DPC Mentorship - Gig/Concert - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

07/19/2005 11:27:42 AM · #101

Ah, thank you! THANK YOU BOB! Those were some awesome tips. I do have an external flash and I'll try to experiment more (the only time I used it was on my Granlar Ottakes). Plus I'll try my other lens out too. I dunno if you covered this before but I just thought of it; what about polarizers? To filter the light a little bit? That might be a stupid question, but I got some so I thought I'd ask. Again, maaaaaany thanks!

07/19/2005 12:56:44 PM · #102

No probs!
Polarisers cut out about 2-3 stops of light, so would be a really bad accessory for concert photography. I can't think of any occasion where you might want to filter polarised light with musicians. I use it a lot though when I'm taking reportage shots at festivals... that harsh noon/afternoon sun can be a killer without a polariser.

07/20/2005 10:11:33 AM · #103

Hey guys I was just made an observation.not sure if it is going to help anyone. I just thought I would pass it along. I was just watching some old music videos of live perfomances (guns and roses ac dc aerosmith and just any general crap that makes it's way on to one of the music channels (woohoo go satalite!!) anyway like I was saying, I was watching these and I was seeing how the composition of videoed live proformances is almost exactly identical to what bob has been saying about how we should compose are photos. Even when I was watching the dance sequences on some of the more poppy videos where the main act is in the center..they are never actually in the center of the frame. So anyways just thought that I would pass that along if any of you wanted some inspiration on compos. I know it has given me some really great ideas.

07/20/2005 10:40:59 AM · #104

Satellite music channels can be a great source of inspiration. As a photographer, I now understand why people like watching them.

07/20/2005 10:45:56 AM · #105

Oh wow, I'm looking forward to having TV again, there are downsides to living in the middle of nowhere (no cable, no satelite - landlord says no and no regular aerial reception as we are in a valley) :)

07/20/2005 10:51:45 AM · #106

Before I start talking about NeatImage, and then going on to other helpful topics, I'd like to keep tabs of our first assignment... finding a local venue that you're going to use as a base for your future assignments. I really want to emphasise that I believe this is a really important step, I'd like to ensure that we all develop a strong grounding in an environment where we can experiment without worrying about the results!
I'm keeping a list of the venues here:

colda:

gaurawa: //www.theblankclub.com/

Joey Lawrence: The Academy Theatre- Lindsay, Ontario //www.academytheatre.ca/

pcody:

Fleximus:

thatcloudthere:

NightShy:

singe: The Masquerade (//www.masq.com)

Anni: Carlisle. The Brick Yard. //www.brick-yard.com

Rooster: Don Hill in NYC.

Please let me know the name and location (and if possible a URL) of your chosen venue so I can update the list.

Message edited by author 2005-08-04 18:09:05.

07/20/2005 11:07:19 AM · #107

Originally posted by BobsterLobster:

Bob, I'm going to be a bit delayed with this one, as I'm leaving Switzerland a week on Sunday, then stopping with a friend near London for a few weeks before moving somewhere near Swindon. There are plans to go to a gig whilst in London (friend is a photog too) but it's going to be September before I can get a 'local' sorted out. As soon as the house is agreed I will start looking for local bands and venues. I hope that this delay will not cause any probs, I did try to get something sorted with another friend over here, but Basel is not exactly the most 'happening' city.

Just for interest, Shelley (my friend here) has done quite a bit of gig/concert photography, she's just moved to digital. I think she's pretty good but it's hard to get a professional break here, her site: //www.evilshell.net/

07/20/2005 11:20:57 AM · #108

Okay, that's fine. Let me know when and what you're shooting, I might even come down and join you if that's okay! You're also invited up to Yorkshire to shoot some gigs with me if you like.
Your friend's photography looks great, right up my street. I want to shoot a lot more metal! Getting a break shooting for bands is VERY tough though, I'm finding that working for magazines/agencies/press is much easier. Following bands around looks like fun though, but pays next to nothing.

07/20/2005 11:29:25 AM · #109

Originally posted by BobsterLobster:

Hey, it would be an honour to shoot alongside you, let me know whenever you are in the area and I'll find something for us to shoot :)

RobotBanjo

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

07/20/2005 11:45:57 AM · #110

My Venues:

Vermillion Sky Cafe - Provo, Utah (No URL)
Hollywood Juice Cafe - Orem, Utah //www.hollywoodjuicecafe.com/
Booth Brothers Music - Spanish Fork, Utah (No URL)
Starry Night - Provo, Utah (No URL)
Muse Music - Provo, Utah //www.musemusiconline.com/
Johnny B's Comedy Club - Provo, Utah //www.johnnybscomedyclub.com/

Those are some I've gone to in the past. All of them are pretty small venues with a wide variety of rock music ranging from Heavy Metal to Emo Acoustic (no country, rap, or hiphop)
I'll see what I can do about getting out there this week.

