New York Music Photographer Chris Owyoung - The Best Concert Photography & Band Portraits » nokia theater

Road Recovery Benefit 2009

chris — Sat, 09 May 2009 15:47:31 +0000

May 1, 2009 – For the second year in a row, the Road Recovery Benefit Concert brought together an amazing lineup of rock talent to help young people fight addiction and adversity. This year, the organization honored the legendary Wayne Kramer of MC5 and announced plans to help Kramer bring a Road Recovery program to the inmates of Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York. The star studded line-up included Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), Iggy Pop, Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Gilby Clarke (Gun N’ Roses), and many more.

Boots Riley (The Coup)

Matt Pinfield (MTV/VH1)

Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave)

Billy Bragg

Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) and Evan Seinfeld (Biohazard)

Etty Lau Farrell

Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction)

Handsome Dick Manitoba (The Dictators)

Juliet Lewis

Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses)

Steven Van Zandt (Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band)

Wayne Kramer (MC5)

Iggy Pop

The Obligatory Group Shot

Photographer’s Notes

I’ve come to the conclusion that the hardest thing about shooting benefit concerts isn’t the lighting or the shooting time (both are ample). It’s being in the right place at the right time with the right lens on your camera when 1 of 10 world-class rock stars comes forward and has their moment in the spotlight.

With a pit so crowded you can barely move, being in the right place at the right time is mostly a matter of luck. Just like last year, I tried to increase my odds of being front-and-center for the action by shooting just house right of center. This worked well for the most part, especially for shots of Perry Farrell and Tom Morello (two of my favorite artists to photograph).

Having the right lens on the camera is a little bit more difficult. Since I had only one body for this show, I traded between the Nikon 14-24mm and 24-70mm relying heavily on the wide end of the 14-24. Though some shots were too wide and others far too tight, I’m happy with the set as a whole.

The lighting was mostly bright allowing for a generous exposure of around 1/250 at f/3.5 and ISO 2000. I find 2000 to one of the D3′s sweet spots for post production.

End Notes

If you’ve read this far, thank you! Definitely go a little further and check out the extended set of 74 images. There was too much to choose from.

Preview: Road Recovery Benefit Concert, 2009

Chris Owyoung — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:06:20 +0000

May 1, 2009 – Rock stars came out in droves for the annual Road Recovery Benefit Concert at Nokia Theater in Times Square. This year, the nationally recognized music mentoring organization honored the legendary Wayne Kramer of MC5. The star studded line-up included Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), Iggy Pop, Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Gilby Clarke (Gun N’ Roses), and many more. Stay tuned for the full set of images!

Septic Flesh

chris — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:09:14 +0000

2.27.09 – The Greek metal band Septic Flesh performed a short but pounding set in support of their fellow black metal tourmates Satyricon and Cradle of Filth.

Photographer’s Notes

I spent approximately 12 minutes in front of Septic Flesh but it felt more like 5. The lighting was exceedingly dark for most of the first three but for a few moments when the band was blasted by strong white backlighting.

I shot mainly with the 24-70mm on the D3 with an exposure that fell well below my comfort zone. Most of this set was shot at ISO 3200 at 1/60 and f/2.8.

Cradle of Filth

chris — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:47:10 +0000

2.27.09 – Unleashing wave after wave of piercing shrieks and wailing guitars, the UK’s Cradle of Filth took the Nokia Theater by extreme metal storm. The house was packed with black by the time Dani Filth lead his corpsefaced crew through a crushing set that spanned Cradle’s massive eight album catalog.

Photographer’s Notes

From a technical perspective, Cradle of Filth at the Nokia Theater was one of the more difficult shoots I’ve done. The pit was narrow enough to keep each of the six photographers nearly stationary in addition to dodging the 4 or 5 security guards tasked with pulling surfers over the barrier.

It was a metal show, what did I expect?

The band was lit by blue backlighting and green frontlighting for most of the first three songs. The combo is a rock photographer’s worst nightmare. The lighting on Dani tended to flare white whenever he took center stage.

I shot with the 14-24mm and 24-70mm zooms on the Nikon D3. I would have liked to have shot a few closeups of Dani with the 70-200 but could not get far enough to the side to capitalize on the extra reach and flatter perspective.

My exposure varied wildly by remained around ISO 6400 and 1/80 at f/2.8 when the lights were down and went as low as ISO 1600 at 1/250 and f/4.0 when the bright backlights flared.