Saturday, August 29, 2009

Storms and Rainbows

I took these photos last week when I spied some impressive storm clouds off of our deck.




About half an hour later, the clouds broke up and left us with a double rainbow (the second bow is very faint)

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

American Idol Tour - Charlotte, NC - Part 2

If you've had enough of the performance shots, there's a few other shots at the end of this post to see. :-)

Moving right along.. next out of the gate was Matt Giraud




A fun crowd shot


And another


Next was a group performance by #10 - #5. The stage lighting was pretty wonky during this set and this was the only decent shot.. Matt & Scott on dueling pianos


Back to the solo performances, #4 - Allison Iraheta. She's only 16 and she sounds like she's 40 and has been smoking for 20 years. Crazy talented.


A little blurry, but I still like it




#3 - Danny Gokey




I love the clapping hands in this one


Come close and I'll let you in on a little secret. Ready? This next contestant is the only reason I cared about coming to this concert. As soon as Danny left the stage and the lights were lowered, the screaming in the arena reached a deafening level before his name was even announced.

Yep, you don't even have to have watched the show this year to have heard his name.. it's Adam Lambert, the most talented contestant I've ever seen on American Idol (at least that's my opinion!)

Starting out with a super fun Bulb shot showing the number of simultaneous flashes that were going off when he came on stage. All Matt's idea. (A tip: if you're at a concert with a camera, turn the dang flash off! All you're doing is lighting up the back of the head of the person in front of you!)
















He brought out Allison for a repeat of their "Slow Ride" duet from the show. Yes, that's a bra he's holding, and it wasn't the last one that was flung on stage during his performance. I guess these ladies didn't get the memo that he's not interested in anyone who would need one of those. ;-)


Wind up..


And off it goes








And this is our "Hay look, we got a picture with Adam!" shot


Never heard him sing? Then listen to this, this, and this. Enjoy.

The winner, Kris Allen, was the last to perform solo. I really like Kris, but his set kinda fell flat after Adam's high energy performance.






A final group number ended the show.




Then it was back to the hotel where, of course, more silly shots were taken.


We love our doggy. A lot.


O hai. I r cute. I can has biskit?


Grateful for pet friendly hotels, we try to respect the room and leave it looking as if no animal has been there. Dex had to make that as hard as possible by falling in love with this dark purple chaise. Thank goodness we remembered the lint roller.


Yeah, YOU try looking into that face and tell him to move.

Monday, August 03, 2009

American Idol Tour - Charlotte, NC - Part 1

Matt and I drove to Charlotte this weekend to see the American Idol tour. I'm a gigantic fan of the show and religiously watch it every season. I've never had the desire to go to the tour until this year because there are so many contestants I loved.

Our wedding this week was on Friday, meaning we were free and clear to attend the Saturday night concert. Talk about lucking out!

All of our "dates" begin with a hideous driveway self portrait:


Our hotel (taken with point 'n shoot) right next to the arena. The second photo is what happened when Matt said "strike a pose" while testing light inside of our room.


Hehe


The hotel was perfect. We upgraded to a large corner room, we were a 3 minute walk from the arena, and it was pet friendly, so Dex could come along!


Matt is better in front of the camera than I am, so he gets extra shots


These next three are from the point 'n shoot. An outdoor mall we walked to for dinner before the concert.




Rules regarding photography in the arena were pretty lax, so we were able to walk right in with a 5DMkII armed with an 85mm f/1.2 with no questions (the longest zoom I was willing to risk. I figured a 70-200 would have been a bit too conspicuous). I also packed the point 'n shoot for obligatory self portraits. We had GREAT seats!


Also a point 'n shoot shot.. wide view from our seats.


MkII shots from here on out unless noted. Watching these lighting operators climb into their chairs freak me out.


The Top 10 performed in reverse order, starting with Michael Sarver.








Next up was Megan Joy. She sounded much better live than she did while on the show. I'm also a little in love with her pink shoes.




Next two from the point 'n shoot:


Then it was Scott Macintyre's turn. For those who didn't watch the show, Scott is almost completely blind and recently underwent a kidney transplant. I don't prefer his voice, but he's a master on the piano and was one of the most likeable contestants of Season 8.




Lil Rounds was next. She looked gorgeous and also sounded much better live.




Hands and arms sometimes obscured the shots, but I think that they make them look kinda artsy!






Next was...


Love this guy!






Many many MANY more photos to come! Stay tuned tomorrow night!