My standard setting for a concert before it even starts is (usually) around ISO 250, f/4 and 1/160 if I’m using my 50mm (which is on the majority of a show).  I’m ALWAYS in manual mode at a concert, (whereas almost any other time I shoot with natural light I’m on Aperture priority).  One of the most important skills you need to getting good concert shots is knowing how to change your camera settings without taking your eye away from the viewfinder. That means being able to change every setting from ISO, to White balance, to aperture and shutter speed.

I am constantly changing settings based upon what I’m seeing on stage. If the light guy is shining bright lights into the audience and there is a chance I’ll get some cool star-bursts I’ll bump the aperture as high as I think I can get it without being underexposed.

In this photo, I noticed the light reflecting off of the sequins on this dancer’s hat.  I took a few shots at different apertures, checked my display, saw that f/5 was giving me a good exposure and still getting a nice star-burst, and then I did a nice burst of about 20 photos while the dancer held this pose at the end of a song.

This was taken at ISO 250, f/5, 1/200th

You don’t always get lucky with stage lights, and sometimes a guitarist will step out to the front of the stage to take a solo, stepping out of the spotlight so that all you have is rimlight.  That’s what happened here:

As soon as he stepped out of the spotlights I dropped my aperture to 3.5, my shutter speed down to 1/160th, and my ISO up to 350.

The lighting on his shirt, his hair and his guitar are all great, but I actually had to do some work in Photoshop to bring out the details in his face.

Here is a photo that I almost deleted when I saw it on my camera’s screen, but when I got it home on the imac it looked amazing. I was shooting up at this singer as he was walking by me, my camera is less than a meter from his leg, and the blue light was doing a sweep that hit my lens just at the right moment. The flare rings make what might have been a throw away shot, one of my favorites of the night. This is an example of pure luck:

The last photo I want to talk about here is this one:

This shot is very unique for me two reasons: 1, I hardly ever take photos of dancers. 2, I hardly ever convert concert shots to B&W.

I’ll go through these differences in this photo and why I chose to do what I did, and how these choices produced my favorite photo I’ve taken in a long time.

1: As soon as I saw these dancers (there are 4 of them) I threw on the Tokina 11-16mm. I knew that they would be choreographed into some cool poses and I wanted to capture the full scene here, rather than just one dancer. Also, dancers usually are concentrating too hard to show much emotion on their face, so closeups of their faces are boring.

2: I went black and white here for two reasons, the first was that the dancers were wearing black and white, and the stage light was white, so the random other bits of color coming through (the gold on the Marshall stack) became distractions. The second reason is that often in these very harsh lighting conditions (Super bright directional light, surrounded by a dark stage) black and white processing turns flat dull light into something we can work with. The entire shot is backlit by those 4 big harsh white lights, whereas most concert shots have multiple colors of lights coming from all angles. Notice how you can see the actual line of light coming from the bulb, and how the light gets absorbed so quickly by the darkness just past the dancers. You can’t see that nearly as clearly in the color version.

Because the stage was backlit I had to open up to f/2.8 (the largest the Tokina goes) and risk blowing out part of the shot, which is what happened in the top left corner, however because it’s black and white, it just comes out as a white part of the shot rather than the washed out loss of color it would be in the color version.

So in wrapping up, my advice: 1. Know how to change your camera settings with your eyes closed. 2. Change your settings often while shooting. After a while it becomes second nature as to when you should change certain settings to get the results you want. 3. Don’t be afraid to take risks in post. A dull photo might look better in B&W.

Filed under: Uncategorized ]]> http://ericreichbaum.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/michael-jackson-tribute-concert/feed/ 0 ericreichbaum Michael Jackson Dancer hm guitarist mj singer MJ dancers http://ericreichbaum.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/shame-on-lonely-planet/ http://ericreichbaum.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/shame-on-lonely-planet/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:54:53 +0000 ericreichbaum http://ericreichbaum.wordpress.com/?p=92 ]]> I got an email from a friend the other day telling me I should submit some photos to a free contest that Lonely Planet is having. Grand Prize? 2 Round the World air tickets! What an amazing deal. Listen to this gushing copy that LP has for it’s readers: “We just sent our 100 millionth guidebook out into the world, and we want to thank you – it wouldn’t be out there if you hadn’t shared our belief in the importance of travel. To celebrate, we’ve created a place for you to share your favourite travel moments. There are some amazing prizes for contributors, so show us your view of the world!”

Wow! Thanks Lonely Planet! I think I’ll submit this photo I took in India that has been a favorite of mine for a while:

Let’s take a look at the fine print to make sure I’m not signing away my copyrights real quick before I hit the submit button. What does it say here?

“Once submitted, your entry will not be returned to you.

General licence: Unless you opt-out of this licence by un-ticking the box on the entry page, in return for entering the competition you grant Lonely Planet a worldwide, non-exclusive, irrevocable licence in perpetuity to reproduce, publish, adapt, communicate and broadcast all or part of your entry in any media for the purposes of this competition and inclusion in Lonely Planet branded products and marketing materials, including the right to sublicense.

