A.D. Drumm Images, LLC – Landscape, Portrait, and Fine Art Photography in Rochester MN Photography

Last Wednesday, RCT held one of its American Showcase series of intimate singer, songwriter shows. I thought I’d attend, and I considered whether to take the camera. I considered it for maybe 10 seconds. If I don’t take it, I can’t take any photos. If I do, then I can decide not to take photos (yeah, right!).

Brandon Sampson was largely responsible, I’m told, for the existence of this series of concerts. He’s a terrific singer/songwriter, almost exactly what you think of when you hear that term. I had just seen Brandon a few days earlier at a benefit for flood victims from our recent huge rain storm. Folks who give back to their community are special, and those who bring such a rich talent to such events deserve our admiration.

Two of the other musicians were both named Ben. This Ben had a huge flower attached to his guitar. Yes, I was absolutely required to take a photo of the flower. How could I not?

Martin Zellar has been to these concerts before. He’s a wonderful songwriter and, judging from the response, has a large local following. Local boy makes it big. I believe he’s from Austin, MN although, as something of a newcomer to Minnesota (only 18 years), I don’t know all the lore. But I thoroughly enjoyed Martin.

I enjoy shooting concerts. I always have. I remember shooting at some big name concerts years and years ago, when no one cared if you took photos of Chicago or The Beach Boys. Or Bob Dylan. Shooting concerts is challenging, but it’s not a whole lot different than the show photos I shoot at least as far as the lighting is concerned. When shooting show photos, I can have folks stay still and push my shutter speed a bit. You don’t have that luxury at a live event.

I sometimes notice something that just strikes me. It’s different, unlikely to be photographed by others, and it still is a part of the event. I doubt anyone would pay me for a big wall print of this, but it pleases me in some weird way.

Something I like to do at concerts is find moments that are more reflective. A glance, or in this case, Martin just listening. We sometimes are completely focused on the person performing, or the lead, or the guy doing the guitar solo. But there are other people on stage, and I like to capture their moments outside the spotlight, as it were. Being people. Listening. Contemplating.

Probably what I enjoy the most at these concerts are the songs that become more of a jam. Each performer takes turns singing one of his (or her) songs. They do this round robin. But sometimes, usually starting with Brandon, others will join in. A bit of harmony on the guitar or maybe voice. A light background harmonica. Years ago, I played percussion and loved when a group of musicians just makes great music together, unrehearsed, spontaneous. It’s magic. And that’s the feeling I have again at these events when that happens.

After they ended, the applause continued and the group came back on stage for an encore. They played Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison, led by Martin. It was a great end to the night. I think some of the patrons stuck around, but it was a work night. So, I grabbed my camera and headed home with a few hundred images to sort through. I hope you like my favorites here.

Last night was the annual fundraiser at Rochester Civic Theatre. The event was called Encore, a Night On Off Broadway. Previous fundraisers have been done off-site, but this year it was at the theatre. They literally rolled out the red carpet and had many of the younger actors dressed as the paparazzi to line the carpet and greet the guests. I was there as, well, paparazzi?

I think the guests had fun and some played with it, like the woman here hiding her face from the cameras.

Sheila is a long-time supporter of the theatre and took on her celebrity-on-the-red-carpet role immediately. She played it up from end to end, smiling and waving and talking to the reporters. This is part of the fun of hanging out at the theatre. Folks are just not inhibited and will jump in without hesitation.

Naturally, there was plenty of entertainment beginning with the red carpet and going throughout the evening. Greg, Jerry, and Nick – a comedy improv team who are often helping out with fundraising for RCT and other theatres – were there in costume and in character as well as a host of other actors. Here Brad (on the right) joins in with Jerry and Nick.

After some terrific food – think true gourmet hors d’oeuvres – folks moved into the theatre itself for on-stage entertainment. Our comedy trio filled in with their horseplay between other acts.

A local group of belly dancers, the Blue Lotus Dancers, performed, and Nick came out to show how well he would do as a group member until the gorilla ran on stage to scatter everyone. Yes, there was a gorilla. Did I mention that?

I won’t try to explain this skit. Suffice it to say, it was memorable especially if you were sitting right up front like me. There was a glass of milk involved. That’s all I need to say. But I liked this photo and the fun, colorful costumes!

