I have to say that I was amazed when I saw that the venue was sold out. Especially on a Sunday night with a big Music Festival and the yearly fair going on at a few km away. I guess that speaks for the Eels popularity around here.

I was however to be hugely disappointed (not musically) by the Eels. I was told (as were all the other photographers) that we had our regular 3 songs no flash routine, but we were thrown out of the pit after a minute or so into the show. And that for no apparent reason. On the way out of the pit somebody from their crew told us that we could take a few more pictures from within the crowd though if we wanted.

Now I do and always did respect the rules that management has laid out for us, sometimes it’s one song only, sometimes it’s from an elevated spot in the back of the venue, sometimes it’s even from the side of the stage and I don’t mind, the rules are the rules. But I don’t understand why photographers are allowed into the pit only to be asked to leave before their allocated time is over?

What happened then? Well by the time we were back in the crowd the second song was nearly over, I looked around took one picture and to be honest at that point I thought, well if they don’t want us in the pit they don’t want their pictures taken and I left (first time I’ve done that). Especially since there were ans who paid to be there who saw a bunch of photographers blocking their view.

The few pictures I was able to get can be seen in the flickr slideshow below:

What a nice way to start the season…….. I photographed Reamonn before at a festival. When I heard they were coming back I knew I wanted to see and photograph their show again. The Irish-German band played for the first time in 1999 and became famous with their hit single: Supergirl.

Photographically it was quite tough for a start. I was only allowed to photograph two songs and the light was varying from very bright to very dark. I used the 28-75 F2.8 only as I felt with only two songs I did not want to wast time switching objectives.

You can see the rest of the pictures below in the flickr gallery or by clicking here.

We had only 3 days to prepare the shoot, the location was only confirmed the afternoon of the shoot,  some gear that we needed was still on it’s way from Germany, and this was our first band shoot ……. all these elements and the lack of precious sleep created quite a sense of pressure that day.

But in the end we’ve had a lot of fun, and the result was well worth the effort. The location was the Rockhal Club in Luxembourg/Belval and it’s entry hall which provided us with a total of 4 sets. For these sets we used quite some gear: 2 Canon 5d’s,  24-105F4L, 70-200F2.8L, 17-40F4L, 15mm F2.8 Fisheye, 3 Flashguns Elinchrom D-Lite 4′s and 2 continuous lights, 2 Elinchrom remote triggers, 1 Flash as a back light, reflectors and a fog machine (thanks guys), and some HLS’s ….. thanks Mick and Tania.

It turned out to be a great experience, the guys from Pale Obsession were great and very patient. We’ve had some trouble in finding the right light setup for the fog and I wish we’ve had one or two more flashguns for the more complex shots, but in the end there was nothing we couldn’t handle and by having to deal with the gear at hand made us learn some interesting stuff.

Check out Pale Obsession on iTunes, and keep your eyes open for the release of their new CD.

Make sure you check out the rest of the pictures on the slideshow below or here:

The video below is Pale Obsession’s CD release trailer, made with various photographs from our photo session (post to follow).

That being said now it’s time to take it easy for a while and  spend some quality time with family and friends. Leaving on a trip pretty soon and looking forward to snap some shots of things a bit different than performing artists. Although I am still wondering how to fix a D-Lite4 with it’s Battery Pack in the middle of a “Via Ferrata”  without killing myself or anybody else in the process………..  If somebody’s done it before and is reading this, … any piece of advice is welcome

I’ll also spend a tiny amount of time on some other projects with InFocus. We were quite busy getting everything up and running in the new studio. But after the first two or three sessions in there I think I can say that we’re there. Lately requests have been increasing exponentially which is nice but it also takes it’s toll

Thanks to Tania, JP and Mick for all the help in finishing off what looked like an impossible task more than once during the last year

The Kooks performed before a packed Atelier last night. The indie rock band from Brighton made it to Luxembourg once more to the delight of their fans.

The show started off with stroboscopic effects, I was a bit afraid that it set the tone for what was to come. But it was only for a few seconds. The light was actually very nice, a lot of variation in colors, brights and darks. The pit was packed with photographers so movement was very restricted. I’ve photographed the whole 3 songs with the 28-75mm F2.8.

