Idolized Photographs

The finalists from this past season of American Idol were at Rupp Arena this this past Saturday for the American Idols Tour. We had a house photographer on hand taking photos of the show. Below is a photos slideshow of the photos from the event. (House Photographer: Michael Wright)

Raising Photos From Sand

The Raising Sand Tour amazed fans this past Friday at Rupp Arena. Enjoy the following slideshow from our photos of Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, T Bone Burnett and Sharon Little. (House Photographer: Michael Wright)

Up Against The Ropes

WWE Summerslam was just at Rupp this past Friday and we have all the photos for you to check out. With this new version of the blog, we will no longer have to direct you to Flickr, we are bringing the Flickr to you. Browse through the slideshow below to view photos from the event. (House photographer: Michael Wright; From the Stands: Paul Hooper)

Bulls and (Free)Birds

I just uploaded photos from PBR Bullnanza and the Rowdy Frynds Tour to our Flickr site. For Bullnanza, you can check a bunch of great action shots that our house photographer James Crisp took. For Rowdy Frynds however, there is a plethora of sets (sub-folders) in event’s photo collection. There are all the load-in and set up shots that I took day of the event, photos of the preshow in the Shops at Lexington Center, a bunch of “From the Stands” photos I took from my seat, and lastly some amazing photos that our house photographer Michael Wright took of all three acts (James Otto, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Hank Williams Jr.). I know, almost too many photos to handle, but I have faith that you will have it under control.

As with all of our events we LOVE to see what photos the fans took. With your permission we even post them on our Flickr page under a fan photo set giving you full credit. Even if you don’t want us to put them up, we would still love to see them. Feel free to spam rupparenablog@gmail.com with a zillion photos you took from Bullnanza, Rowdy Frynds, or any other event you attended.

Photos Galore!

Although the blog has fallen victim to busy schedules, our Flickr page is more active than ever. A picture is worth a thousand words, and with the amount of pictures I have been uploading, I think I could fill a novel. The exciting thing is that I have had a lot of photos sent to me by many fans with steady picture-taking hands.

I have added all the Blue Man Group Photos to our corresponding collection on Flickr. As per the norm, there are a lot of great shots by one of our house photographers (James Crisp) and then some other photos I snapped “from the stands,” which will offer a different angle and perspective on the event.

In addition to the Blue Man Group there have been a lot of people coming forward with their photos they took at the Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood concert this past month. Let me tell you, some of their photos are B-E-A-Utiful. If you are a Keith and/or Carrie (or Nicole Kidman…) fan, then there is plenty for you to check out in that collection since we have photos of both artisits, From the Stands shots, and a bunch of crowd shots. Below are some choice photos from the Blue Man Group and some fan photos (taken by Jennifer Thoune) that I picked out to put up on the blog. All of them are available for viewing on our Flickr photostream.

For more great photos from both of these events, stop by our Flickr page and click on the collection you would like to view on the right. Upon clicking you will be able to check out floor shots, ones from the seats and a variety of fan photos that were sent our way. Enjoy!

One Night of Queen Photos

As promised the photos from One Night of Queen have been posted up on our Flickr page. There is a collection for the whole night, that contains one set of the photos that our house photographer James Crisp took, and another set with some shots I got from my seat. Below are three of the photos James took. You can tell by the angle and placement how keen his eye is in spotting great photo opportunities.

As with all the previous events, if you attended and manged to take some photos yourself then we would love to see them. Please feel free to email them to us at rupparenablog@gmail.com, email us a link to them, or leave a comment with a link to them. What, you say you were too busy dancing to take photos? Don’t fret, words are just as juicy and telling. We would love to hear of what you thought of the concert as well as any feedback about various aspects of the show. Till next time readers, hopefully this isn’t the last time we see Gary and The Works, but as they say, “the show must go on!”

Fight, for the Blue and White

This past Sunday was UK’s last game of the regular season. Since it also happen to be our last home game of the season, it was Senior Day! That’s right, UK fans everywhere gave a proper farewell to Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford at center court prior to the night’s game. Not only did the fans show their support, but a video played of Randolph Morris wishing them well, and their former teammate Rajon Rondo from the Boston Celtics presented them with their jerseys.

