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June 23, 2015

SingStrong – A Cappella Music Festival

A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media

Reston, Virginia

Last March, I was invited to cover the SingStrong in Reston, Virginia. SingStrong is an a cappella music festival held at South Lakes High School on this occasion. Overall, musicians come together to do workshops, have master classes, and hear from performers from around the country. A cappella, in short, describes a style of music where all of the sounds from the band are create from the human voice. Popular culture has show off these performers especially in movies like “Pitch Perfect” or TV shows like NBC’s “The Sing – Off.”

Main Stage – South Lakes HS

Blue Jupiter are the main hosts for all the attendees of this event. Diana and Jonathan emcee the larger shows over the weekend including the Aca-Idol competition and the main show on Saturday evening. Marty sets up the audio-visual presentation on the stage running the sound board. The sound of the singers sounds amazing from the crowd and along with the theater lights really elevates the concerts.

The 2015 edition of SingStrong continued their tradition of bringing passionate musicians together. They spend a weekend full of learning, networking, and inspiring each other. I enjoy being a part of the weekend to help preserve some memories that the groups can look back on when they get back home. I hope it keeps them working to sound better, and to continue their progress to be even better. The proceeds from participating or attending the shows over the weekend help to support the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. With the tickets and silent auctions, all of the funds help to support an amazing cause. I hope to see what the groups have in store next year!

Blue Jupiter performing at SingStrong - A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media — Blue Jupiter performing at SingStrong – A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media

Ball in the House performing at SingStrong - A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media — Ball in the House performing at SingStrong – A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media

Main Stage at SingStrong - A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media — Main Stage at SingStrong – A Cappella Music Festival ©TimeLine Media

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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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703-864-8208

March 3, 2014

Event, Music, Photography | 0 comment

SingStrong – High School Competition

SingStrong has so many ties to the local music education scene in northern Virginia. All of the weekend performances and workshops are held in South Lakes High School in Reston, VA. They have been very generous to allow the festival to take over the many rooms in their art wing for practice rooms, coaching spaces, and some larger rooms where workshops and large group rehearsals can take place.

South Lakes High School

The main stage is the auditorium where the SingStrong team transforms the stage into an amazing place to perform a cappella music. It is a lot for both the eyes and ears to take in from the multicolor stage lights, and the professional sound setup. The High School Competition on Saturday afternoon gives the many high school students a chance to use this professional setup. They perform for their family and friends on the big stage as the featured performance at this time.

They receive feedback from judges, and the audience gets to weigh in with their votes for their favorite group. For this competition, I listen from backstage. These groups that get coaching over the weekend, really put their newly gained knowledge to the test sometimes with some great results! Directly after their performances, I have them for a few minutes to get a group photo backstage. They are so relieved after finishing their set, and they are excited about how well they performed.

All these photos are a really nice memento from a weekend that they have dedicated to improving their singing and stage presence. For a lot of the groups, some members cannot make the trip due to other commitments. I think they have missed out on a unique experience in their music education. Nothing brings a group together like going through a competition together. I hope they take the photos, and enjoy looking back at this time when group singing was such a big part of their lives.

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703-864-8208

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Reston, Virginia

Main Stage – South Lakes HS

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