I have to admit something here. I love video games, I’m not the hard core,  all through the night gamer. But I’ve got my favourite games that I like to play. Assassin’s Creed is one of them, and when the trailer for Assassin’s Creed Revelations came I was (like many more) instantly hooked to that haunting sound.
So there I was last night waiting for the lights to go dark and Yoann Lemoine to take the stage. The percussionists were impressive, he himself was good and at ease on stage. All in all, a pretty decent show. The show was a bit short though, it ended after 60 minutes, and quite abruptly with that.

On a technical note: The light was not bad, some ambient light from the back and some spotlights from the front. All lights were whites and yellows. I was a bit disappointed though as in the fourth song (and for the rest of the show) the light show really kicked in. That would have resulted in some amazing pictures. I used the Canon 1d MkIv and the Tamron 28-75F2.8 for the whole duration of the show.

The rest of the pictures here or in the slideshow below:

Sometimes concert photography is like a christmas present. You don’t always know what you are going to get. When I was on my way to photograph “Dry the River” at the Soulkitchen I didn’t really know what to expect. It’s a new venue that I knew from before they played gigs there, and I knew it was going to be small and crowded. Sometimes you get away with mixed feelings, … and sometimes you get, … well what I got tonight. A very impressive performance. And by the sound of it, I was not the only one enjoying the show.

On a technical note: The venue was small, .. I mean really small. There was no pit but luckily talking to the people in the first row and explaining that I’d be there for a few minutes only made it possible to get a bit more freedom of movement and thus a few different angle. I used the 28-75mmF2.8 and 15mmF2.8 Fisheye for this one.

Talking to the people in the first row and explaining that I’d be there for a few minutes only made it possible to get a bit more freedom of movement.

The rest of the pictures here or in the slideshow below:

Lemonheads is a band that I knew in the 90′s when they performed a cover of “Mrs. Robinson” I kind of lost sight of the band until this year when I heard they were touring the states with some possible gigs in Europe. Mr. Dando opened up with an acoustic song only to follow up with two more acoustic sets, which meant for us photographers, …. no band to photograph.

On a technical note: It was disappointing to photograph 3 acoustic sets only to see the band get on stage once we were out of the pit. The light was simply static but ok. Evan Dando didn’t move at all which resulted in very similar pictures. In situation like these, there’s nothing you can do but make sure you try every angle and bag 3 or 4 usable frames.

The rest of the pictures in the slideshow below or here:

I love those moments just after the lights go out, a few seconds before the band appears on stage. Fans scream, .. you know that you’re up soon. Nightwish had a killer show opening which intensified the said feeling, .. awesome. The band was created in 1996 and has toured a lot, which you can notice in the way they behave on stage. They love to be there and they’re not afraid to share that with the crowd. The mixture of Anette Olson’s voice, heavy guitar tune and the drums make for a very impressive sound.

On a technical note is was quite ok, we only had two songs which makes you choose wisely when it comes to camera/lens change. I for one choose the 28-75 F2.8 since the stage was really interesting and I didn’t want to crop too much out of it. The 28-75 gives me that flexibility when shooting a stage as big as the one in the Rockhal. The light was good, although drastic changes in intensity made adjustment a necessity.

The rest of the pictures in the slideshow below or here:

Sonic Season appeared as a support act for Sinéad O’Connor last night. They played an unplugged version of some of their songs. I really enjoyed their performance. They will be playing at the Rockhal Café the 20th of April. Check them out, it’s certainly worth your time…

On a technical note the light was quite bad for this one. Orange/Yellow and no changes at all.

The rest of the pictures here or in the slideshow below:

I got to know the name Sinéad O’Connor along with most of my generation because of “Nothing compares to you”. I remember how fascinated I was, by the song and by the person. I’ve never seen her perform live before last night. I was very impressed by her “down to earth” attitude and most of all, her voice. If you think she sounds good on CD you need to hear her live ……

She is touring to promote her new album released earlier this year “How about I be me”. On a side note, she’s the first performer to honestly smile at us and say good bye when we left the pit. That was a nice touch.

On a technical note: The light was ok but not very interesting. The first song was dominated by harsh blues, the rest of the two following songs were a mixture between orange and yellow. The pit was really crowded which heavily impaired movement. The rest of the band was in the dark most of the time, nothing to be done there. We don’t choose the light, we have to deal with what we get ….

The rest of the pictures here or in the slideshow below:

I am thrilled and surprised to say that my picture came in amongst the Top 5 weekly pictures at NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals).

It was actually quite a fast one, we were walking back to the backstage area when I saw Schmigga goofing around in the hallway. It was quite dark and I knew that to correctly expose him I would have to overexpose the walls which I thought might give a nice effect. I actually went back there later with the whole band as the result was quite amazing.

It shows again that you should keep your eyes open. Nice location can be found anywhere, and most of the time we just walk by without seeing them and thus missing nice opportunities.

These two pictures were taken with the Canon 1D Mk4 at ISO 1600 f2.8 at 1/100th of a second and ISO 1000 f2.8 at 1/125th of a second. The lens that I used was the Canon 15mm Fisheye.

I’ve photographed Porn Queen a number of times now, and every time is a bloody treat …. it’s a pleasure to watch them play on stage. This  is one of my favorite photographs of them.

I really start to enjoy Black & White concert photography, especially when it’s Rock, it somehow convey’s the feeling of the gig in a more effective way. I converted this one with Nik’s Silver FX Pro, it’s an awesome tool that gives me a lot of flexibility for my conversions. I cut down the time it takes to convert my pictures to B&W to 15 minutes, where before in Photoshop it took me close to 30 minutes to get to what I liked.

Here are some of the shots I did with the guys backstage yesterday. No flash in any of the pictures, .. as there was very little time.

When you shoot backstage before or after a gig you have to be fast, there’s no time to twiddle around with strobes or lenses. I usually put one fast lens on my camera, check out the location for interesting spots to take the pictures. Once you’ve got all the guys together you’ve only got a few minutes. You have to make them count !

All pictures taken with the 1D Mk4 and the 15mm F2.8 or 28-75mm F2.8

The rest of the backstage pictures here or below in the slideshow:

When the guys from Project 54 called me and told me they’d got me full access at the venue to photograph they’re CD Release concert, I was thrilled. As a concert photographer you don’t get that kind of access very often, and when you do …. the pressure is on!!

Their performance was flawless and as usual they were a treat to photograph.

On a technical note: The light was all  over the place, from excellent to downright bad. I had a lot of angles to cover  but no time restriction. Si I choose to photograph everything with the 1D Mk4. I did use the 15mm F2.8, 28-75mm F2.8 and 70-200mm F2.8 for these photographs.

The rest of the pictures here or in the slideshow below:

The first time I’ve heard the Jezabels was while watching an awesome Youtube video from Danny MacAskill (The Jezabels song starts around 02:39) . I was hooked straight away and bought their album “The Prisoner”, which didn’t disapoint. I was thrilled when I was told they were coming to Luxembourg. Hayley Mary’s voice is simply put mesmerizing …. awesome gig. Check them out if you get a chance.

