Concert/Band Photography
Proof that I occasionally shoot stuff other than flowers! ;)
So, my brother is close friends with this rock band in Charlottesville, VA (where we both went to college) called Under the Flood. Last weekend they were playing here in Richmond, so I asked the guys if I could try my hand at taking some photos during their show, and they said OK. (Promotional Plug: They are actually really good and they are on the verge of signing with a label... check them out at http://www.myspace.com/undertheflood)
The club was REALLY dark and the space was hard to work in... there were these support posts at the front of the stage that really blocked things off. And the stage lighting wasn't much help... most of the time there were just these blue and green lights and occasionally some white spots would shine on the guys and some other colored lights would come on. I was shooting at ISO 1600 with a 50/1.8 just to get 1/100 sec shutter speed. I also shot some with a Lensbaby and with a 10-22mm/f3.5-4.5 on my 20D (at ISO 3200).
But I think it went pretty well for my first try at anything like this, and the band loves them, so who am I to complain?! They have had other fans send them show photos before, but even the best ones were not great... people usually flashed the guys so they have a "deer in headlights" look. They actually told my brother today that they want me to shoot their next promotional photos for them, which would be really neat (of course, we'll see... you never know what can happen once a label gets involved).
Anyway, I would love to get some feedback from you guys. And if there is anyone here that has done anything like this before... either the concert photography or the promo shots, I welcome any advice.
The photos from the show are at http://erinschrad.smugmug.com/gallery/2681339
Thanks!!
-Erin
Erin,
Nice job. It reminds me that there is more to shoot than just flowers :-} I thought I would see more blur and noise, but you have a lot of crisp/clear shots there. And I think you did a great job of working a bunch of angles. Very impressed.
Coby
It looks like you do. this is a great shot. Having done bands once in a great while, I know that it's tough to make somebody in a t-shirt look really cool, but with the angle, lighting and pose you got it. Excellent work!
Boy, you guys are really going to give me a big head!! :D
But seriously... thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. The guys still want me to do their promo shots and now they are telling me that their management company wants me to do another band as well... yikes! I hope I can figure out what I am doing!!
When they ask you to do another band, act confident. You definitely know what you are doing! (Even if you don't feel like it.) Your stuff is awesome and this could be a very good opportunity!
Jean