It is fair to say that the team wanted to return the appreciation to the fans and planned to end the season on a good note. Early in the game, Florida lead by 9 points while Kentucky was busy playing catch up. Once we caught up though, we took it all by storm. Around half time, the scores were very close with Kentucky leading by only 2 points. After a nice rest, they stormed back on the court and swept up the Gators by going on a 15-0 point run and getting the lead by a good margin. Near the end of the game, Florida was able to catch up some and make Kentucky earn the victory. Below is a quick clip I took from the sidelines of the fans getting into the game and ‘backseat’ reffing from their seats.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WEOMoqh6w8]

For some photos from court-side, check out our Senior Day set on our Flick page. For more stats on the game, be sure to check out the Box Score and Play-by-Play on the UK Athletics site. While you are over there, you can read their recap of the game for more detail on each play as well as more specifics about the stats of each player.

People Behind the Curtain

Although the Wizard of Oz was great and powerful, perhaps he misspoke when he said “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” With productions of the scale that take place in Rupp Arena, perhaps it is the ‘people behind the curtain’ who should be given the most attention (except for the event itself of course). When you go to an event keeping the video production in mind, it can seem almost daunting at the amount of well edited videos that are displayed on the LED screens. As a good example, take note of the eRUPPtion Montage I posted up yesterday. Numerous montages like that are made for nearly every event that happens at Rupp Arena (be it a basketball game, concert, truck pull, etc.).

Each event definitely has it’s fair share of video production, but compared to a UK Basketball game, all our other events fall short. Of course that should not discredit the amount of work that goes into each show at Rupp Arena, but is more to emphasizing the amount of video production that goes into a single basketball game. This past Sunday, during Senior Day for UK Basketball, I was able to step inside the video production room and take some photos and a short video. Below is a clip from during the game where there are many tasks being done without a hiccup by our experienced crew.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxtC5Jg_uwQ]

It is one thing to have to produce a bunch of videos for an event and play them in the right order. It is another thing entirely to have to capture and play video on-the-fly, switching between multiple cameras, and getting the best shot for a particular situation. On top of that, there are trivia, montages and replays that have to be done and inserted into the gaps during the game. Not only is this done once, but for every UK Basketball game, men and women. That is a total of twenty-five times just this season.

To get a better sense of being in the room and seeing all the action happen, as well as the many knobs, switches and buttons that I strategically avoided to prevent meltdown, have a look at the Video Production Room set on our Flickr page. There are quite a few shots there for you to feast your eyes on. Next time you attend an event at Rupp Arena, pay attention to the many elements that go into that show. Who knows, if you like the event a lot, maybe you can treat the video production crew to a hotdog from the concessions stand.

eRUPPtion Throwdown

Our photos just went up today from the eRUPPtion event his past Friday. There are some load-in shots, some shots “from the stands,” as well as some excellent photos from our house photographer, James Crisp. There are some really cool action shots that show the intensity of the matches, from well places kicks and punches to carefully controlled body holds. There are photographs of their entrances that included but were not limited to smoke, Hannibal Lector replica masks, and even a live rapper. The “bombshell beauties” are even shown displaying the round cards around the caged ring. In addition to the photos, our Video Event Technician, Joseph Lloyd, put together a great video recapping all the matches and the feel of the whole night. Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ntQxIcPdU]

Head on over to our Flickr page to have a look at all the shots. If you were able to attend the event and took some photos then be sure to email them to us at rupparenablog@gmail.com.

Linkin Park Fan Photos

Part of the fun of my job and this blog is to interact with people who attend (or plan to attend) events at Rupp Arena and get feedback from them as well as photos they took from their perspective. As the famous saying goes, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and despite the best efforts from our house photographers and myself, we still pass over parts of concerts or events that would be great to have photos of. Sometimes it is the timing, other times it is the angle of the shot, but it is always great to view someone else’s photos and put yourself in their shoes and see what parts of an event they took pictures of.

During my call-to-arms for fan photos from the Linkin Park concert, someone by the name of Kevin Foster sent me twenty photos he took of the concert. It turns our he was sitting in the stands on almost the opposite side of myself, so he got to capture a few rock poses that I never knew existed. My thanks goes out to Kevin for the great shots and for sending them to us. You can view Kevin’s pictures in the Fan Photos (LP) set under our Linkin Park collection on Flickr. If you have some pictures you took of the Linkin Park concert, George Strait, or Monster Jam, send them along to us at our email, rupparenablog@gmail.com. Not only would I love to take a look at them, but I will toss them up on our Flickr page for everyone to see.

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