On a technical note: The light was very difficult on this one, the scene quite simple, which made interesting compositions hard to get. There was no pit so movement was limited. I changed between the 28-75mm and the 70-200mm quite a lot. I didn’t move too much away from ISO 2000 through the three songs.

The rest of the pics here or below in the slideshow:

Last night I had the chance to photograph Chris Rea, who performed live at the Rockhal here in Luxembourg. A singer, songwriter and guitarist whose career spans for over 25 years. He released 23 Albums, …. a very impressive career. I can’t help but feel a different kind of pressure when photographing somebody who’s been successfully around for so many years. The show was quite impressive, a must for Mr. Rea’s fans!

On a technical note: We were asked to choose a side before the concert started. No more information. I choose the right side. I was stuck there for the 3 songs, besides the stage as it was a seated concert and the promoters obviously didn’t want photographers blocking the view for their paying guests. I had no choice but use the 70-200 mm for the whole gig. Tried to move back an forth to get some different angles. The last shot in this post is a panoramic shot composed of 5 pictures. I thought I would try that give the circumstances.

The rest od the pictures here or in the slideshow below:

When Lucas called me and told me that they were going to tour with Richie Kotzen all through Europe I was absolutely thrilled. Porn Queen’s an amazing Band. They worked so hard, .. and seeing all that hard work being paid out it simply awesome. I wanted to shoot them on the first gig of their tour, which by chance was here in Luxembourg.

On a technical note: No pit, …… arghhhhh. But hey, … improvisation is part of the job as a concert photographer, isn’t it? I used a lot of different lenses for this gig. I just had to adapt. The light was not that bad. And for those who wonder, … no I didn’t use a single flash for the Backstage picture. I used the diffuse light of a very complex light source with an even more complex light modifier: A fridge

The rest of the pictures here or below in the slideshow:

When I was approached to shoot the festival Art Against Discrimination a few month ago I didn’t know what it was about or what the lineup would be looking like. Once I dug into it, ….. well I had no choice but to accept. I really loved the concept of the Festival: Local Bands, a good cause, and loads fun. It turned out to be a very nice evening, a lot of nice people, very good atmosphere and some nice music.

On a technical note: The light was not easy to work with. All I had during the first gig was bright blues with some magenta, all coming from the back and very little light coming from the front. Thank god, it changed during the evening. I used the 1D only with the 70-200mm, 28-75mm and 15mm.

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

Alpha Academy from Göttingen played as a support group to Guano Apes at Den Atelier the other night. They rocked pretty well, I loved their sound and so did the crowd.

On a technical note: The light was not at it’s best for the gig. Very dark, very plain and the pit was nearly as crowded as for the main gig. I used the 28-75 F2.8 all through the 3 songs.

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

When “Open your eyes” was released back in 1996 (yes, … I am that old) I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough of that song. I loved their album “Proud like a god” …. and no I didn’t learn to snowboard because of them. That’s an entirely different story. Anyways Luxembourg was part of their tour to promote their new album “Bel Air”. The show was amazing, it’s during gigs like this that I usually realize how much I love that job. A very nice first concert of the year ….

On a technical note: The pit was really crowded, movement had to be kept to a minimum. The light in the first song was really good, during the second and third it was not really a walk in the park. I used the Canon 1D MkIV with the Canon 15mm F2.8 and the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 for the three songs.

The rest of the pictures below or on flickr here.

I’ve photographed Selah Sue in March 2011 for the first time. I was deeply impressed by her performance, and was looking forward to photogrpraph here again. This time at the Rockhal, a bigger venue which was packed.

Technical note: The light varied greatly between the first 3 songs, which was nice for a change. The background remained quite dark though, which made me focus a lot more on portraits that the whole scene.

The rest of the pictures here or in the slideshow below:

I photographed William Fitzsimmons for the first time back in 2009, he was here as a support act. I got to talk a bit with him after his gig and found him to be very inspiring. I bought a CD and still listen to it on a regular basis today. When I heard that he was touring I was really hoping he would make a stop in Luxembourg. The waiting paid out, I’ve rarely experienced a crowd so quite during a song that you are actually afraid to hit the shutter release, ….. but that’s the way a William Fitzsimmons concerts is to be enjoyed.

On a technical note: It was a very nice and easy concert to photograph. The second song was red light only, and since the whole set was quite static I didn’t shoot too many pictures during this one. For the other two songs the light was normal. Bright white/yellow on Mr. Fitzsimmons with the remaing members of the group left in shadows. I shot all the pics with the 28-75mm F2.8.

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

When Heather Nova started singing “Island”, … the room just fell silent. Her voice is mesmerizing, you can’t help put listen and get the goosebumps. It’s really hard to resist the urge to put down the camera and listen. I am sure that if there is such a thing as reincarnation, well she must have been a Mermaid in a former life.

I’ve seen Heather Nova a few times now and I am always blown away by her performance. And judging by the reaction from the crowd, I am not the only one. The mixture of her voice and a very strong guitar makes for a concert not to be missed.

On a technical note: The light was really bad for this one, most of the time it was on white or yellow spot on her and very dim if any light in the background. It made it hard if not impossible to pick up any detail in the background. I used the 28-75 F2.8 and the 70-200 F2.8.

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

I remember the first time I’ve heard Razorblade, It was while Snowboarding  in Italy, … I was hooked straight away. I’ve listened so many time to “History for sale”. Coming Closer is just an amazing song. I was hoping to able to photograph them one day. Well the day has come …

It was the last gig of their tour, and you could see they were exhausted, but they delivered anyways. Justin’s Furstenfeld’s voice is impressive on the recorded albums but it is unbelievable live.

On a technical note: The light was difficult for this one. There was no in-between, very harsch or very low. Since I photograph in Manual mode I had to change settings all the time. While it is a good practice to get the feeling for the light it makes it difficult to be spot on with your metering. But it makes for a nice challenge. I’ve shot the whole gig with my trusty 28-70F2.8.

The rest of the photographs below or on flickr here.

The guys from Project 54 asked me if I was willing to go and photograph them for a whole concert with all stage access. It was not in me to decline such a nice offer, …. I did this once or twice before for other bands and I must say it’s a change to no be restricted to the pit and have more than 3 songs to photograph a performance. I do however still try no to be too intrusive, for the band and for the spectators. They didn’t pay to see a photographer running around on stage.

Technically: The guys asked for the lighting technician not to use red spots too much.  It’s a dream come true  .. they used them once or twice during the whole gig. The light was varried and quite ok, yellows, greens, magentas, blues you name it. I used the 1D only and switched lenses. I used the 14mm Fisheye, 28-75 mm, 70-200 mm, 50 mm and 85 mm. Give the luxury of time I wanted to test my two fixed focal lenses. I was quite impressed, although they remove a lot of needed mobility in the pit. I don’t think I would use them in a really crowded pit.

The rest of the pictures below in the slideshow or here:

Last week I’ve photographed Madalena Alberto in London. While planning the session I decided to use two very different sets. First I had access to a Pub (Distiller’s Pub) for the occasion many thanks to Simon for this. For the second set I planned on going down into a tube station and shoot on the platform with a train as a background. It was a bit different kind of shoot for me as I didn’t the location at all. I’ve seen some pictures on the internet but we all know how relying on that sometimes turns out…

But everything worked out fine, I was there half an hour earlier to scout the location and set up my light, yes you heard it right: I just brought a speedlite with a 60cm Softbox just on case. I wanted to use a maximum of ambient light since I’ve seen on the pictures from the website that the pub had huge windows.