The rest of the pictures in the gallery here or in the slideshow below.

Daniel Balthasar opened up for The Kooks at the Atelier. It’s a local band that has made it’s name here in Luxembourg. Those who were not fans before they started probably are now if I believe what I’ve heard behind me in the pit. Visit them on their website.

The light was quite ok here, the only drawback was that I had the opportunity to go on stage to take my pictures, but the stage was so cramped that there was no point, movement would have been close to impossible. A whole part from the second song was lit with red spotlights which is not so nice. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for all three songs.

You can see the rest of the pictures here or below in the slideshow.

Pink Martini performed in a nearly sold out Rockhal (Club) last night. I was surprised by the stage when I got in the pit. Every square meter was used for some kind of instrument.  Thomas Lauderdale won the crowd from the start by talking in Luxembourgish (yes we have our own language). China Forbes has  a captivating charm that didn’t leave the fans unimpressed.

Photographically the concert was very “bright”. I dialled down to ISO 1000 for most of the pictures. The only issue was that the light was so bright on China Forbes that the background often plunged into dark blacks. Some of the band members were hidden behind instruments which made it impossible to get a proper photograph of them. The size and disposition of the stage made for some very nice Fisheye shots.  I shot the whole three songs with the 70-200mm F2.8, 28-75mmF2.8 and Fisheye 15mm F2.8.

The rest of the pictures here or below.

Wow, …… what more can I say? Sometimes I find myself in the pit and tell myself: What a great job to do …. If someone would have told me 5 years ago that I would be photographing Slash at a concert I would have laughed out loud, but secretly I would be wishing it was true. Slash was terrific, he delivered a performance that will be remembered amongst those who attended for a very long time. Not to be missed is Myles Kennedy as the lead singer who delivered a very solid performance as well.

Photographically it was really hard to focus…. Myles and Slash both gave us a lot to photograph. Lighting was very variable but nice. The only really dark moments were when they ran to the edge of the stage on the left or right. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 only as it was not very easy to get a good composition with the 70-200mm F2.8 due to the monitors on stage that were blocking the view.

Enjoy the rest of the pics in the gallery or in the slideshow below.

Porn Queen is a local band that performed as a support act last night to Slash. I was really impressed by the bands performance. They were really all over the stage and musically rocking it. I think Slash couldn’t have chosen a better opening act. While exiting the pit I was asked twice if I knew who the band was.

The light consisted of spots mainly. Very often the background went really dark which often results in a “black hole” effect on pictures. I’m not really fond of that. The trouble is that if you try to bring up the back you tend to overexpose the front quite fast. I shot this one with the 28-75mm F2.8 and 70-200mm F2.8.

The rest of the pics in the gallery here. Or in the slideshow below.

Anthem of the Sun is a young Luxembourgish band that has a lot of potential. They won a contest that allowed them to perform at the Rockhal this year. Their performances was quite impressive considering their stage experience. One of the members is using an electric violin which gave a really different feel to the sound. I had not seen one before on stage.

Photographically it was tough to get a nice exposure on all the band members. There wasn’t much light on the drummer or the guy behind the keyboard. I used the 15mm F2.8 Fisheye, 28-75mm F2.8 and 70-200mm F2.8 for this show.

The rest of the pics in the gallery here. Or in the slideshow below.

Claudine Muno & The Luna Boots are a quite famous local Band. They performed at the fête de la musique this year, which is a yearly music festival here in Luxembourg and France. They have have release two CD’s in the past.

I am not a big fan of photographing festivals, as the daylight takes away most of the atmosphere of the stage light. One the positive side you don’t have to fight with high ISO and slow shutter speed. I used the 70-200mm F2.8, 28/75mm F2.8 and the 15mm F2.8 Fisheye.

The rest of the pics in the gallery here, or in the slideshow below.

It’s not the first time the welsh metalcore band stops in Luxembourg for their show. Their fans are numerous as the Rockhal was sold out for the event. The band has quite some history that goes back all the way to 1998. As I stated in a previous blog I am not a metalcore fan but I must say I kinda liked Bullet for my Valentine.

