Parker Chapin

Explanation

This is a fun picture I took of the second show of the night, Parker Chapin. Parker Chapin is an Austin area based musician who plays a blend of folk and pop/rock. His show is pretty high energy and quite charismatic even if that isn't the first thing you think of when he walks on stage.

When I go see a show, I tend to come early and stay through the headliner if I'm not in a rush or it isn't a festival. This lets me listen to music I wouldn't normally listen to and and this falls into that camp. Going into the night I'd heard Christine Renner before and had listened to a bit of Katie Toupin. However, Parker Chapin was a complete unknown to me.

Listening to his music now, some time after the show, I'm still not sure I'd intentionally go see him. The music kind of floats along, lilting. It's very relaxing to listen to but doesn't necessarily inspire me to seek it out if that makes sense. However, what I will say is that his live show is a fair bit more fun and energetic.

This picture therefore is me trying to express some of that energy. I won't lie and say that this picture is exactly what I was aiming for. But I wanted to take a picture of the crowd, in this case a bachelorette party full of folks in banana costumes, interacting with the music. The backlighting was intentional but stronger than I expected. The really unexpected bit was how lit he actually ended up. There's a pink light off to the left shining on him which doesn't seem like it should be that strong but I guess it's timed with the strong blue light in the back, creating this luminescent effect.

Overall I think the picture's a success, even if it's stranger than I expected. Do I wish the crowd were closer to the stage? Yes. Do I wish I could've reoriented a bit to tamp down a bit of the strong blue light in the back? Maybe. It's definitely the type of picture that I like but also gives me more ways to think about the scenes in front of me. Quite frankly, that's all I can really hope for in a picture.