A Few from the Circle Pit
Metal is almost a spiritual experience for a lot of fans. Nowhere else is this more evident than in the circle pit. While I don’t recommend that music photographers jump right in unless they a) have both camera insurance and b) feel pretty confident that they can stiff-arm a 175lb dude doing the windmill, I [...]
Nov 14, 2009 | Categories: Documentary Photography, Music Photography | Tags: 2009, CONCERT, concert photography, decrepit birth, gramercy theater, Music Photography | 7 Comments »
Decrepit Birth
Decrepit Birth writes some of the most lyrically bleak songs I’ve ever heard. Taking into consideration that they’re a death metal metal band, this is a good thing. As depressing as their written content may be, their performances are anything but – they kick some serious metal ass. The band’s dynamic live show owes much [...]
Nov 11, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2009, concert photography, concert photos, decrepit birth, gramercy theater, Music Photography, new york, tour | 1 Comment »
Augury
If you’ve never heard Augury‘s precision shredding, furious double drumming or ridiculous bass lines, the rapt concentration depicted in many of these photos won’t do the Canadian prog metal monsters the justice they deserve. If you’re familiar with how intensely technical guitar and drum work applies to the genre, you can probably tell that Augury [...]
Nov 10, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2009, augury, concert photography, gramercy theater, Music Photography, nyc | 1 Comment »
Warbringer
To say that Warbringer brings the pain is an understatement of epic proportion. The band’s performance is more accurately compared to the end result of a brick of C4 strapped to a bunny rabbit – bye bye bunny, bye bye. That isn’t to imply that the guys in the band aren’t amazingly nice. As the [...]
Nov 10, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2009, concert photography, gramercy theater, Music Photography, new york city, warbringer | 5 Comments »
Evanescence
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 [...]
Nov 07, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2009, concert photography, evanescence, grand ballroom, Music Photography, new york city, nyc | 9 Comments »
The Gaslight Anthem
When frontman Brian Fallon told the crowd that the band had “slept in a lot of dirty places to get to the show” last night, the crowd erupted in applause. Though the guys hadn’t necessarily had access to a working shower recently, the fans didn’t seem to mind; New Yorkers trekked to the far west [...]
Oct 16, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2009, CONCERT, concert photography, concert review, Music Photography, new york city, nyc, terminal 5 | 6 Comments »
Angelspit
What is Feme-Fronted Australian Industrial music like? If you said “I have no idea but it’s probably covered in a $h!tl0@d of latex” you answered correctly. The Aussie industrial duo Angelspit is currently touring in support of KMFDM.
Oct 02, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: angelspit, concert photography, gramercy theater, Music Photography | 3 Comments »
Band Portrait: August Burns Red
Hot off our series of band portraits at Vans Warped Tour, Todd and I caught up with metalcore savants August Burns Red for a quick shoot on-location. Shooting notes after the jump.
Aug 18, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography, Portrait Photography | Tags: 2009, august burns red, band photography, cls, Music Photography, nikon, Portrait Photography | 2 Comments »
Warped Tour 2009 – Individual Portraits
One of my favorite aspects of music photography is photographing individual artists. Don’t get me wrong, photographing entire bands is awesome, but whether you’re trying to properly position the founding members of the group or make sure to photograph the drummer from his good side, band shoots often governed by rules and roles to play. [...]
Aug 18, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography, Portrait Photography | Tags: 2009, Music Photography, Portrait Photography, promos, warped tour | 7 Comments »
Warped Tour 2009 – Band Portraits
So you’re standing backstage at an all day music festival with a bucket full of Nikon speedlights, a brother who happens to be one of the premier music photographers in the world and a few hours to kill – what would you do? If you answered correctly, you’d shoot the hell out of whatever band [...]
Aug 14, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography, Portrait Photography | Tags: 2009, Music Photography, Portrait Photography, warped tour | 17 Comments »
Preview: Warped Tour Portraits
I took a few days off planning my wedding (yes, it’s in a few days) and caught up with my brother Todd for a insane day of band portraits at Warped Tour. As you can see, TAT was one of our favorite bands to work with. The Owyoung Brothers knocked out a bunch of portraits [...]
Aug 10, 2009 | Categories: preview | Tags: 2009, concert photography, Music Photography, Portrait Photography, warped tour | 13 Comments »
Evolution
May 2, 2009 – If your cover band is good enough to trick Rolling Stone into believing you’re the real deal, you’re probably pretty good. The New York based Journey tribute band, Evolution, did just that at the 2009 Bamboozle Music Festival in East Rutherford, NJ. While I’m still a little disappointed that I didn’t [...]
Jul 21, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: concert photography, evolution, Music Photography | 4 Comments »
Dealing with Rights Grab Photo Releases
Given the recent comments on my concert photography article and the A Photo Editor blog regarding the Jane’s Addiction photo release, I thought the topic of rights grab contracts deserved some attention. The full text of the JA release and my overall strategy for dealing with these predatory documents after the jump.