The light was good and diverse on this one. The stage was quite big and empty which made it tough for group compositions. The pit was quite narrow which made it difficult to move and the left part of the stage was not reachable for most of the three songs. I shot the show with the 70-200mm F2.8 and the 28-75mm F2.8.

The rest of the pics here, or in the slideshow below.

Versus You is a local band that is doing very well for itself. They were playing here as a support act for Rise Against. They did a nice job of warming up the crowd for Rise Against. Here’s their MySpace page, have a listen to their music.

The light was actually great on this one. A bit of red but white light was dominant. It’s a welcome change for me. The pictures were taken with the 28-75mm F2.8

The rest of the pics in the gallery here, or below in the flickr slideshow.

Rise Against kicked ass last night @ Den Atelier. The venue was sold out for weeks now and fans were eager to see Tim McIlrath and his guys from Chicago. They were fantastic on stage. By the time the played “Long forgotten sons” people were out of it.

Photographically it was ok. A mixture of blues, magentas and the dreaded reds. Some whites here and there. Security had a lot of work in the pit so that was a bit distracting. I shot the whole show with the 28-75mm F2.8. The stage was too busy for the fisheye and I was too close for the 70-200mm.

The rest of the pics here, or in the slideshow below.

I used to be a huge fan of Suicidal Tendencies but never saw them live. When I heard they were playing in Luxembourg I couldn’t wait to ask for a photo pass.

When I arrived at the venue yesterday I saw people playing basketball in the court. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I realized  it was the band ……… they were having a game just like that, no security no restrictions. I asked for permission to take some pics and sure enough they had no problems with that. It was awesome …….

If you get achance go an watch them, take it. It’s well worth the money. They were full of energy and on top of their game. Guys if you read this: You are amazing!!!!!

Photographically it was a tough one, the light was dim with some brighter moments. The pit was divided in small spaces that you had to choose from in the begining and couldn’t move anymore afterwards. So it became quite a static session for us. The challenge here was to photograph Mike Muir, he kept on moving soooo fast around the stage, it made it really hard to get a sharp shot at 1/100th,  F2.8 ISO 1600. Couldn’t go any faster without going up to ISO 3200, which I am not too fond of with my trusted 5D.

The rest of the pictures in the gallery or below in the flickr slideshow:

When I heard about this assignment I didn’t know the Australian band. It’s only when a friend send me the link to the video of “Sweet Disposition” that I got to know them. It’s a great video, if you haven’t seen it yet have a look at their website or youtube. Anyway, since then I was hooked and really looking forward to this concert.

Photographically it was a good mixture of lights. The show in itself was quite static which made it tough to make different compositions.

The rest of the pics here in the gallery or below in the flickr slideshow. Enjoy…..

36 Crazyfists were part of the three bands that performed on Sunday. They were the first ones to start the show. I was impressed by seeing them close to the stage already well before the show began. They were talking to fans and signing autographs. When they were done with their show they all were amongst the fans, having a beer, talking, taking pictures with fans. I think that’s really impressive and sends out a positive message. Respect to them for that.

Lighting was rather dull, blues, magentas and reds. Quite dark too, but that’s the usual treatment with metal bands most of the time. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 only for this show. The pit was the biggest I’ve seen tough, it really left a lot of room for movement and composition.

As always the rest in the gallery here or below in the flickr slideshow.

On another note check out Everwaiting Serenade’s new mySpace page that resulted from our shoot a few month back.  Here’s the link to the page. It was a really nice day out shooting with the guys and we’re all really happy with the results. A lot of lessons were learned that day…..

If you dig their music they will be playing on July 3rd  in the Kufa‘s 12 Stonnen Rock Festival.  Normally I should be there too to take some pictures.  I’ll mainly photograph the young but great “Anthem of the sun” which is a rather new but promising band here in Luxembourg.

I was asked for my pictures from the Lila Downs concert by her managment. They’ve been put online here last week.

The concert season is slowly coming to an end but there’s still some pretty good shows that I’ll be covering:

I’ll post the 36 crazyfists and Claudine Muno pictures tomorrow, …..

