IS HE THE BEST DJ IN BOSTON?

A lesson in speaking into existence:

I met DJ CAMMMY V five years ago. We were introduced to each other through a mutual friend and shortly after found ourselves in the back row of a Toyota Prius hauling across the entire state of Pennsylvania for a weekend road trip to Pittsburgh.

At one point we were bar-hopping the Steel City and one of our friends told a stranger we were with “the Best DJ in Boston,” pointing to Cam. He played it down a bit and laughed it off, but the PA local (likely not having any predispositions to the New England nightlife scene) believed him and was pretty impressed. So for the rest of the afternoon, we began telling every bar-goer about Cam.

“This is Cam. He’s a crazy good DJ. No doubt best in Boston.” Cue the oh’s and ah’s. We said it to so many people that even Cam started to believe it. And now that icebreaker is proving itself to be more like prophetic messaging than Saturday bar talk.

What is First Night Boston?

This is a good question and one I didn’t know the answer to until roughly 6 hours before.

My schedule aligned nicely with a pit stop in Boston on New Year’s Eve, so I texted Cam knowing he’d have something up his sleeve, and he didn’t dissapoint.

First Night Boston has been an annual outdoor festival in the heart of downtown Boston for the past 50 years. Ice sculptures, food trucks, and musical performances attract thousands of bundled-up NYE’ers. This year, headlining the stage at the 11:30pm-12:30am peak was Sammy Adams and DJ CAMMMY V.

I’m no stranger to taking on the challenge of just bringing my camera wherever and taking pictures on the fly. But Cam told me one very important detail that drastically changed the direction of the night:

“It’s outside.”

What a detail. With a below-freezing temp forcasted for the night, my black tee and jeans changed to doubling up socks and layering thermals. The real MVP – one of my closest friends, Dan – hit me with a pair of gloves. They were originally designed for hunting, so I became perfectly equipped for finding my shot and taking it:

BOSTON’S BOY

How a Cambridge native made a dent in the music industry.

If you went to school near Boston in the early 2010’s, it’d be unlikely that you’d spend a weekend night with friends without hearing Sammy Adams. Following the viral hit “I Hate College (remix)” from 2009, he dropped his Boston’s Boy EP and became a college dorm room anthem-ist of sorts.

I went to school near Boston in the early 2010’s. So getting to photograph Sammy was a pretty surreal happenstance. I also got a chance to hang out with him. Really cool guy. Great crew. And, most importantly, he put on a pretty awesome show:

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH AN OUTDOOR CONCERT

Some thoughts and considerations:

I brought my beloved Canon R6 with the Canon RF 24mm and a lens, my favorite duo, along with a Lume Cube to give me an extra boost of lighting without causing too much of a distraction.

LIGHTING: At a concert, lights are always moving, flashing, and glowing in different colors. It sets the stage to capture some beautiful moments but makes timing a well-lit shot nearly impossible. My strategy: Shutter priority set to ~1/250 (enough to freeze most human movement), ISO set to ETTR (about 2500 – 5000ish), and increase the chance of catching beautiful light by taking a lot of photos. By the end of the night, I accumulated about 5000. Three hundred made it to edits. And the final album had 140.

COMPOSITION: If you’ve seen me work over the last year, you know I love (and need) to get close. About arm’s-length away is ideal. An all-access pass made this much more possible, but generally concert-goers aren’t there to watch some camera guy run up on stage. So tactful positioning, mindful timing, incorporating some dancing while moving around was an effective strategy to frame some great moments:

DECISIVENESS: Both DJ CAMMMY V and Sammy Adams had great stage presence and even snuck in some interaction with the camera, a testament to the mastery of their respective craft. They went 100% for the entire hour set, and made my job easy: something cool is always happening, just press the shutter.

This is Zach Zephir, a concert photographer who did some great work capturing the night as well.

BONUS: THE CROWD WAS AWESOME

Unexpected subjects stole the show.

I love taking pictures of people. They’re fascinating. And while the stage was bringing incredible energy, I felt some amazing vibes behind my shoulder as well. So I turned around a few times and started snapping away, and what I got, oh man, I love:

I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start 2024.

A big thank you to DJ CAMMMY V, Sammy Adams, and the City of Boston for putting on a great show and allowing me to capture it.

So, what’s next?

I’m incredibly lucky for the opportunity to spend some time on a self-sustained farm in Calais, Maine to work on a few different projects. Super cool, I know. The best way to be kept in the loop with those is by signing up for my email newsletter: