The band from Ontario opened up with quite some speedy tracks, but then ……. the awesome “Rusted From The Rain” …. I gotta tell you. If you haven’t seen/heard that song performed live, then you’ve missed something amazing. Check it out on youtube or go to one of their show, … no really …. do it!!!

On a technical note: It’s the second time I had the chance to photograph Billy Talent here in Luxembourg. The first time was tough and I wasn’t really satisfied with my results. This time around I knew what was coming my way in terms of speed and light and acted accordingly … awesome show. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 and 70-200mm F2.8 for this gig. The light is tough at Billy Talent concerts. Highly effective for the show, but horrible for us photographers.

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

At the risk of sounding a bit cheesy: I feel truly blessed to be doing what I do, meeting and photographing all these amazing people is something I cannot imaging living without anymore. Photography has brought me to places and got me to meet people that changed my life. That being said I really liked Ellie’s album Halycon when it came out and I was really curious to have the chance to see her perform. I was not disappointed and judging by the sound of the fans in the sold out venue I think it’s safe to say that they enjoyed it as well. She’s one of those artists you can see that they “feel” what they do, and that’s always a treat to photograph.

On a technical note: The light was not great, a lot of blue and reds. Sometimes too dark. I was disappointed by the plexiglas panel in front of the drummer. With the Led’s shining into that it was impossible to take any shots of him. Ellie moved a lot, so that made for interesting angles and poses. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 only for this gig.

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

Boy, I still can’t get enough of One Republic’s “Good Life”, … and “Apologize” for that matter too. I photographed them once at a smaller venue and it was awesome. Very intimate and people oriented. When I was told that there were coming to the much bigger Rockhal I was sure I wanted to photograph them. Once again they delivered a stunning performance. The guys from One Republic feel and believe in what they do on stage, and that relates directly onto the public.

On a technical note: The light was really good, the show was splendid. A though thing though for us photographers was the huge amount of backlight. I had to fight with flares and blown out pictures all through the three songs. Other than that I cannot complain too much. I used the 70-200mm F2.8 and the 28-75mm F2.8 for the three songs. I will use the opportunity though to mention something not really technical. Yesterday we were unlucky to have a photographer in the pit who was not very friendly. Usually when you find a good spot you take a couple of shots and leave the spot to the next photographer, move on and find another one. In this case we had a guy who camped on the best spot with a Fisheye lens for 90% of the allotted time. Nobody’s going to push you away but it’s always good to keep a healthy relationship with you fellow photographers. You might never know when it could come in handy

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

From a musical point of view Poliça was quite interesting. They were new to me but I have to say that I enjoyed their sound. The show was a bit static and low lit. I would pay for an artist to explain to me why they like bright red spotlights so much!

On a technical note: A very static show with one light setup only. It makes it really hard to take interesting pictures in these conditions. I shot everything at ISO 2500 or even 3200 which is very unusual lately. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for this show.

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

Max Herre is a german Hip-Hop/Rapper artist si touring to promote his “Hallo Welt!” Album released last year. The venue was packed. One could feel that the crowd really enjoyed his show.

On a technical note: Sometimes too much light is not really a blessing, .. especially when the main artist is really well lit, and the rest of the stage is below average. This certainly looks good when you are there watching the gig. But on the pictures anything that is lit way below the main subject falls into ….. darkness, as was the case with Max Herre’s gig. Nevertheless the stage was interesting as well as the performance. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for this gig.

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

Modestep’s sound is “different”, but I liked it. The bass was a bit rough though, .. but maybe it’s just me getting old

On a technical note: Worst so far, …. ever tried to photograph a gig only lit by stroboscopes, … well it’s close to impossible. I was really disappointed on this one, .. most of the time there was not enough light to focus on the performers.

I heard “Let her go” on the radio and was hooked. I was thrilled when I heard Mike was coming to Luxembourg for a show.  Mike Rosenberg performed alone on stage, and if you haven’t noticed in the picture, he did actually perform one song without any kind on amplification. That in front of a sold out Club is quite impressive by itself. I loved the show and can only recommend it to anybody in the mood of a nice evening with good music.