07/20/2005 11:49:49 AM · #111

Originally posted by colda:

there's always videos/dvds :)

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

07/20/2005 11:54:21 AM · #112

Originally posted by colda:

Originally posted by BobsterLobster:
Before I start talking about NeatImage, and then going on to other helpful topics, I'd like to keep tabs of our first assignment... finding a local venue that you're going to use as a base for your future assignments. I really want to emphasise that I believe this is a really important step, I'd like to ensure that we all develop a strong grounding in an environment where we can experiment without worrying about the results!
I'm keeping a list of the venues here:

I got in touch witha venue here in Carlisle called The Brick Yard. www.brick-yard.com it is a cosy little place full of musicians and students. I am waiting for a call or email to see if I am allowed to bring a camera, the manager said that he would have to ask the general manager and then the general manager will have ask the bands if they had management....Looking forward to shooting Babyshambles Pete Doherty's Band (kate moss's boyfriend). Fingers crossed

Message edited by author 2005-07-20 11:57:19.

Joey Lawrence

PhaseOne P45

07/20/2005 12:19:53 PM · #113

Bands play both in the lobby and stage at:
The Academy Theatre- Lindsay, Ontario //www.academytheatre.ca/

07/20/2005 06:33:50 PM · #114

Originally posted by Anni:

I got in touch witha venue here in Carlisle called The Brick Yard. //www.brick-yard.com it is a cosy little place full of musicians and students. I am waiting for a call or email to see if I am allowed to bring a camera, the manager said that he would have to ask the general manager and then the general manager will have ask the bands if they had management....Looking forward to shooting Babyshambles Pete Doherty's Band (kate moss's boyfriend). Fingers crossed

Wow, ambitious as always! It's very much the larger end of what I was expecting, but some of the bands there are ones that play in the venue here in Huddersfield that I would pick for any local gig-photography students! I missed Babyshambles at Glastonbury, they'd be a great band to have in your portfolio. I would really recommend against flash though, should their management agree to photography. Never use flash if photographing any big-name bands no matter where they're playing. In a smaller venue such as this, you'll need to rent/buy a wider-angle fixed aperture zoom. A 50mm 1.8 would also be useful, and you can buy one for peanuts off EBay.
Edit: Have you asked if you can have free entrance if the venue can use your photos? Also, make it clear that you're happy to take photos of the less popular bands, they're the ones I want you to focus on!

Message edited by author 2005-07-20 18:37:10.

gaurawa

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

07/21/2005 03:47:36 AM · #115

This was my first ever attempt at such shots. I had to shoot at ISO 800. I never go above ISO 200 in general. The flash came in quiet handy, but had to experiment a lot and too many failed attempts, darker pics or white/blown out :(

edit: some more pics

Message edited by author 2005-07-22 01:00:24.

07/21/2005 03:55:21 AM · #116

I'm happy, looks like I have managed to get both a Sigma 28-70 f/2.8 and a Sigma 70-210 f/2.8 for about Â£300 :)

07/21/2005 03:15:46 PM · #117

Originally posted by BobsterLobster:

Originally posted by Anni:
I got in touch witha venue here in Carlisle called The Brick Yard. //www.brick-yard.com it is a cosy little place full of musicians and students. I am waiting for a call or email to see if I am allowed to bring a camera, the manager said that he would have to ask the general manager and then the general manager will have ask the bands if they had management....Looking forward to shooting Babyshambles Pete Doherty's Band (kate moss's boyfriend). Fingers crossed

Wow, ambitious as always! It's very much the larger end of what I was expecting, but some of the bands there are ones that play in the venue here in Huddersfield that I would pick for any local gig-photography students! I missed Babyshambles at Glastonbury, they'd be a great band to have in your portfolio. I would really recommend against flash though, should their management agree to photography. Never use flash if photographing any big-name bands no matter where they're playing. In a smaller venue such as this, you'll need to rent/buy a wider-angle fixed aperture zoom. A 50mm 1.8 would also be useful, and you can buy one for peanuts off EBay.
Edit: Have you asked if you can have free entrance if the venue can use your photos? Also, make it clear that you're happy to take photos of the less popular bands, they're the ones I want you to focus on!

