My gig last night - non-DJ

[rickryan.com]

My wife and I did photography-only at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville. This was our first time to work with a live band. As a DJ I hate to admit it, but this was good......really good. 10-piece band with a male front and 2 female singers, along with 3 piece horns and rhythm section. For mains, they use QSC K15 tops with QSC KW181 subs. Sound was excellent. I have to admit also that I normally cringe at the thought of a band acting as MC but the dude did a really, really good job at it. Now, onto this evening's wedding over at Belle Meade Plantation (another tier-A venue) where we'll have our DJ while we shoot photos. Here's a shot from last night.

 

[rickryan.com]

Let me try the pic another way.

20170812-IMG_5218

• rickryan.com
• Aug 13, 2017

 

[BlueLineDJ]

What was the band called? Reminds me of the "Downtown Band" that is from Nashville. The venue pictured is beautiful. I was there for an event not to long ago and couldn't get over the place!

 

[rickryan.com]

What was the band called? Reminds me of the "Downtown Band" that is from Nashville. The venue pictured is beautiful. I was there for an event not to long ago and couldn't get over the place!

That's exactly who it was. While they were setting up and sound-checking, I wasn't at all impressed. Even the start of the evening was just so-so but within 30 minutes, they locked in. Very good band. I think what surprised me is the material. None of the old, typical stuff you hear bands do. Lots of current stuff; Bruno, Rhianna, etc.

 

[steve149]

And their cable management was better than "some" DJs ..

 

[rhythmgj]

Looks like they were using the X32. Great shot Rick. They look like rock stars.

GJ

 

[rickryan.com]

Looks like they were using the X32. Great shot Rick. They look like rock stars.

GJ

Thanks. I got that by going up into the orchestra seating section (we're not suppose to go there). That was done with an on-camera speedlight. My wife was using our new Godox AD200, off-camera system. 4 lights, one in each corner (one of them mis-fired on this shot, btw). This is a shot from the opposite end of the room. Her shots smoke mine. This event is going to end up producing a bunch of portfolio material.

20170812-IMG_1279

• rickryan.com
• Aug 13, 2017

 

[BlueLineDJ]

Thanks. I got that by going up into the orchestra seating section (we're not suppose to go there). That was done with an on-camera speedlight. My wife was using our new Godox AD200, off-camera system. 4 lights, one in each corner (one of them mis-fired on this shot, btw). This is a shot from the opposite end of the room. Her shots smoke mine. This event is going to end up producing a bunch of portfolio material.

20170812-IMG_1279

• rickryan.com
• Aug 13, 2017

I was there for an event after the CMT Awards show and they double stacked two projectors where you took the above photo and shot it across to where the pipes are for the organ. While music played they projected what looked like an EQ bouncing up and down to the music in the area between the pipes shown there in the center.

 

[Handinon]

That's a really great photo your wife took! EXIF data shows 8mb jpeg @ ISO 6400. Is that straight from the camera, or was it played with?
Very impressive...and look at that pipe organ!

 

[rickryan.com]

That's a really great photo your wife took! EXIF data shows 8mb jpeg @ ISO 6400. Is that straight from the camera, or was it played with?
Very impressive...and look at that pipe organ!

We shoot medium format raw. I did some quickie edits on it but that's mostly straight off the camera.

 

[dunlopj]

And their cable management was better than "some" DJs ..

Yikes...that's a bunch of wiring! Count ourselves lucky we don't have nearly that much to deal with!

 

[steve149]

We shoot medium format raw. I did some quickie edits on it but that's mostly straight off the camera.

Medium format? Did you get new cameras?

 

[rickryan.com]

Medium format? Did you get new cameras?

We have 4, Canon 6d bodies. medium-raw seems to be what most photographers prefer. I do have all the cameras setup to also save .jpg, but I may change that as we never use the jpg files for anything. They just take up space on the cards. I've also standardized on using brand new, high-speed 32gig SD cards on each event. Every now and then, my wife will fill a card completely. They hold roughly 1000 shots per card. We average 3 cards per event. I think we had roughly 3400 shots on this event.

