I’ve been waiting for this. I would love to say patiently, but that would be a lie. I’ve been scratching at myself waiting for the word to come in so that I can release this particular entry.
Now, before I begin to get all over the place in my excitement, let me break it down. I have recently signed on with I’m Music Magazine as a contributor and will be covering shows for them here in South Florida. I’m Music Magazine is made up of a staff of music lovers. They are music journalists and photographers who are very passionate about what they do. They offer the latest music news, album reviews, show reviews, DVD reviews, book reviews, concert photography, and more! They talk to all levels of bands and give them equal representation and respect because every big dog in the industry started out as a little puppy. They are legit. They don’t buy “LIKES” or followers on social media like other sites do to make our numbers look impressive. They pride themselves on their love natural, organic growth because it’s real and too are their followers. You certainly have them check them out. I’ve linked their their article on their website page below.
Now on to the goods and the reason d’être. In my collaboration with I’m Music Magazine, I had the honor and the privilege to shoot one of my absolute favorite bands to date. Yes, ladies and gents, I was live and had Alice In Chains in front of my lens. What started as my just saying, “just have the mag submit the press request.
What do you have to lose?” turned out to squeals of job when I received word I was approved. With the countdown to show time commenced it was time to do my due diligence so that I can plan my gear accordingly. After all, press was shooting from the soundboard and I am not in possession of one of those beautiful bazooka canons that would get me as close as I would have liked.
I was nervous as hell. Still, show time came around and I packed my bag. Step stool, TC and my trusty monopod though interestingly enough when it came down to it, I only ended up using the step stool (Yes, I’m altitude challenged and needed to get some clearance on the general admission level). I opted to not use the TC because to be honest the extra distance it provided when I tested it during the opening act wasn’t really wroth losing the stop of light for me. I knew I was going to need to crop significantly and wanted the least amount of noise possible. All in all though, beast has never failed to impress me. Armed with his long gun 70-200mm 2.8 handheld, he handled his business.
Once my three songs were done, I packed up, had my grip run my gear to the car and then took my seat with the rest of the fans to enjoy the epicness that is Alice In Chains. It was so a rush for me. Singing along, screaming with joy, and even weeping when they dedicated and played Nutshell for Layne. Damn I do miss him but William Duval is absolutely amazing. It was an incredible performance and I was excited to get home, calm down and get right to work in post.
I felt a little pressure going through my shots. I wanted to get them just right. Especially since they had to be pre-approved by the band’s camp prior to my posting on social media and my portfolio. Thankfully, my submissions were very well received. I turned in 49 images and they approved 44 of them. Not too shabby from the soundboard. So enough beating around the bush. I picked a top for this round posting the full 44 on my Facebook page. Please feel free to leave any feedback and comments. I love hearing from you all.
Seriously, it was such an amazing night on so many different levels. And definitely check out I’m Music Magazine. They’re a great organization.
