Redwall Photo Blog

Kyle Dee Goes To American Idol!

Tasha — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:13:52 +0000

My friend Kyle (from the Frantic, who often grace my blog) made it to Hollywood on this season’s American Idol! Kyle is such a genuinely sweet guy who truly loves music (seriously, he has photos on his Facebook of him performing when he was just a kid). He’s the kind of person who will hang around after a show until he has talked to everyone who attended, even if it takes hours. He has boundless energy onstage, and he and rest of the Frantic have been an important part of the Chicago scene for years. Basically, we’re so excited for him, words can’t even describe it.

It’s almost unbelievable, right?! I swear it’s true. Here are a few videos to prove it: Kyle’s Idol Interview and St. Louis, Behind The Scenes.

Until the beginning of Hollywood Week on Idol airs tonight (and y’all better be watching), a few favorite Kyle photos of mine are below to keep you busy.

PS. Brett, Chris, and Ian… I love you guys too, obviously.

Steel Panther @ House of Blues

Tasha — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:40:24 +0000

There are just some bands that are FUN. They’re bands that have an amazing stage show, are quite unique, have lots of charisma, and are always a blast to shoot. They’re bands that whenever they are in town, if I am able to, I get a photopass, regardless of how many other times I’ve photographed them.

Dragonforce.
Semi-Precious Weapons.
Foxy Shazam.

And, of course, Steel Panther.

This was a sold-out show, so obviously, I’m not the only one that thinks Steel Panther is worth hanging out with for an evening.

Shooting Notes

Last time I saw Steel Panther, it was at Double Door, which is a pretty intimate venue, especially when compared to House of Blues. So, I was excited to see what they could do when they had room to move, and a large crowd to feed off of. With great stage banter, lots of climbing into the crowd, and some high kicks, they didn’t disappoint.

I think the hardest part of shooting Steel Panther is knowing where to look. There is always something interesting going on onstage. Most times there are several interesting things going on at the same time. This obviously makes for exciting photos, but I often feel like I wish there were two of me to shoot so that I could get pictures of everything I wanted to.

This was shot on the 5D Mark II, primarily with the 16-35mm f/2.8 and the 24-70mm f/2.8. The 70-200mm f/2.8 IS came out for about half a song, but since these guys hug the edge of the stage, I found that wide lenses yielded the dramatic shots I was going for. The one disappointment I had was that I couldn’t get any clear shots of drummer Stix because of his positioning, even with the 70-200.

A Ludo Christmas @ The Metro

Tasha — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:43:51 +0000

Yearly, Ludo plays “A Very Ludo Christmas” in their hometown of St. Louis. This show always promises to be a wonderland of large decorations, costumed characters, and craziness. Up until this last year, it was always something we heard about, but never were able to see. But, this time, Ludo brought the show to Chicago too, which was wonderful, because Chicago loves them. As you can tell from the photos, there was no holding back: a candy cane arch surrounded the stage, presents/Christmas tress/angels/garland adorned the stage, confetti was flying, and even Santa came out to say hi. Since these are photos, you can’t see that Christmas carols were sung, but trust me, they were.

Definitely the Christmas party of the year.

Left to Right: Augie and Dan (from Last Fast Action), Tom and Tim (from The Plain White Ts)

Shooting Notes

As I mentioned with the Treaty of Paris set, the decorations were sometimes difficult to shoot around, but by the time Ludo came out, I had a few ideas of how to use them to my advantage (for example, with this shot of Andrew, I was shooting through some garland). The lighting for Ludo’s set also had a lot of front white light, which was nice (and unusual) for Metro, so I was able to focus more on catching moments and composition rather than adjusting to ever changing light. And, as it WAS a Ludo show, there was plenty going on to take photos of.

Additionally, Ludo shows are always a big reunion for me, as so many friends of mine love them, so it was fun taking some candids after the show (as you can tell).

Shot with Canon 5DIIs, along with the 50mm, 70-200mm, and 16-35mm… and maybe a touch of the 35mm f/1.4 (?).

Treaty of Paris @ The Metro

Tasha — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:12:47 +0000

Treaty of Paris got together again for a night to open up for Ludo’s Christmas show (speaking of Ludo, keep an eye out for the next post) a few weeks ago.

Merry Christmas to us. We love Treaty of Paris.

Oh, Mike… elves don’t smoke.

Shooting Notes

It’s been a while since I’ve shot at Metro, and I almost forgot about the lighting challenges of shooting there (still my favorite venue though!). The Christmas decorations filling up the front of the stage were a hinderance occasionally (I can’t tell you how many times a random angel head creeped in the corner of the frame), but who am I to bah-humbug Christmas decorations? Ultimately, though, I was thankful that I had all-access for this show, so that I could get some good shots of Chris (the drummer) from a prime angle, a few backstage shots, as well a few on-stage shots to mix up the vantage point (from a Christmas decoration free angle).

Also, I don’t know it is because I am more used to shooting with primes now, but I found that I was happiest with the shots from my 50mm f/1.2. Or, maybe I was just nostalgic for the 50mm length, which, like most concert photographers, was my sole lens for many years. Oh well, whatever works, right? Other lenses used were the 70-200mm f/2.8, and the 16-35mm f/2.8.

