Music Photographers - Some Advice & C&C Please.

Eirebear

Hi guys, its just me on the scrounge for a wee bit of advice again....

I am working with a band at the moment called The Ads to help them with a kind of diary documenting them in the lead up to their slot supporting Snow Patrol (Zzzzz) at the end of the month. Me photographing, and a friend doing some video stuff.

Anyway, tonight was my first night in the studio with them and i have to admit i struggled a fair bit.
Poor lighting led to me getting the flash out, which caused problems of its own.

The place was tiny, so the combination of the spots on the ceiling and my flash has led to some horrendous shadows etc. Even bouncing off the ceiling and walls led to these problems due to the fact the studio was tiny.

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this kind of issue?

Anyway heres the first few I processed tonight.

Fire away!

thebaz

John - 3rd one for me - as regards bounce , I have a portable bouncer I put over the flash gun, looks a bit of a contraption , ask Janer !! - but it kills the direct light , but you have to push things abit with it , to get eneogh light - the contraption/diffuser was only 15 euros !

AnimalRights

#3 is head and shoulders above the rest of the set.
#2 had potential but the conversion seems off....not sure why.
Also get his elbow in!! People keep cropping of parts of bodies tonight!

Oh Barry's contraption I wouldn't be seen dead using , its like a flash in a wheelchair with plasterparis....er yeah.

I need to replace my diffuser which I lost, but not paying 30 euros again for a stoffen!! A basic cheap one will do, ideas anyone?

Eirebear

thebaz wrote: »

John - 3rd one for me - as regards bounce , I have a portable bouncer I put over the flash gun, looks a bit of a contraption , ask Janer !! - but it kills the direct light , but you have to push things abit with it , to get eneogh light - the contraption/diffuser was only 15 euros !

Cheers Baz, I'll have a wee look for one before Friday see how it works out.

Much appreciated!

It's all another learning process for me as i have never really done any music stuff before.
It's interesting trying to get the feel for the rehearsal, which was laid back to say the least, while at the same time trying to get some good "music" shots.

Eirebear

AnimalRights wrote: »

#3 is head and shoulders above the rest of the set.
#2 had potential but the conversion seems off....not sure why.
Also get his elbow in!! People keep cropping of parts of bodies tonight!

Oh Barry's contraption I wouldn't be seen dead using , its like a flash in a wheelchair with plasterparis....er yeah.

I need to replace my diffuser which I lost, but not paying 30 euros again for a stoffen!! A basic cheap one will do, ideas anyone?

Yeah, the elbow is bugging me on #2 aswell believe me!

I also see what you mean about the conversion, he seems a little grey down at the bottom..will need to see what i can do with it in the morn.

I definetly need to have a look for barry's "contraption" now though!

AnimalRights

Eirebear wrote: »

It's interesting trying to get the feel for the rehearsal, which was laid back to say the least, while at the same time trying to get some good "music" shots.

I'm going on a mini tour with a band called Paranoid Visions to England next month and will be travelling in a van from Birmingham to London so I too will be trying to do a docu/music slant...really looking forward to it.

Eirebear

AnimalRights wrote: »

I'm going on a mini tour with a band called Paranoid Visions to England next month and will be travelling in a van from Birmingham to London so I too will be trying to do a docu/music slant...really looking forward to it.

Sounds like a blast! And judging by the shots you posted of them before you may need the images to piece together your memories!:p

AnimalRights

Eirebear wrote: »

Sounds like a blast! And judging by the shots you posted of them before you may need the images to piece together your memories!:p

They're playing in Birmingham on a Saturday night and the plane leaves Dublin at 6.15pm! I said to the guitarist whose job is organising the trip that isn't that cutting it fine, he said yeah but the only other flight was 6.30am or something and in no way can the band be trusted to last a day boozing that length of time b4 a very big gig for them...I'd have to agree!
so we're starting at 4 in the airport!

Eirebear

AnimalRights wrote: »

They're playing in Birmingham on a Saturday night and the plane leaves Dublin at 6.15pm! I said to the guitarist whose job is organising the trip that isn't that cutting it fine, he said yeah but the only other flight was 6.30am or something and in no way can the band be trusted to last a day boozing that length of time b4 a very big gig for them...I'd have to agree!
so we're starting at 4 in the airport!

You'll never make it as far as London!

My mates band went on tour a few years ago, it was supposed to be their "big break"
Unfortunately the tour was sponsored by Jagermeister and they where supplied with 18 free bottles for the duration of the 12 date tour.

They got through it, but by the time they hit Brighton (second to last date) erything went to hell and ended up with two of them scouring the streets for the drummer, only to find him having bypassed security and was standing on top of a 20ft embankment flinging stones at stationary trains and howling like a lunatic......

John

AnimalRights wrote: »

I'm going on a mini tour with a band called Paranoid Visions to England next month and will be travelling in a van from Birmingham to London so I too will be trying to do a docu/music slant...really looking forward to it.

Keep a diary a la Henry Rollins Get in the Van.

thebaz

AnimalRights wrote: »

I'm going on a mini tour with a band called Paranoid Visions to England next month and will be travelling in a van from Birmingham to London so I too will be trying to do a docu/music slant...really looking forward to it.

sounds cool - I'm jealous

Fajitas!

