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02/27/2024

Metalcore Dropouts at the Crystal Ballroom on 02/16/2024 - Photos

By SYDNEY AND MIKE LEWIS // Sydney is nearly 12 now. These are from her trip to the photographer's pit at the Crystal Ballroom with Metalcore Dropouts .Mike on her progress. Plus video.

At nearly 12-years-old, Syndey has managed to get into the photo pit with me almost two dozen times. That’s not too bad considering her age and that there are shows that she does get turned down for due to a variety of circumstances. She’s also starting to understand that sometimes it’s best to take whatever show you can get so that you can practice and work on her skills.

My daughter openly has admitted that although she likes metal bands, it’s not something she listens to on a regular basis, something that for me, is a little disheartening, but at least she’s still in the pit and not turning shows away.

I suppose it’s best to state that she likes some metal and apparently metalcore isn’t necessarily to her liking.

The Metalcore Dropouts tour brought Fit for a King, The Devil Wears Prada, Counterparts, and Avoid together at the Crystal Ballroom. Sydney of course has never heard any of these bands let alone has been in a photo pit for her but despite all of this, she’s more than happy when a publicist will approve her for a show. She’s reached the point where she will walk into the photo pit ahead of me without concern, something that wasn’t a reality just a few short months ago.

Little by little she’s started to become more confident it seems and has even started to stray away from my side and do her own thing thus showing her growth as a photographer at such a young age.

As always, I asked her about the bands afterwards.

“Well, I liked the first band,” she stated, “but I didn’t like the second one. The other two were okay.”

This was very apparent since she didn’t feel the need to hit any of the merch tables at any point.

She continued, “But you know something. I like other metal bands.”

I’ve often told her that every type of music presents a different way for you to approach photography, and the same is true of metal bands as well. There are many sub-genres so a power metal band will have a different stage presence than what the metalcore artists do. Things grow on Sydney however and I think that regardless of her initial opinion, it has changed slightly afterwards.

I know that she enjoyed Avoid but I think that both The Devil Wears Prada and Fit for a King, while something that she isn’t going to be listening to very much, also became bands that I believe that she would enjoy getting photos of again. This is a change from her opinion a few months ago where she proclaimed that she didn’t need to go to a certain show because she has already taken photos of the headliner before. She has since realized that wasn’t necessarily a good approach.

What I see from this most recent photo adventure is that Sydney is growing as a photographer. She might not understand what everything on the camera does and still needs a little help, she might not understand how to edit yet, but she will eventually reach that point. I’m certain with her next journey into the photo pit, she will grow a little more.

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