On a technical note: The light was ok, it was harsh yellow most of the time with sometimes whites. It was a one man show, so I stuck to one lens only, namely the 28-75mm F2.8

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

Wow, .. is the only thing that comes to my mind when I think about Ryan Sheridan’s performance. The show and that includes his “drummer” was stunning. Full of energy and rhythm, it seemed effortless for the both of them to warm up the crowd for Rea Garvey. If you get a chance it’s a show you shouldn’t miss.

On a technical note: The light was tough,… and it was really sad to see very nice and bright light just after the third song. But that comes with concert photography I used the 28-75mm F2.8 and the 70-200mm F2.8 for this gig.

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

I had the chance to photograph Reamonn twice before, so it was only normal that I was interested in shooting Rea Garvey on his solo tour through Europe. The show was quite impressive, I guess the fans got what they paid for.

On a technical note: The light was average on this one. Sometimes very well balanced, and then sometimes very monotone, mostly green then. I used the 70-200mm F2.8 and the 28-75mm F2.8 for this show. I had only 2 songs otherwhise I would have used the fisheye too.

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

Sometimes I choose to photograph an artist or band that I’ve never heard of before. I like to do that because more often than not you get a very nice surprise. It’s a bit like a Sneak Preview, and I kinda love that. It happened to be a very nice surprise with the “Zita Swoon Group”. A very down to earth and emotional performance from artists who feel and enjoy what they do.

On a technical note: When the first song started there was no light, which let my urge to pack up and leave come to live like it rarely did before. But it was just for the intro. After that the lights went on and were quite pleasing all through the three songs. I used the 28-75mm F2.8, 15mm F2.8 Fisheye and 70-200 mm F2.8 for this gig. Although the Fisheye compositions were not useable due to too much stuff standing around on the stage. Mainly the two monstrous monitor boxes.

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

I was a bit disappointed to see that the venue was not sold out for a band the likes of Joy Formidable. But there were scheduling issues which led to a huge delay and I think a lot of people didn’t wait. The sound of Joy Formidable was quite different from what you can hear on the CD. But that’s not necessarily bad. Ritzy Bryan is a bundle of energy on stage and delivers an impressive show.

On a technical note: The light was really tough on this one. One really bright spot on Ritzy Bryan at all times tend to make the rest of the stage really dark on the pictures. There were also a lot of magentas but luckily no reds. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for this show.

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

Paul Banks used to be Interpol’s front man before he started his solo career. I heard some of his work and thought it might be interesting to photograph him on his tour through Luxembourg.

On a technical note: It was bad, ….. really bad. The light was non existant, or brigth purple. The show was very static which made for very few interesting shots. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 only on this one. Photographically, quite a disappointing start for the 2013 season for me

I first photographed Silbermond in 2009 at the “Festival des Terres Rouges”. I was really impressed by them at that time, but they have come a long way since then, their show is top notch, performance is really impressive. Should you like their music a tiny bit and want an awesome show to go to, …. well don’t miss them.

On a technical note: The light was awesome. I was stunned when I realized I was shooting at 1/640th ….. there were some moments of weird LED lighting and the drummer was quite hidden in the shadows, but all in all it was a very well lit show. I used the 70-200 F2.8 and the 28-75F2.8 for this show. One could argue that I could have used the 15mm Fisheye, but the scene was a bit too deep for that.

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

On a technical note: There’s not much to say in terms of technicalities. The light was constant warm light from 2 or 3 different sources. Very little movement from Chilly. It was the first time for me that I photographed a pianist, and I have to say it presents a challenge in terms of composition. I shot all the pictures with the 70-200 F2.8.

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

What can I say, …. you need to see Herman Li on stage to believe it’s possible to play guitar as fast as he does! I’ve seen my share of impressive artists. Herman Li ranks amongst my Top 5 so far. You don’t get enough of him once he’s warmed up and into his ……. thing …

On a technical note: Well my AF didn’t stop chasing which made it a challenge to get the release to trigger exactly at the needed moment, the light was all over the place, but at least there were no (or very few) LED lights this time. It actually made it fun again. That being said, the whole three songs were kinda dark. I had to use ISO 4000 on order to get descent enough shots.

I used the 28-75 F2.8 for all three songs.

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

The East Sussex Band is currently touring to promote their new album : Strangeland. I was quite amazed at the chose venue as it is not a regular place for bands to perform. The show was sold out though and based  on the cheers of the crowd people were pleased last night. I for one was quite astonished at their performance. A show to be seen if you’re into that music style.

