Sinbad’s Soul Music Festival: Part 5 from St. Thomas – Memorial Weekend 1999 … Back By Popular Demand!
By the time the Holiday Season of 1998 rolled around, there began to be behind-the-scenes murmurings of an SMF 5. No details were discussed like a location or talent line up, just that we should be considering what to do for the website should such an announcement be made. Then, silence for two more months.
At 3am on a Monday morning in February, our executive producer got a phone call from Sinbad. He was going to go on an East Coast morning drive-time radio show where he would officially announce Sinbad’s Soul Music Festival: Part 5 on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Sinbad asked one question, could we have the site ready … in three hours?!
Of course, our answer was yes. After a 15 minute guest spot on the radio, our server recorded more than 1 million hits in the following 24 hours … without a hiccup! Over the next ten days, all event tickets, all charter flights, all hotel room blocks … were. completely. sold. out!
It was at this festival in 1999 that Roth reached a transitional moment in his photography career. Prior to leaving for St. Thomas, he started seriously looking into digital cameras, which had progressed a long way in the preceding 12 months. Although he still purchased 60 rolls of film, he also made the decision to purchase a digital SLR.
On the second day of the trip, Roth was looking over the digital photos and realized they were good enough to rely upon for the needs of the website. So after shooting only six rolls of film, he put down his 35mm camera and has never looked back. In fact, those six rolls of film were never processed!
Roth has been digital ever since and today refers to film as “the f-word!”
Return to the Roth Stock History page.
Roth Stock Pictures: Event Photography for the Entertainment Industry 