I can’t say that I am a metalcore fan, but when I see a show like the one performed yesterday by Unearth, I can see that change some time in the future. Unearth was founded in 1998 in Boston, so they’re not really new in the scene. In fact one of the show goers told me that Unearth was at the very beginning of the metalcore movement.

Photographically magnificent, they really gave me something to photograph, they even sometimes went as far as “announcing” their moves with small gestures. I had a blast photographing this concert.

The rest of the pics here or below in the flick gallery below:

Atreyu is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/lyricist Alex Varkatzas, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist Marc McKnight and drummer/vocalist Brandon Saller. A very energetic band and a fantastic crowd made it a treat to be in the pit and take photographs.

Photographing this show was both: excellent and one of the toughest at the same time. Excellent because the guys were great, they gave their fans a show to remember and that’s always great to photograph. Tough because the light went from dark, I really mean dark, 0 light to very bright. I had to time my shots and hope for a nice pose when the lights were there. I shot the whole show with the 28-75mm F2.8 as I didn’t want to waste any time changing lenses.

The rest of the pictures below on flickr or in my gallery here.

Beverly Crime and his guys from Radio Dead Ones rocked the Rockhal as a support act for Beatsteaks. It’s a band that was formed in 2003 in Berlin, the hype around them hasn’t stopped to grow.

This was a very tough concert to photograph. The light was not that bad, but Beverly was moving a lot and very fast at that. The headgear he was wearing made it a challenge to get a picture in which his eyes are visible. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for all of the pictures.

The gallery is here.

Arnim, Thomas,  Bernd , Peter and Torsten from the Beatsteaks sure feel at ease on stage, one could clearly see that. They delivered a solid performance at a sold out Rockhal last night. The crowd was mad for the guys from Berlin.

Lighting was really nice for once, a rich mixture of colours and a lot of white on the performers. Sadly it was one of those concerts where I was not able to move in the pit. It was only 50 cm deep on a length of maybe 7 m, which is not that bad, but there were 7 photographers in there and 5 security guys. That made is a bit crowded and hard to move. Basically I was able only to slightly move during the three songs. Movement was fast on stage and crowd interaction was plenty. I used my 28-75 mm F2.8 only for this one.

The rest in the gallery here.

Thanks for posting the article Steve.

We’re also working in refitting our studio. Actually we’re redoing the whole thing: floors, walls electricity, lights… More on that later. Since we started photographing bands we were really getting more and more into “on location” shoots which is quite challenging in its’ own way. But we also realized that we could not only rely on this approach . We still have too much use for a studio, and we decided to change the location of the studio. Small remark here, … if you every get to shoot in a field like the one shown on the thumbnail, check your lens for dust, trust me it will make your life a lot easier in post processing.

Meanwhile I’ve tested some new gear during the last concerts. I’m still not sure weather to get a second camera body  or not. So I went and bought the Tamrac M.A.S. system. The price is quite low compared to a  second body.  I thought it would be a good idea to start with the cheaper option to make up my  mind. Well after 4 concerts I am quite impressed. I carry my 3 favourite concert lenses with me at all times during the three songs. It gives me a much needed flexibility without endangering my lenses. Does this mean that I am not considering a second body any more, ….. no it does not. I am still not sure, on one hand I like to use 3 lenses for a concert and two bodies will still leave me with one lens in the bag. On the other hand the time spent on switching lenses is minimal but it’s still longer and less comfortable than just switching to the other body. I guess I’ll see in the future about this, but meanwhile the Tamrac M.A.S. system is something I can highly recommend to people who need to have quick access to their lenses without the possibility of carrying a bag around.

Another piece of great news is that I’ve finally finished my Portfolio site. As usually it took a lot of time to finish but it took even longer to make the selection for the pictures to show. Please take the time to have a look at the site by clicking on the picture on the left or here and leave some feedback.

That’s it for today, …. the next show is the Beatsteaks at the Rockhal next Monday, make sure you check the pictures out.

Lila Downs is a Mexican singer who writes her own songs or sometimes uses more traditional songs from Mexico and South America. Her first CD was released in 1996 and now she’s touring the world. The venue was not sold out but packed.