On a technical note: This was a new venue for me, it’s not really a Concert Hall but more like a big Sports Hall that was refitted for concerts. It’s a bit of an unusual place I have to admit but the sound was ok. The lights we not though. There was a mixture of LED’s and some Spots, all comming from above and the sides. It often created a very bright and harsch light which is not terribly good looking. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for this show.

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

I’ve photographed Archive a few years back in “The Rockhal” and I did enjoy their show. I didn’t know them too well but I remember that I was impressed. I was a bit surprised by the fact that they would perform at “Den Atelier” which is a smaller venue, but then again concerts there tend to be a lot more “intimate”. But the choice of the venue was good, as the show rocked!!

On a technical note: This was probably the worst show in terms of light that I had to photograph so far. It was a mixture of LED’s and Classic lights, most of them pointed towards the crowd. Very little light was used on the Band itself. When the band was lit it was blue or red which made it really tough to find a correct exposure without burning out some detail in the picture. I used the Canon 1D Mk IV with the Tamron 28-75F2.8 for the whole show. On a positive note  I was able to turn my ISO down a notch though, due to the light.

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

Fun is best known for their hit “We are young”, but after the show last night I can say that they rock on stage.

On a technical note: The light was difficult on this one, ranging from Magentas to Reds and all quite dark. But the show was really good which made for some interesting shots. I used the Canon 1D MkIV and the Tamron 28-75 F2.8 for this gig.

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

This was the start of the season for me. The Gambling Badgers live in the “Rives de Clausen”. A very nice place to have that kind of event. The Gambling Badgers delivered a very impressive performance at this open air festival.

On a technical note:

The light was awful. LED’s all the time, very harsch mixed with some daylight.

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

The UK Magazine Wasted! posted and article about Randy Blythe, the “Lamb of God” frontman. They used some pictures I’ve shot when they played at the Atelier here in Luxembourg. You can check it out here: http://issuu.com/wasted-magazine/docs/issue_19_preview

We’ve all heard a lot of talk around the Washington based band. I didn’t know that they formed up in 1999, I was under the impression that the band was way younger. It’s on stage that you actually realize that Beth, Brace and Hannah (the rest of the band as well for that matter) are used to performing together. Beth’s voice is surely impressive …….

On a technical note: The light was good all through the three first songs. It was constant and Beth moving around that much made for interesting compositions.

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

Comanechi was the opening act for Gossip tonight at the Rockhal. It’s a new kind of sound for me, new but  somehow familiar. It was really interesting to hear something  different in a market that is more about copying or covering than anything else. Respect for that.

On a technical note: The light was difficult, really difficult. Blues, magentas and some whites. But Akiko’s face was in the dark most of the time. I had to use a higher ISO than I usually do.

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

An artist I don’t know to well, … Den Atelier sold out for month…the signs all pointed to this gig. Well the signs didn’t mislead, the gig was awesome. Ben Howard and his band are people that really do feel the music they play. You’re hooked from the first second. The rules were quite different this time, I was allowed songs number 2, 3 and 4. But I was in the pit for the first song, … astonishing is all I can say. It’s actually quite hard to find the right words to describe the show.

On a technical note: This was one of the more difficult one to photograph. The lights were very strong LED’s that fluctuated quite a bit. Sometimes deep reds and bright yellows or whites. The pit was crowded so I decided to stick to my trusty 28-75mm F2.8 for the entire 3 songs.

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

I’ve photographed my friends from Porn Queen several times now, and it’s safe to say that it’s a delight every time I do so. They are all over the stage and the crowd usually goes mad in about 2 seconds. They played again in the Rockhal as a support act for Slash, and according to the feedback after the show and on facebook they managed to heat the crowd up …..

On a technical note: The light was all over the place, starting with  a difficult magenta and moving on through reds, yellows, whites, blues and a mixture of everything. Since I was able to shoot the whole set I was able to shoot all these very different lighting situations which resulted in a nice mix of mood in the pictures. I used the 28-75 F2.8, 15mm F2.8 and 70-200 F2.8 for this gig.

