Greetings! With 2014 quickly coming to a close, we wanted to find a unique way to present the best moments in music from the previous year to our readers without falling into the stereotypical routine of posting list after list detailing events and releases we never covered in the first place. We don’t really weigh in on music in general, so why try and do so now?
After much thought and debate, we settled on a new concept that we think everyone enjoy. Together with a group of our favorite music photographers, we have compiled a collection of images that showcase some of the best and most intimate moments in music from 2014. The images shared in this series were chosen by the photographers who captured them, and the only guidelines they were given was to choose the one image that meant the most to them. Some included an explanation for their photos, while others did not, but everyone chose images that are sure to linger in your mind for days to come.
Next up: Professional music photographer Andrew Wendowski.
On August 1st 2014, I was able to capture a photo (as pictured) of Suicide Silence’s Drummer Alex Lopez at the 2014 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival at The Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ! A few things about this image that make me feel that this is one of the best photographs of 2014, One being the fact that I was not only able to capture a truly amazing moment during a live performance of a drummer, which is honestly very rare to be able to get great photos of drummers as they’re usually posted high up on a drum riser where you can’t really get a good view of them. What also makes this photo rare/cool is the fact that its a photo with a direct eye contact and Alex has a drumstick directly pointed into the lens of my Nikon camera. This photos shows the talent Alex puts into his drumming as he can play and pose mid-set for a photographer, which is amazing and made this capture a very unique photo.
Another part of this image that I appreciate and think makes it stand out is the great lighting situation (which was a cloudy but bright sky) that day with not so great weather conditions as Mayhem Festival is obviously a mostly outdoor festival, It was pouring rain during Suicide Silence’s set which made me hesitant to even shoot them during this time but I was determined to get out and capture photos of their set as I was on assignment from Music Mayhem Magazine and I did not want to have a band missing from the review gallery but this photo made shooting in the pouring rain so worth it in the end. The colors within this image also make it pop as the bright blues from the backdrop of Suicide Silence’s set made for a very eye catching color addition to my photo.
As a photographer these moments are the moments I look for when capturing images, unique things within the subject or matter that I am capturing as it makes for a fantastic and uniquely awesome photo! Thank you to Music Mayhem & Mayhem Festival PR for allowing me to cover Mayhem Festival, & a Huge Thank you to Alex Lopez of Suicide Silence for giving me this unique contact during their set to capture such an incredible image.
Andrew Wendowski is a freelance photographer who has probably contributed to one of the music sites you read on a regular basis. To learn more about his work and what he will be covering in the future, click here to follow Andrew on Twitter.