The challenge in the tube station was the light. I wanted to remain mobile and I didn’t want to run the risk of being thrown of the platform which is the reason I didn’t use any flash for this set. I’ve always wanted to shoot in a tube station, ……

I really enjoyed this shoot for all it’s challenges and for getting to know Madalena, she is a very talented artist. Make sure you check out her website and listen to her CD, she’s got an amazing voice.

The whole set can be seen below in the slideshow or here on flickr:

The last time James Blunt was in Luxembourg I wasn’t taking any pictures. I went to listen/see the concert. I was deeply impressed by his performance, he’s one of those rare artists you can see that their performance is rooted deeply within. When I was told he was coming back I knew I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to photograph him. And once again he delivered a very intense performance.

Notes from the Pit: I was expecting very sober lighting and not too much movement. So I planned on putting on a long lens and take my time for some nice close ups. But it was different this time, the stage was a lot more colorful, so I ended up using the 70-200mm and the 28-75mm. We had only two songs, which  Mr Blunt spend at the Microphone with his guitar, which was a bit sad for us photographers.

The rest of the pictures in the slideshow below or here:

Golden Kanine played as the support act to Mando Diao. They have their own style which is quite difficult to categorize, but that’s not always a bad thing. In this case it definitely is not. I loved them, …. I might be going out on a limb here but they reminded me a bit of  Mumford and Son’s, …. maybe one of their influences? They are definitely worth having a listen to.

Photographically it was different, but different in a very nice way. The light was moody and fitted their music perfectly. Simple white strobes as front lights and back lights, well aimed at instruments and faces. It’s the first time I’ve had that kind of light during a concert. It actually came pretty close to studio lighting. And the moody light made me want to convert some of the pictures to B&W….

The rest of the pictures can be seen below in the slideshow or here.

Everybody knows the song “dance with somebody” that wouldn’t stop playing on the radio. When I heard that Mando Diao were planning an acoustic tour and that Luxembourg would be part of the tour I knew I had to photograph them. I was somewhat disappointed though as it wasn’t really an unplugged concert. What they called “unplugged” was actually only an addition of classical instruments to their usual set.

From a photographer’s perspective it was a mixture as well. The background was really nice for this gig and the light (when there was some) was quite ok, all warm tones. But most of the time it was no light or red light. If there’s a light technician reading this, …. what is it with artists and red light?

I was @ Den Atelier because Project 54 asked me to come and photograph them. I didn’t realize that the main act was Simple Plan. Nice surprise eh, …. such a surprise that I forgot to post the  pics on my blog. Anyways, here they are. Great band, great show, great crowd. What more can you ask for ?

From a photographers perspective it was a tough one. Small stage, 5 people and boy they were all over the place. The pit was crowded so that there was nearly no room for movement. While this is awesome for the crowd, it’s incredibly difficult as a photographer to see everything that’s going on on stage. Since I was stuck in one position for all three songs I shot most of the pictures with the 15 mm F2.8.

The rest of the pics here or below in the slideshow:

A few tips before starting ….

When I put a full card back into the card box I make sure to insert it upside down into the card holder. There are two reasons to that, the first one is that I won’t use the same card again by mistake (it sounds stupid, … but never say never. Trust me on this one) and the second one is that it might save me some time in looking for which card was used or not when I am back at my workstation. One could argue to delete/format the cards straight after the import. True, but at the time I import my pics, the camera bag still sits in the trunk of my car.

The import

The first thing that happens (I know, sounds logical but stick with me on this one) is the import onto my local hard drive. I do that via Lightroom. I change the filenames so that they represent the subject I photographed, the date and a sequence number. I take great care of tagging all the pictures for later use in LR , flickr or even in WordPress for search tags.  I use the “backup” function within Lightroom that actually saves a second copy of my RAW files to my NAS residing in my local network. I should add here that I also have a copy going to an external drive attached directly to my Mac. I am in the process of testing some online backup solutions but haven’t found anything suitable yet. I’ll make sure to blog about it as soon as I have found anything interesting. It is very important to me to backup all my files before I do anything with them, in fact I won’t touch any of the files until I know I’ve got a backup on at least two different locations. For those who wonder if they read correctly, …. yes I shoot in RAW and only in RAW. The control I have over the file is way more important to me than the space on the card.

The selection

I start with a very rough selection in which I eliminate every picture that has a technical default like being out of focus or too soft, badly exposed and so on. And by that I mean delete from the disk, not only from my selection. I still have a copy on my backups just in case but I don’t see the point of wasting space on my local drive with pictures I won’t use at all. Now I select the ones that are interesting enough to keep looking at. To do that I use the “flag” function in lightroom. After the first pass I activate the filter and set it to flagged only. Now I go through my selection again and unflag all those in which I don’t like the composition. In concert photography you don’t always have time to compose your pictures, when the lead guitarist starts posing 20 cm in front of your camera the first thing you do is to hit that shutter release and hope that the picture is sharp and in focus. I resume this until it leaves me with only the pictures I like the best from the set. That usually leaves me with enough pictures to deliver to whatever media hired me. I then put them all together into a collection.

Adjustments

This is where my workflow changes depending on what I’ve photographed. For non concert pictures I would add a Photoshop or Plug-In software part to this step, but since this is my concert photography blog I will focus on concerts only. I normally start by adjusting the white balance, I do that because I shoot on “Auto White Balance” only. Since the lights are somewhat “changing” during concerts the white balance is all over the place. I have not found a way yet to nail it at every shot, so I set it to Auto and ajust accordingly in Lightroom during the post processing phase. I sometimes add a little of  ”Fill” in Lightroom and boost the contrast a bit. The next step here would be noise reduction. I actually don’t use the noise reduction very often any more because I like a certain amount of noise in my concert photographs and to be honest since I use the Canon 1DMkIV noise is not really a problem. Lately I give all my concert pics a certain “tint” that I adapt to the band’s style. Purists might argue that it changes the feel of the concert but I just like to give a little touch of something.

The export

Due to the variety in  social networking I have different exports to do for my concert pictures. The first one is for the Media I shoot for. I use a preset that I’ve created for that as it rarely changes.

Then I select two or three pictures that I will include in the Blog post. The rest goes to flickr into separate sets. I also use the flickr gallery to include in my post. All of my pictures that go onto social networking sites will be watermarked. I know it’s a topic on it’s own and I know that most people out there can remove them in about 2 minutes, but it might put some people off. On that note I’d like to write here that I’ve always given the permission to people to use my pictures on their websites or blogs as long as it’s not commercial and as long as I am credited as the photographer. And I know for a fact that a lot of my photographer colleagues do the same. So peopel, …..  there’s really no point in stealing pictures …….. just ask.

Well that’s about it, …. while it looks like a lot of work when written down it all takes approximatively 30 to 40 minutes per concert.

