concerts Archives - Amy Clifton Keely Photography

Home :: concerts

Me, MIA

I know, I know, I’m being a terrible blogger!! Please forgive? There is so much ah-ma-zing stuff on the horizon for Amy Clifton Photography–and for you, my amazing friends–but I’ve definitely neglected my poor blog in exchange for a brand-new ACP. I think the trade-off will be worth it if you can just hang in there with me for a little longer. 🙂

First big news, I have a winner for my contest!! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who expressed interested and sent in their photos. Drum roll……Holly and Mark have been married for 15 years and have no (I repeat, NO) photos since their wedding of just the two of them. They have two beautiful children and lots of family portraits, but nothing of just them. *Gasp!* They are a hot little couple, and Holly is such a sassy girl, so I can’t wait for their session! (She also is my hair stylist, and I would drive to the ends of the earth for a haircut from her. Seriously, she saved me many years ago from a disastrous near-mullet, and I am forever grateful. (Hmmm, do I need to say “disastrous” when I’m also saying “near-mullet?” Seems a bit redundant.) Anyway, send me a message if you need a great stylist!) Stay tuned for their photo shoot and the big ACP surprise that comes along with it!

Next big news is that I finally selected a logo to represent ACP! It was a much bigger decision than I expected, largely because my designers did such a rockstar job and I liked everything they gave me. I can’t wait to debut it along with my new website! The sample I saw of my website completely blew me away…I hope it will have the same effect on y’all!

I shot another killer session with a band in the studio last weekend…those pics are coming soon and I’m crazy about them, and this weekend I’ll be photographing my first-ever maternity session. This couple has already gotten me all teary-eyed over their super-sweet love story, and I haven’t even met them yet! I’m so ready for their portraits!

Again, I hope you’ll forgive me for being super-MIA and that you’ll stick around for all the changes coming soon. Also, for my former clients who have completed their surveys–thank you. I am truly taking everything you say to heart. I appreciate both your complements and your suggestions, and I welcome them always–with or without a survey. And finally, because it’s just wrong of me to not post a photo, here’s a sneak-peek from last weekend’s band session!

In the Studio

Tim, one of the commenters on my last post, wrote about the variety of ways music is captured: via a recording, with our ears, or even in still photos. Recently, I had the opportunity to be present for all three methods. As April Beck recorded tracks with The Peculiar People, I experienced the music firsthand; I listened as the tracks were mixed and produced; and (of course) I captured it in the following images…

TJ is also designing my new ACP logo. (Yay!)

Tim is the guru of all things business…and motivation…and music…and who-knows-what-else. This guy does it all!

Don’t forget to “Show Me Some Love” and let me know what you think!

Two of My Favorite Things…

No “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens” here; two of my favorite things are photography and music. (Although kittens are cute and I DO enjoy getting flowers…) I simply love live music. I love bar bands, I love small acts trying to make it big in an intimate club, I love 20,000 seat venues with huge sets. I love live albums. I love hearing an artist cover a song or play a new arrangement to one of their own hits. I am moved every time I hear the crowd singing along with the band.

When I go to a show, I absorb all the extra stuff going on: the crew scurrying around with their walkies and laminates, the FOH sound stage, the switching out of guitars, how the set list is arranged, and the stage lighting. Especially the stage lighting. As a photographer, my eye is trained to “find the light,” and while I’m rockin’ out to a band, I’m also being blown away by the back-lighting, by the colored beams of light finding their way through the haze, by the single spotlight that illuminates the artist during an acoustic moment. And I’m always wanting to capture that in photographs.

If I could add anything to my own photographic “set list,” it would be concert photography! I’ve taken some pretty cool photos at concerts over the years, some with my point-and-shoot camera, some with my mid-grade digital SLR and a zoom lens, some with permission, some not so much. 🙂 Ah, how I would love the opportunity to shoot with my good camera and lenses!

I’ve found that country artists are pretty open to concert-goers having cameras, so when I saw Gary Allan recently in Asheville, NC, I went up front to take some photos with my p&s…

I love the crazy lighting in this one!!

As I’m further developing my photography business, I’m gaining the opportunity to work with some musicians in and out of the studio, and I’m beyond excited to combine these two passions! Stay tuned for more music-related images in the future!

Pearl Jam–definitely still “Alive”

When “Ten” became popular my Junior year of high school, everyone had the tape (yes, the tape) in their car. My friend Kevin, however, never took his copy out of his tape player for the next two years! Pearl Jam has been a constant in his life, and I can’t tell you the countless hours I’ve spent over the years hanging out with him, listening to their latest bootleg over a bottle of wine. (Of course I’m listening to them right now as I type…) When PJ announced a small US tour–that included their first South Carolina stop in 10 years–there was no question that we would go. It would be our 3rd PJ show together, my 5th total. We headed down to Columbia this past Monday 6.16 with his cousin Colton (a carbon-copy of Kevin in high school!) and my photographer friend Amy.

Long story short, sometimes things just fall together in all the right ways. While tailgating in the parking lot, our high school friend Seth, who now lives in Nashville, came running over. Kevin hadn’t seen him in months, I hadn’t seen him in years. He was there with the opening band, Kings of Leon, and said he would try to get us backstage after the show. Through various friends and contacts in the music industry, I’ve hung out after lots of shows, but backstage at Pearl Jam? No freakin’ way.

Of course Eddie and the boys showed up with an amazing set list and we rocked out for the next two hours. My phone rang during the 2nd encore, and Seth said two words: “It’s happening.” (OK, my long story isn’t getting as short as promised!) We all traipsed down to the dressing rooms, where the rest of us waited as Kevin got to meet Eddie. Eddie-Freakin-Vedder, our generation’s equivalent of Jim Morrison or Jimi Hendrix. Back out in the hall, we talked to Mike McCready, complete bad-ass on guitar, and got a guitar pick from him, and we saw Jeff Ament, equally bad-ass bass player.

I rarely post personal stuff on the blog, but seriously. We were backstage at Pearl Jam. The End.