I never thought I would say this, but there was too much light at this one. I was able to shoot over 1/200th  with ISO 1250 many times during the concert. Usually I like to underexpose a bit, but I went home with some slightly overexposed shots. The light did not vary much, it was a lot in the magentas and reds. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 and the 70-200mm F2.8.

The rest of the high res pictures here.

Deadmau5 (Joel Zimmermann) is a progressive house producer based in Toronto. He’s won several awards and is quite a known personality within these circles. I’m not an avid listener of that kind of music, but I have to say that I enjoyed the show. The crowd was fantastic and the atmosphere was there too.

When I was given the assignment for this show I was a bit reluctant, I was wondering how one could produce a certain number of photographs from an artist who will remain static behind his/her turntables. As you can see on the pictures Deadmou5 is an artist who always performs with a “mask” which doesn’t make the whole concept easier.  But as we photographers like challenges so I accepted.

An a challenge it turned out to be. To start with I had to wait 2 hours before Deadmau5 started his gig, then there was no pit access for this one. I was shown a spot where I could take my pictures from,  a small 50cm high box from the sides. When the performance started there was another surprise. The DJ’s desk was hiding 30% of his face/mask from where I was allowed to photograph, which forced me to leave my “box” and go into the crowd to get a least a couple of descent shots.  The lighting setup was fantastic to watch but it was the worst case scenario to photograph: Strobes, a lot of back-light and no front light to speak off.

Have you ever wanted to hear a Bluegrass version “Hells Bells” or “Highway to Hell”? If that’s the case there’s no way around Hayseed Dixie. Those men know how to have fun on stage, and they are a treat for photographers.
John Wheeler (aka Barley Scotch), Don Wayne Reno (aka Reverend), Dale Reno (aka Deacon) and Jake Byers (aka Bakesnake) form Hayseed Dixie who started back in 2000 with (well you guessed) AC/DC covers. By now they have a solid base of fans, which is deserved considering the show they pull off on stage.

Oh and if you were wondering, …. yes it’s a fridge full of beer behind them on stage….

Photographically it was pretty standard. Lighting was ok with a lot of strobes, some reds but thank god not too much. The challenge here was that there was not lead so to speak. All four of them are “the lead”, they were all very entertaining and always had a smile or an expression ready for the camera. I shot the permitted songs with the 28-75mm F2.8 and the Fisheye 15mm F2.8.

The high res gallery can be found here.

Transatlantic is an all-star band: Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Neil Morse (former Spock’s Beard), Pete Trewasas (Marillion) and Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings). They played for the first time in Luxembourg in a nearly sold out venue. The atmosphere was awesome, their fans really made it worth their while.

Photographically this was somewhat different in that we were not allowed the usual 3 songs but only the first ten minutes, and we were not allowed in the pit until the show was to start, basically no “location scouting”. The lighting setup was multicolor strobes with red being the dominant choice here. (one day somebody will have to explain to me why they love red so much). I shot the whole 10 minutes with the 28-75mm F2.8 except for one or two frames with the fisheye.

Make sure you check out the rest of the set below or in higher res in the gallery here.

It was a full house yesterday for Mika, and by the sounds of it, his fans were more than pleased with his performance. The stage as very well lit and very interesting. The opening in itself was …. special. I have to say, I was quite impressed by Mika and his crew.

The lighting was very bright and changed a lot. Not the most difficult situation to expose for. Mika moving around so much was more of a challenge. The stage was quite dynamic in itself which kept the backgrounds changing and interesting. The toughest part was not getting run over by the camera teams in the pit. There were 3 cameras on rails, and boy they really don’t care about anything else than filming the event……

The complete gallery can be seen below or a higher res version here.

Photographically this concert presented two challenges. One is the most common that you will have to face as a concert photographer: Light, … it was a disaster. Spots only from the ceiling at a very steep angle. A lot of reds and magentas, some blues from time to time. And the second challenge was new to me. The stage is quite a big one, and the band which counts 3 musicians were spread all over the place with nothing on stage but drumms and two microphones. It was very tough to still have an interesting composition in that situation. I used the 28-75mm F2.8, the 15mm F2.8 Fisheye and 70-200mm F2.8 for this gig.

As usual the rest of the pics in the gallery here.