The gig has been put off untill late aug cause pete is in rehab or something. They cancelled all the dates on their tour. Yeah Bob I offered up my photos for free to the manager of the venue so look like if I can get in I will get in for free. I am planning on taking photos of the lesser bands. I will drop him an email or give him a call in the next week to follow up what I talked to him about. Also I am forever looking in the paper to see what else is on, but I am hoping that I can make that my main venue. There is ALWAYS something going on there. gunna have a look on ebay and on jessops to see what they have in the way of lenses. If I can get 50mm 1.8 I will prob not bother getting the 70-200mm for the big gig. I know I am prob over ambitious with the whole thing, I am being careful not to go too fast though I am not going to go around bugging publications yet, don't want to give myself a bad name if I can't produce the goods. It is very possible that I would like to this for a living someday mixed with having a portrait studio or something so that is why I kinda jummped in with feet first, I am strictly trying to build a great portfolio, nothing else yet! Anyway I am rambling agian...whoops.

anni
Just by curiosity, how long have you been taking gig photos..

07/21/2005 03:16:39 PM · #118

Originally posted by gaurawa:

Sorry guys for not being active here, the last week was really bad, too much work :(
So I finally went out today to a local bar and took some pics. Here are a few, it will take some time to sort them from over 120 I took. Will post a few more in the coming days...

This was my first ever attempt at such shots. I had to shoot at ISO 800. I never go above ISO 200 in general. The flash came in quiet handy, but had to experiment a lot and too many failed attempts, darker pics or white/blown out :(

edit: some more pics

WOW!

07/21/2005 03:19:12 PM · #119

Originally posted by colda:

I'm happy, looks like I have managed to get both a Sigma 28-70 f/2.8 and a Sigma 70-210 f/2.8 for about Â£300 :)

grrr I am jealous!! :P

Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8-4.0 Aspherical for Canon

07/21/2005 03:32:13 PM · #120

I am looking at lenses....Drooling..Praying I am going to win the 66 million roll over this week! Hey joey if I do I will buy you a camera from this century!!

Rooster

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

07/21/2005 10:03:18 PM · #121

Hey Guys,

sorry for being awau for a few days... been REAL crazy with work.
First, thanks much Anni for posting some advice on exposure. The prob with spot metering is that the 300D does that automatically (i'm pretty sure) so I dont have much control there.

Bob, the harsher the better, man. I'm so worries about getting the right exposure & moment that I forget to compose! Will keep that in mind for the next time, for sure.
Thanks for posting your settings. I normally have used flash at 1/60 shutter & ISO 400 & all the shots without fail have come out dark. Since the venue I have gone to before & will be going to for our assignments, Don Hill, is nice & small, I will also try the 50mm at 1.8 & see what my results yield with that.
On a separate note, I have to say that I am EXTREMELY excited about this all. I have loads of friends in bands & they always ask me to shoot their gigs. I've always just wonged it & hoped for the best. It's really nice to know that I will get some direction these days. Thanks much to Bob & the crew for all of this.
BTW, Don Hill in NYC.
PEACE!

07/24/2005 02:46:54 PM · #122

Originally posted by NightShy:

Hello, can you reduce your list down to 1 or 2 that you can focus on and get used to? Chose the ones with the best lighting, and with the management you get on with the most.

gaurawa

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

07/24/2005 03:03:11 PM · #123

Bob,
I shot at this place and might go there again for shooting.
//www.theblankclub.com/

07/24/2005 03:05:01 PM · #124

Originally posted by gaurawa:

Hope you don't mind me being a bit harsh with these, we've talked about many of the following issues already.
DON'T USE FLASH NEAR THE CAMERA POINTED DIRECTLY AT THE PERFORMERS. I can't say this enough times. Blank2 and blank3 have very obvious shadows thrown by the flash. No pro would ever take a photo with shadows like that. Either use a diffuser or bounce the flash. I bounce the flash.
HAVE YOUR PERFORMERS LOOKING INTO YOUR FRAME, NOT OUT OF IT. You will instantly transform your photography with this tip. Blank3 is a particularly bad culprit that could have been excellent if he was tight against the right of the frame with plenty of negative space.
Think about the balance of your composition. This is something that you need to 'feel'. For me, blank4 is unbalanced and a little right-heavy. Blank1 feels left-heavy. Compositionally, blank7 is the most balanced, but I want everybody to keep out-of-the-camera crops. If the microphone didn't cut across the neck/headstock this would be a very strong photo, but I'm curious about what you cropped out.
My main criticism about the photos is that they're Same Old, Same Old. They're the way most people would compose shots if they were there. Get on the floor and try some unusual angles. Stand on a speaker and look down on the performers. Get behind the drummer and shoot the backs of the performers with the audience. Lie down beneath the guitarist. Get stuck in! Don't just shoot what the average audience member is going to see. I'll post some examples of this soon from a gig I shot this weekend.