Last Saturday, I covered an exciting new event in the DC Area – the Salsa Bachata Throwdown! During the day on Saturday, there were workshops with many dancers from area coming to learn from some great groups including Calle Luna from Pennsylvania, and Rhythmic Fusion from California. In the evening, there was plenty of time for some social dancing to the music from DJ Jose Moldanado. In between the open dancing, were some performances by the visiting and host groups. I am still editing the photos, but here are some of my favorites so far.
I want to especially thank Kat Arias for inviting me to cover her event! She is one of the most passionate influencers in the DC dance scene. This was a continuation of her mission to get people dancing!
When completed, I’ll have the photos posted to the blog and the proofing site if you would like to have order prints from the event. Thanks to Kat and Terrisa for having me cover their first event!
It is nice to capture the SingStrong a cappella community as it gathers to show off their new compositions and arrangements for each other, and perform them for others that are so enthusiastic about their art! Overall it is the same excitement I felt when I heard my first “real” a cappella recording in college. It was life changing! My ear had always gravitated to vocals in music weather they were strictly a cappella, or weather they were small vocal-only sections in music.
Some that I remember are Eric Carmen’s “Make Me Lose Control”, or the African choruses that were recorded for the soundtracks of “The Lion King”. Also the soundtrack to the movie, “The Power of One”. Moreover one season of “Growing Pains” was sung by an all-male a cappella group! It wasn’t until a friend in college loaned me his copy of the Virginia Gentlemen’s CD, “Untied” that it finally clicked. At this time I identified what drew me to this music. From there, I have been collecting CDs, and downloads, and sharing them with everyone that was remotely interested. It has been a blessing to reconnect with others by attending SingStrong. I hope to amplify enjoyment of this music by capturing the wide range of vocal music artists in photos.
Keeping that setting in mind, my life has changed a little since college. In fact, it was my girlfriend, now wife, that was taking the photos back then! Here is her photo that became the album cover for the first recording by Juxtaposition. They are an a cappella group from Virginia Tech where I served as their first music director. I, of course, was the most tame in the photo:
Album cover of “Assume the Position” by Juxtaposition
Blue Jupiter
At the last SingStrong, I got a chance to take some posed photos of Blue Jupiter – a high-energy, professional a cappella group from New York City. They put on an AMAZING show, and the members really know how to command the stage. This makes photos of them easy on the photographer. They are so comfortable in front of an audience, and they always come camera-ready especially if it is a few minutes before their show!
Marty, their vocal percussionist is also the audio engineer that sets up the on-stage sound for all the performances. His setup lets the performers sound better than they would at any other venue that weekend. Jonathan, and Diana teach and produce much of the festival. They let me roam around and be creative with my photos which helps to give an overall view of the workshops, coachings and performances. Here are a few of the photos I took of them backstage, and how I think album photos could look today. Much different from 1996!
Every year before the SingStrong music festival, I look back on the previous year’s photos. I do this to get inspiration, and to think about what to do different in the upcoming year. This helps to improve my photography, and to help get different images for the singers every year. So far, I have been lucky! I have found different places to shoot, different angles, and changes in cameras & editing software has helped to make images better. Of course, you don’t run into the same people at SingStrong every year either. The groups change, the members change, new people make the trek to the festival, and the dynamic of the environment is different.
Reston, Virginia
This year, there was a very sweet proposal of marriage in the middle of the Saturday night concerts! What a milestone for these two, and for the audience that was treated to a special, life-changing, unexpected event. In looking through the old photos from previous festivals, I can piece together another cute little photo story. It’s nice in the digital age to be able to quickly access your previous photos, and notice when things can be put together so nicely!
2010 was the first year I went to the SingStrong. During one of the performances, Blue Jupiter announced they would be adding a member to their group –
The crowd went crazy, and I felt so lucky to have had my camera at my face when it happened since it was so quick! The next year, there was a little one running around with mom and dad, and I knew that this probably was not her first time on the stage –
This year she got a speaking role, and the crowd went crazy again! She’ll be bringing down the house at SingStrong soon, she’s been doing it her whole life! I never thought about this when starting photo projects. I know there have been some with wedding photographers, and portrait photographers that capture personal histories and milestones. This was a neat discovery for me, and one that I’ll definitely have to keep my eyes ready for if another opportunity comes again. Like Jonathan Minkoff said during a coaching, the era of digital media means that what is recorded will likely last forever. Your grand children will be able to see your photo and hear your recordings as well as the day they were recorded! Here’s to hoping to see you again next year!
