Top Tour Moments of 2017
It was another fantastic year out on tour with Zac Brown Band. The Welcome Home tour was filled with it’s share of incredible moments. Let’s take a look back at some of my favorites!

The Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show is always a highlight of the year. This show is unlike any other I have ever seen. This stoic portrait of Zac really stood out overall in the portrait category.

I love to capture moments that tune out all of the erroneous noise of a big rock show. This quiet one with Clay from our hometown gig is definitely one of those moments!

Despite shooting the same band every night, I still manage to find fun new ways to capture never-before-seen perspectives of these shows. Here we are looking straight up from the floor through the clear drum-head to see Danny at work!

I mentioned in last year’s recap that I love these moments of Zac just before the curtain goes up. This one is no exception for this tour.

Much like the shot from underneath Danny’s drum kit… this shot up above Coy is another fun perspective that I don’t get to capture at every venue. These moments are not easy to get, but they are always worth the extra effort!

Sweets is another member of the band who is always willing to work with me to get new photographs… which becomes more difficult with each tour. He pointed at me between snare hits just long enough for me to capture this moment in Denver.

This is a bit of a departure from what I focus on with these annual recaps. I try to keep the focus on the magic of the performances. But this brief moment as Zac and the band walked off-stage from their Austin City Limits taping is a stand-out moment… not just for 2017… but for the entire time I’ve been with this band. This was a historic moment, not just for this band… but as a part of music history as a whole. I am honored to have been part of the crew behind them to document this monumental occasion!

A strange mix of haze, light, and lens flare managed to give this moment an almost-painted effect that I absolutely love!

Alaska holds an incredibly special place in my heart... because of Zac. He introduced me to this wonderfully beautiful part of the world when we went to Homer and Fairbanks in February. With that in mind, the back-to-back shows in Anchorage were a stand-out moment for this tour. This moment of Zac, isolated, but surrounded by a sold-out arena of Alaskan fans feels representative of the Alaska experience as a whole. Even in the isolation, you are surrounded by the love and beauty that is Alaska.

The flip-side to the previous moment… up in the rafters of the arena. I love how the spotlights lit up the ceiling while providing the leading lines directly down to the band.

Yet another in a series of moments with this band that pull influence from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Coy isn’t phased by any of it.

Simple, yet effective. Clay gives thanks from Toronto.

If this moment isn’t rock’n’roll… then I don’t know what is. I strive for these larger-than-life moments on tour. In these moments, they truly are… and I am honored for the opportunity to capture them in their element like this.

A quiet moment with Matt moments before he started the bass solo prompting the beginning of “Whipping Post”… and Allman Brothers Band cover they did each night of this tour.

Coy taking freedom to a new level during the guitar battle encore. One-off moments like this happen constantly on tour, so you have to be on your toes so as not to miss it!

A quiet (and literally) reflective moment with Danny in Texas.

I always love capturing crowd interactions. The emotion is always clearly painted over the crowd and it feels like I am documenting true happiness for these fans.

When Hop cuts loose, Hop cuts loose! His energy coupled with the intense color in this moment made it a stand-out for the year.

Claims have been made that I doctored this moment to give Coy his superhuman ability to do a split-kick from a dead stand. I can assure you that I did not (I would never do such a thing)… and from first-hand experience seeing him jump this high night-after-night… his skills are in fact every bit as jaw-dropping as this jump!

I’ll leave you with one more stray from the stage. This moment of the band laughing backstage in Sydney might be my favorite portrait of this band to-date. It has been my experience that shooting a band of this size… there is always one member that has their eyes closed, looks distracted, etc. There are so many elements in play that is incredibly easy to get a portrait that isn’t what I’m after (perfection). This moment, however… nails it. And on a deeper level… knowing these guys on as friends… I can see each of their personalities shining through in this moment. In full transparency… I didn’t intentionally capture all of that. This photograph was an accident. But that’s part of what makes this moment so great to me. There is truth in those accidents.
Thanks for joining me in looking back over my favorite moments from this tour. As always, I am honored to have the opportunity to chase this band around the globe and document everything in between. I’ll see you on the road in 2018!!