Bruno Mars Moonshine Jungle Tour

    For this week, I wanted to post my review of Bruno Mars' Moonshine Jungle Tour. To begin, Ellie Goulding provided an entertaining warm up. She started off a little slow with descent music, yet hard to hear her vocals but as her show progressed the vocals became much clearer and she brought the arena chanting her songs. Her best performances were towards the end with Lights, Anything Can Happen and I Need Your Love. Ellie brought a great energy that got the crowd pumped up and ready to see Bruno Mars. Bruno Mars began his show with the sounds of the jungle roaring through the speakers. Then with the golden curtain fall, he begin to sing Moonshine. Bruno Mars gave very sexy and sly performances such as Runaway Baby, Treasure and Marry You. His show had a combination of some of his current songs from Unorthodox Jukebox and his last album Doo-Wops & Hooligans and some fan favorites such as Billionaire and Nothing on You. Mars also brilliantly added some great covers which further added to his already great show. His crew known as the Hooligans, brought a great vibe to the show adding pure fun. There was a great moment where Bruno selected a girl from the audience and all the Hooligans including Mars would compete to see who the best pick up lines.
    Also,  Mars' dance moves were spot on with no gimmicky cliché moves. What made Bruno Mars' show great was the fact that he was having fun onstage and was able to actually play music. I wanted to capture that in The Hooligans and Shredding It Up. What too many performers do is take their show too seriously and for the audience it can be hard to tell if the performer is actually having fun. It was very apparent that Mars was as he flashed his beautiful smile several times and even laughed many times. I wanted to capture this in Just Smile. What was really nice was the fact that Mars actually had a band and was playing instruments. It was truly a night of music. Mars was an excellent drummer having an impressive drum solos after one of his songs and he shredded on the guitar. Lastly, Mars was able to bring some seriousness when it was necessary. He almost teared up in When I was Your Man and If I Knew. Overall, Bruno Mars' show was a fantastic night of live music and entertainment.      

Ellie Goulding (2013)

The Hooligans (2013)

Just Smile (2013)

Shredd It Up (2013)

More Taylor Swift Red Tour

Crowd Control (2013)

For this post, I decided to show more of the Taylor Swift concert. It was a grand spectacle as I mentioned in the last post. For Crowd Control, Taylor Swift was performing her song, the Lucky One. She had tons of dancers in this song and the theme of old time paparazzi was quite cool. She also had a great wardrobe in this song. The red dress is really pretty. I called it Crowd Control, because that is exactly what the photo looks like. There is an overwhelming number of people trying to get as close as they can to her. For Tall Finish, I wanted to capture the outrageously wicked costumes her dancers wore during the last song of the show, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. I felt that this was the moment that everyone on the tour had the most enjoyment performing. It is perhaps the most exciting moment of the show with the most energy in the arena. For Graceful Dance, Taylor Swift's gracefulness is shown off. She so elegantly performed Love Story and the idea of fairly tales was very apparent. It was a very sweet and happy moment of the show. Lastly for Jamming, Taylor Swift's rocking side was shown off. Not only is Taylor Swift a wonderful singer and writer, but she is an impressive musician. Throughout the entire show, she played the piano and several guitars. This shot was from the beginning of her show when she sang Red. I really like this shot, because it shows off the passion she puts into every performance. Every song she sang was with pure emotions and honesty.  

     

Tall Finish (2013)

Graceful Dance (2013)

Jamming (2013)

Taylor Swift Red Tour

Sing Your Heart Out (2013)

For this shoot, I photographed Taylor Swift's lastest tour, the Red Tour. I was beyond impressed with her concert. It was exciting filled with glamourous clothes, vocals and incredible sets. She also gave fans a rare insight into her world with her brilliant and elaborate storytelling. Each song had a particular set with carefully planned lighting and use of props. She was everything from edgy rocker to soul singer to delicate singer-song writer to homely country singer. Swift did not only a great job bringing in several genres of singing, but also with connecting to the audience. Her presence filled up the entire arena and her passion and emotions with felt from every row and every seat. Thousands and thousands of screams and cheers of pure joy filled the air. Swift did an excellent job with using her entire stage and all its layers. She had high raisers, and stairs and huge video screens to name a few. For Sing Your Heart Out, I wanted to capture the pure passion Taylor Swift had during her concerts. Moments like this really showed off her stellar vocals. For Balance, I wanted to capture the delicate moment during her performance of Treacherous. At this point of the show, she showed down the action and did a very elegant performance. I liked her dress and the lighting in this shot. For Everything Has Changed, I wanted to capture the sweet moment in the concert where Swift brings out the acoustic guitars and strips down some songs. She sang her song, Everything has Changed with british singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. The two had great on stage chemistry and harmonies. And lastly, Red Finish captures Swift's final song in the show, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. It was filled with fun costumes, great characters, enjoyable dancers and to finish it off, confetti! Her show was brilliant crafted and wildly fun.                  

Balance (2013)

Everything Has Changed (2013)

Red Finish (2013)

Into the night sky

In a Dash (2013)

Last week, I shared some of my fireworks photographs from my photo shoot. I loved that photo shoot so much that I decided to share more photos. For In A Dash, I did a long exposure so the motion of the fireworks can be easily seen. One of the best parts about watching fireworks is how fast they explode. It makes the experience thrilling and captivating. However, this characteristic, makes photographing fireworks difficult. If you are too slow, you won't capture the fireworks. Yet, with a long exposure, not only are the fireworks captured but you can also see the path of fireworks. This is almost a rare view of fireworks, as people can not see the path clearly with the naked eye with the lack of time. This photograph stands for slowing down and taking your time. Sometimes the best things in life take time and patience. Although these fireworks explode fast, they look quite beautiful slowed down.

