DCI Southeastern Championships - Carolina Crown

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It's time for another photo set from the DCI Southeastern Championships in Atlanta, Georgia that took place on July 28th. Now it's time to showcase the home team!

Carolina Crown

I absolutely adore Crown's show this year. It's such an incredibly emotional rollercoaster from start to finish keeping the audience engaged throughout. The costuming is absolutely wonderful for both the guard and the corps. The fabric and accessories almost take on a life of their own, adding dashes of color, sparkle, and light movement with even the slightest of motion. 

If you'd like to see the full album of photos, visit my Pixieset page. And be sure to keep checking back in every few days for more photosets from this weekend and others!

Cheers!

Natalie

DCI Southeastern Championships - Boston Crusaders

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This is the first post in a series of blog posts showcasing the photos I captured while at DCI Southeastern Championships in Atlanta, Georgia on July 28th. First up:

Boston Crusaders

This was my first time seeing Boston's 2018 program titled SOS, and it did not disappoint. The emotions exhibited by the performers were incredible to experience, and the ending of the show was visually stunning. The contrast between the blue sheet used to imitate the ocean against the burnt orange of the colorguard uniforms really made the images even more stunning.

Special shoutout to Connor Rydland and Julia Cardillo for giving me permission to photograph the corps! If you'd like to see the full album of photos, visit my Pixieset page. And be sure to keep checking back in every few days for more photosets from the weekend!

What's your favorite DCI show this season? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers!

Natalie

Carolina Crown | Preview Show Weekend

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The lead-up to our preview show weekend is always incredibly exciting because that means it's time to hit the road on our summer tour. This year, I had the privilege of making it down to Rock Hill to be part of the excitement surrounding our send-off show.

I had a blast seeing the show for the first time live, and can say that Beast may be one of my favorite shows that has been fielded in recent years. The uniforms are also to die for - they make any singular moment full of color and movement which, in turn, makes my job of capturing compelling moments so much easier. 

If you'd like to see the entirety of the content I shot during preview show weekend, click here!

 

If you're a fan of DCI, what shows this year do YOU love? What are your finals predictions? Leave them in the comment section below!

Graduation Portraits | A. Wortz

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This past week, I had the great pleasure of taking graduation portraits of one of my favorite people - A. Wortz. This incredibly talented and creative woman finally completed her degree from Syracuse University, and these are some of the moments I was able to capture with her and her partner Erin. Both A. and Erin are two of my closest friends which made for an incredibly entertaining shoot. 

If you'd like to check out the full gallery from A.'s graduation shoot, click here!

Carolina Crown | January Camp

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Another month, another weekend camp with Carolina Crown!

This camp was incredibly meaningful to me. Not only was it the first official camp of the 2018 season, but it also officially marked four years since attending my first drum corps camp. It's crazy to think how far I've come since then - from upgrading equipment to becoming more confident in my skills. 

This camp, my main focus was creating better images straight out of the camera. Instead of focusing on lens changes and swapping around my equipment, I decided to ditch my camera bag completely and stick with just my Canon f/1.8 50mm prime lens. If I'm just being honest, that 50mm lens is my favorite tool in my camera bag. Even though I own lenses that are 'fancier' in many respects, I think it's important to get back to the basics every now and then.

To finish off my photos, I was trying out a bunch of the presets I've downloaded in the past few months and wasn't entirely happy with the look of any of them. So, after many hours and a bit of determination, I made my own Lightroom preset! I was inspired by an aged film look, and I think the overall look of the final product is really pretty. Check out a small sampling below, or click here to view the full photoset!

If you have any questions about my gear or any suggestions for future posts, leave them below! I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for stopping by! 

-Natalie