Dierks Bentley – ARF Benefit

Headlining the 2010 Animal Rescue Fund Benefit, rising country music star Dierks Bentley capped off the night with a rockin acoustic set. Even with limited shooting options, nice stage lighting and a great vibe made this concert great for photography.

Photographer’s Notes:

For this event, the stage was set up mid-length in the Chaifetz Arena, so it was a relatively small and “intimate” gig for an arena concert. The stage was just about three or four feet tall and the floor and the audience on the floor was all seated.

Due to these factors, I tried to remain as unobtrusive as possible and shot crouching down below stage level. Even wearing black/dark clothing, I always try to down and out of the way at an event like this, especially when it’s an acoustic set rather than a full-on rock show. In addition, I decided to move only once during this set, shooting from house right for the first song and then from house left for the last two songs.

Dierks and his two-man band were set up about two meters back from the edge of the stage. As a result, I shot mostly with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 to close the gap. The Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 served for just a few one-off wide shots to capture the stage.

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, January 18th, 2010 at 11:35 am and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with arf, benefit, concert photographer, dierks bentley, fundraiser, live, music, music photographer, Music Photography, photography, tony larussa. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

←

→

10 Responses to “Dierks Bentley – ARF Benefit”

1. Todd Owyoung says:

   January 18, 2010 at 9:52 am

   Country singer two meters back from the edge of the stage? Perfect game for the 70-200mm. Dierks Bentley: http://ow.ly/1ndTPV

   Reply
2. groovehouse says:

   January 18, 2010 at 11:57 am

   Wow, another great set. Todd, you have a man with a guitar on a barstool as a subject and managed to get some amazing shots! I love the first image with the stage lights behind him. Good work!

   Reply
   • Todd says:

     January 18, 2010 at 12:30 pm

     Hi groovehouse,

     Thanks for the kind words. I’m giving Dierks most of the credit here, as he was a pretty charming subject and made my job easier. I know all too well how just a guy with a guitar on a barstool can be a static subject, so hats off to Dierk for making it interesting for this music photographer.

     Reply
3. Kevin deLeon says:

   January 18, 2010 at 12:02 pm

   Great shots Todd. The lighting looks like it was awesome. Really like the vibe of the third to last shot.

   Reply
   • Todd says:

     January 18, 2010 at 12:31 pm

     Hey Kevin,

     Thanks for the comment, nice to hear from you. Yes, the lighting was quite good. The only downside of shooting from just two positions and staying out of the way of the seated audience was that I was much more limited in capturing the whole stage. There was a really nice array of lights behind the guys and I would have loved to play around with those effects more had I the leisure of running around the stage.

     Reply
4. Todd Owyoung says:

   January 18, 2010 at 5:52 pm

   Country singer two meters back from the edge of the stage? Perfect game for the 70-200mm. Dierks Bentley: http://ow.ly/1ndTPV

   Reply
5. Tom says:

   January 19, 2010 at 1:27 am

   Great series. You managed to get a lot of different angles for not moving too much.

   Reply
   • Todd says:

     January 19, 2010 at 9:36 am

     Hey Tom,

     Thanks for the comment. With only two positions, it was tough, but I tried to get some variety of framing and pose. Dierks was an easy subject in this regard. Thanks again!

     Reply
6. DB Congress.com says:

   January 25, 2010 at 8:38 pm

   RT @toddowyoung Photos of Dierks Bentley at the ARF Benefit Concert | ishootshows.com http://ow.ly/1ndTPV *AWESOME pics, but glad he shaved!

   Reply
7. TK says:

   February 6, 2011 at 6:58 pm

   (DB FAN) Great photos! I was seated in the back at this show, I couldn’t see him well at all & neither could my little camera. Dierks sitting stationary on a stool is a rare. You did well to keep somewhat of a boring scene interesting. The first photo is definitely my favorite!

   Reply