This shot is a single frame of a time-lapse that I did during the Fleet Foxes/Walkmen show at the Williamsburg Waterfront. Since I'm not a rigger, mounting my camera had to be done, sadly, by one of the union guys. Not only that, but because of video screens, I couldn't shoot the time-lapse from the center of the stage. So, upstage left corner it was. Of course, I would not have cut off the downstage edge with the wide-angle lens, but hey, union rules are union rules, right??
Wrong.
Ten hours later, frustrated my by inaccessibility to my camera and after having seen how brilliantly the sun was setting behind Manhattan from the front gate of the venue, I ran backstage, grabbed the rigger and told him I needed to get up on the scaffolding.
All union technicalities aside, I climbed up the back of the stage to make sure the camera was exposing properly... and stayed there until night settled in and Fleet Foxes took the stage - which was the better part of an hour. I did it partially to adjust exposure/make sure the camera didn't stop shooting annnd partially to watch a show from an unusual vantage point.
I must say, hanging off stage scaffolding is a pretty sweet way to watch a show! Unfortunately, it was too late for me to alter the framing, but whatever. It's not like the thought of how I could have framed it didn't plague me for the next two months...
So photo kids, the moral of the story is... always climb the stage scaffolding, even if people are yelling at you, if want to like your frame without a panoramic crop.
The Walkmen/Williamsburg Waterfront/Brooklyn, NY/9.24.11
P.S. - If you look to the bottom, righthand corner you can see Hamilton Leithauser, the Walkmen's frontman.