Limited licence: If you do opt-out of the general licence by un-ticking the box on the entry page, in return for entering the competition you instead grant Lonely Planet a worldwide, non-exclusive, irrevocable licence for two years to reproduce, publish, adapt, communicate and broadcast all or part of your entry in any media for the purpose of this competition.

Please note: If you opt-out and you are later chosen as a finalist, upon your acceptance of the finalist prize and in return for that prize, you grant Lonely Planet the General Licence set out above.

We will use reasonable efforts to attribute you as the creator of your entry where possible, but you consent to us not attributing you if we decide not to. Despite any moral rights that may otherwise apply, you consent to us or our sub-licensees (in exercising any of the rights granted by you above) using, reproducing, editing, publishing or communicating your entry in any form or medium.”

What does all of that mean? It means that Lonely Planet will gain access to thousands of photos from entries in their “competition” that they can then use for ANYTHING they want. Print them in their books, on their website, advertisements… FOREVER! They don’t even have to give you credit! And you, the photographer gets nothing but a chance at a round the world ticket. This is Lonely Planet’s way of building up a bank of photos that they can use forever.  This is their way of never having to pay a photographer again.

Shame on you Lonely Planet. Your already overpriced so called “travel guides” just secured a spot in my boycott line. I strongly suggest all photographers out there not to enter this contest, and all travelers to look elsewhere for travel guides.

There are three keys to shooting backstage and onstage: 1. Act like you’re supposed to be there, 2. Don’t get in the way, 3. Blend in.

Del McCoury and his band allowed me to mingle around with them for about 30 minutes before they took the stage. I did a few portraits, like this:

and did a bunch of wide angle shots while they were waiting in the wings:

One of my favorite shots from the weekend came from just lurking around backstage. I caught these banjo players jamming outside their dressing rooms, got the sunlight in just the right place and caught this amazing lighting. This is straight out of the camera.

And finally: Content Aware. This new function on Photoshop CS5 is not as great as I originally thought it might be, it definitely has restrictions, but it is GREAT for removing annoying microphones from photos. Check out the before and after:

So what do you do with all that extra time and space? Get creative! I’ve been wanting to experiment with some longer exposure shots at concerts for a while, but usually can’t waste precious time on shots that might turn out terrible, or at least useless for publication. Why long exposure? Well other than the obvious (the music) one thing that is often lost in the quest for the ultimate sharp image is: movement! Sometimes we photographers are so worried about sharpness that we forget that a little motion blur can add to a photo. When a guitar player is violently attacking a solo, he’s usually not standing still posing for you, he’s moving, and that’s part of the show. So why not include that in some photos now and again?

I got this idea from a wonderful photograph of Tina Turner by Bob Gruen, which you can see about halfway down the linked page. None of mine turned out nearly as crisp as his shot, but it was fun trying. (On a side note, I just realized while trying to find a link to that photo that I’ve actually been at a couple of events with Bob Gruen, but mistook him for HOF pitcher Don Sutton.)

In Gruen’s great shot, it’s pretty safe to assume that the strobe light was the only, or almost the only light illuminating Tina, allowing for the very definitive 5 different Tinas. I didn’t get so lucky at the Nokia Theater. The front lights were horrible LEDs and the backlighting was ever-present. This next photo was the closest I got to that type of strobe shot. The strobe light was going off, but the yellow lights were so strong that Jake’s face and guitar aren’t as crisp as they would be if it were only the strobe light, but you can still make out 3 distinct faces in the photo. This shot is ISO 200, at 0.2s, f/3.5, 50mm.

This next shot is with the Tokina 11-16mm, taken at 11mm, ISO 200 at 0.6s f/9. Shooting with such a wide lens allows you to shoot handheld at such a long exposure and still keep the stationary objects sharp while getting the motion of the musicians.

I’ve posted a few more long exposure shots from this show over on my flickr page. Any questions or comments, please leave them below. I’d also love to see your examples of long exposure concert shots!

Here’s my favorite shot from the pit while I was shooting Galactic, it’s of Cyrille Neville of the Neville Brothers and The Meters:

You would have a hard time creating better light if you took the time to set up lights yourself. The blue backlight mixed with the gold rim light is amazing. The lighting guy doesn’t help you all the time though, and this was one of the few shots I got that was lit nicely. Terminal 5 uses heavy back lighting which means dark faces and blown out backgrounds with lots of lens flares.

Here’s a great example of a nice shot that I got from up on the balcony:

A little exploring around the venue, and you can get some great angles, and have some shots that aren’t exactly the same as the other 10 photographers shooting the show.

