Tyler Bryant – NAMM 2010
01.20.2010
NAMM is a music convention held in LA at the Anaheim Convention Center every year, attracting some 80,000 music-industry insiders. My bro, Tyler, told me he was playing out there on the Fender stage (he’s endorsed by them). I wanted to go shoot the show. So I did.
There’s a lot of grunt work before a show – hauling gear into a venue for load in, setting up the stage and placing/mic’ing amps, drums, and cymbals.
But when the show starts, all the song writing, recording, rehearsals, gear hauling, and all-around hard work pays off!
After the show is over, there’s always backstage stuff that happens. I’ll post a few more backstage photos this weekend, but for right now, a couple of my favorite photos that closed out an awesome day at NAMM!
SHOOT NOTES
Interesting facts and what I learned.
- I decided to fly out to LA for this show, because I wanted to see if I could handle the “pressure” of capturing a bigger show. Granted, this wasn’t a stadium concert, but it had a different feel than a local show since it was for a crowd full of label reps and guitar freaks. Since I want to go on the road as a concert photographer, I figure it’s important for me to be comfortable in any situation. You only get one chance to capture a show. The moments pass and can’t be brought back. I wanted to know if I was ready to capture those moments no matter the “bigness” of the event. I felt totally comfortable.
- Insecurities abound within many artists. “Am I good enough? How many people are better than me? Does this look/feel/sound ok?” One thing that makes up for lack of experience is hard work. One of my favorite pictures from last year was of my buddy and photographer Skip Hopkins down in the Bahamas shooting a wedding – absolutely drenched with sweat from working so hard.
I finished Tyler’s 30-minute set soaking wet. Cool photos don’t make themselves (well, ok, sometimes they do). It’s a lot of luck, some skill, and hard work. Whenever my insecurities pop up, I just remind myself that I work hard at shows and that will yield results because it’s part of the equation in getting great images! - The stage was cool, the lights were great (especially the light bars on the back wall!), and the sound in the room was huge! The crowd was a little tame for me, but they definitely appreciated Tyler’s set.
- I’m still not getting good enough coverage of other band members during shows. I hate that I didn’t get any really good photos of Caleb (drums) or Calvin (bass). I’m going to start shooting with my 50mm instead of the 70-200 at shows where I can be right up on the stage. That lens will be perfect to get tight shots of drummers. I also learned that verses are a good time to take photos of other band members. In most songs, the passion happens in the chorus. That’s a good time to focus on the front man. Also, for guitarists who have solos (like Tyler), incredible moments of improvisation happen in those solos and my attention needs to be focused on them during that time.
- If there’s one more thing you need to do, it’s this…if you have time, you need to watch one of the songs from the performance. The whole thing is awesome, but if you barely have time, do this…start the video and watch Tyler’s second solo starting at 4:10. Listen closely just after 4:15 as he stomps on his wah-wah pedal. A couple wide-open strums before hitting the first note of the solo makes me want to kick over some trash cans! It literally sounds like the guitar screams, “I’m ready! I’m ready!”
Keep watching and you’ll see something else amazing (besides the entire solo)! About 3 weeks ago, Tyler was writing with a sweet guitarist in town. The dude played a solo and asked Ty if he knew how to do it and Tyler said no, but took note of a trick the guy had done. While performing this song at the show, Tyler saw that guy in the audience and pulled out the dude’s trick. Just after 4:55, you’ll see him reach his right hand up the neck and do an off-hand bend (that’s what I call it). It’s so outrageously money! Tyler then smiles at the dude who taught him the trick. Get. Into. This!
Throughout 2009, I shot a crazy number of photos but never posted them. For 40 consecutive days, I'm going to post these shoots. Something new every day!
Nice work, Andy! Love the pics of Tyler at NAMM, they are better than the ones I did of him there last year. Keep up the great work, hope to meet you some day.
Andy, these are some fantastic photos and I love photos that highlight all that rockers go through even the grunt work. I’m a huge fan of Tyler’s and music in general and I hope to see alot more of your work. The shot selection and angles were great! Tyler’s rise is sooo worth documenting, thanks for sharing!
Andy, GREAT coverage and outstanding pictures and details. I have been known to film performances of various Texas musicians (Tyler was one of them) in the past and your break down of when to get the money close-up is spot on. Love your work man.