Well I know this is not usually what I post on here, but I found myself at the FedCon yesterday and I have to admit that I was somewhat ……… surprised. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun. I actually got a shot of Kandyse McClure (that’s Lt Duall or Dee from Battlestar Galactica) and my wife together.  (I promised not to post it), she’s a very nice person by the way. Other than that there were a lot of fans, shops and a lot of people from TV shows that we all watch, …..

Photographically it was ok. The challenge here is that it’s a live event spreading over 3 days (I spend an afternoon there). Everything is happening very fast and without pre-warning. Light’s really bad and yellowish. And there’s tons of people. It changes quite a bit from concert photography but hey, …… who doesn’t like change. It was supposed to be a non photographic weekend, but I couldn’t resist.

An article I’ve written for DPS (Digital Photography School) about band photography just went online. You can read the article here. The bands on the pictures  are Everwaiting Serenade and Pale Obsession. Check them out ……

Emily Loizeau is quite a famous french singer/songwriter. The stage setup was somewhat different than the usual, which made me curious. She used a kind of small construction to stand on, even though she’s not that small.

From a photographic point of view it was a bit dull. The lights were orange and constant except for some very few moments and there was not a lot movement on stage. The light was quite low as well which forced me to shoot at ISO 1600 all through the 3 songs. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 and the 15mm F2.8.

One of the reasons I like this job so much is that from time to time you get to see people like Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero perform on stage ( obviously to photograph them as well ). You could literally feel the passion of these two artists on stage. The crowd was hooked from the  moment they started playing. To be honest, finding words to describe the show is near to impossible. If you get a chance to see them by all means, … don’t hesitate.

I was tempted to use the Fisheye for this show, but in the end I left it in the bag as there was no room to move around too much and the front of the stage with obstructed with gear. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for the first two songs and switched to the 70-200mm F2.8 for the last song. The lighting was a mixture really, better than often at this location, but the variation and the speed of the artists were quite a challenge. You can see the rest of the pics by clicking here or below in the flickr slideshow.

Iswhat was opening for Femi Kuti that night. The music is a kind of mixture between Hip Hop and Jazz. It’s  a different kind of music of what I usually get to shoot here, but I liked it a lot. The crowd seemed to be pleased as well.

The light was ok on this one. It’s “den Atelier”, lighting is usually quite harsh there. When I arrived and saw the stage I was quite curious as it was very open with only a few mikes standing around. I used the 15mm F2.8 and 28-75mm F2.8 for these shots. The rest of the pics in the gallery here.

I didn’t know much about Femi Kuti when I went to the show yesterday. But he’s one of these rare persons who has that something that makes you hold your breath and watch. The venue was quite packed and Femi Kuti & The positive force knew how to entertain.

From a photographic point of view it was a bit challenging. The front of the stage was full of instruments and microphone stands. The angles from which to photograph were very few. In addition to that the pit was very narrow and crowded. There was one part during the show where pure red was used as light, and that’s not really favorable for good pictures. I used the 15mm Fisheye and the 28-75 mm for his show.

Two Door Cinema Club performed as an opening for Phoenix @ the Atelier. Although the lighting was really bad the show was excellent. They made  a really good job warming up the crowd for the main gig. I didn’t know them too well before this, but I am going to change that pretty soon.

I shot the whole show with the 28-75 F2.8 and the 15mm F2.8. The light was really tough. Reds for the most part and mainly lit from behind. But I managed most of the 3 songs with ISO 1600 and 1/80th at +- 60mm.

Well this was one of the toughest Concerts I’ve had to photograph. The light was only extremes, very bright or really dark. The evening turned out to be a real challenge, which doesn’t mean that I didn’t have fun. The lead Thomas Mars caught the crowd from the first moment on. The whole band was all over the place give the fans a performance that was worth remembering.

With everybody moving so fast and the light being that extreme I didn’t have time to switch any objectives, which makes me rethink my position on a second camera body …….

I shot the whole concert with the 28-75 F2.8, but I wish I would have had the time to use the Fisheye on this one. But hey, … we’re here to learn from our mistakes, aren’t we?

As usual the watch the slideshow below for the rest of the pics of here for the full gallery.