The concert opened up with a local band called Los Dueños Del Ska which managed to get the crowd going. It was actually impressive to see so many people already at the beginning of the festival. They play an interesting mixture of Ska, Raggae and Punk music. I hope to see more of them at a later stage, …..

De Läb was next, a well known local Hip Hop / Rap band. They’ve won a bunch of new fans due to their appearance at the festival. I talked to some people who didn’t know them before, … but really dug their performance.

Lucy Lucy was somewhat different, they started with slower songs but then took off with some faster tunes that made people move from the back of the area to the stage in one giant wave, ….. quite impressive really.

The Subways, …. ahhh, … they were amazing. Pure energy and fun on stage. It’s a delight to see people giving everything on stage and loving every moment of it. It was an impressive gig to watch and to listen to.

Many of the people present came mainly for their gig:  Sunrise Avenue. They gave a very solid performance, even “hinted” that they would be back in Luxembourg next year which had the expected impact on the crowd. Everybody went nuts when they played “Hollywood Hills”. They’ve performed a kind of “jam” session which included tunes from Europe, Van Halen and I think I heard part of the “Top Gun” riff in there somewhere …..

I never heard of them before, people told me to be prepared for something …. different. Well let me tell you that this was the surprise of the day for me: Shaka Ponk. If I was asked to categorize their style I would be unable to do so, and I doubt that anybody can …..  Rock, Funk, Pop ……. they’re all over the place, musically and literally. Not only were they a treat to listen to, … but they were amazing to photograph.

I guess there’s no need for an introduction when it comes to Kaiser Chiefs. I thought the place was packed when Sunrise Avenue was performing, but more people arrived to watch Kaiser Chiefs’ performance. The music was good, but the light was aweful. Taking photographs was quite difficult in these conditions.

Here’re the links to the flickr sets where you can see all the photographs from the different gigs:

Los Dueños Del Ska
De Läb 
Lucy Lucy !
The Subways
Sunrise Avenue
Shaka Ponk
Kaiser Chiefs

Last sunday the Festival des Terres Rouges marked the end of the open air concert season 2011. The lineup was quite impressive with acts like Sunrise Avenue, The Subways and Kaiser Chiefs and some more. Eventsmania, the team responsible for the organisation did a tremendous job organising an event of this magnitude. I was tasked to take some pictures of the Meet & Greets for Sunrise Avenue and The Subways which was new to me but quite a pleasant surprise.

Both bands were very open with their fans and took some time for a chat and to give autographs. It seemed to be quite an experience for their fans judging by the look on their faces….

The rest of the Meet & Greet pictures for Sunrise Avenue here and for The Subways here or below in the slideshows:

The boys from Project 54 were thrilled to be playing as the opening act for Simple Plan @ Den Atelier last night. I’ve photographed them before at a Festival, my first impression hasn’t changed…. they rock. The crowd last night was a testimony to that as well. It was a VERY nice way to start the “season”.

Photographers note: It was dark, and then bright, then dark, … then red…. you get the picture. The light was not great but there were enough moments with enough light to get some decent shots. I’ve used the 28-75 F2.8 and 15F2.8 for this gig. It’s also the first time I’ve used my new Think Tank Retrospective 20 bag which is as from now my official Concert Bag. I’ll write an in-depth review about it as promised.

The rest of the pics below or by clicking here:

]]> http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=2434 0 http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=2387 http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=2387#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:13:21 +0000 Tom http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=2387 I was asked this so many times that I decided to write a post about it. This post differs a lot to what readers are used to,  forgive me for a changing the proportions from a less text/more pics to less pics/more text….. it’s a one off, …. promise, ….

The first time Lucas (Porn Queen’s singer)  told me that they might have a shot at playing as a support act for Slash in Paris at “Le Zenith” I was so thrilled for them. I mean they’ve been working so hard and non-stop for month, that this was the best that could have happened to them. But when he told me that they would like to have me there with them, as their photographer, …… I had to think really hard for ……. 1 microsecond.

When the confirmation came in that it was possible for me to tag along I was informed that I had full access to the backstage and the pit, but that I had to do a “promo” shoot including Lucas and Fred (lead guitar) holding the guitars that Gibson was kindly lending them for the gig. No pressure, … no pressure …. 

So there I was with the task at hand: 1. Making it to Paris ( trust me, Paris by car is a nightmare) 2. Finding “Le Zenith’s” backstage entry ( if you thought driving in Paris was a nightmare, … try finding the backstage entry of “Le Zenith”) 3. Doing a promo shoot at an unknown location 4. Photographing Porn Queen’s gig 5. Photographing Slash’s gig 6. Documenting the backstage area

The big question here was the gear, I had to remain mobile but I also had to be flexible and ready for anything, as I didn’t know what to expect from the backstage area. I brought my regular concert gear plus two Canon Speedlites, two Walimex Octobox for compact flashes and a whole bunch of other lenses just …. you know…. to be ready. Well in this case I learned it the hard way, ……. sometimes less is more. In a backstage environment like the one we had in Paris nothing is sure and anything can happen at any time or not at all. The key element was to have the camera ready with a fast lens at all times. I did not use a flash or a softbox or any other piece of gear except my cameras and two lenses. 

I planned to setup two lights for the promo shoot and use a very nice metallic wall as a background, ….. the pictures would have been killer shots. As I was testing my light I was politely told that at that time taking pictures in the backstage area was not allowed for a reason I did not and still do not understand. Ok,….. think and adapt. We’ll do the shot in Porn Queen’s lounge room. 3 x 4 meters white walls all around, all their gear, all my gear, furniture and and and…… we managed some descent shots any ways.

Next was Porn Queen’s gig. Nothing new there, I photographed them several times already. I planned on taking some awesome shots from the stage down into the crowd, … that is until I was told 3 songs only and no stage access with camera. What ….. ??? No chance “Zentih” policy, I was free to watch from the stage but without camera. Ok, ….

They played and they rocked the place, ….. the crowd was amazing. The guys were having a very intensive time on stage. When they were done I had time enough to get ready for Slash’s gig. Swap cards, download everything on my trusty P-5000 and zero the camera. No surprises here, 3songs no flash, they way I am used to it.  Once I was done, … a nice meal was awaiting us backstage, prepared by some really good catering service I cannot remember the name off. I was eating dinner, 20 meters away from Slash starting his gig, … it can’t get better than that. I watched the rest of the show from the back of the stage and was hoping for some pics with Slash and his Band after the show.

After the gig the band came down to chat, …. Todd Kerns, Myles Kennedy, Bobbi Schneck and Brent Fitz. Took some pictures of them and the guys from Porn Queen and basically enjoyed the moment. Slash came down quite late and was a bit in a hurry. Time enough to take some pics and sign some CD covers (yes I’ve got one too, … thanks to Chris). Then they had to leave for the next gig.

We finished the night by emptying the beer from a fridge in a small Turkish Restaurant in Paris, the only place left open we could find, and had a laugh…….

It was a really awesome trip which was very different from my regular “Pit” work here in Luxembourg. Things work differently out there, you have to be very flexible and adapt to the situation at hand. Otherwise you might get back home with THE shot. I found it very difficult to find the right balance between bending the rules and not being too pushy.

