Since I’m shooting concerts there’s always been that discussion in the pit about black and white concert photography. I’ve always avoided being drawn into that discussion as I don’t think that one can definitely say it is acceptable or not. To me it often sounds an awful lot like the “to photoshop” or “to not photoshop” discussion. Ultimately if the photograph is bad to start with, it is not a conversion to black and white that will save it.

The last such argument that I’ve witnessed (which was in the pit at a concert), and some questions from blog readers concerning my Epica post prompted me to write this post and “take sides”. That being said, not every photograph works in black and white, in fact most don’t, especially with concert photography, because of the lighting which is a key component of the show is rendered invisible by the conversion.

What I want to do with this post is demonstrate the positive or negative impact the black and white conversion can have on a photograph, and maybe demonstrate that a conversion doesn’t necessarily be a means to hide defects, whatever they are.

The next four shots are ones that worked better in black and white than in their original color. You can click on them to get a close look:

This shot from Ben Kowalewicz (Billy Talent’s lead singer) looked a bit dull to me in the blue tone, but the expression is great. The shot is better in black and white as it conveys more passion than on the mono one.

Machine Head’s lead Robb Flynn, is a very intense person. He really lives his music. This one “screamed” for conversion, the subtle change in Hue on the red background provides a great base for a conversion.

When I was selecting the pictures from Epica I didn’t notice this one straight away. It’s only a day or two later that this photo of their lead singer Simone Simons came to my attention. If there is one reference shot for a black and white conversion, this would be it.

Joe May from Pale Obsession was 100% into it at this point. The red vari-light  on his face brings the intensity of the shot way down. A conversion solves that problem.

The next four shots are ones that loose in quality once converted to black and white for me, you can click on them to get a close look:

The colors at the Tori Amos performance were great. They actually help the photograph to come to life, getting rid of them would be taking away the impact of the picture.

This picture of James Morrison is full of emotion, the bright spot and smoke in the background actually make the atmosphere in this one. This and the harsh shadows on his face would brake this picture if converted to black and white.

I like the photograph of Jennifer Kae both ways. But the color version looks a lot more intense to me, the colors really fit well together and the warm tone in the background give a lot to the strength of the picture.

The lighting at Charlie Winston’s concert were very warm. They are somehow part of his music. Conversion would simply not fit to the music.

Sometimes concerts are really difficult to photograph, not because of the light but simply because all the shots that you get look too similar. It Could be due to the fact that the pit is cramped with photographers, or that you’re allocated a very small space somewhere around the stage, or like in this case where the light doesn’t change at all during the 3 songs that ar allocated to you and the performers don’t move too much.

Here’s one of the shots from the concert. I used the 28-75F2.8 only as the songs were very short and I didn’t want to waste time changing objectives.

It was my first time at this venue in Germany. The organisation was quite different than what I am used to. It’s a lot more controlled for photographers. We had somebody watching us during the whole 2 allowed songs. The good part was that the two songs were not the first ones. Which means I had a few songs to watch and get a feeling for the show. That wasn’t a bad experience. The light was quite ok at this one, the only disappointment was the lack of positioning. All the shots were taken from the same spot +- 1m. I mainly used the 70-200mm/F2.8 and 15mm Fisheye. But I am not happy with the fisheye shot. I was too far away for an affective use of it. Below some sample shots, the rest can be seen in the gallery as usual by clicking here.

I was really looking forward to this concert for quite some time now. So it goes without saying that I went there with great expectations. The support act was impossible to photograph. There was just no light available, which led to a lot of worries amongst us photographers at the concert. In the end the lighting was ok. It was a lot of reds, yellows and bright whites. The problem was more the abrupt changes between these, which made me change the shutter speeds quite often during the shoot. Nevertheless Billy Talent’s performance was awesome.

I shot the whole 3 songs with my 70-200/F2.8 as I was busy enough adapting to the light, and didn’t want to waste more time changing lenses. Maybe two bodies would be a good idea…..

Some of my favorites below and the rest as usual here.

Personally I think there’s 3 lenses that have to be part of a concert photographers bag. There’s the 70-200 F2.8, the classic 20-70 F2.8 and then as a “last resort” lens in case the light is worse than it usually is the 50mm F1.8 (or faster).

Then there are the fun lenses, the ones that you buy but don’t really need. After months of debating (with myself) and a weekend trip with my lovely wife I decided to get the Canon 15mm F2.8 fisheye.

I have to admit that my first impression was a bit mixed. The lens is really a lot smaller than what I expected for a 2.8 glass, which is not necessarily a mistake. No surprises with the build quality, it’s what you’d expect from a Canon non “L” glass. The lens hood is fixed to the body of the lens, it is quite small and will not prevent the front element from scratches. This could be an issue since the gear tends to be handled a bit rougher at a concert than in the studio. By the way, due to the form of the front element, there is no way of using a filter with this lens.  The lens cap (in case you were wondering how to fix that one) is “pushed” over the lens hood. I’m afraid that after a few months of usage the cap will come of the hood by itself, thus exposing the front element.  But we’ll see about that in a few months. Technically there is nothing to say, the Autofucs was fast, the lens is sharp enough for me and the people who publish my pictures.

As I mentioned before it’s a fun lens, and as with anything fun you can easily overdo it. I used the lens for the first time with Pale Obsession and Epica. I noticed that once I had the lens mounted on the camera I enjoyed what I saw through the viewfinder so much that I could easily have shot the whole concert with it, and that would be a mistake. I came to the conclusion that when the venue allows it I would shoot the first two songs with my regular lenses and the last one with the fisheye. When I say depending on the venue, I mean that you really take advantage of the lens when you can get really close to the action. There’s no point in using it if you are 2m or more away from the stage.

Conclusion: I am happy with the results of my first test, it will certainly always be in my bag. But it’s not a lens I will be able to use at every concert. Technically it’s a great lens with the “fun” effect.  The only detail I don’t like is the lens cap, and the fact that there is no way of protecting the front element from scratches. But other than that, if you’re looking to diversify the look of your pictures and have fun at it, by all means give it a try. It’s not a lens for everybody, so renting it first would be a clever thing to do.

Here’s a few examples from the to concerts I’ve mentioned before.

I often flag pictures when I do my selection so that when I’ve delivered them to the publisher I remember which one might be worth spending some time with in post processing. I was drawn to this picture from the first time I’ve seen it out of the camera. I started to play around with it,  converted it to duo-tone and back, black and white until I came up with this high contrast version. This is easily one of my favorite concert shots I’ve taken so far. The concert itself was special to me and I’d like to believe that I had some “help” when I pressed the shutter release on this one.

Merci Maya ….

I didn’t know Epica before I was asked to photograph their concert, that actually happens a lot. I have to say that I loved their performance. Their presence on the stage was great. Simone Simons’s voice is beautiful.

I basically used the same gear as for the opening gig, 28-75/F2.8 and 15mm/F2.8. Lighting was ok, a lot of reds and often very dark. The rest of the pictures here.

Pale Obsession was opening up for Epica at “The Atelier” yesterday. I liked them a lot, and judging by the cheers of the crowd I wasn’t the only one. It was quite challenging to photograph them as the light was quite dim in the begining and started to open up a bit at the end.

I’ve used the 28-75/F2.8 for the first two songs, and then switched to the 15mm/F2.8 Fisheye. I had a blast with that lense, but it’s very easy to over do it with this one. the stage is quite low and you tend to get really close to the performance which makes it the ideal place to give it a try. The rest of the pictures can be seen in the Gallery here.