EWS (Everwaiting Serenade) was the first concert that I’ve shot. When I was done taking my pictures I really had big doubts. I was used shooting in the studio with controlled light and rather static subjects. The result was not as bad as I had feared and the band really enjoyed the shots.

Fastforward to last month, we’re in touch for a Band shoot. They were in dire need of some shots for various supports. It took us a month to find the correct location for the shoot. We decided for 3 locations and several sets at each.

The studio shoot was the first one. The  Canon 5D was used along with the 24-105F4L, 70-200F2.8L and 50F1.8 lenses. Elinchrom flashes with a Beauty Dish and small 60×60 Softbox, a Walimex flash for the background or backlight depending on the setup. And finally some reflectors for fill light here and there.

The second location was the restaurant “Opium“, we’ve had an hour for our 3 sets so things went quite fast there. We were done in 35 minutes which allowed us to shoot a 4th set and squeeze some portrait shots in. Here we used a combination of Elinchrom strobes with a softbox and a beauty dish. The people at “Opium” were very nice and had a lot of patience. Shooting there was a blast.
Make sure you check out the rest of the pictures on the slideshow below or here:

Rickie Lee Jones has been on stage for a while now, she seemed at easy and enjoyed performing. Rob Wasserman on the bass astonished everybody when he used a bow (violin) on his bass guitar. The sound was quite remarkable.

I used the 28-75 mm F2.8 only, as I thought I had one more song (she asked the photogs to leave after the first song. No idea what happened), for which I would have used the Fisheye. The lighting was quite dark and monotone, with yellows, blues and some reds.

Make sure you check out the rest of the pictures on the slideshow below or here:

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.

]]> http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1393 0 http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=1383 http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=1383#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:47:24 +0000 tomdi http://www.tomdimaggio.org/?p=1383

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.

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.

2010, … a new year, new perspectives, new hopes and expactations (sounds a lot like a song, doesn’t it? And a good one at that). Some people will remember 2009 as a positive year and some won’t. Me, …. well it’s been the best year of my life and the worst, all in one.
I’ve always believed that the start of a new year is giving me the possibility to start new projects, and then continue projects from the year before with a different point of view, basically try to change my perspective on things in my life. Well it was never as true as this time around. Here’s a few concerts for January:

- Ou est le swimming pool 14/01/2010

- Epica 16/01/2010

- Billy Talent 30/01/2010

It was the first time I’ve photographed an interview. Well it’s a little less tough as photographing a concert. In this case I had 15 minutes, no flash and I was blocked in the back of the room with no place to move. But meeting the artists like that was an interesting experience.

I thought it was about time that I share some of my impression about concert photography. I am asked quite often about it, so here’s how I perceive concert photography and everything around it. It’s going to be a looooooong post.
I see myself as very lucky to be able to shoot concerts. Photography and music are two passions of mine and combining both is like a dream come true.
Since I’ve been photographing concerts I have that “rule” that I also photograph the support act. There’s quite a few reasons for that. One being that for me it’s a sign of respect towards the band, you will see that more often than not they’re very good performers and you’ll end up enjoying yourself shooting their show. And then I think it’s a good way to “warm up” for the shoot to come. You get a feeling about the light for the show (although it may and will probably vary from the support act to the main act), you can spot details that could be problems or that could lead to better pictures. Seriousely, worst case scenario … the band sucks you discard the images and that’s it. At least you had some practice.
Another interesting part of it is that every concert is different and you learn new things every time. You can’t be 100% prepared, improvisation is part of the game here. If the picture “works” it doesn’t matter how you got it, as long as you respect the rules. Then there’s the rush, you’ve got 3 songs (sometimes even less) to take your pictures. As you can imagine, the situation in regards to light is less than ideal. Basically you have to work fast, … very fast. I usually end up with 100 to 120 pictures in those +-12minutes. I have to produce approximatively 20 pictures for the publication.
My post processing on the first few concerts was quite intense, as I was used to portrait photography. I ended spending behind the screen after the concerts. I’ve completely stopped that. Sometimes I crop some of the pictures or adjust the white balance but that’s basically it.
I see some concert photographers out there who publish some pictures that are not in focus or the composition is really off. I have become very careful about that, if the picture is technically not ok I will not publish it. Exceptions are pictures that I wanted to look a specific way, which points to the fact that even concert photography is still an art. We should all strive to still remain creative even though the timeframe is very small.