You can see the Porn Queen concert pictures here, the Slash concert pictures here and the backstage pictures here.

The summer break comes to an end for us concert photographers (finally) , so make sure you check back soon enough. The season starts off with a bang : Sunrise Avenue, Kaiser Chiefs, James Blunt, Lenny Kravitz and many more….

Fred and Lucas from Porn Queen were contacted by Gibson and asked if they wanted to get some guitars to try during their gig in Paris. With that they asked for some promo pictures to be taken during the day. I had a whole plan setup with two flashheads and a plan. However that plan got scratched by security who didn’t allow me to setup in the backstage area. Time was running short, so I decided to do the shoot in the loge which was 3 m x 4 m max. I had to get creative …. so I decided to go back to the roots, … emptied the room ditched the flashheads and used my camera with a Fisheye 15mm and 28-75mm.

Some more pictures can be seen here or below:

]]> http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=2417 2 http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=2409 http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=2409#comments Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:09:42 +0000 Tom http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=2409

Here the shots from Slash’s performance in Paris Le Zenith. As last time I photographed him the show was memorable. This time around I was allowed backstage so I watched it from a different angle, and let me tell you, …. wow. The Zenith was sold out and the fans were going nuts, ….. security had a lof of work that evening.

And for those who wondered, Slash and his band are very nice people. I am honored to have been there that day.

As the last time, the challenge here is balancing dark and light parts of the frame. Due to Slash’s hat and hair, the face is always quite dark, and usually there’s a bright white spot aimed at his guitar. It’s a constant battle of having enough detail in the face and not blowing the guitar and hands out too much. I used the 1D & 5D with the 70-200 and 28-75 for this gig.

The rest of the pictures below of by clicking here:

Porn Queen performed in front of a sold out “Le Zenith” last night. Their show was memorable and I am sure there’s going to be some talk going around for them. They did also release a limited edition of their EP last night in Paris. Check them out, they rock, ….

The light was not that goog this time around. The guys were mainly lit by strong backlights and very few frontlights. A lot of reds and magentas.  I used the 1D and 5D combined with the 28-75 and 70-200.

As usual the you can see the pictures below or here:

Yesterday I was fortunate to travel to Paris with Porn Queen as their photographer, where they played as support act for Slash. The experience can only be described as AWESOME …… They (Porn Queen) rocked the Zenith so that people were screaming for more. Slash’ band and himself were very nice and forthcoming. And boy the food backstage was excellent. It was funny as well to enter the pit from the back for once ..

These shots were taken after the show behing the Zenith. For me it was an experience that I certainly won’t forget.

The rest of the shots here:

The last set from the RUK 2011. Texas was the headliner of the evening, and they delivered a show that certainly pleased the huge crowd.

By the time they were on stage it was dark outside which led to a more dim light, that we’re used to during concerts. The was one main light on Sharleen Spiteri, leaving the rest of the stage quite dark. A challenger here was the sharp shadow of the Microphone due to the harsh front light.

The rest of the pictures below or here.

Another set form last nights Festival, Project 54 from Trier in Germany. It was the first time I’ve heard them live, and boy, … they’re good. If you get a chance to see them don’t hesitate.

The rest of the pics below or here.

I went to photograph some local and some international bands at the “Rock um Knuedler 2011″ festival yesterday. Porn Queen was part of them and as usual they rocked the place………

Photographically it was ok, since it was still daylight outside, there was no real challenge in terms of light. The smoke however proved to be a pain in the a… I used the Canon 1D MK4, the Canon 5D with the 70-200 and 28-75 all through the sets.

As always, the rest of the pics are below or here.

A few weeks ago we shot some promo pictures for the Fred Barreto Group. An excellent Blues/Rock band that we met during the Porn Queen shoot. The whole session was done in and around a castle here in Luxembourg.

Make sure you check out the rest of the pictures in the slide show below or on flickr by clicking here.

And stop by my Facebook page and like it

The doors were to open at 19:30, when I arrived at 20:00 the outside of the venue was like I’ve rarely seen it before. People, … everywhere you looked, young and old. I was a “different”. The artist of the evening was Enrique Iglesias on his Euphoria tour. His fans were mad, yelling, crying and singing.

Photographically it was not so much fun. We were confined into one corner of the pit for the entire 3 songs, and if that was not enough they stuck a guy filming with a huge camera in front of us. Luckily we were able to swap places amongst each other to get some different shots

The light was good though, beautiful stage as well. It was a shame I couldn’t use the stage more for my compositions as a background due to my position. I used the Canon 5D with the 70-200mm F2.8 for nearly the entire show. A lot of the three first songs were in deep blue though.

The rest of the pictures below or on flickr.

I know the guys from Everwaiting Serenade quite a while now. They were actually the first band I photographed live, and I did their Promo Shoot back in 2010. When they told me they were to release a new CD and that they would like me to come and photograph the CD-Release Concert I was really honored. The location was the excellent and impressive “Food for your senses” Festival here in Luxembourg.

The light was tough, and the guys are really fast. But I knew that before I went They had mainly Led’s that went from bright to red to nothing. You can guess what kinda tricks that plays on your camera. I used the 5D with the Fisheye 15mmF2.8 and the 1D with the 28-75mmF2.8. The nice thing about this gig was that I was allowed on the stage as well.

The rest of the pics below or here on flickr:

Ayo released her first Album in 2006 and had a lot of success in Europe and in the US as well. She’s been around music since she was 6. You can see that she feels the music on stage, which is always nice to photograph. The club was stuffed with people who sang along and made for a vey nice athmosphere.

Photographically it was quite simple. She was mostly lit by some good direct light with some interesting backlight going on and off. I used the 1D, 5D with the 70-200F2.8 and 28-75F2.8 for this gig.

See the pictures in the slideshow below or on flickr here.

Tricky (born Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws) is a former member of “Massive Attack”. He left “Massive Attack” and released his first album “Maxinquaye” which was nominated for the Mercury Prize and won the title Album of the Year by NME magazine.

Before the show started the Light-Tech came out and told us that the light was going to be “difficult”. There would not be any direct light, except for some very short bursts to the face. The main light (and only one) would be blue and at chest high, with only spills onto the face. I instantly changed the settings of my 1D to ISO 6400 and decided to leave the 5D in the bag as at 6400 the image quality would bot be constant in these lighting conditions. I used the 1D in combination with the 28-75F2.8 for the three songs. Since the light never changed I converted quite a few to B&W to keep the selection interesting.

As usual the rest of the pictures below in the slideshow or on flickr here:

When One Republic announced that they were performing at “Den Atelier” on April 21st the concert was sold out in the blink of an eye. What they did then is (to me at least) one of the biggest show of respect to their fans…. they promptly decided to come one day earlier and play another gig on April 20th. It was sold out as fast as the first one …

One Republic was formed in 1996 by Ryan Tedder and Zach Filkins but it wasn’t until 2007 that they had their breakthrough with “Apologize”. They’ve released two albums so far and are rumoured to be working on their third one.

The venue was so crowded it was next to impossible to get into the pit. The correct wording to describe One Republic’s  performance is  : honest and strong. There was a variation in the songs that made them sound so much different than on the original recordings. All in all a show that is not to be missed ….. very professional, not afraid to improvise and be creative.