    For Forming Stars, I love how the groups of fireworks seem to overlap and cross paths. I named it Forming Stars because in a way that is what it looks like. These fireworks take up the night sky and look like shining stars. Lastly, for Misdirection, I captured the confusion of the fireworks. In this shot, the fireworks are going in almost every direction. This can lead to the idea of not knowing where to go and how sometimes you can just feel lost. On the other hand, being lost can be a good think, because that means there is so direct path you have to take. This photograph can stand for freedom as the viewer is completely free to follow the photograph in whichever way they feel. All in all, photographing fireworks is not only an exciting subject to shoot but also a symbolic one.             

Forming Stars (2013)

Misdirection (2013)

Soaring Sights

Off the Ground (2013)

        For this photo shoot, I photographed fireworks during a 4th of July celebration. I really enjoyed these shots because of the wonderful colors and interesting shapes they create. Photographing fireworks can be difficult though because of how fast they explode. Every second puts them in a different position with different colors. It takes a lot of precise timing to get it right. Another challenge of photographing fireworks is that unlike other subjects, you don't know what the shots are going to look like until after. You can't exactly frame the shots as the motion and shapes are ever changing.
For Off the Ground, I was trying to capture how the fireworks soar into the air from the ground. I really like this photograph because it shows how all these fireworks come from the one source. It is truly amazing to know that the  fireworks that fill up the entire night sky all come from one spot. I also liked the contrasts of colors and intensities. There are several intensities of blues and browns. Lastly, I like the shape. This photograph shows how the fireworks span out and interestingly enough, an almost tornado shape was formed.

Flowery Burst (2013)

         For Flowery Burst, I wanted to capture how sometimes things that people make resemble nature. In this case, these fireworks look every much like a flower blooming in the grass. Its a symbol of how life can be deceiving. Just when you think you have something figured out, it turns out to be another. I also really liked this photograph because it shows how fast the fireworks are moving. You get a sense of motion in this photograph and how life can be quick. If you don't pay attention, you could easily miss something beautiful.
         Lastly, for Red Lines I liked how the fireworks streaked in several different ways throughout the photograph. On the right side, the lines are lighter, brighter and much thicker. Then as you move towards the left, the lines become weaker, fainter, and much thinner. This is a symbol of how everyone approaches situations differently in life. Some people are bold with their approaches easily understood while others are much more hidden and harder to understand. In addition, I also like the contrasts between the darks and lights.        

Red Lines (2013)

Texture

For this shoot, I photographed several locations in northern arizona with the goal of capturing textures. One thing that most people do not notice when they look at nature is texture. Everything we see has texture and below are some of the amazing ones I found. For Golden Sands, I feel in love with the contrasting colors in each texture. The bottom of the photography is a grassy field with several dark bushes. Then as you move up the photography, the colors lighten and become much lighter. The dark brown rocks become a nice golden yellow. Then as you continue moving up the photo, the yellows turn to pale reds and blues. As you look at each part of the photography, you can almost feel the textures. The grasses look prickly, the brown rocks look rough with the golden rocks looking slightly edger. The top half of the photography looks more mellow, appearing smooth and lightened.

Golden Sands (2013)

      For Creating a Path, I wanted to show how everything you do leaves a mark. As you find your path in life, you leave marks behind and affects others lives. In this instance, as a person walks across this land, the land becomes indented. While this photography is quite simplistic, it perfectly carries this message. I also love this photo because it shows several different textures. The miniature brown stick looks quite sturdy but its cracked end, gives off a sharp feel. The white sticks, on the other hand, look flexible and quite smooth and the sand looks soft as a foot easily stepped though this spot. Last, I loved the lighting in this photography. With the sun only hitting bits and pieces of this photography, the foot print appears almost 3D. If you concrete, it comes hard to tell if the ground was stepped on or if whether the foot print is coming from out of the ground.

Creating a Path (2013)

      For Uneasy Ground, I wanted to symbolize the hardships life presents us. Throughout life, we all experience rough patches and times where everything seems uneasy and hard to walk with. This pile of rocks and an old building symbolize this. It also represents overcoming the struggles and hard times. Nothing lasts forever and as you climb pass these rocks, sunshines appears as seen by the corner of blue sky in the upper left. In addition, the varied rocks and concrete, give the viewers a sense of multiple textures. Some areas appear softer and smoother with others as rigid and sharp. In all, these three photographs display just a few of the amazing textures found in nature.

Uneasy Ground (2013)

Big Time Rush

Never Going to Give Up (2011)

Singing (2011)

Since I have been posting a lot of concert photos lately, I decided to add more. These are some photos of the band, Big Time Rush performing at the Arizona State Fair a few summers ago that I found on my computer. They were pretty fun to watch but  the show was a bit short and the production was low budget. They didn't have much of any staging unfortunately so the shots come off a little plain, but their talent and singing ability made up for it. Although I wished they would have singed longer, with a set being under an hour, what they did perform was pleasing. The boys had good energy on stage with Logan connecting the most with the audience. The boys performance was descent and fun, but a little disappointing. The dancing felt too rehearsed and there was not enough story or personal connection. Bare in mind that this performance was before their first major tours so maybe they are better now. I certainly hope so because I know the boys can do much better.  

James (2011)

Just Smile (2011)