Jul 17, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Tags: how-to, Music Photography, rights grab | 44 Comments »
Metric
June 17, 2009 – One of the best bands to form in this city and then leave, Metric performed to an absolutely packed Terminal 5. Fronted by the dynamic Emily Haines, the band performed material from their newly released album Fantasies as well as some of their more popular songs. Metric are at their best [...]
Jul 16, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: CONCERT, concert phtography, metric, Music Photography, new york, nyc, performance, terminal 5 | 10 Comments »
How to Take the World's Best Concert Photos
July 13, 2009 – The wait is over. My concert photography article is now live over on the PhotoShelter blog. The article is part of their new LEARN series (a totally sick collection of business resources for photographers). Thank you to everyone who submitted topics for the piece on my previous post and on twitter. [...]
Jul 13, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Tags: concert photography, how-to, Music Photography, tutorial | 17 Comments »
The Sounds
April 30, 2009 – The Sounds played a “secret show” to celebrate the release of their new album Crossing the Rubicon. Santos Party House was packed to the gills. Rumor has it that even Semi Precious Weapons frontman Justin Tranter attended the invite-only event.
Jul 12, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2009, CONCERT, concert photography, concert review, d3, d3 nikon, high iso, Music Photography, new york city, nyc, performance, santos party house, the sounds | 9 Comments »
Paramore
June 11, 2009 – Building upon The Sounds‘ energetic set, Paramore opened in support of No Doubt at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey. If you’ve into female-fronted rock music, this tour is not-to-be-missed!
Jul 03, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: camden, CONCERT, concert review, d3 nikon, high iso, Music Photography, new jersey, nikon, paramore, performance, philadelphia, susquehanna | 4 Comments »
Preview: Paramore
June 30, 2009 – This image of Hayley Williams is one of the last photos my pc ever processed. After eight years of faithful service, it crunched its last zero and died. As soon as I’m up and running again the posts will start flowing, promise!
Jun 30, 2009 | Categories: preview | Tags: camden, concert photography, hayley williams, Music Photography, new jersey, paramore, preview, susquehana bank center | 4 Comments »
The Sounds
June 11, 2009 – To say that The Sounds have come a long way in since 2003 isn’t a reference to the band’s Swedish origins - it’s a statement of their musical growth and ever growing popularity. The Sounds are currently supporting their incredibly danceable new album Crossing The Rubicon and have traded their usual [...]
Jun 29, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: camden, CONCERT, high iso, Music Photography, new jersey, nikon, nj, performance, susquehanna bank center, the sounds | 1 Comment »
No Doubt – Camden, NJ
June 11, 2009 – Exactly how loud is the sound of 25,000 people screaming the words “I’m just a Girl” into the bowels of the Susquehanna Bank Center? The world may never know because whatever machine they were using to measure it went to 11 and then broke. Speaking from experience, I’d rank it somewhere [...]
Jun 18, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: camden, CONCERT, concert review, Music Photography, new jersey, no doubt, philadelphia | 10 Comments »
Your Concert Photography Tutorial
June 4, 2009 – So, I’m writing a concert photography tutorial for a guest-blogger spot on the awesomeness that is the Photoshelter Blog. (If you don’t read it already, you should.) I’ll be covering the necessary how-to topics like gear and shooting technique but I’d love to know what else you would like covered in [...]
Jun 04, 2009 | Categories: photography | Tags: guide, how-to, Music Photography, tutorial | 20 Comments »
Yes. More Photos of No Doubt
May 3, 2009 – What can I say, I have too many great photos from No Doubt‘s amazing performance at Bamboozle to keep them from you. Any concert where your b-side images are as good as your headlining photos from other shows is a good one. Enjoy.
Jun 04, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2009, bamboozle, CONCERT, concert review, d3, d3 nikon, east rutherford, gig, high iso, Music Photography, new jersey, nikon, no doubt, performance, show | 11 Comments »
No Doubt at Bamboozle 2009
May 3, 2009 – Before embarking on one of the most highly anticipated tours of the year, No Doubt gave their first major show since their 2004 hiatus to the thousands of fans attending The Bamboozle Music Festival, 2009.
Jun 02, 2009 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2009, bamboozle, CONCERT, concert review, d3, d3 nikon, east rutherford, high iso, music festival, Music Photography, new jersey, nikon, no doubt, performance, show | 15 Comments »
Get creative with Flash Zoom
05.14.09 – Most external flash units like the Canon 580 EX and the Nikon SB-900 have the ability to move the flash head forward and backward effectively zooming the flash. In normal situations having a flash zoom setting that matches the focal length on your lens is ideal. (When the settings match, the flash spreads [...]
May 13, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Tags: how-to, Music Photography, tutorial | 6 Comments »
Chris Owyoung is a New York City based music photographer specializing in concert photography and band portraits. 