From a photographic perspective it wasn’t the easiest show to photograph. The changes from light to dark were so fast that I barely had time to adjust my exposure, let alone check on the images. Most of the pictures I took were exposed out of experience/feeling rather than the more precise shooting/checking “method”. The pit was very narrow and the stage quite long, so I choose speed over versatility and stuck with one camera only during the three songs. The combo was the 1D MkIV with the 28-75F2.8. I am so grateful for the high ISO capability of the 1D, the added flexibility in dark situation is worth every €.

The rest of the pictures can be seen below or on flickr.

Trey Songz performed at a nearly sold out venue tonight. The crowd was absolutely mad from start to finish. He made it to Luxembourg for his Passion, Pain & Pleasure tour, an Album he released on September 14th 2010.

I used the 1D an the 5D in combination with the 28-75 F2.8 and the 15F2.8 Fisheye for this gig. The stage was clear of any obstacles which made it the perfect gig to use the Fisheye a bit. The light varied heavily from bright to less bright, but nothing too tough.

The rest of the pictures below or on flickr here:

Jamiroquai was formed in 1992 and was initially the most prominent component of the London Acid Jazz movement. Jason “Jay” Kay, the frontman of the Band has a huge presence on scene and makes it difficult to focus on the rest of the band. Jamiroquai promotes their latest album “Rock Dust Star Light” during this tour which we were lucky enough to be part of.

Photographically speaking it was very challenging,  the stage was very high and littered with monitors and cameras. It left us with very few spots to shoot from, add to that the fact that we were 12 photographers in the pit. The light was quite good as you’d expect from a show like this. I used the 28-75f2.8 om the 5D and the 70-200 on the 1D. I planned on using the Fisheye as well but after seeing the clutter on the stage I decided against it.

The rest of the pictures on flickr or in the slideshow below.

Fred (Porn Queen guitarist) asked me to shoot some portraits for upcoming gigs and promo in the studio. Obviously I took up the challenge and we met in the studio, had a chat, laughed and took some pictures. I let you look for yourselves.

Most of us know Yael Naim from the MacBook Air publicity add with the song “New Soul”. She’s also sang the song “You disappear” in the movie “Harrison’s Flowers” (excellent movie btw), and she performed in the musical “Les dix commandements”. I guess a résumé like that  says a lot about her talent. During the 3rd song she moved away from her Microphone for a moment an came really close to the pit and started singing, ….. I was blown away by her voice, the strength in it is awesome. She’s a tremendous performer.

Photographer’s perspective: The light was weird for this venue. It was quite sophisticated in a way but harsh. There was always a white spot on Yael, but the surroundings were very colorful. It makes for a different coloration in the pictures. We had her sitting for two songs at the piano which made 1 square meter a crowded spot for 5 photographers but other than that it was very interesting. I used the 1D and the 28-75mmF2.8 exclusively for this concert.

You can see the rest of the pictures in the slideshow below or a higher res version on flickr.

Big news …. I’ve got a photo exhibit coming up in April. Check out the Flyer above ……..

It will be held at the KuFa from April 29th to May 8th. The “vernissage” is on Friday 29th of April at 18:30. Regular viewing times after that are 15:00 to 19:00 (except on Monday’s)

See ya there.

Anthem of the sun was playing at the Exit07 last weekend. It’s a promising new and young band. We did their promo shoot for the upcoming EP release. You can check them out on their myspace site here. They have a violoniste in the band who plays an electric violin, which makes for a very interesting and uncommon sound.

Photographer’s perspective: It was a challenge, as the light was not the easiest and the violoniste was playing in the far corner without light. I had to crank the ISO way up to get some pictures with him on it. I used the 28-75mm F2.8, 70-200F2.8 and 15mm 2.8 for this shoot.

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

I didn’t know too much about Selah Sue before accepting the assigment for this concert. Let me tell you that I was positively surprised. She performed in front of a good filled venue. She just released her latest Album two days ago. Have a listen to her music on myspace it will be worth your while. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. It’s always a tremendous pleasure to photograph an artist who feels the music.

Shooting this gig was somewhat exiting for me. It was the first one using the Canon 1D MkIV, let me say that I am nothing less than impressed by this camera. In terms of ISO and AF speed, this piece of technology is just, ….. awesome. I started of at ISO 2000 but went down to ISO 1600 later. I shot the whole 3 songs with the 28-75mm F2.8.

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

Two people from opposite musical extremities, Isobel Campbell former member of “Belle and Sebastien” and Mark Lanegan often referred to as one of the founders of Grunge. Sounds like a “special” combination, yet the mix is surprisingly good.

Maybe I am cursed with bad light this year. Or maybe there’s some kind of conspiracy amongst the artists against photographers. I had to use ISO3200 for most of the shots. And even then I was getting very close to the edge in terms of shutter speeds. There were parts during all three songs during which it was utterly useless to try to get some decent pictures. I shot the whole 3 songs with the 28-75F2.8 and 70-200F2.8. There was time enough to switch between lenses.

The rest of the pictures can be seen here or in the slideshow below:

We (infocus) hooked up with the guys and girl from Anthem of the sun two weeks ago to take some pictures in the studio for their upcoming EP. You can check them out on myspace here. They’ve recently won a selection to open up for Eternal Tango in last weeks show.

It was one of the fastest photo shoot’s ever, the time frame was cut from 90 minutes to 45. So we applied to same rule that stands in concert photography (and I guess many more domains in life), assess the situation, adapt and get started.

We used several lighting scenarios but nothing to complicated, two strobes front left (fill) and right (key), two strobes as kicker lights from the back, and one strobe for the background. Most of the pics were done using the 24-105mm. Even under the tight time frame, it was an enjoyable shoot with a result that we’re proud of.

]]> http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=2182 0 http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=2174 http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=2174#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 06:44:14 +0000 Tom http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=2174 Have a look at this short film from Astray Films, it is gorgeous.

The Band was formed  in 1988 in Hermosa Beach, California and released their first album in 1991. Since then they’ve released 9 albums in total and one more to come this year. Pennywise was supported by Red Tape Parade and The Bandgeek Mafia which warmed the crowd up quite well.

Photographer’s perspective: The light was actually quite good on this show, but boy I hate caps. It makes it all so difficult to get some light into the eyes without blowing out all the rest. Other than that it was quite ok. I was able to remain at ISO 1000 during all three songs. Come to think of it I might have gone to ISO 1250 for some shots. I used the 5D with the 28-75F2.8 only this time.

The rest of the pictures below in the slideshow or here:

An article I’ve written about concert and low light photography was published on “Five by Seven“. Check it out, and while you are there take the time to look around. The site is full of interesting and informative stuff about everything related to photography, gear, software, tutorials, interviews and more.

The pioneers of the big beat electronic dance genre came to the Rockhal  to promote their latest album “Further”.  The Chemical Brothers played at the launch event for the Wii, recorded motion picture sound tracks , released something like 7 Albums, a fair number of singles and a bunch of EP’s. They mix their concerts live on stage, I guess that says enough about what kind of artists Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons are.

