Photos: Sage Francis @ Knitting Factory Concert House

Sage Francis @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-12-01
Sage Francis prominently poised with microphone in hand and cape tied tight...

Indie Hip-Hop legend Sage Francis is not only philanthropic with his wealth of verbal knowledge, but also quite so when it comes to offering performance for a cause.  Which cause you ask?  World AIDS Day.  The recent benefit show held at Knitting Factory Concert House saw this slam poet dj turned emcee give the city of Reno an extra-large helping of politically quotable and thought-inspiring verses, choruses and freestyles to chew on throughout this chilly post-Thanksgiving winters eve.  Brimming with creativity, live painting could be seen taking place all around the edges of the venue, along with sexual-awareness themed games and offerings throughout.  One thing which did throw us for a loop was that even though ‘safe-sex’ was being promoted, the free condom gift packs which were being distributed ended up all containing ‘magnum’ sized prophylactics … now don’t get me wrong, free condoms are better than no condoms, but MAGNUM sized condoms, really?  Most of which, from what I could spy, ended up either being stuffed in the upstairs booth cushions or got inflated and tied off at the end in the creation of makeshift patriot-looking balloon missiles.  Bomb’s away!!!

As far as my Nikon D7000 and  Nikon 50mm f/1.8D lens were concerned, Sage did move around a little fast during his caped crusade around the stage, but it wasn’t anything this fast and lightweight setup couldn’t handle.  Being the first concert I’ve shot in .NEF (RAW) format (I know, most photo geeks probably just dropped their jaws), the Lightrrom 3 session which followed was a big self-taught (and internet assisted) lesson in post-production and photo editing.  The amounts of color, clarity and contrast were just a few of the sliders which made up the process, and although there were plenty of bright lights to choose from, Sage’s onstage demeanor seemed to demand a handful of black and white depictions instead.  For these, the ‘develop’ process in Lightroom 3 went something like this: Enable Profile Corrections (Lens Corrections) >> Black & White >> Clarity >> Sharpening >> Fill Light >> Blacks >> Tone Curve.  I’m sure that there’s a lot more in store for me to learn in this software, and anyone reading this has a favorite to share, please do so below … or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter if that’s easier.

If you like what you see here, I’m pretty confident that you’ll enjoy the full gallery … so go ahead, click away and see why I Shoot Reno!

VIEW THE FULL SAGE FRANCIS GALLERY HERE

 

Sage Francis @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-12-01
Sage Francis unleashing a poetic fury upon the crowd...
Sage Francis @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-12-01
Sage Francis taking a quick breather after fully exhausting both himself and the crowd...
Sage Francis @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-12-01
A packed house for Sage Francis' World AIDS Day benefit show at The Knit...
Sage Francis @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-12-01
Sage showing the crowd a taste of why the ladies call him 'Sage Frenchkiss'...
Sage Francis @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-12-01
An offering from the crowd which ended up going head-to-head with gravity...

Camera(s) Used:

Nikon D7000

Lens(es) Used:

Nikon 50mm f/1.8D


Go On, Treat Yourself to Something Nice!

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Super-Happy Funtastic Bonus Pics!!!

Sage Francis Crowd @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-12-01
And the crowd goes wild for Sage Francis...
Sage Francis @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-12-01
A still shot displaying on one of the many monitors adorning the walls at The Knit...

Photos: Krizz Kaliko @ Knitting Factory Concert House

Krizz Kaliko @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-06-26
Krizz Kaliko belting out an engaging scream as he takes the stage...

What a fun f—ing performance this was to shoot!  Krizz Kaliko came out with guns blazing in support of Tech N9ne as the All 6’s and 7’s Tour rolled through Knitting Factory Concert House in Reno this past June, and much like Mayday, left the crowd with a burning desire for more.  Alongside Krizz Kaliko on stage was his talented hype man, who was equally as fun to shoot (see the super happy fun bonus pic at the bottom of this post) and carried that which was far beyond his weight during their performance.

The settings on my Nikon D7000 (fitted with the legendary Nikon 50mm f/1.8D) were a bit different from other recent shows, but somehow ended up equaling out to a similar performance in comparison.  Starting with a slightly shrunk aperture of 2.5, my go-to shutter speed of 1/250th of a second and a toned-down ISO of 1250, the photos came easily and ended up turning out quite well in my opinion.  Take a look at the full gallery and let me know which ones are your favorites!

VIEW THE FULL KRIZZ KALIKO GALLERY HERE

Krizz Kaliko @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV
Krizz + Hype Man in full flow on-stage at The Knit...
Krizz Kaliko @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-06-26
Krizz en silhouette...
Krizz Kaliko @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-06-26
Krizz Kaliko's Hype Man catching a red flare on his dreads...
Krizz Kaliko @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV 2011-06-26
Caught in the blinding lights...


Camera(s) Used:

Nikon D7000

Lens(es) Used:

Nikon 50mm f/1.8D


Go On, Treat Yourself to Something Nice!

Do you buy stuff online? Do you buy camera stuff online? If this post or anything else on ishootreno.com was helpful to you, please consider supporting this site and making your next photo gear, music or general purchase through one of our affiliate links:

Every time our readers buy new gear through our affiliate links, it helps us bring to the table more of that which brought you here in the first place — the ‘money’ shots!

The best part?!  It doesn’t cost our readers anything extra to show their support!

If our readers do pick up some new gear, please drop us a line … we always love to hear about your new additions!

Comments, Praise, Feedback?  We’re all ears!

Please let us know what you thought of this post on ishootreno.com!

Super-Happy Fun Bonus Pic!!!

Krizz Kaliko Hype Man @ Knitting Factory Concert House, Reno, NV, 2011-06-26
Animated GIF of Krizz Kaliko's Hype Man on-stage at Knitting Factory Concert House...