Gotye at Williamsburg Park 09.27.12 Part 2

Welcome back for Part Two! To see the first set of pictures, click here. I'm opening up this post with one of my favorite pictures of both concerts from the song Night Drive. Simple artwork can often be the most striking. Add that blue flare from the flood light behind the stage which I made sure to let peek out above the monitor and pow! I can't ask for more!

The artwork is incredibly creepy in Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You, but I finally managed to camouflage the microphone stand. Total bonus!

I think my favorite live translation of a song has to go to Giving Me A Chance. It's so stripped down and soft and who doesn't like seeing Ben front and center with an acoustic guitar?

I didn't shoot much during Bronte because it's such an emotional song on its own; I didn't want to really disrupt the flow of it. I had no way of knowing if I was a distraction to the band, and I didn't want to take that chance during this song. I do have to say, for an outdoor venue, the fans were amazingly quiet and respectful.

Little shout out to Vanessa, who did a great job of staying out of the view of the fans while still capturing video. She's on the left side of the shot under the man in the striped shirt being hit with the graphic of my watermark.

Instead of having the opening act come out and sing the female part in Somebody That I Used To Know, the crowd sang along. I think it's so much more fun this way as an audience and I love how the fans have the same expression as Wally.

It can't be easy to go out and sing the same song night after night, especially one that has been played as much as STIUTK. I was really happy to see the same amount of passion and intensity being put into it as I did back when I first saw the band in March.

Wally going over the vocal parts with the crowd for Save Me.

Another great shot of Tim singing along during Save Me. Tim told me after the RCMH show that he usually hates the pictures he sees of himself performing, so I took it as a personal challenge to get him some good shots.

I've been trying to get the finger cymbal shot during Heart's A Mess for three concerts as well. Victory dance!

I'm drawn to the quiet moments just as much as the intense ones.

While Seven Hours With a Backseat Driver is not one of my favorite album tracks, it is hilarious live. If you've been to a show, you know exactly why. If you haven't, I'm not going to spoil it for you. The band has fun. Wally with a melodica and a mischievous smile says it all.

This shot gives you a better idea of where I am in relation to all the activity.

I have to say, I got a sneak peak of this song at RCMH, so I knew exactly where to position myself to be able to get this shot. Still, it cracks me up...

...but not as much as Tim Shiel. The faces this man makes. There aren't even words. Thanks for not being camera shy, Tim!

If you read my RCMH post, you'll know that the band ran out of time and only played one song during their encore. The next two songs were a complete surprise to me without any visuals. What that meant for me was that I really got to focus on the energy and passion of the band members. That's more my style of shooting and what I think I really excel at.

This is another one of my favorite shots. Lucas moves around so much during the performance; he made my job so easy.

WP was the first venue I shot at that had an official "photographers pit" and it was huge! I always like to get a shot of the performers and the fans together. Although the pit made it a little more challenging, I kept trying until I got a shot I liked.

Lucas rocking out.

More drummers.

The last couple of shots are some of my favorites. Everybody was running around the stage, the energy was ridiculous and the results are intense.

And now, as promised, Vanessa's videography debut! For someone that I threw a camera at last minute, she did an amazing job. The camera loses focus a couple of times, but when it is on, it shoots some really amazing stuff. She, too, was doing her best to not block anyone's view of the show, so at times the angle is low; there's a part where it looks like she's about to bum rush the stage and it cracks me up every single time I watch it. I think she did a great job capturing the energy of the band and the song. Enjoy!

As the guys lined up to take their bows at the end of the show, I was still firing away. I'm really glad that I got the interactions that I did.

I was down to my second to last memory card at this point in the night and of course as they all gathered together, it ran out of shots. It was the fastest swapping of cards in the history of digital photography and even though I missed the bow, I'm not at all upset. What I ended up catching was even better.

Lucas decided to grab Ben and jokingly swung him towards the audience. I absolutely love the next shot, even though it's not sharply in focus. You can almost hear the laughter.

There's nothing better as a photographer than capturing moments like these. They have nothing to do with a concert; they're just a group of friends having a good time. To be able to share that with the band and you, the fans, is an amazing experience. It's so nice to see this side of Ben, who seems a bit more quiet and reserved than the other members of Gotye.

With a smile and a wave, the show was over. Now where I missed the bow at the end, Vanessa was right there to film it. I was really surprised to see how quickly everything happened. When I'm in shooting mode, I don't really have a sense of time.

Lucas was trying really hard to get his picks into the audience, but as I said before the pit was very large. One more shout out to my amazing friend Vanessa, who gathered them all up and handed them out to fans. She's all class.

I want to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone that's taken a look at these pictures, especially all the fan groups that have passed the links along to their followers. Gotyettes, The Sloths and Wall-Nuts (I put you alphabetically because you're all equally amazing): you have all been so kind and I'm proud to be a part of the community. I think it speaks volumes about the band that we all rally behind to be able to bring together so many people from various walks of life. Gotye HQ and all the people working for Gotye, words are not enough. You are amazing. I walked into these venues more than a little overwhelmed and everyone I spoke to was incredibly kind and outgoing. And of course, none of this would have happened without the generosity of Wally and the band. Even though I can look at these pictures, I still can't believe this really happened. Thank you for giving ME a chance.

Feel free to like me on facebook or follow me on twitter. I'm on tumblr if that's more your thing and I even have a pinterest page, but admittedly haven't found my pinterest groove yet. I've really enjoyed the comments you've already given me. This is what I love to do, but it makes it so much more enjoyable when I'm able to share it with others. I'm really glad that all of you have found your way to this blog and I hope you'll continue on this journey with me. I don't really know where it will take me, but I'm so excited to find out.

As always, I'll leave you the shoe shot. It's a little tradition I have. Until the next adventure!