Shovels & Rope @ Double Door

Tasha — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:42:17 +0000

Opening for Butch Walker, the members of Shovels and Rope are also members of Butch Walker’s band The Black Widows. Just two members, and playing on just a few guitars, a harmonica, and drum, Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent kept it simple and real. A unique mix of country and rock and roll, the music was definitely enjoyable and upbeat, and Hearst’s voice was killer.

Shooting Notes
I went to this show more with the intent of watching than shooting, which was great, since we ended up a few rows back. Not to be deterred, I did take a few shots between heads, though, and I actually enjoyed the shoot-through look for this set, since it was a little more intimate. Since Shovels and Rope is a very stripped-down band, I think the simple compositions fit well with their style.

Mostly shot with the 50mm f/1.2 and 135mm f/2, and, of course, on 5D Mk IIs.

The Naked and Famous @ House of Blues

Tasha — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:52:20 +0000

The Naked and Famous opened up for Crystal Castles at the HOB Lolla afterparty a while ago. Despite not knowing much about them at the time (although I see them popping up everywhere now!), I really enjoyed their set.

Shooting Notes
I always enjoy shooting at House of Blues, because there is usually a wonderful balance of fog and light, and this set was no exception (I especially loved that blue light in the second shot, yum).

Shot with the Canon 5D Mark II, and the trifecta of Canon zooms – the 16-35mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, and the 70-200mm f/2.8.

Ludo @ Bottom Lounge

Tasha — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 05:32:36 +0000

The thing about Ludo is that they always try to top themselves, and that they are great at not taking life too seriously. This tour was named Space Dracula’s Basketball Expo, and as you can tell, the band (and audience) dressed up to celebrate the theme. I give guitarist Tim Ferrell huge props for wearing his astronaut suit the whole time, because it was super hot in Bottom Lounge.

Those Ludo boys are dedicated.

Shooting Notes

Whenever I shoot at Bottom Lounge, I always feel like I had a really hard time balancing the light, and then after I get home and sort through the images, feel that it wasn’t so bad after all. I think it always works out because there is generally some white light mixed in the strong magenta washes that are often prevalent there.

For this set, I shot primarily from the sides of the stage, with a range of prime lenses as well as the 70-200mm f/2.8L. Stage left was the clear winner for lighting, with a light being positioned perfectly to get some rim and/or flare (depending on position of the performers), however, because of how Ludo positions themselves on stage, stage right was the better side for capturing the action. I also hung out behind the amps for a bit, both trying to get some closeups of drummer Matt Palermo, but also to get shots of the audience from the stage point-of-view. In fact, the last shot (which is from that angle) is one of my favorite shots of the evening.

Tommy & The High Pilots @ Bottom Lounge

Tasha — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 03:37:41 +0000

Fun fact: One day, Dianna Agron (Quinn from Glee) posted a Tommy & The High Pilots video on her Tumblr. I think that means they’ve hit the big time.

Shooting Notes

This was the same show that I shot Stamps at, so again, I was shooting sidestage. Sadly, most every time I’ve seen Tommy & The High Pilots, I’ve been off to the side… and I think they much better photographed from the front. However, they’re still a blast to see, and I did love the angle from behind the amp because I could integrate the audience into the shot.

Crystal Castles @ House of Blues

Tasha — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:10:00 +0000

Crystal Castles played with the The Naked and Famous at House of Blues for a Lollapalooza “after party” (even though it was the night before Lolla). A moody and high-energy show, the set was visually beautiful and entertaining, even if it was difficult to shoot.

Shooting Notes

I always seem to have the hardest shoots when I have media/corporate clients, which is of course, when there is more pressure than just a band gig. This shoot was no exception – shot for Buzzmedia/Purevolume, the pressure was on – and Crystal Castles’ set was all strobes which, of course, requires perfect timing. I will admit that for a good part of the set, I just shot on burst and prayed, partially because I couldn’t even tell where to aim until the light burst had passed and it was too late.

Last minute pit access pulled, we had three songs from the stage on stage right, and then we were free to shoot from the crowd. Generally quite strict, HOB staff was actually very nice and accomodating for this show, which was a lifesaver. As you can tell from the photos, shooting from the stage yielded very few keepers, both because of the vantage point, and because of the lighting set-up. Shooting from the back, by the soundboard, seemed to be the ideal spot.

Also worth noting is the use of flash for some of the stage shots. I can count on one hand the times I’ve used on-camera flash in concert, but desperate times… Funny thing was that it was so foggy that for most of the shots, the flash hurt more than helped, as it merely bounced off the fog and created a beautiful, foggy, unclear mess.

Stamps @ Bottom Lounge

Tasha — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:36:10 +0000

Stamps is a new band that is working with some of my favorite people in the Chicago scene. So, between several of my friends working with the band, and the lead vocalist being ex-Hush Sound, I was excited to check them out when they opened for the Ludo show a few weeks ago. Citing several 60s bands as influences, the indie pop band has a mellow throwback sound that is different from many recent bands out there. I’m interested to see where their unique sound takes them!

Shooting Notes

As I mentioned last time I shot at the Bottom Lounge, there is no pit, so I usually end up shooting side stage, which was the case this time as well. For this set, the light was front lit and a pretty static yellow, with a few hints of magenta and green mixed in. I was actually surprised at how much light there was for an opening act, so between the static lighting and the fact that Stamps is a pretty calm band, this wasn’t a terribly difficult shoot. Since I was rooted to the spot, I mainly used the 70-200mm f/2.8 for reach and ease with a little bit of the 50mm f/1.4 thrown in for a few of the wider shots.