 

[steve149]

We have 4, Canon 6d bodies. medium-raw seems to be what most photographers prefer. I do have all the cameras setup to also save .jpg, but I may change that as we never use the jpg files for anything. They just take up space on the cards. I've also standardized on using brand new, high-speed 32gig SD cards on each event. Every now and then, my wife will fill a card completely. They hold roughly 1000 shots per card. We average 3 cards per event. I think we had roughly 3400 shots on this event.

Oh .. you mean medium resolution ... I thought maybe you moved on to Hasselblad or Mamiya Medium Format or something.

 

[Ausumm]

We have a local funk band (Philadelphia Funk Authority) who is consistently voted Top Wedding Band.
As well as a great selection (MOSTLY classic funk) the leader of the band is a perfect MC.
He has his own original band, and does lots of solo shows that are half music and half comedy show.
The only issue around here is that only one two venues are big enough to host them AND a wedding crowd.

 

[rickryan.com]

Wifey just uploaded the sneak peek on this event and I just HAD to share it with my DJ friends. Forgive me for continuing this non-DJ thread. I guess I'm just stoked because it feels like this was a good step towards a higher level of product. I know there are still lots of issues we're missing and I know there are others who are working at a much higher level but, for us, this was a good one. I'm not allowed to broadcast this one on social media yet but I just had to share it with my DJ buds.

One thought this does bring to mind is in how we all must continually be learning and reaching to get better. My first few years of DJing, I thought I had it together more than I actually did and, as I actually did start making progress it was such a stark contrast to look back and realize how piss-poor my former efforts were. The same is proving true on the photography side of things. When I look back at stuff we did 3 years ago, then compare against what we're producing now, it's very humbling. Hopefully, in a few more years, the same thing will repeat all over again. Thanks for listening. Comments welcome.

Sneak Peek

 

[Ausumm]

My first few years of DJing, I thought I had it together more than I actually did and, as I actually did start making progress it was such a stark contrast to look back and realize how piss-poor my former efforts were. The same is proving true on the photography side of things. When I look back at stuff we did 3 years ago, then compare against what we're producing now, it's very humbling. Hopefully, in a few more years, the same thing will repeat all over again.

I can say that when I first joined, I found you to be very opinionated and very arrogant.
Not in a way that made you a jerk (well, not a jerk to ME)
but in a VERY over confident way.
And you were ALWAYS in the middle of some kind of drama with clients.
Funny, ever since your wife joined the crew....you have really leveled out...in more ways than one.
You don't seem like the type to stand still and be stagnant,
so I'm sure the future of your family biz will only get better.
BUT! Don't quit the day job.....and DON'T GET RID OF YOUR WIFE!!!

 

[rickryan.com]

I can say that when I first joined, I found you to be very opinionated and very arrogant.

Thanks, I think. Being transparent, I'm sorry if I gave off the air of arrogance. I do have to admit, this foray into photography has been an entirely humbling experience, and it's not due to my wife being involved. We've both dug in, hard, and are trying our best to get better, and there are a LOT of things we need improvement on. It seems that at every step of the way, I look back and re-evaluate and I often just have to shake my head and wonder why in the world did anyone ever hire in the first place. The event in this gallery represents a type of event level that I've never even seen before, much less provided service for it. For once, I'm looking back over it and I'm feeling like we (perhaps) actually did some justice to those hiring us. At least they've said they were pleased with the sneak peek.

Here's to continuing to improve............for all of us. Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Ausumm]

I'm sorry if I gave off the air of arrogance.

I just didn't know you.
Guess I should have said your enthusiasm came off as arrogance.
Obviously, now that I know you....and see what you have accomplished...it makes perfect sense.

 

[Handinon]

While Rick can possibly be accused of being more transparent, I don't think his experience is unusual. Once the conscious decision is made to be "not just another DJ", you quickly learn how hard that is. Consistently providing good sound, staying on top of the music, constantly seeking to improve - it's a lot of work. Then, on top of all that, he and his wife jumped into the photography side as well. As an amateur photographer who mainly does pictures of my Grandchildren, I know how hard getting a great "people" picture is. Fortunately for him, it looks like his wife is really starting to produce some great stuff. If she keeps this up she'll probably ask him to stop using WinAmp!