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

Kevin Lunn – The Subways – Open Air Festival Luxembourg

Talking about best camera settings for concert photography is not an easy task. The light changes all the time, people move, and contrary to studio photography it is not you who decide about how much light you use, where and when you use it. When it comes to camera settings for concert photography, there must be as many different points of view on camera settings as there are concert photographers. In this article I’ll show you what works for me. I’ll try to give you pointers so that can have a starting point and find what works for you. I am in no way trying to say that these are the only or best settings ever.

it is not you who decide about how much light you use, where and when you use it

To be successful at photographing a live performance you need to be able to operate your camera blindly, and I mean that literally. Since using a flash light in the pit to change your ISO will usually be greeted with at least a frown from security and/or your fellow photographers, you need to be able to adjust the settings on your camera in the dark. See the picture here from Billy Lunn (The Subways), if I had to have a look at my camera to set the shutter speed I would have missed this shot. When you only have three songs to capture the feeling of the concert, every single one of them has to count. The first thing I do before I leave the house is to reset my camera. That includes dialling in the settings of my camera in a way that I found out to be a nice starting point for most concerts or low light situations. It’s a comforting feeling to know that once I get to the venue my cameras are “ready to go”. I was dragged more than once backstage for a quick portrait session. Since my cameras are ready at all times, all I had to do was take a quick reading for correct exposure, dial down the ISO a bit and start shooting. No twiddling with settings, or cards to format, … get right down to business. Your subject will be impressed by how fast you delivered those high quality shots, and you might be asked to do this again given the speed and professionalism you showed right then and there. I’m repeating myself I know, but a lot in concert photography is about being ready to shoot at any given times and your reputation.

When you only have three songs to capture the feeling of the concert, every single one of them has to count

Schmigga - Backstage Rockhal

You might be thinking that something like that would never happen to you. So did I, and it took a painful experience for me before I made a mantra out of resetting my camera before a gig. I wish I could say this happened a long time ago but it didn’t …. I started shooting the first few frames of a gig, it was awesome, the lead singer came straight at me literally posing for some shots. I noticed that my shutter was not triggering anymore. When I checked the back of my camera, I was greeted with a small message on my camera: CF card full !!!! Lesson learned: Always reset the camera before the show.

 

Heather Nova – Den Atelier -- Luxembourg

The way I set my camera before the concert is only a starting point. I like to start with ISO1600, a shutter speed of 1/160th and an aperture of F2.8. When I get onsite and get a feeling for what the light might be, I occasionally tweak them before the concert starts, when I see some pointers as to what the light might be. I have to admit though that I usually shoot one frame and check my LCD to see where I am in terms of exposure, I then adjust accordingly. I would typically start by adjusting the ISO value if possible, followed by the Shutter speed. Changing my aperture only happens when there is enough light for m to drop my ISO to below ISO 400. This leads me to something really important that I want to stress here.

Before you start dialling down your shutter speed, dial the ISO up

Use the ISO sensitivity of your camera to your advantage. Some people still think that changing the ISO settings should be avoided at all cost. People, …. we don’t need to change films anymore, it’s just one button to click and dial in the new setting. Before you start dialling down your shutter speed, dial the ISO up. To use this method to the maximum you will need to know how far you can push your camera in terms of ISO sensitivity. What I mean is that you will have to experiment the highest ISO setting you can choose with your camera that will result in an acceptable level of noise in your images. Speaking of noise, I used to use third party noise cancellation software for everything Noise related. That changed with the release of Adobe Lightroom 3. I found that the algorithm used by Lightroom combined with the ISO performances of the newer cameras to be a very effective combination. This allowed me to completely remove noise cancelling software from my workflow and thus decrease the post processing time needed for my concert pictures.

James Blunt – Rockhal -- Luxembourg

Talking about shooting modes is kind of a personal thing. When it comes to concert photography my cameras never leave the Manual Mode. The reason behind that is quite simple. Let’s say for arguments sake that you shoot a performer, he/she is standing on stage lit by one big bright spot. The rest of the stage is lit as well but many stops below the subject. If that difference is too big and if you shoot in a semi automatic mode you will let the camera calculate an average exposure based on what it “sees”. Usually in concert photography that’s not what you want. I for one would like to take that decision by myself, and thus not taking the risk of having a wonderfully exposed background but a white spot where the face was supposed to be.