Notes: Well this was by far the toughest show I had to photograph so far. There was no pit, we had to shoot from the back of the venue and there were 19 photographers, which didn’t make things easy. The light on Tom and Ed was ……… just non existant, and the screen that made for a fabulous show was the complete opposite in terms of light, … it was bright, very bright. Basically I had to find the middle ground in getting some light onto Tom and Ed’s faces without overexposing the background too much. All of this at ISO1600 and very low speeds. We had only two songs, all these elements made the selection tonight quite fast. To be honest I was tempted not to post any pictures, but these are the ones that I think are worth posting …

…. of the year again. This year was full of challenges for me, some of which I tackled and some of which I failed…….  I photographed +- 50 Concerts this year, published 2 or 3 articles, my blog has +-120.000 visits a month, pictures were published in magazines and newspaper, photographed two CD covers and I got to know a bunch of really nice and interesting people. But I think the important part here, and that one applies to everyone and not only myself , is that looking back on this year puts a smile on my face.

Here’s a “small” recap of the events that were important to me this year, you can click the links to see the pictures :

There was the excellent show from Epica in January which resulted in on of my all time favourite concert picture, the Everwaiting Serenade Band Promotional shoot which was a huge learning experience for InFocus and myself. The funny Roger Cicero gig where I was stuck on one meter square for two songs, the excellent and impressive Mika concert. I was blown away by Rodrigo y Gabriela’s performance, questioned my abilities as a concert photographer during the Deadmau5 gig. I was taken by surprise with Suicidal Tendencies playing Basketball in front of the venue. And then there was the fabulous Slash gig, which was great for two reasons: He actually signed some printed copies of pictures I’ve taken during the concert, and I got to meet the guys from Porn Queen which resulted in an amazing two part promotional shoot part I and part II. Then there was the explosive Pendulum concert that I really enjoyed. We did the Pale Obsession promotional shoot which was already used as a cd cover. After the summer break I was positively taken by surprise with the Aura Dione gig. Hurts was really impressive too, in the cosy atmosphere of “Den Atelier”. Biffy Clyro’s expressive show was also one not to miss. But one of the most impressive shows this year, at least for me, was the Taste of Chaos with Papa Roach, Halestorm, Buckcherry and Disturbed.

Voila, …. that was my part of 2010 in terms of concert photography. I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See ya all in 2011.

The guys from Pale Obsession finished the production of their CD, which is great by the way. Two picture from our promotional shoot were used. One in the booklet and one as the back cover of the CD case.

It’s a nice way to end the year …..

Actually I didn’t know what “Taste of Chaos” was. I just heard that Papa Roach was coming to Luxembourg and really really wanted to photograph them. I listen to Papa Roach since 2000 when I heard “Last Resort” for the first time. Let me tell you straight away, …. they kicked ass @ the Rockhal. I was a pleasure to photograph them. The guys were really on top of their game, and Jacoby Shaddix was unstoppable. Amazing show, ….

Photographer’s perspective: It was ….. fast. And since I love their music it was really hard for me to focus on taking pictures. The lights were harsh and changed a lot. The stage was huge which made keeping up with the band really tough. Same as all the sets I used the 28-75mm F2.8 and the 70-200mm F2.8.

The rest of the pics below or here.

I had never heard of Buckcherry before, but I was amazed by their performance. They do rock indeed as I was told before the show. Fans were present as well as the crowd could no stop cheering. At one point I wasn’t sure who was louder, the music or the ladies in the crowd when Josh Todd took of his Jacket. I was impressed with Steve D. their guitarist as well, .. he seems to be living the music he plays, … something less and less present on stage.

Photographer’s perspective: A great variety in lights, not too much shadows, good performance on stage. What more can you ask for as a photographer? It was a blast photographing Buckcherry.

Enjoy the pics below or in the slideshow here.

One of the great things about concert photography is that sometimes you get to see and hear bands or artists you’d never stumble upon by yourself. Halestorm blew me away big time. Lzzy Hale as a tremendous presence on stage. Hell I even bought a CD from the band at their stand. First time I’ve ever done that, …..

Photographer’s perspective: I was stuck in traffic and came late, I had only half of the last song

left to photograph, hence the low amount of pictures. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 only as there was not much time left. The lights were quite bad though, a lot of pinks, blues and reds.

When I bought the CD the band was out there to talk to fans, …and sign CD’s.

Thanks Dan for the pic.

The rest of the pics below or here.

Last night I had the opportunity to attend Taste of Chaos for the first time. I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew (and love) Papa Roach, but the rest of the lineup was not really known to me. Disturbed was the last band to perform.

From a photographers’s perspective it was not too difficult. The only thing to say here is that the light didn’t vary much. The screen in the background made for a nice change though. I changed between the 28-75mm F2.8 and the 70-200mm F2.8 during this set.

The rest of the pics as usual below or here.

Yes, I know,  I’ve posted this picture before. But did you notice the difference? This one was signed by Slash himself!! I am so thrilled by this ……

Due to Lucas from Porn Queen I was told that if I am to send a few copies of my picture to Slash himself he would sign them and send them back to me. And sign the picture he did. I took the photograph during his concert here in Luxembourg last summer.

Diamond Eyes is still in the myFavs playlist on my Ipod since the day I’ve heard it for the first time. They performed in front of a frantic crowd in a completely sold out venue. Chino Moreno was very energetic and didn’t mind stepping on the barriers to reach out to his fans. Even though it was very tough to photograph, I really enjoyed the show with hordes of fans ………

The light was what you’d expect from a band like Deftones, dark, a lot of red lights and fast movements by all the members of the band. The pit was really crowded which heavily restricted the way you could move. I switched between the 28-75mm F2.8 and the 15mm F2.8 Fisheye for this show.

The rest of the set in the slideshow here, or below:

The stage looked quite empty, except for some lighting panels in the back, I really wondered what it would be like. It turned out that it was exactly what Danko, JC and Dan  needed for delivering an energetic performance. If you can rate a band to the cheers they get from their crowd, I would say that the Canadian trio performed very very well.

The light was quite good and varied on this one. The big neon light panels in the back made for a very interesting stage, even though it was quite empty leaving a lot of space for Danko and JC to move around. Which in turn made it interesting for us photographers. I used the 70-200mm F2.8 and 28-75mm F2.8 on this one. I took some shots with the Fisheye but due to the large stage the picture were not really interesting.

You can see the complete set in the slideshow below or here.

Those who follow me on Twitter and Facebook know the pictures already, but here’s a small selection of the pictures taken during the promo session for Porn Queen.

You can see all the photographs of the girls on our InFocus page. It was a tremendous day photographing the Band and the girls, but I’ve said that before.

I will post the pictures from the Danko Jones Concert during the weekend, check them out when they’re online, there’s some keepers in the series.

]]> http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=2026 1 http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=1999 http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=1999#comments Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:08:07 +0000 Tom http://www.tomdimaggio.org/blog/?p=1999

Here we are with the second part of the shoot we did with Porn Queen. The location is the Rockbox Bar here in Luxembourg. The shoot lasted 5 hours, we took around 350 pictures. If you haven’t done so yet, go and listen to their music on their myspace page. The guys are awesome. They will be playing in the Rockbox on Saturday November 20th at 21:00.