Filed under: Uncategorized ]]> http://ericreichbaum.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/3-songs-thats-it/feed/ 1 ericreichbaum Cyril Neville Josh Clark of Tea Leaf Green http://ericreichbaum.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/moe-at-the-roseland-ballroom/ http://ericreichbaum.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/moe-at-the-roseland-ballroom/#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:58:46 +0000 ericreichbaum http://ericreichbaum.wordpress.com/?p=46 ]]>

Shooting live music is a double edged sword for me. It is my favorite type of photography for a few reasons:

1. I’m a musician, 2.I love music and especially concerts,  and 3. I love the way live music can transfer onto a photo, as if you can almost hear what type of song is being played or what words are being sung.

The down side for me of taking photos at a concert is that when I bring a camera along, all I do is take photos. For example, at the moe. Haiti Benefit concert on Jan 23rd, I took 2,000+ photos. That is absurd. Out of those 2,078 photos, my first go through in Lightroom narrowed it down to a mere 504 decent photos, and after yet another round of cuts I was down to just over 50. From those 50+ I edited 25 in photoshop and posted 6 onto flickr that I was happy with.

Now if i was shooting the show for a client, taking 2,000 photos wouldn’t be so absurd, it might be necessary. But when I’m shooting for pleasure, that means I can’t see the forest for the trees. Of this concert was 2.5 hours, that means I was shooting one frame every 4.5 seconds. The entire concert! I wish someone was there to yell at me to put the camera down and enjoy the show.

Lesson: Sometimes you have to balance pleasure with photography. Limit yourself to 5 shots per song, or just shoot the first 3 songs like the pros in the pit do, and maybe the encore too. Or maybe, and this might sound crazy to digital junkies, take a film camera and only bring 2 rolls of film. That will make you choose your shots more wisely.

These four photos all use the sun in different ways, giving 4 completely different looks to each image.

These are some headshots/promo shots I did for my friend Alena this weekend in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. As we were walking along a trail I noticed a great shaft of light coming through the trees and had Alena walk up the trail and stand right in it. Perfect backlight on her hair. This is a great example of making the available light work in your favor. The sun was just low enough that it had a really nice yellowish glow to it, but bright enough that Alena’s face  and the trees behind her are still exposed well. 10 or 15 minutes later the sun would be too low and we would have lost those direct rays highlighting her hair. Perfect case of right place at the right time.

This next one is one of my favorites from the day. Alena’s dress is so bright and really pops out in the photo compared to the dull winter background of bare trees and dead grass. Her expression and posture is great. This is also natural light, with the sun behind me and almost completely under the horizon. This was one of the last shots of the day, almost didn’t happen, but this huge tree was calling us. I tried some shots with the wide angle to get in all the crazy branches above Alena, but it was just too distorted at that angle to make a nice portrait.

It was really hard to find any spots in the park where we could get the sun directly behind Alena’s head for some orange sky strobist shots, but we finally found a good spot just in time for the magic moment when the sun was nice and orange. This first shot was just a test shot to expose the sky without the flash. As a result Alena is pretty underexposed, but I liked the image so much, and it was my only one without the flash in this spot, so I tried to bring her up in photoshop, and ran the image through a cross processing filter, something I’ve been quite fond of doing recently.

For this last one, I setup a light-stand and shot a flash through an umbrella, camera left. Both this one and the previous shot were at 1/250th of a second, I just stopped down from f/3.5 to f/6 for this one with the flash to get a bit more color in the sky.

So there are four examples of different ways to take portraits using the sun to your advantage. Which one is your favorite? Leave a comment, and send links of your own magic hour portraits.

We met Rhea’s publicist and then did a quick tour of the theater to scout for shooting locations. Upstairs had these great big windows with some nice muted light coming in, so we set up a silk on a frame, tied the curtains back and did some test shots there. We figured we would shoot on stage first downstairs with the Profotos and then move upstairs for some natural light portraits.

We went back downstairs and setup two heads. Put a beauty dish with a silk on one and a softbox with a grid on the other.

When the call came that Rhea and Lucy were ready we had to carry the lights up to the stage and wasted about 5 minutes setting up and doing test shots with me as a stand-in. This would prove to be critical.

We set the beauty dish overhead and the softbox camera right a little bit over Rhea’s left shoulder.

We originally had only 10 or 15 minutes to get the shots, but the publicist managed to push back rehearsal time and get us an extra 10 minutes or so. I’ll tell you this: time flies in a photo shoot. Rhea and Lucy were great, having fun with each other, dancing, joking around and being playful. But before we knew it, time was up and Rhea called the shoot. We didn’t have time to go upstairs and do the natural light portraits, which would have been great, but it was largely our fault.

Regardless, Chad got some great images, and the Times ended up running two of them.

Lessons learned:

1. Always scout everywhere. The room upstairs with the nice light was in a different theater that we had to get the director to unlock for us. We never would have found it if we didn’t ask.

2. Setup your lights in the location you will shoot, before the shoot is going to begin.

Rhea and Lucy, Chad Batka for the New York Times