Patriotic Festival 2009 - My Biggest Photo "Gig" to Date!

I hate to start a post like this but...in the nature of the photos being of "celebrities," please remember that I maintain all rights to these photographs and that if you wish to use the photos for ANY reason, I ask that you contact me first. Thank you!

So a few months back I'm talking with my good friend Bill, and he mentions some festivals that he has lined up to photograph. I told him that I'd love to help with the events if I happen to be off work when they happen. Sure enough, I was off work for the Patriotic Festival this past weekend in Virginia Beach, VA. Earlier in the week I got a call from Bill reminding me of the event, and I managed to get home from work just in time to make a mad dash to the beach (less the sitting in Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel traffic for an hour).

When I first met Bill through Flickr, he mentioned he worked in radio and told me a few stories of different celebrities he'd met such as Shania Twain, Jay Leno, etc. I guess I knew he had a lot of contacts due to the nature of his job, but it didn't occur to me how rewarding that would end up being for him and I as up and coming photographers.

I knew I'd get to get relatively close to the stage and take some shots of the bands, but it never occured to me that "All-Access" meant more than just center-stage shots. Bill and I were the official photographers of the Patriotic Festival in Virginia Beach for 2009. With that came photographing the meet and greets, access to all backstage areas, etc.


So here's how it went: I'll just kinda list my 2 day event in a schedule like format

FRIDAY
-Arrive on Friday afternoon and take photos of the fans, booths, beach, etc.
-Go on the stage and photograph all the instruments, equipment, etc.
-Photograph the Zac Brown Band (Chicken Fried) from right down front
-Meet the Zac Brown Band after the show, get there autographs on a CD for my brother in Afghanistan
-Photograph the Zac Brown Band signing fans memorabilia
-Get photo taken with the Zac Brown Band
-Make a dash back to the front of the stage to catch photograph the second half of the Gary Allan concert
-No meet and greet with Gary Allan was available for anyone, including photographers
-Go back to Bills and spend 3 or 4 hours sorting photos, keeping good, trashing bad, making minor edits, etc.
-Put photos on jump drive to give to the event hosts (needed by Monday A.M.)
-Make the 1.5 hour drive back to Gloucester to be in bed by 3 A.M.

SATURDAY
-Woke up at 12
-Headed back to VA Beach
-Sat in traffic in the tunnel again
-Shoot photo session of Miss United States at the nearby Cavalier hotel
-Go to event area and shoot more booths, people, etc.
-Go on the stage and photograph all the instruments, equipment, etc.
-Photograph a meet and greet with David Cook (brought the lighting equipment the second day)
-Photograph David Cook & band with small groups of fans
-Photograph David Cook $ Band with the Wounded Warriors who biked down from D.C. (tough lighting situation - 43 people in the shot)
-Have my photograph taken with the band...something to prove I was there (David Cook's a nice guy but I don't really know any of his music and I never really watched American Idol)
-Dart to front of stage to catch the last half of Matt Nathansons concert and photograph it (managed to catch the songs "Laid" and "Come on Get Higher")
-Make our way up to the event coordinators 8th floor suite balcony at the Beach Quarters hotel to get some "Aerial" shots of David Cooks concert
-Matt Nathanson was escorted straight to his hotel room after his show so no meet and greet with him.
-Ran back down to the front of the stage and literally had to fight off women to try to get any shots. Those women were just plain evil if you got in there way
-Finished photographing his performance and headed back to Bills again
-3 or 4 hours of sorting, editing photos, etc.
-1.5 hour drive back to Gloucester to arrive in time to hit the hay at 3 A.M. again

Let me just say WOW! What an amazing experience this was as a photographer. I actually felt like I was a somebody with all that unlimited access. If things go well and the pictures were well taken, we anticipate being the event coordinators concert photographers for future events.

I took just over 1000 photos during the 2 day period and was able to provide him with close to 500 keepers. That's just me... not sure how many Bill ended up keeping.

I'm a big Zac Brown Band fan, so getting to hang out with them for a bit, photograph them with their fans, get a few autographs for myself and my brother....let's just say it was an incredible weekend.

As for being a "Star Hound," it's definitely easy to do during your first event. I can however see how you'd get used to it after awhile. On the other hand, it's going to be hard to go to concerts now and just be a fan. I'm gonna want the All-Access VIP status lol. I thought this was going to be a cake walk but honestly it was pretty hard work. I was completely spent by Saturday evening. Then to top it off, I had plans to do a photo-shoot with 2 gorgeous women on Sunday afternoon. After getting very little rest, getting up early to help my step-dad tar paper the shed roof that he's building, wash my car, then make my way over to York River State Park....I still managed to have a great shoot with the ladies and I anticipate all of those photos being posted by weeks end.

Below is a series of shots from the weekend that I've done some editing to. At the end, I've included the one shot I've finished editing from my photo-shoot with Sharon & Kate (gorgeous ladies mentioned above).

USO Skydive Team


Zac Brown Band Guitar


Zac Brown Band


Zac Brown Band & Marines (Low-light with no flash is tough. A lot of sharpness loss due to high ISO and wide open aperture)


Gary Allan


Gary Allan Drummer


Gary Allan


Guitars


Felicia Barton (American Idol Semi-Finalist Season 8)


David Cook's band with Wounded Warriors from D.C.


Matt Nathanson


Matt Nathanson


Aerial Concert Venue


Aerial Stage Zoom


David Cook


David Cook's Bassist Joey Clement


David Cook's Drummer Kyle Peek


Sharon & Kate - York River State Park