Well, if you're hanging around with them, you're in a much more comfortable position than just popping along on a once off.

Try getting in closer, try using your flash off camera - f/11, bulb and 400 iso, hold your finger down and pop the flash, see what happens!

If you're in the type of spot like you were above, explain to the band.

I think the second one above has the most potential, It would have been great if you got yer man a bit more relaxed up against the poster, even slumped in the corner looking up at you.

Tours are great craic. Some of my best nights on the tear have been with my mates bands, I think New Years Eve this year was the best though... :pac:

Eirebear

Fajitas! wrote: »

Well, if you're hanging around with them, you're in a much more comfortable position than just popping along on a once off.

Try getting in closer, try using your flash off camera - f/11, bulb and 400 iso, hold your finger down and pop the flash, see what happens!

If you're in the type of spot like you were above, explain to the band.

I think the second one above has the most potential, It would have been great if you got yer man a bit more relaxed up against the poster, even slumped in the corner looking up at you.

Tours are great craic. Some of my best nights on the tear have been with my mates bands, I think New Years Eve this year was the best though... :pac:

Cheers dude, ill give it a whack over the coming weeks/days.

Fajitas!

The latter gigs on this set are all from using that flash setup...

I think...

DotOrg

if you're going to be doing lots of photos in that room, get a cheap lamp and stick it in a corner, most recording studios i've shot have been really dark foir atmosphere so i've often added a little more light to massively improve the quality of pictures

melekalikimaka

personally i'd push for a bit more colour, black and white, as nice as it is, cant beat a nice puchy colour image, and when promoting i think attention grabbing images is better...

remote flash bounching back wall of subject very weakly should sort shadows

Eirebear

A few more from the bands latest rehearsal session, different setting this time which brought about its own set of challenges.
They are beggining to seem a bit more comfortable now with the camera...as i am with them so hopefully the weekend will produce the shots im really aiming for.
Any signs of improvement?

All C&C as ever welcome.







And this one, which is bugging me....does it work at all...in any way?
I kinda like it...but don't....help!

AnimalRights

#1 is really wierd, it's like 2 seperate PP on the 2 diff people, the girl is an excellent sepia type and the guy is in colour?
Would like to see the guy in sepia too. :P
Def my fav pic of the set.

#2 Guy is very narrow, not enough crop, he also doesn't seem relaxed so....

#3 The females will think I'm been a pig but er somehow between her face and gender she seems out of place, not a real looking shot so to speak.

#4 I see what you were trying o do but it doesn't work for me...if it helps I've tried this kinda shot a few times and failed too.

I'd change the band for a more relaxing band as they're making you look bad.
Naa seriously it will get better!

Eirebear

AnimalRights wrote: »

#1 is really wierd, it's like 2 seperate PP on the 2 diff people, the girl is an excellent sepia type and the guy is in colour?
Would like to see the guy in sepia too. :P
Def my fav pic of the set.

#2 Guy is very narrow, not enough crop, he also doesn't seem relaxed so....

#3 The females will think I'm been a pig but er somehow between her face and gender she seems out of place, not a real looking shot so to speak.

#4 I see what you were trying o do but it doesn't work for me...if it helps I've tried this kinda shot a few times and failed too.

I'd change the band for a more relaxing band as they're making you look bad.
Naa seriously it will get better!

Cheers AR.

Personally i think there is a bit of improvement in there, but your right they aint the best images in the world...but you gotta start somewhere right?

As for the chick drummer....she's impossible to get a decent shot of while playing, she's new to the band and extremely uncomfortable it seems.

melekalikimaka

AnimalRights wrote: »

#1 is really wierd, it's like 2 seperate PP on the 2 diff people, the girl is an excellent sepia type and the guy is in colour?

the pop up flash didnt quite reach the lass thus shes underexposed but her skin tones are from ambient light not the flash.

no.2 is quite nice, your going very very dark with all these? is there reasoning behind this?

no.3, not too keen on the viggetting tbh, funny enough pose... dunno what to use it for but a nice image.

no.3, now this is an interesting approach to take, if you did a series of all the members like this, it could be interesting, maybe a bit more light to bring out more shadow?

Eirebear

melekalikimaka wrote: »

the pop up flash didnt quite reach the lass thus shes underexposed but her skin tones are from ambient light not the flash.

no.2 is quite nice, your going very very dark with all these? is there reasoning behind this?

no.3, not too keen on the viggetting tbh, funny enough pose... dunno what to use it for but a nice image.

no.3, now this is an interesting approach to take, if you did a series of all the members like this, it could be interesting, maybe a bit more light to bring out more shadow?

Thanks again!.

T'wasnt pop up flash though, i was trying to use it off camera and to my right.
I think the goddam energy saving bulb above her head was causing clashes and shadows (See the last image) this coupled with the fact i wanted to make the singer stand out has probably caused the effect AR sees.

As for going dark with them, it seems to be a look i naturally go for when shooting people in these kind of scenes, i don't sit down with the intention of doing it but it seems to be what i end up with....
Do you see it as a negative?

#3 was just a bit of fun really, she is extremely camera shy so it made me laugh!
The images are planned for the bands myspace/website etc.
basically as an illustration of their "diary" leading up to their big gig next week.

As for #4 i still can't make my mind up, but you've given me an idea for tonight thanks!