johnstoy and I DOUBLE TEAM Phil Lesh & Friends 6/19/08 Penn's Peak, PA

[skifurthur]

I had the pleasure of visiting John on his home turf of Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe, PA Thursday night and introducing him to some old friends of mine, Phil Lesh & Friends. It was a blast comparing notes, sharing coffee and watching the show...both on and off the stage.

Lucky for both of us, Phil put on one of the best shows ever...and it was in one of the nicest venues I have had the pleasure of visiting. Top notch staff, excellent acoustics, great musicmanship and a stellar location all combined to make it a memorable night.

I only hope our photos give you a taste of what went down on stage that night....As always, critique and comments are very much welcome.

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[jmintz]

Great shots - who's the female vocalist...is that someone that's touring with him? I didn't know there were any female on the road w/ him since Joan.

[skifurthur]

Originally Posted by jmintz

Great shots - who's the female vocalist...is that someone that's touring with him? I didn't know there were any female on the road w/ him since Joan.

That is Teresa Williams, who is Larry Campbell's wife. She and Larry are in Levon Helm's band and Levon is opening many of Phil's tour dates this summer. Previously she has been helping out when Phil has done an acoustic set...this night was her first electric band debute.

[johnstoy]

You managed to capture some great shots...

Intermittently, the lighting was just good/great enough to get those perfect looking pics... So I must say your ability to read the light is real good...

When I shot these similar moments, the red lighting must have been kicking in and it showed up often in my post processing...

That's the *thing* about Penn's Peak... Those custom lights designed by the ownership are used proficiently by the lighting engineer... and he only cuts the photographer an occasional break... If one is not paying attention, the opportunity would be missed ... That opportunity is given only a few times during the show...

I think we did good for what we had to work with.

[skifurthur]

Originally Posted by johnstoy

You managed to capture some great shots...

Intermittently, the lighting was just good/great enough to get those perfect looking pics... So I must say your ability to read the light is real good...

When I shot these similar moments, the red lighting must have been kicking in and it showed up often in my post processing...

That's the *thing* about Penn's Peak... Those custom lights designed by the ownership are used proficiently by the lighting engenier... and he only cuts the photographer an occasional break... If one is not paying attention, the opportunity would be missed ... That opportunity is given only a few times during the show...

I think we did good for what we had to work with.

'tis the life of a concert photographer...we always have to make do with what we get. Nobody said it would be easy.

[thelightofsound]

nice job. you have a very well rounded set here. you did seem to hit the better colors than john. and speaking of lights, i hear that candice is now doing phil's tour; is this true? i was so upset to hear she left panic. i love her work.

[johnstoy]

Mike, I agree with you on Ski's results... We were positioned in different spots... However, we both were blocked by music stands an microphones... After a while, Ski started roaming and shooting wherever he could see the stage from...

Soon after, I followed... We were the only photo pros on the scene... and with no photo pit (Penn's Peak does not put them up,) we had to make do with what we had.

[DwightMcCann]

Well, so John's shooting again and teaching Ski all the stuff I failed to convey! Great set none-the-less.

[narlus]

cool to see shots from 2 different shooters from the same show. john, looks like you had stripped yr EXIF out...would have fun to compare exposures for both of you.

the lighting here looks to be rather dull; i hate the red/blue/magenta cans, and would probably just b/w the whole set (though 2 and 5 look pretty good). weird that the drummer wasn't on a riser.

[DwightMcCann]

Yeah, but now I want to see Ski's picture of John!

[johnstoy]

Originally Posted by DwightMcCann

Well, so John's shooting again and teaching Ski all the stuff I failed to convey! Great set none-the-less.

Ski does have it together... He has his routine down pat, and picking something up along the way, doesn't hurt... He's open minded...

I do want to try his pattern metering method sometime... cause my spot metering on the face, was underexposing the rest of the musician.

Originally Posted by narlus

cool to see shots from 2 different shooters from the same show. john, looks like you had stripped yr EXIF out...would have fun to compare exposures for both of you.

the lighting here looks to be rather dull; i hate the red/blue/magenta cans, and would probably just b/w the whole set (though 2 and 5 look pretty good). weird that the drummer wasn't on a riser.

Narlus, I posted the EXIF printed out "longhand" in my thread from this show... You're right about the lights... The "big" spot lights weren't used... probably cause of the heat they give off and the totally full house we had... I don't think our regular lighting maestro was at the controls... and I found the lights to offer few real good opportunities to get solid shots.

Originally Posted by DwightMcCann

Yeah, but now I want to see Ski's picture of John!

I wonder if he did get a pic of me... He was using the short lens, when he would have had a better chance to get me... So it's unlikely.