Carbon Leaf @ Mexicali Live, Teaneck NJ – 4-21-11 (1)

Carbon Leaf @ Mexicali Live, Teaneck NJ – 4-21-11

April 24, 2011 | Concert Photography

Seeing Carbon Leaf is always a good time. It’s pretty much a guarantee. I haven’t taken photos of them since last year or so, and I really wanted to test out my new 24-70mm f2.8 lens. I’m happy with the results because I think I got my best shots to date.

Every time I see the band, they always top themselves. Each show just gets better than the last one, which is hard to do considering those shows are just as awesome. I see Carbon Leaf just about every 6 months, and they change up the set list every time for the most part. They didn’t really play too many new tracks, but went back to their older, Celtic-ish material from the Echo Echo days. The highlight for me, just about every time, is the one microphone grand ole opry style stuff. This time they played an upbeat Americana, Old Country style version of “Another Man’s Woman” and “Comfort.” I wish the band did an entire tour or album this way. Play the songs they like to play, but switch up the style of them to be more of Americana and Old Country western style. It worked well for Band of Horses when they played Carnegie Hall. Other song highlights for me were “Home,” “Wanderin’ Around,” “Shine,” “Grey Sky Eyes” and “One Prairie Outpost.” For the encore, the guys from Alternate Routes came up to jam for “Let Your Troubles Roll By” and a cover of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion.”

I approached this set the same way as the Alternate Routes set. Sit back and enjoy myself, move around when I could and take pictures from various viewpoints. I started in my spot in the back and moved around as the show progressed. I tried to get a Carter jumpshot for “Torn to Tattered,” but he moved into a darker area right when he jumped. It sucked because I got the shot of him jumping, but it was really dark. Oh well, next time I guess. I got so many other good shots of the band, I had to really try to limit myself with the full set. Which is funny considering there are 35 pictures in there. I definitely think having the 24-70mm f2.8 and 70-20mm f2.8 will improve my photography ten fold. I recommend getting those lenses if you’re serious about concert photography.

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