SUN ROOM BRINGS A BEACH PARTY TO THE FONDA THEATER IN HOLLYWOOD
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY STEPHEN BROWNLEE
On the eve of their fourth EP release “At Least I Tried”, SoCal surf rock band Sun Room wrapped up their 2023 fall tour on the streets of Hollywood at the Fonda Theater on Hollywood Blvd presented by Goldenvoice.
The band formed during the quarantine in 2020 and has been influenced by contemporary and classic bands such as The Beach Boys, FIDLAR, The Birds, and Wallows. When I arrived at the pit and finished setting up my gear it was free time to study, study, study. I researched information on how to shoot drummers and read up on tips and suggestions for settings on my camera by one of my music photographer influences Todd Owyoung on his website ishootshows.com.
The shoot was a little challenging in the beginning. In the pit, I tried to shoot drummer Thomas Rhodes first using a Tamron 70-200mm lens raising up my ISO and shutter speed but could not get some reliable clear shots and the lighting was very dark in his area. Then I swapped to a Canon 24-700mm lens to capture vocalist/guitarist Luke Asgian, guitarist Ashton Minnich and bassist Max Pinamonti. The stage was darkened with some minimal stage lighting during the first three songs but I was able to get some very nice shots out of it by adjusting the exposure and contrast levels afterward in Lightroom and I also did some color correction and temp adjustments.
Once I got to the floor levels the lighting started to work in my favor and I took some good shots of the drummer with my 70-200mm lens. Patience is an essential asset as a concert photographer and waiting for the right moments proved doing so. I took a cool shot of one of a few crowd-surfing moments which was one of my two favorite shots of the night, the second being a black-and-white shot of Ashton up close with his guitar taken from the pit.
The band was upbeat and I really connected to their rhythm and I’m looking forward to what they have coming up next. I particularly love listening to surf rock music on Sunday afternoons and Sun Room has now joined my playlist. Next up they will be heading down under as they kick off their Winter tour in Australia in late December.
