rock – isabel notes

I had never been so nervous to go to a concert.

Last week, when I covered the Troye Sivan show, I was very confused about this whole concert photography thing. How does it even work?

My first attempt at this was during the Haim concert. The Southside Ballroom staff was super nice and gave me a photo pass, though I had no idea how to use one.

At the Box Office, once I gave them my name and publication I was there for, they gave me this nice canvas-like sticker with the Haim girls printed on it. It said “Photo” on it. They said it was my photo pass and pointed to a security guard that would show me where to go.

The only thing? I didn’t have a freakin. Camera.

The venue coordinators were very confused with me. “Did you bring your camera?”

I held up my phone like the dork that I am. “I thought I would take photos on my iPhone?”

Again, I had no idea how this worked. Clearly.

Long story short, they told me I’d probably get better iPhone photos if I just tried to get as close to the stage as possible. I ended up not using my photo pass (as it now decorates my waiter bottle), and just asked my friend for the photos she took with her phone.

When I covered Troye, I thought I could just hop on the photojournalism train for fun. The Observer had hired a photographer to shoot for my article (shoutout to my boy Mike), but I thought I could just join anyways for experience. Wrong. I found myself looking like a dufus at the media table, surrounded by 8 professional photographers who knew that they were doing, ready to go with multiple giant cameras around their necks.

So, at NEEDTOBREATHE, I got my shot at redemption.

I got handed a photo pass at the box office of Toyota Music Factory.

After explaining to the people at the metal detectors why I was bringing in a big black bag with camera equipment, I was in.

I waited at the media table tucked at the corner of the venue, getting my camera settings ready and the zoom lens on.

At 9pm, the event coordinator came to grab me and the other photographer at the table to bring us to the pit.

Toyota Music Factory hold 4,000 people in the pavilion. Not only was this a sold-out show, but they opened the back of the pavilion to a lawn that holds another 4,000.

The other photographer and I were led into the pit, about a 5-foot gap between the railing that held back the mosh pit and the stage. It was just us and the bodyguards allowed in this section.

I adjusted my camera settings, and soon enough the band came onstage.

The other photographer put in earplugs.

Why didn’t I think of earplugs?

I couldn’t hear anything for the next couple hours, but it was worth it.

8,000 people and I got the best view.

This was one of the most nerve-racking jobs I’ve ever had. I only got to shoot for the first 3 songs, that’s it. It was sheer luck that I went away with clear photos.

I was so scared everything I shot was blurry. Granted, 80% of what I shot was horrible and either too light or dark, but I was so excited with what I came away with.

I got back home close to midnight, and couldn’t sleep until I edited all my photos.

Here they are!

Toyota Music Factory Dallas 2018

toyota Music Factory Dallas 2018

Dallas, Toyota Music Factory

Toyota Music Factory Dallas 2018

Dallas, Toyota Music Factory

Toyota Music Factory Dallas 2018

The day we got to the camp, the Hope Youth Corps leader told us that we had 5 days until we had to actually run a church camp. There were 30 kids from 2nd to 10th grade coming to stay with us for 3 days, and we were totally in charge. (Obviously, there was adult supervision, don’t worry, but we called the shots.) 22 teenagers were supposed to be the counselors, lead lessons and activities, feed the kids, and we had to plan all of this on our own while doing the 8-hour-a-day blue-collar labor. This was our big second task. Kids.

We thought it was impossible. At least, I did. I was shocked that they were giving all these responsibilities to us. We had just gotten to know each other, now we were expected to run a camp? We were just teenagers!

But we had no choice. We had to pull off this camp for the kids. We each thought of our experiences with church camp and wanted to give someone else that great experience. I was so surprised at what we were capable of. I think the world has such low expectations of teenagers sometimes, and things like this reminded me of how much of an impact we can make with God and each other.

We had a blast those three days. It was great. It felt like one big play date. We got to know each kid and spend time with them, play with them, teach them, talk to them. It felt like a big family at the end of it.

Yes, there were smores. What else would we do in the woods in Alaska?

On one of the weekends when we drove down to Anchorage, we got to climb Flat Top. Being from mountain-less Texas, I had never climbed a mountain before. (The picture above was taken probably when we were a third of the way up. ) I’m not going to lie, it was super hard. But I’m glad I did it. I’ll spare you a cheesy mountain analogy.

What’s a mountain adventure without a motivational speech? This is my friend, Nathan, giving the best mountain speech I’ve ever heard. Yes, he was very intense.