When it comes to concert photography my cameras never leave the Manual Mode

My metering mode is always set to spot metering. I want to know the precise reading of a small area more than an average of a bigger one. It gives me a subtle creative leeway which would be impossible in any of the other two modes. I can work with the rest of the scene being a bit on the dark side of the meter, but not the subject. Basically I will always take my exposure reading from the face of one of the performers and work from there. Using any other metering mode will affect my reading in a way that could make me expose for other things in the frame and eventually loose the needed detail of what counts in the frame. A small tip in terms of exposure: I tend to slightly underexpose my pictures. I found out that it gives me a better quality for my post processing.

Ryan Tedder -- One Republic – Den Atelier -- Luxembourg

I am not talking about the white balance at all since I leave it on auto white balance for anything concert related. I like to keep things as simple as possible, especially in situations that need quick reactions. White balance issues can very quickly and effectively be addressed in Lightroom in the post processing phase of the workflow.

Slash & Porn Queen – Le Zenith Backstage -- Paris

As mentioned before I shoot in RAW only, and if it is not the case yet I strongly recommend you to switch your DSLR to RAW and leave it there. Admittedly the files are bigger, but with the price of memory cards being as low as they are today, it doesn’t really matter. I use 8GB Sandisk only, it gives me space for approximately 300 pictures with 20MB files. That is more than enough for three songs.

 I strongly recommend you to switch your DSLR to RAW

I also like to have one performance on one card and then change cards for the next one. The reason I stress this, is the amazing flexibility RAW files give me in post processing. I don’t have to worry about my white balance while taking pictures which in concert photography is a real time saver and it gives me a bit more room to play around with the exposure in post processing. If these are not enough there is another reason. Your camera will compress the file if set to JPG and thus impact the colour rendition of the file. I like to work on pictures that are as close as possible to what I saw when I took it in terms of colours. The fact is, .. there is no reason you should still be shooting anything else than in RAW.

Slash – Le Zenith -- Paris

Always reset the camera before the show.

The UK band created in 1997 rose to fame in 2004 with their début album of the same name “Kasabian”. Since then it has been a nice way up for the 5 band members. I have to be honest, I didn’t know much of the band before I went. I heard the most famous songs on the radio but that was as much as I knew of Kasabian. The venue was sold out and the crowd was eager to hear them play. I for my part did enjoy their sound. I might give them more attention in the future …

On a technical note: The light was quite boring to be honest. It was simple yellows with some mixed whites. Randomly there was a very bright line of white light going of in the back, which was nice but only lasted a fraction of a second it was close to impossible to change the settings that fast on the camera. That resulted in a very unattractive nuked picture. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for this gig on the Canon 1D Mk IV.

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

The first time I’ve photographed Halestorm I was really impressed. They were on stage with Papa Roach, Buckcherry and Disturbed during the “Taste of chaos 2010″ tour. It’s very rare to see such an explosive energy on stage.  I’ve rarely seen a show like this one. If anyone from the band or crew is reading this, .. all I can say is : AWESOME !!!!!!!! It’s the first time I’ve seen a drummer stand on his drums and continue playing ……… and yes I  mean that literally, check the pictures. Trust me, if they perform close to you, don’t miss them you will be blown away.

On a technical note: The light was good, very fast but good. I only wish I could photograph them for more than 3 songs, the band performed and awesome show. It was as fun to watch as it was to listen too. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 and the 15mm F2.8 Fisheye for this one. I had to keep the ISO quite high all through the set though.

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

The Florida based band shot to fame in 2003 mainly due to their “Lynyrd Skynyrd” cover “Simple Plan”. The album “Leave a Whisper” and their promotional tour were a huge success. And thus the fame of the band kept on growing. It was thrilled when I saw that they were coming to Luxembourg and even more when I was accredited to shoot them. Their show was impressive, there was so much going on onstage that it was difficult to take pictures, but a treat to watch.  The icing on the cake came with the information of the support act for their gig: “Halestorm“, anther awesome band.

On a technical note: The light was a mixture of good and not so good, sometimes really harsh and then very bright with a lot or reds. An then absolute darkness. Brent Smith was quite static in the middle of the stage but the rest of the band was all over the place delivering and awesome show. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 and the 15mm F2.8 Fisheye for this gig. Same here with the ISO, I had to keep it quite high.

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

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: