Music Archives - Page 9 of 15 - TimeLine Media Blog

August 8, 2014

Tysons Corner Summer Concerts | VA Music Photography

Music concerts are the next Plaza events this year. I posted recently about the dedication ceremony of the new Tysons Corner Center Plaza. Additionally, musicians will play on the Plaza! There have been a lot of events this summer around the new space. Great weather has blessed the guests too! The area is constantly changing seeing that it is a versatile space for activities, demonstrations, movies, and concerts. Every Friday until August 29, there is a concert held at the plaza. You particularly have to see the lineup and find out about getting entrance at the Tysons Corner Center website. At this time, the series of concerts is sponsored by Intelsat and 94.7 Fresh FM. Intelsat’s new building serves as the backdrop for these performances, and additionally provides a nice setting for the stage.

Tysons-Corner-Center-Plaza-concert-stage-©TimeLine-Media

Tommy-McFly-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media

The hosts for these concerts are some familiar personalities from 94.7 FM’s morning show. Before each band comes on, they get the crowd ready to hear some great music! So far, these bands have taken the stage: Black Alley, a local DC band opened the series after their win at the Battle with Bite. Next, Alex & Sierra, the singing duo who won the last season of X-Factor, Finally, the band Oh Honey singing their hit, “Be Okay” in an acoustic set.

Music Performers

Alex-and-Sierra-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media

Black-Alley-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media

Oh-Honey-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media

Fortunately, there has been great cool evenings for these concerts, and tonight should be another great one. The elevated Plaza is a great place to watch the setting sun and listen to a concert. With the sound bouncing around the buildings, it lessens the harshness on the ears. Tonight violinist / dancer / performance artist Linsey Stirling will be performing. From her wildly popular online videos, it should be an entertaining show!

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June 17, 2014

Event, Music, Photography | 0 comment

His Dream of Lions – Music Photography

Tysons Corner Center

Photographing musicians while they are performing is one of the most dynamic subjects you can put in front of your lens. In this shoot at Tysons Corner Center, they transformed an open area into a stage where 4 different bands competed. The prize for the competition was to be the opening act for the grand opening of an outdoor space in Tysons Corner later this summer! The bands were diverse in their looks and musical styles making for a great showcase of their talents.

The first band that performed was His Dream of Lions from Fairfax, VA. It can be tough to be the first act out of the gate, but it was no problem for them! They really brought the sound and energy that was needed to get the crowd into the show. For the shoot, I first concentrated on getting photos of the whole group as they performed to show how they arranged themselves on stage, and how they looked from an audience-member perspective.

Battle of the Bands

Once I had a few of those, I changed to a longer lens to get in closer. The lead singer was really giving a great performance. As a band’s front man, you really need to be comfortable in the spotlight, and emote enthusiasm and excitement to the people watching. He was definitely playing to the audience and produced some awesome energy for the crowd.

Once all the settings are dialed into the camera, it is just tracking, and waiting for the right moment to release the shutter. Capturing moments that try to tell the story of the performance takes a little patience. Even though they would only play for one song, you still cannot motor drive with the camera. That only makes for more work later. Wait until the right moment when you will see some dynamic action from the performers, and they will deliver! It was a great start to the show.

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March 18, 2014

Event, Music, Photography | 0 comment

SingStrong – Without Color

Blake Lewis at SingStrong DC - ©TimeLine Media

Photographing SingStrong musicians performing is one of the most exciting projects you can have! These artists have done hours of practice with their groups before going on stage. In a cappella, all-vocal music, the performers are really bare out in front of the crowd without any instruments to “hide” behind when singing. The groups really rely on each other during their sets.

A cappella Festival

Blue Jupiter at SingStrong DC - ©TimeLine Media — Blue Jupiter at SingStrong DC – ©TimeLine Media

The musical art form obviously is focused on affecting your ears more than your eyes. A photographer is usually concerned about the visuals – trying to keep distracting elements from getting in front of your main subjects. Anything that can be moved out of the way prior to firing the shutter will save lots of time in Photoshop later. For photographing live music, there is a lot of things in front of the performers that serve the primary function for the audience – speakers, wires, microphones, etc.

Ten at SingStrong DC - ©TimeLine Media — Ten at SingStrong DC – ©TimeLine Media

All of these things add to the environment of the scene. At SingStrong, the sound setup is one of the best I have ever come across for vocal music. Marty and his crew really work magic to make sure the audio is perfect for both the performers and the people in the seats. The lighting setup makes it very easy to photograph giving lots of options to shoot the performers. They have strong backlights, spotlights from the front of the house, and other accents that they use throughout the night.

Changing these select image to monochrome helps to blend the distracting elements so that the performers are still front and center. Pushing the high ISO settings from the camera, then additionally pushing the sliders in post make for a nice grain in dark areas. It transforms these images in a pleasing way to me. It shows how hard the performers are emoting and working to connect with the listeners.

Monochrome A cappella - ©TimeLine Media — Monochrome A cappella – ©TimeLine Media

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Posts Tagged ‘Music’

Music Performers

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Tysons Corner Center

Battle of the Bands

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A cappella Festival

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