This was my 6th or 7th year photographing and traveling on Warped Tour. I love it. It opened up more opportunities in my career than I can count. You can read about them–I think I have blogged just about every Warped Tour I have been on in my blog. Anyway, this year I was bored. It’s not that Warped Touring is boring–the shots were just not very challenging for me! Not trying to sound show-offy, just being honest. I have shot Warped Tour A LOT.
I need to learn and grow. Plus, anyone can get the shots. Everyone has access everywhere it seems and there are at least 15 photographers on Warped Tour at all times. In addition, there are so many photographers trying to get on stage I just felt bad even asking, so shooting from the pit was preferable for me. When I started there was maybe one other photographer. Her name is Lisa Johnson, and she has been there since the start – *bow down*. Anyway, I decided to make myself a real-life video game. I am a collector, I like to collect things. Nothing physical anymore- I don’t have space for that! But photos, photos I can collect. So I decided to gather people’s faces. I created a few rules for myself. Every game has rules, that’s what makes it a challenge!
– must be able to see the pores of subject – must use 70-200mm with 2x extender on it, or a 400mm if you decided to sell the car you don’t have (talking to myself here) – must shoot in daylight/keep ISO under 3600 or it becomes too grainy – you can break these rules once in a while
This is something I have been shooting and figuring out since last year at Warped Tour, and I feel like I have finally gotten pretty good at it. You can find a few other onstage portraits scattered throughout my Warped Tour 2013 post and in my Soundwave 2014 post. I just love them so much. I want to print out each one and touch the person’s face. Is that creepy? I just love seeing it all close up in a setting where you usually aren’t able to get that close.
So, now you know why I was walking around with a lens that was the size of your arm at Warped Tour this year. Anyway, here they are in no particular order.
Warped Tour Onstage Portraits
Onstage Portraits – Nick Santino
Onstage Portraits – PVRIS
Onstage Portraits – PVRIS
Onstage Portraits – Will Levy of The Story So Far
Onstage Portraits – Kelen Capener of The Story So Far
Onstage Portraits – Parker Cannon of The Story So Far
Onstage Portraits – Ricky Horror of Motionless In White
Onstage Portraits – Ryan Sitkowski of Motionless In White
Onstage Portait – Chris Cerulli of Motionless In White
Onstage Portrait – Chris Cerulli of Motionless In White
Onstage Portrait – Joshua Balz of Motionless In White
Onstage Portraits – The Word Alive
Onstage Portraits – Telle of The Word Alive
Onstage Portrait – Drew York of Stray From The Path
Onstage Portrait – Michael Bohn Issues
Onstage Portraits – Andrew Velasquez of Crown The Empire
Onstage Portrait – Watsky
Onstage Portraits – Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade
Onstage Portrait – John O’Callaghan of The Maine
Onstage Portraits – Matt West of Neck Deep
Onstage Portrait – Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada
Onstage Portrait – Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada
Onstage Portraits – Alex Koehler of Chelsea Grin
Onstage Portraits – Chris Rubey of The Devil Wears Prada
Onstage Portraits – Jim Riley of The Ghost Inside
Onstage Portrait – Jacky Vincent of Falling In Reverse
Onstage Portraits – Zach Johnson of The Ghost Inside
Onstage Portrait – David Escamilla of Crown The Empire
Onstage Portrait – Takahiro Morita of One Ok Rock
Onstage Portrait – Kevin Geyer of The Story So Far
Onstage Portraits – John O’Callaghan of The Maine
Onstage Portraits – Pat Kirch of The Maine
Onstage Portait – Real Friends
Onstage Portrait – Dan Lambton of Real Friends
Onstage Portait – Garret Rapp of The Color Morale
Onstage Portrait – Aaron Saunders of The Color Morale
Onstage Portrait – Charles Trippy of We The Kings
Onstage Portait – Jake Mcelfresh of Front Porch Step
Onstage Portaits – Jeremy DePoyster The Devil Wears Prada
Onstage Portrait – Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada
Onstage Portrait – Jordan Buckley of Everytime I Die
Onstage Portrait – Dan Williams of The Devil Wears Prada
Onstage Portait – Ronnie Radke of Falling In Reverse
Onstage Portait – Ronnie Radke of Falling In Reverse
Onstage Portrait – Austin Carlile of Of Mice & Men
Onstage Portait – Lynn Gunn of PVRIS
Onstage Portrait – Tino Arteaga of Of Mice & Men
Onstage Portait – Ben Barlow Neck Deep
A few images not from Warped… but they don’t belong anywhere else, so here goes.
Onstage Portrait – Jesse Lacey of Brand New
Onstage Portrait – Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday
If you see any photos you like, put them on your Tumblr, tweet them at the artist pictured, spread them on the interweb. Put the images to use as much as you can, I love seeing them everywhere.
