Posts Tagged: concerts and event photographers
music, memories, & the magic of merlefest ……..
We joined the Merlefest brigade of official photographers in 2015 and as our 4th year approaches and we prepare for our badges to arrive and the admin stuff to cross our desks, we’re getting jazzed. I just wrote about dreaming of spring and the orchard we love. This feels the same to me. There’s heat and sweat – the layers come off as the spring air evaporates the dew, lawn chairs are set in rows, the stages are literally set and the throngs arrive to listen to the very best in blue grass and Americana. We love Merlefest.
The Stray Birds Merlefest 2017
Avett Brothers Band Merlefest 2017
James Taylor with Transatlantic Sessions Merlefest 2017
Our first year credentials and we loved every single second of it. Cannot wait for 2018. The line-up is still evolving and the dates are April 26 – April 29. Get your tickets now and we’ll see you there!
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddings, brides, and special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
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All photos are ©2017 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Merlefest: we’re looking at you, kid
It’s the MOST wonderful tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime of the year!!
Yes, Christmas is actually the title holder, but as professional photographers who love documenting events as much as celebrations and the daily lives of our clients, MerleFest is in second place. Once again, we’re going as Official Photographers and full-time music fans and we’re psyched. This is our third year to get the announcement from them that we’re going to this amazing music festival. Count down is on to one of our absolute favorite and hardest jobs of the year!
Lindsay Lou & Flatbelly (2016)
Steep Canyon Rangers (2016)
We Banjo 3 (2016)
Sarah Potenza (2016)
Emi Sunshine (2016)
Merlefest 2015 for Pixels was spectacular and we walked 12 million steps – give or take. We took some of our favorite event photos including this one of the Avett Brothers.
The Avett Brothers
2016 was even busier as Ryan and I split up visiting stages, shooting various artists and bands and then loading images. A blast! Merlefest this year runs from Thursday, April 27 to Sunday the 30th and we’re already trying to figure out how to store sleep and vitamin C (not possible) and looking forward to the crazy pace. This year will be one of the largest yet as they’re celebrating the event’s 30th year. The lineup this year is amazing. The Avett Brothers will be back, along with Scythian, the Zach Brown Band, Andy May, The Contenders, The Waybacks, the Steep Canyon Rangers and dozens of others. Get your tickets and meet us there!
Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddings, brid
merlefest 2016
4 days, 18 bands, 13 stages, 74,500 roaming festival goers and 22 miles of steps for both of us. And all God’s children and Mastercard ad lovers said, “Priceless.”
We were asked to be official photographers again this year for Merlefest 2016 and were there from Wednesday to Sunday, so we’re splitting this blog into 2. We simply saw and photographed too much to try to load it into one. Like last year, it was amazing: the music, the lively vibe, the pace (read: non-stop) and we’d be lying if we didn’t say we were thrilled OUT OF OUR MINDS to have 3 of Misty’s shots picked up by major media outlets: Rolling Stone, Huffington Post and HCPress.
Ranking the bands would take WAAAY to much negotiation, so we’re just gonna show you shots of those we covered and let you investigate those you’ve never heard of and grin at those you know well.
Barefoot Movement – a bluegrass, folk trio out of Nashville.
Becky Buller – bluegrass fiddler, with a classical violin background and Old-Time/Country flair (Minnesota meets East Tennessee)
Becky Buller’s high-spirited accompaniment
Girls, girls and more girls! In order….
Emi Sunshine – a 12-year old dynamo/prodigy whose surname is spot on (from Tennessee)
Jennifer B & the Groove – Americana rock band out with a kick-butt front woman (Austin, Texas)
Sarah Potenza – Raw vocalist who leaves it all on the stage (Nashville, Tennessee)
And, finally April Verch, who Rolling Stone said best embodied the spirit of Doc Watson. She’s a CHARMER!
Jennifer B & the Groove…
Sarah Polenza…
April Verch…
Now for some boys, starting with We Banjo 3 – a brilliant mix of Irish and American strumming, fiddling and flash.
Below those guys are Old Crow Medicine Show out of Nashville. We may have lost count, but there were at least 2 banjos, an upright base, guitars and fiddles.
And finally, the Wood Brothers – an amazing trio out of Nashville.
Old Crow Medicine Show…
The Wood Brothers…
<Happy Sigh> enough for now.
Ok – two more: Sunday Morning Blues and South Carolina Broadcasters.
South Carolina Broadcasters…
More in our next blog about the new-comers, the regulars like Steep Canyon Rangers and the old-timers who’ve made Merlefest every year for 29 years.
We’ll leave you with another media love-up, this one from Huffington Post. We couldn’t be more honored or humbled!
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden.Pixels on Paper photographs babies and kids, engagements and weddings, brides and special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.