July 3, 2009 – Isaac Slade and company brought a big dose of epic piano rock to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater as the Fray launched into their 2009 tour.
Photographer’s Notes:
This was a great tour to photograph, and the Fray put on a really excellent show. With a big stage setup, fantastic lights, and a lively singer, there wasn’t too much more to ask for with this concert. Even though the allotted time for this performance was only two songs, the great shooting conditions made for a relatively easy assignment. While I’d never seen the Fray in concert before, I thought they put on a fantastic performance and I had a blast covering the gig.
Singer Isaac Slade in particular was a great subject, with a perfect amount of motion and stationary poses that made for a nice shoot. During the first song, Slade mostly just rocked out at the mic, while he moved around the stage a bit more during the second song, which made for some nice wide angle opportunities.
The other members of the band were, overall, pretty static, but all were interesting subjects and made picking up individuals of the band a breeze.
I shot this concert with all the usual suspects: the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8, and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8.
There was a great abundance of light on the band for the first two songs, so technically this show is a piece of cake. Lots of white light on Slade, while drummer Ben Wysocki had his own sidelight that provided some great photo ops.
While I was photographing the show, a friend who was sitting in lawn of the venue texted me, “And God said, Let there be lighting for ALL concert photographers!” It’s true. This is one of those shows helps make up for all the dive bar shows and awful red lights I’ve shot over the years.
There’s lots of backlighting via spots, so if you’re shooting this concert you’re going to want to keep that in mind.
To give you an idea of the stage setup, here’s one shot that shows the 180-lighting rig that sat behind the band:
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at 9:18 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 2009, Ben Wysocki, David Welsh, Isaac Slade, Joe King, live, music, Music Photography, photographer, photography, the fray, thefray, tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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The Fray, making concert photographers everywhere want to buy their lighting designer a beer: http://cli.gs/esUX9
i’m telling ya man, when a show has good lighting you just wanna high five each and every member of the lighting crew LoL
Hey Pat,
Absolutely. It wasn’t so much that the Fray’s lighting was out of this world in terms of originality, but it was simply solid in aesthetics and superbly executed. That alone deserves a little celebration.
I saw this show from the lawn too and it was very epic. I love the drummer shots!
Hey Jessie,
Thanks for the comment. The drummer was one of my favorite members of the Fray to photograph. At one point, he stared directly at me for a few seconds as I was photographing him with the 70-200mm.
Todd,
You’re photos for this show are really incredible! My friend was standing next to me when she said “Look at the guy with that gigantic camera lens!” Then I saw you and was glad because I know how good your photos turn out. I agree the lighting was great.
Hey Megan,
Thanks for the kind words, glad you saw these images from the show. The shots from Jack’s Mannequin will be coming up in the next few days, too. Thanks again, I really appreciate it.
Great set. You really should buy that lighting designer a steak or something, but it still comes down to the skill of the man behind the camera.
Maybe you’re right; this is steak-worthy lighting. Thanks for the comment, Doug – nice to hear from you.
Sorry for commenting too late, Todd.
The drummer was one of my favorite members of the Fray to photograph. At one point, he stared directly at me for a few seconds as I was photographing him with the 70-200mm.”
- That was an awesome photograph. I thought that anyone up the stage posing for photos takes away the ‘live band’ feel, but there you have it. It’s awesome. The lights are really complementary to their music. I might actually start likin’ them ’cause of the photos. :)
Before I forget, here’s my comment on the Avett Brothers. It’s good I kept a copy. That page seems to hate me: it doesn’t accept any of my comments now.
‘I will never know the answer to the question ‘why the beautiful saturated colors never burns Todd’s photographs’. I edit photos and the over-saturation sucks, I can’t tweak them.
My favorites are 3, 8 and 6. Genius! I love emotive faces. (Well the last one wasn’t much though.:)) Music is expression. The face is a dead giveaway. :)
I love these photographs Todd! Except for the overall shot, ha ha.
You’re getting better as we speak.’
Lvynne!
Hey Lvynne,
Thanks for the comments on this set and the Avett Brothers, I appreciate it.
You’re right, sometimes performers posing too much can be a little off, but other times those images can make the set. When the drummer started looking at me, it was actually a bit eerie, since he held the look so intently for a few seconds.
Regarding the Avett Bros photos, the saturation of concert shots can be a tricky thing. With lights like this, the WB can be a critical factor in how the colors come across, and whether or not they’re pleasing. Thanks for the picks!
Great shots as usual Todd. The lighting is just as you said…simplistic in nature with a perfect execution. Love the curvature of the lighting setup. Almost “music video’ish” in nature, haha.
Hey Kevin,
Thanks for the comment, nice to hear from you here. The stage setup was pretty cool – I think they put the light wall to good use from what I saw, and it made for some nice defocused elements when using the 70-200mm.
Yeah, you don’t forget the drummer!. I like the patterns in the background. Another great job Todd
Take care
Hey Claudio, thanks for the comment. That’s right – don’t forget the drummer. Though this time it was pretty easy to remember because the drummer had his own light. The only real trick was catching, as his light would flare up/strobe.
Great shots here man … it looks like they had a really great set up behind them to
Great photos Todd ,had the pleasure of shooting these guys earlier this year,lighting was fantastic to shoot under,review and photos here
http://www.brumlive.com/the-fray-brett-dennen-birmingham-academy-1st-may-2009/
Stunning photos Todd – I keep wishing for a Q&A piece on editing ;) But in the meantime I’m being jealous about the great lighting there is on the NYC stages!
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This is a very special an unique website you got here.
I would love to thank you for this, really!!!
i would like to know, did you use flash? In all the concerts they don’t let us shoot with flash.
But you photos are very clear. Also, what brand of camera you use, lens and what would be your recommended settings for example here with the Fray?
I know you edit your work as well, but I would like to learn you techniques. I do shoot for Big Latino Band concerts and this type of lighting too, but you work is completely AMAZING!!!!
Hey Frank,
Thanks for the kind words. I never use flash for these big shows. You can see the equipment I use on the Gear Guide page, but the cameras I use are the Nikon D3 and Nikon D700.
Todd, u’re my fav concert photographer. I am really amaze with ur works especially when u took a close up pic of the band’s members, very sharp, bright, and clear. Not many photographers could do that. Actually, sometimes i think u took the pic from ur studio, not in a real show, hahaha..
One question, same with frank, did u use any flash? what kind of flash? why don’t u put ur flash equipment in ur gear guide.
Keep better and better.
Aldo
oh man, the lighting is delightful!!
beautiful shots
The last shot in the set of the drummer is gorgeous. His eyes, the composition – wow!