Dragon Jam, 2011
The pinnacle of the concert-shooting phase of my early photography "career" saw me stationed at a corner of the stage through four different acts of the Velour's fifth anniversary show back in January of 2011. The headliner was an about-to-blow-up Imagine Dragons, who were a lot of fun to photograph, thanks to the enthusiasm of guys like lead guitarist Wayne Sermon, pictured here.
Zooey, 2010
After finishing an English class for Salt Lake Community College one night in fall 2010, I grabbed my camera and zipped over to Pioneer Park to catch She and Him at the Twilight Concert Series. Towards the end of their show, the crowd thinned out enough for me to get a little closer to the stage, where I got this melancholy look from Zooey Deschanel.
Jozef's Windmill, 2010
On a spring night in 2010 I tagged along with my longtime friend Randy to see his brother-in-law Jozef's band play a benefit concert at The State Room in Salt Lake City. I had so much fun shooting the event that the night more or less kicked off the concert photography phase of my "career." Here Jozef puts some flash behind a lead guitar performance for Heather's Headache.
A Dragon in Shadow, 2010
In the spring of 2010 I photographed a series of bands at a show in Murray, Utah. MC Pearl Dragon (pictured here) of hip-hop act Champagne Champagne did me the artistic favor of climbing up on top of a stack of PA amps to perform in a convenient shaft of light at one point in their set. Much appreciated.
Soulful Gray, 2010
I didn't pick up a camera (seriously, anyway) until about twenty years after Marvin Gaye's death, but I still get a little bit of his What's Going On vibe from this shot of MC Thomas Gray of Champagne Champagne, performing in Murray Utah in the spring of 2010.
Fostering the People, 2012
As we got close to go-time at the July 2012 Foster the People concert out at the Great Saltair, things got a little tight in general admission, and security had to pull a patron or two to safety, as you see here.
The Wayne, 2010
In the summer of 2010 I swung by the Davis County Fair to see my old high school classmate Dustin play a set with The Wayne Hoskins Band. I hesitate to argue that I knew what I was doing, but this image of Dustin with his acoustic guitar is still one of my favorite concert shots. The band wound up using it on their T-Shirts and posters.
Vibrant Bass, 2012
In 2012 I made a quick trip to downtown Salt Lake to photograph a few bands at Club Sound, including the Vibrant Sound, one of the bands that first got me into my "concert photography phase." Part of the time I'd try to freeze the action like normal, at other times, as in this shot of Vibrant Sound bassist Rachel, I would get sick of the dim lighting and start playing around with 1-second exposures. I think it's kind of cool that you can still make out the shape of the Hofner bass.