Well, I guess that’s it, …. I hope that the post will give people some answers they were looking for.

Cheers,
Tom

Here’s some new assignments that I’ve received:

- Antiflag & Alexisonfire 23/10/2009 Atelier
- White Lies 30/10/2009 Atelier
- Bat for Lashes 02/11/2009 Atelier
- Roger Cicero 03/11/2009 Saarlandhalle
- Nouvelle Vague 06/11/2009 Rockhal
- Portugal, The Man 09/11/2009 Atelier
- Porcupine Tree 30/11/2009 Atelier

Well she was great. However we had only 1 Song to photograph and we were forced to the back of the concert hall. To be honest if they put this kind of regulations on us, why do they let us take pictures in the first place?

Rising german Band. Very nice.

Jennifer Kae was easily one of the Top 5 performers I’ve seen on stage so far. Her performance was impressive. If you get the chance to go to one of her concerts, … do it. You won’t regret it.

Wow, .. killer Band. “Moments like this” just rocks ….

Well it’s been a while since the last pictures, concert and personal ones. But a lot of stuff happened. Some happy things others not so. Anyway here’s the pictures from the Macy Gray Concert today at the Atelier.

Leela James @ Exit07. Very nice concert. Full of energy.

Ex Inferis, one of our Luxembourgish bands.

Lamb of God for our Metal fans

I usually don’t do this, but in this case I’ll make an exception. William Fitzsimmons’ CD is really incredible. It’s been a long time since I’ve listened that much to a CD. You can listen to it here.

It’s been two weeks since my last concert, …. missed it. I was quite impressed by this one. I got to know “raggae” a bit in Jamaica but haven’t heard any since then. Groundation gave the crowd something for their money.

I went through my pictures again (I always have a look a few days later) and I think this is definitely one of the better shots from the evening.

Great Concert and great show. The lightning conditions however were dreadful. Most of the shots were taken at ISO3200. Bless the Canon 5D.

Here’s on of the shots from a very interesting project with InFocus. Click here to se some more.

What an amazing concert. I was really impressed by the band. Nine people onstage……. the sound was so rich. Robin Proper-Sheppard’s (Frontman) voice is incredible.

This is one artist you have to listen to. Give it a try, it’s definitely a must.

What I’ve tried to achieve is two different atmospheres with the same subject. It’s quite easily done with a person, but a different story with an inanimate object.

I was surprised when I read the email I was send by “Digital Photo” saying they would like to publish one of my pictures in their “Your Pictures” section. It’s one of the photographs from the trip to Vietnam last summer.

Abstract is not really my “thing”, but since today’s the first day my new blog is online, I thought I would do something a bit different.

It applies also to concert photography: Look around you.

I know I’ve said it before but this one tops everything I’ve photographed until today. Lighting was close to non-existing. And whatever there was, was blue, red or white, or all three together for that matter.

Superbe concert, a really special artist.

The support act for Charlie Winston. Their presence on the scene was excellent. I hope they make it.

Boy that was a long winter! I took this one in my garden yesterday. It’s a change from all the concert photography lately

This is the third one from the series. 

No concert photo this time. This is the first one of a series I did with JP on a small Project of ours. There’s twelve shots for the project. 

This was somewhat new for me. I was able to be onstage to take some of the pictures, and I could take pictures during the whole concert instead of only the first few songs. The rest of the pics here.

This is one of my favorite shots of the concert. The rest can be found here.

Julien Doré @ Atelier. The rest of the pictures can be seen in the gallery here.

Holiday’s, work, In-Focus, you know how it is. But here’s a shot I took at a concert tonight waiting for the show to start.

I’ve worked on the format of the picture. I like this one way better.

Again the old parts of Luxembourg city. If you make it to Luxembourg that’s one part of the city you really don’t want to miss.

There was a kind of Light-show in Luxembourg City this winter. Here’s one of my favorite shots from that night.

I’ve got the idea in a magazine. I thought I’d give it a shot.