 pm

   OUCH! I should have tried to shoot this show in Quebec. This is completely amazing. The first one is strunning! Really like the 14-24mm look. Very nice set Mr Owyoung.

   Reply
   • Todd says:

     April 27, 2009 at 6:36 pm

     Hey Francis, thanks very much. I’m not sure if all the shows had spotlights – I’ve seen shots from the tour where they just used the house lights, so I wouldn’t feel too bad. Without the bright spotlights, this show would have been a supreme challenge due to Ritter’s quick movements.

     This kind of gig just screamed for the ultra-wide treatment.

     Reply
4. Todd Owyoung says:

   April 28, 2009 at 12:13 am

   All American Rejects – teaching concert photographers everywhere how to play zone defense, or sprain an ankle trying: http://is.gd/uZys

   Reply
5. m0n5t3r says:

   April 28, 2009 at 2:42 am

   first one: way too cool :D

   4th one (heavy red FG, blue BG): ouch! I rarely get something out of that kind of lighting :)

   btw, do you extend your arm with the camera to get closer, or you just crawl to their feet? I do the former when shooting with the Sigma 10-20 and they are too far :)

   Reply
   • Todd says:

     April 28, 2009 at 12:27 pm

     Thanks for the feedback. I generally do not extend my arm unless I’m using liveview, and I mostly do this only for crowd shots. I don’t really do the “hail mary” shot for performance shots.

     For the lead shot, I got in as close as possible up on the 5-foot stage – I’m right at the edge for that image.

     Reply
6. Daniel says:

   April 28, 2009 at 9:41 am

   Great set, once again, but the first shot is astonishing. That is one hell of a way to start a set ;)

   Cheers,
   Daniel

   Reply
   • Todd says:

     April 28, 2009 at 12:27 pm

     Hey Daniel,

     Thanks for the comment. Gotta start strong, right? I always try to give the viewer something to look forward to with the lead image, whether it’s a post like this or in a portfolio.

     Reply
7. Daniel says:

   April 30, 2009 at 11:08 am

   Hey Todd,

   yeah, when I saw that shot I remembered your post about portfolios and I thought to my self (that’s definitely coherent with his advices) :D

   That is one fantastic shot.

   Cheers,
   Daniel

   Reply
8. James says:

   May 11, 2009 at 8:48 am

   I’m so glad that Tyson changes! haha I saw him last night and he was wearing the same exact thing… I was wondering why his clothes looked a little dirty haha

   the AAR have great stage presence, they were fun to photograph- the left guitarist seems to enjoy being photographed I noticed- as well as tyson., he had some great facial expressions… so much fun!

   Reply
   • Todd says:

     May 12, 2009 at 9:59 am

     Hey James,

     Thanks for the comment. Yup, AAR is great to photograph, I’m glad I had the chance to cover their show. Plenty of great expressions, that’s for sure.

     Reply