Band Photography on Location

Last weekend I had the honor of shooting with a local Chicago band, "Lady Parasyte." (Shot in Chicago)

We called ahead several locations before coming to a two sided bar, one side that was open all day, and the other side didn't open until later at night. So, we asked to shoot for a few hours and they said yes. Totally awesome location and very generous of the owner to allow us to shoot for several hours at their place of business.

This was the first shot out of post. Here is a rundown of my thought process and the setup...


1: F-STOP Decision
I started by wanting to shoot at 2.8 for I could keep the subject and the background separated as much as possible. I found my exposure to be f/2.8 @ 1/50 ISO400. (17mm...with my 20D that is about 35mm) But, of course the lighting on the subjects wasn't that great. It was all from above them. So, I needed to use a strobe to throw light onto their faces.

2: Strobe Light
I placed a strobe on a stand way up high to the right of me and pointed it down towards the subjects. I put it high for the subjects shadows would be on the ground and not behind them. I metered it a bit higher that f/2.8 (f/3.5?) for it would show up in the image. It looked okay, but the light could be more focused.

3: Light Modification
I added a 20 degree grid to the strobe for it would focus tighter on the subjects and not spill too much around them. Perfect! It looked much better. *TEST SHOT* Okay, it's all looking good except that the bottom part of the image had lots of dark areas in it. I was loosing detail.

4: Fill Light
I added another strobe with a silver umbrella about 8 feet behind me for a fill light. This alleviated the shadows getting plugged up, but also made the entire image brighter. Since I was basing my exposure slightly to the left, that was okay by me. *CLICK* There's it is.

5: Post Production
I desaturated all colors except for red and strengthened the vignette my grid strobe was already making.

I'll be shooting in St. Pete, Florida for the weekend.
Happy Shooting!

It's not personal, but I rather it be.

Last night I was talking with a photographer friend of mine who encountered a new photo hobbyist. This person was talking about quitting their job as they purchased thousands of dollars in photographic equipment.

During this transaction this new hobbyist said they already got a corporate job in shooting some "whatever" for "whomever." My friend asked what did they charge for such a shoot? They replied with such a degrading low ball amount that my friend became annoyed and said "it's because of what you are doing which makes it hard for me and other professionals to live off their photography work!"

They replied "It's not like I'm doing this personally to you."
(As if that is okay!!!)
(It's certainly not.)

I instantly thought, "wow, I RATHER this person be my local photography arch nemesis for I can at least 1 up them and win!" But, with things not being personal, and not being able to compete in the market due to low ball offers it hurts those of us trying to live off our passion for photography.

I'm not complaining that work is being stole from me. I don't want those clients anyhow. But, I am annoyed that I hear what people pay for wedding photography or their corporate work and then telling me how much it sucked and they didn't like the photographer.
(I hear it much too often!)

The above is the band Haste the Day back in 2004(ish) in Appelton, Wisconsin. Shot with a Canon 10D and my trusty Vivitar 285HV bounced off the white ceiling. I was standing in the pit.

Live Music

One of my most loved subjects to shoot is live music. I definitely don't shoot it enough. In fact, I shoot any and everything else more than live music. Why you ask? Because, I'm an idiot. Actually, I only haven't found a way to make it as profitable as I would want it to be, so I stick with other genera of photography that allows me to put gas in my car and eat. I have been getting little sleep, shooting a bunch, and retouching even more. Stick around, I have many images to post! :D

Please WAIT !!!

Exactly. Wait... It's difficult to do, especially when starting out in photography. Our inherent feeling is to not wait, to go, to move, to be what I would say overly active. I still move around too much during live shoots, out of sheer excitement I would say. At times it can be a struggle between 'shooting' and 'producing.'

What's the difference? I personally see 'shooting' as a "press-the-shutter okay we are done" type of approach where obtaining images is the goal. Compare that to a 'producing' approach where everything is considered before the shutter is released. Lighting, positioning, camera settings, lens, angle, distance, personal vision, professional vision, and timing. Maybe not a complete list and maybe not in that order, but all should be considered before pressing the shutter.

You know that feeling you get while looking through an entire shoot of images and there is that one image that makes you feel excited inside? This is the feeling to start searching for before squeezing the shutter release. I promise the pain that there is in starting to approach photography in this manner will fade quickly once you see how good you can be when actually taking the time to 'produce' an image!

The shot above is a band hailing from Peoria Illinois, Cygnus Loop.

Canon 10D - Manual Mode
f/5.6 @ 1/90th
24mm (17-28 Tamron Lens)
Flash - Vivitar 285hv

Deeper Blues

I always end up shooting something completely different with each shoot that comes at me. There are two things to say about this. One, I'm still a novice in shooting since I haven't stuck to one thing yet, and two I still shoot things that "come up" instead of things I "make happen." To jump those two lines will place me on a map as "xyz photographer." Thanks for encouragement from Alan and Jeremy, I should be starting to have a place on the map maybe sometime this summer. (I think I said this last summer, no?) There are numerous opportunities with band photography from local clubs to traveling shows and I have many hookups for both. And, most importantly shooting live music is my most favored flavor of photography.

The image to the left is of a blues band named Deeper Blues. They truly blew me away with the soul of blues laced with the power of rock. It was actually hard to shoot at times because I wanted to intake the music as freely as the crowd was. Being on side stage, and partially laying on the front of it, gives the entire show a different feel. Sort of disconnected from the projection the musicians are giving off yet very connected spatiality speaking. I usually shoot with my trusty 17-35 lens which requires me to be about 5 feet from the performer. I always think being so close will tick someone off in the band, but nothing has been further from that thought. They usually love having someone shooting them and especially someone like myself who doesn't stop moving and will ninja slide out onto the floor to get 'the shot.' I remember my days of being in a metal/rock band and I rather enjoyed people standing around while I played the skins. It made one feel "popular." Now, the only thing to worry about is angry crowd people, but that hasn't happened either. I figure they are too jealous to say anything because they are shooting from 20 feet away with a point-and-shoot. ;)

The above image was shot with a Canon Mark II, f/3.5 @ 1/80th.