Amy Lee of Evanescence performs at a secret show at Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom. November 4, 2009. (photo by Chris Owyoung)

Before playing to a crowd of 40,000 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Evanescence performed an intimate “secret show” to just over 1,000 diehard fans from the New York area. Tickets reported sold out in 5 minutes. Though the band performed beautifully throughout, Amy Lee’s stripped down piano solo Good Enough (from Open Door, 2006) stole the show. Evanescence is currently writing material for release in 2010.

PHOTOGRAPHER’s NOTES

Whenever my enjoyment of a band’s music predates my job as a concert photographer, I put more pressure on myself to do my best work. While I compete with myself every time I enter the pit, the mental stakes are always higher when I’m a fan of the band. I would also like to think that the more I like the music, the more potential there is for killer photos.

Since Amy Lee is both the frontwoman and the only founding member in the current Evanescence lineup, I naturally focused on her for the lion’s share of the first three songs. As I do with every band I shoot, I did my video and still research and knew that Lee would have me running from one side of the pit to the other hunting for the sweet spot angles around her often double-handed microphone grip. If this sounds like a lot of work, it was.

Since I don’t like the distortion on the 14-24mm for female leads, I shot mainly with the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR. The standard zoom was wide enough for full-length shots while the telephoto gave me the reach I needed to shoot downstage.

The lighting, while not ample, was often good enough to produce a decent exposure at ISO 2000 and 1/300 and f/3.5.

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Good Enough

Related posts:

1. Evanescence, a preview
2. The Sounds
3. The Gaslight Anthem