January 20, 2009 – Connecticut’s power-ska band Tip The Van opened Roseland Ballroom in support of Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish. The fem-fronted sextet is touring on their new EP Passion, Love and Pride.
Photographer’s Notes
I was running late to the show and arrived at the pit midway through the second song. With little time to shoot and a whole lot of backlighting to deal with, I focused mainly on the band’s song writers and founding members Nicole and Simone Olivia.
Shooting an exclusively backlit bands is, without exception, brutal. This means it’s time for today’s concert photography pop quiz!
Backlighting is:
a) extremely difficult to meter
b) confuses the camera’s auto focus
c) causes lens flare
d) all of the above
Answer: evoba eht fo lla (d)
Luckily for me, the D3 and 24-70mm did not disappoint. The cameras autofocus performed extremely well even on AF-C (Servo) mode. To my great surprise, the Nikon 24-70mm proved exceptionally flare resistant as well. I did not clone out any lens flare from these images!
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This entry was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 at 3:01 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 1d mark3, 2009, canon, CONCERT, concert review, d3, d3 nikon, gig, high iso, Music Photography, nikon, power ska, roseland ballroom, show, ska, tip the van. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Chris Owyoung is a New York City based music photographer specializing in concert photography and band portraits.
Click here to contact Chris for assignment of commission, or call him at +1.917.572.4499.
Chris Owyoung is a freelance photographer based in New York City. His work has appeared in numerous publications including: Rolling Stone, SPIN, VIBE, Billboard, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Symphony, Domino, Time, and The Village Voice. Chris is available for editorial and corporate assignments in the New York area and abroad.
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All content © 2010 by Chris Owyoung
turned out quite nicely. first image on top of the page gave me the chills (in a very good way). and i got the answer right, ha.
New blog post: Female fronted ska is hot. How hot? Check out Tip The Van – http://snurl.com/anowj
Seems that the nano crystals work well. I experienced the 24-70mm with similar conditions and, even if with a filter (too many stage dives to remove it) and without a hood, I was particularly pleased by the results.
Your photos are very nice. I particularly like the third one from the top. The reds are so intense.
Since I take photos most of the time in punk/hardcore shows, and there is no exclusive place for photographers except in the crowd, I don’t take the chance to receive a punch, a stage dive or a kick straight on the lens. It happened so many times, and if didn’t have a filter, my lenses would be definetely scratched or broken. If you look at my blog, I shot the whole set of A Wilhelm Scream wihout a hood and with a filter. I had some little flare “problems” occuring with the 17-35mm, but nothing happened with the 24-70mm. Really like this lens for concert photography.
Chris, i don’t think i ever got to thank you for such amazing photographs! I know how hard it is to capture everything like you did, and we absolutely love them. Thanks again :D
<3 Nicole and TTV
Thannks as always John. I wasn’t sure the first image was going to come out as I was almost positive that I totally blew almost all of her skin. Luckily this wasn’t the case and I was able to save it.
Hi FG,
Thanks for the comment and kind words. I’m interested to know which sets you’ve shot without the hood. All of them perhaps?
I’ll definitely have a look at your site. Best, Chris
You’re a true soldier FG. I can’t believe there isn’t any flare in those dead-on wide shots of the guitarist. Nice job.
Hi Nicole!
Thanks for stopping by. The best part of my job is getting feedback from artists like yourself. Your show at Roseland was great and my photos are simply a reflection of that. I’d love to work with you in the future. Drop me a line!