The evening officially ended with a live auction and a raffle drawing. Rachel Wick, a local TV news personality, was there the entire evening, and she was tasked with drawing the raffle tickets. She gave this little Vanna White moment after drawing the grand prize ticket.

Someone asked me, “don’t you ever get a night off?” while I was out shooting by the red carpet. Hah! Yes, I certainly could “take off” an evening and just relax. But, quite frankly, if you find me somewhere holding a camera, chances are I am relaxing. Making photographs, learning and expanding my vision with each shutter press, is something I treasure. I didn’t shoot the entire night. After everyone filed back out to the lobby, I put the Canon away and had a glass of Appleton rum.

Then, there was Lynne wearing Morgan’s bikini top over her dress. Me with no camera! “Lynne, where’s your camera? May I use it?”

Sherlock Holmes presented several different sets and lighting conditions. Most scenes take place in some room, and mostly we had fairly decent lighting. We move folks closer together than they would be during the show, but even then, they often still appear spread out.

It’s tough to have them close in more and still convey the mood of the scene. Sometimes, I can move myself to help compress them in a natural way, but here I didn’t want to make one character larger, more important than another. They are at this point on equal footing, thus the composition you see.

Sherlock’s home was a splash of warm colors, predominantly reds. The background is busy which is a challenge for a photograph. We at least have nicely exposed faces to help draw the actors from the background. Both Holmes and Watson lean in, helping to pull us toward Terese. Actors are great models in that way. They take direction well, and sometimes hold an uncomfortable position longer than they should have to.

The gas chamber scene was my favorite in spite of the very low light. Okay, crank up the ISO, drop the shutter speed, and hope the actors can hold still. I’m using a tripod, so my end is covered. Here I did move to house-left (stage right) to compress the scene a bit. I also wanted a fuller-on view of Holmes’ face. He’s up the stairs, above the evil-doers in every way.

Here, Holmes lights up his cigar in the gas chamber while Larabee can only hope there’s no residual gas. We had a couple shots involving fire. I set things up, let the actors know I’m ready, then the match is struck and I fire away. I end up with several shots from which to choose – do I want the biggest flame or the most interesting? Usually the latter, but big is usually interesting, too!

I love the blue lights. The mood, the time of day, are undeniable. We had a bit of brighter light behind the main action which was a little distracting, although some quick work in post helps that. I think those lights were probably the ones we bumped up to try for a touch more light for photographing the scene. Those blue gels seem to suck a lot of the light away.

Back in normal lighting, we have the set for the final scene with Watson and Alice. Expressions alone tell us what’s happening. How cool is that?

And a final embrace.

Another show-photo shoot complete.

Father of the Bride (click for more photos)

 Last evening, I shot the show photos for RCT’s June production, Father of the Bride. The cast, director Greg Miller, and the crew have done a great job putting on a very funny show. And, I thoroughly enjoy seeing Lynne in her element with an outstanding performance. Maybe I’m biased, but she really is great.

Some of my other favorite actors – and friends – are in the show. It was my pleasure recording them on digital film for posterity. It’s always much fun mixing my artwork with theirs. After the show, we had a party at our house. Kenton, who plays the father, brought over a “wedding” sheet cake, so we had Brad and Lindsay do the honors. I’ve included a shot with them feeding each other cake. People have different takes on the shove-the-cake-in-your-partner’s-face maneuver, but I enjoy it. What can I say. Brad and Lindsay didn’t disappoint us.

It was fun shooting this show. Each show is a bit different. Some, like Snow White, have cool sets and dramatic lighting which is both challenging and enjoyable to shoot. I get to play with the lighting and try to express in pictures the mood of the show. This show had a simple box set and even lighting, but it had this wedding theme which reminded me of shooting a wedding.

We started right off with the big wedding party shot which put me in mind of a wedding shoot right away. I suppose wedding shoots would be easier if all the attendees were actors. I’ve been lucky to have actors as bride and groom and in the wedding party at weddings I’ve shot, and they can make the day pretty fun for everyone, including me as photog.

If you look through this sample of shots, check out the expressions. These folks are staging shots just for the camera, but they express the feelings of each scene splendidly. And sometimes, you’d never guess what they are saying as they pose! And now and then, Greg makes some goofy remark, and the serious expressions turn to laughter, and we wait for them to settle back in. But it’s good when everyone is having fun and feeling relaxed.