One Concert : Two Very Different Photo Shoots
Jul 20, 2010 Concert Photography, Photography Discussion
Saturday night (July 17, 2010 for the record) and The Marquee Theater in Tempe, AZ is packed. The occasion – Silversun Pickups and Against Me. (Two quick random notes: The box office line was out of control. I don’t think anyone bothered to buy tickets until the night of the show. Thanks to the very kind couple who let me cut in line so I can get my photo passes squared away. The other thing – I do not understand why The Marquee Theater was so hot. It was almost unbearable to be in the venue for this show.)
The crowd seemed close to 50-50. Many people were there to see Against Me who probably had little or no interest in seeing SSPU. I was there to see SSPU and shoot photos.
The Tale of Two Different Photo Shoots
Against Me came on stage with lots of energy and commanded the crowd’s attention. The stage was set with white lights on stage right and left set in back of the band. They used no over head stage lights – none at all. It was easily the best lighting conditions to photograph music. Photographing the Against Me set went smoothly with no struggle. (Photos of Against Me Live in Tempe can be found on my Flickr page.) Thanks for keeping the photographers in mind with your stage set up.
Silversun Pickups hit the stage about 30 minutes later and things couldn’t be different. I knew when the house lights went off and the drum kit was lit in with a light blue spotlight that I was going to have some fun. SSPU played a great set – I loved it. The whole show was played under red and blue spotlights. (See my article about photography and concert lighting) Red lighting is the hardest light to work with when taking concert photos. I tried to wait for the white spotlights but it wasn’t going to happen and the longer I waited the more chances I had of missing my shots.
The dynamics of concert photography and only being allowed to photograph three songs means you have to make decisions on the fly. If you wait for the right moment every time to press the shutter you will miss your shot. As with any other type of action photography (yes music is action photography) you need to anticipate the moment and sometimes it’s a guessing game. Just guess right more often than not.
Silversun Pickups was one of the most difficult shoots I’ve had in a long time which is why I absolutely love the photo of singer/guitarist Brian Aubert posted above. When the stage light is less than optimal for photographs try to capture the emotion of the performer. In your post production process maybe things will come together as they did for me. (This was also some of the most extensive post production work I’ve had to do for any music photo.)
What’s the most difficult light you shoot in? Do you have lighting conditions you prefer to shoot it? Let everyone know by posting a comment below.
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Tags: concert photo, Concert Photography, GRT2 Studios, live music photography, music photo, photography lighting
Photography & Concert Lighting
Jul 8, 2010 Site News
Every photographer who shoots live music fights with the stage lighting. I don’t care who they are, they do. Knowing and understanding light makes the difference in photos.
During my RCPM Mexico Trip with Chadwick Fowler we talked a lot about light. Good lighting, bad lighting, flash settings, ambient light – you name it. He is someone who gets it and can covey the importance of proper lighting.
Conversely, I am not that technical of a photographer, which admittedly is a shortcoming. With that being disclosed, here is what I can share with you about concert light and stage lighting.
When I photograph live music I look for patterns in the stage lighting. Many venues even use programmed lighting, which makes it much easier to predict lighting patterns.
I try to look for white spotlights with colorful backlighting. Many times this light combination will give you the dramatic photograph that puts your audience at the concert. The other combination I look for is blue and green spotlights with white back lighting. This also works really well. Look for patterns that work for you and your equipment. (Example of white spotlights with a colorful background – Kid Rock Country Thunder / Florence, AZ.)
Now the bad. Red stage lights are the most difficult to work with. The red lighting is so powerful to the camera’s sensor that it often overpowers everything else. This doesn’t mean that you can’t work with it, it just means that it may take some time, practice and patience. (Here’s my favorite concert photo taken with red lights – Roger Clyne New Year’s Eve / Phoenix, AZ.)
Like anything, photography takes a lot of work and practice – music photography especially. When I photograph music I may take as many as 600 photos, of which I really like 15 - of which 4 are great. Be patient, practice as often as possible, look for lighting patterns and strive to capture the emotion of the performance.
Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks everyone for reading!
Tags: concert light, concert lighting, concert photo, Concert Photography, live event photography, music photo, music photography, stage lights