Big thanks to Jamie (MUA), Aliona (Model), Mandy (Model), Nathalie (Model), Janine (Model), Mick (assist) and Tania (assist).

The lighting was the tough part for this shot. In general the bar is quite dim, but there are big windows on the left and right side which caused some trouble with our lighting setup. However it was a real blast doing this shoot with this awesome band. Check out their music on their website.

The whole set can be seen in the gallery below or here.

I don’t know if it were 365, but the stage was packed with shoes, boots and anything that one can call footwear. It was a nice setup, different from what we’re used to see. The young Aura Dione delivered a great performance tonight at the Rockhal. She is a very special and gifted artist.

I must have a lucky streak ’cause the light was excellent again. I was able to drop the ISO to 600 at certain moments. It set the stage for some experimenting with the lights. I used the 70-200mm F2.8, 14mm f2.8 and the 28-75mm F2.8 for this one. The only trouble was finding the right position as the stage was packed with shoes and stands.

The rest of the pictures below or higher res versions in the slideshow here.

When I was 15 I was wearing a self made Public Enemy T-Shirt. Yes, those were the times before the Internet where you could not get anything at anytime from anywhere in the world. I was really into Public Enemy. With time and a huge change in musical taste (not to mention a fashion change) which my parents welcomed for a few hours, I kind of forgot about them. When I saw the email asking me if I wanted to photograph them, I jumped at the occasion, not knowing what to expect. I was not disappointed. I was actually more than surprised. I was thrown back in time  from the first few seconds and had a blast photographing them.

Public Enemy has still got it, …. and I am thinking about getting that Beastie Boys CD out again…..

Photographically it was not the most difficult one to photograph. The light was quite good and varied, with the occasional bright white spotlight. I used the 28-75F2.8 for this gig only, but that’s only because we didn’t get the 3 promised songs. I was going to switch to the wide angle as there was a lot going on on stage.

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

Even though it was Halloween and tons of partys and places to Den Atelier was packed with fans from the Manchester band. By the time they played Wonderful Life the fans were screaming their lungs out.

Musically they were top notch, Theo Hutchcraft has an impressive voice, and when their backup singer opened up during Verona the venue was absolutely stunned.

Lighting was really tough. Blue toning was dominant here, some reg spots during the second song. As you can see I reverted to some Black & White conversions to get some diversity into the set. The stage was quite static, but apparently that’s one of Hurts trademark.

Enjoy the pictures below in the slideshow or in my Gallery here.

31/10/2010 Hurts                                
04/11/2010 AaRON
12/11/2010 Aura Dione
11/11/2010 Public Enemy
15/11/2010 Danko Jones
25/11/2010 Def Tones
03/12/2010 Papa Roach
05/12/2010 Herby Hancock
14/12/2010 I Muvrini
22/12/2010 Doro with Krypteria

I had the extreme pleasure to have a listen to the new Pale Obsession CD titles “Made of Glass”, and let me tell you that it is not only the cover that is excellent. The CD rocks and will definitely be part of my collection upon it’s release.

A picture from the “Suicidal Tendencies” concert was published in Luxuriant, a magazine last month, which is always a nice thing to happen.

The number of pictures that are being used without my knowledge on other peoples sites is growing at an amazing speed. People, …… ask me, as long as it is for personal use I do usually agree to give away a small res picture.

The Manchester based band played as opening act for Biffy Clyro @ Den Atelier. As often with support acts I didn’t know them before the show, but I was left with a very positive impression of their performance. I guess we will hear a lot more from the band in the future.

As for the conditions, it was not that easy. The stage was packed with gear thus not leaving too much space for movement for the bands members. The front light was non existent and the back-light was dominated by red spots. As with the main act of the evening I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for the entire 3 songs.

The rest of the pictures here or in the gallery below:

Biffy Clyro rocked “Den Atelier” last night in Luxembourg. I was quite impressed by the scottish bands performance, it’s a bit “harder” than their recorded albums but not in a negative way. It was definitely one of the better shows I’ve photographed this year. It was the second concert of what seems to become a very successful tour.

The light consisted of  stroposcopic effects at which point point the action on stage was the most intense and photogenic but photogrpahing these moments was a hit and miss situation. All you can do is press the shutter release and hope you’ve hit the right millisecond. Other than that it was a nice mixtures of colors raning from reds to blues. But all in all the light was mostly coming from behind throwing Simon Neil’s and James Johnston’s faces into deep shadows. Ben Johnston on the other hand was very well lit. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for this gig, mainly because the pit was packed with photographers and the stage was quite small.

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

I had the chance to photograph Porn Queen as a support act for Slash last summer @ the Rockhal in Luxembourg. We got in contact some time after the show and decided to work together for some promotional shots some time after the summer break. Well that was last thursday and let me tell you that we had a blast.

I want to mention here that not only are they a treat to photograph, but their music is just … wow. They’re working on a new CD, you can listen to some songs here on their MySpace page.

The promotional material was to be worked on in two parts. The first one in the studio for some portraits and only a few band presentation shots, and at a later time an “on location” set. The second set will be more “band” focussed. The pictures below are as you probably guessed from the studio session.

You can see the whole set below or in the gallery here.

I won’t be posting any more pictures for Shellac, … why? Because there’s none. There was no pit at this gig, which meant we had to take pictures from the crowd. I’ve dealt with that kind of problem before, and got away with some descent pictures.

But in this case the light was static white spots, the performers didn’t do much, and the right side of the stage was not accessible. That left me with one spot to shoot from and the back of the venue which resulted in pictures that all looked the same. It’s a shame, .. but hey no one ever said the job was going to be easy.

To be honest I wasn’t really thrilled about this gig as I didn’t know the band and I was told quite last minute that I they were performing at 23:00 only. It was their opening concert for the Immersion Tour . They were full of energy delivering a performance that would live up to their reputation amongst their fans. The venue was completely sold out as well.

Photographically it was very difficult. The light was mainly coming from the back, switching between different colors and bright whites. Quick adjustments were needed all the time, and since Rob Swire their lead was moving a lot and very fast on stage. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 only for this one, it was so fast paced that I had no time to switch lenses, adding to that the fact that we only had two songs instead of the three we usually have.

Enjoy the pictures in the slideshow below or in the gallery here.

Indochine which was formed in 1981 in France was on top of their game with a splendid stage show. I got to know them somewhat when they released an album in collaboration with Brian Molko(Placebo). I was amazed at the fans who attended the show. The Rockhal was sold out and the crowd was absolutely MAD.

Here you can get a taste of the stage setup. There’s one more screen of the same size to each side. This shot was taken with a 15mm Fisheye…..

Photographically it was both, a treat and a pain. The light varied a lot from dark to bright, but most of the time the lead singer Nicolas Sirkis had a bright spot aimed at him. The difficulty was that just in front of the lead they had a small elevation that blocked a lot of the view.

I used the 28-75mm F2.8 and 15mm F2.8 mainly for this show. Moving around was quite easy as the stage was huge which led to the photographers being well dispersed around it.

As always you can see the rest of the pics below in the slideshow or here in the gallery.

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.