Bands and concert photos, Bottom Liner asked for a thread title change

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Bands and concert photos, Bottom Liner asked for a thread title change

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Santa is strapped posted:

How do you approach the photographers/bands/magazines? Do you just go in their office and say hello or do you know them through friends?

When the local culture biweekly paper had an opening for contributors I walked in and asked. I got some poo poo assignments at first but it's pretty much open-ended. In my case it involves being involved in the community so that I make my own assignments and turn in stuff, which they almost always use in some way or another. After a few months I started to get invited to production parties and such. It can be scary coming out of the shell to network with new social circles, but it's something you need to get used to and good at if you want to be successful.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2009 23:20

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# ¿ May 6, 2024 01:33

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Santa is strapped posted:

Thanks for the advice! We have such a paper here and I'm sure to check it out. If they are not looking for contributors (you get paid as a contributor right??) do you think it's a good idea to walk in anyway and ask?

I don't. There are 5 or 6 staff members and the rest of the magazine is made up from contributors, who are unpaid. I know some people here have a real, throbbing hate-on for that kind of thing, I don't know what to tell you, I'm trying to network and make a portfolio that I can take with me, along with references and whatnot. Don't look to me for advice on making money. That's why I read these threads myself.

But if you want to know a way to break in socially, that is one that is working for me.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2009 00:31

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Zoowick posted:

I HIGHLY recommend http://www.onelightworkshop.com/DVD_Ordering.html Zack Arias's One Light DVD. A ton of technical stuff but done in a hands-on way. I learned a lot of my lighting stuff from this DVD.

Seconded. Inverse square law :science:

# ¿ Apr 6, 2009 20:35

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Wait, the D90's AF assist light doesn't work with non-S lenses? :wtc:

# ¿ Apr 16, 2009 09:27

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

evil_bunnY posted:

You misunderstood I think. It only comes on (for me) in single-shot AF. Nothing to do witht the lens that I know of.

Oh right, gotcha. I got my nomenclature confused.

# ¿ Apr 16, 2009 09:34

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

None of the ones I've been to care. YMMV.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2009 18:50

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

They're disrespecting you because they think they can use your work without compensation and that getting the privilege to shoot them and hear their dulcet notes free of charge obligates you to comply. Whether or not they're right in that assessment is up to you.

Just say they can have some web-res branded shots for their MySpace and if they want to use them to make money, then you're expecting to be compensated accordingly.

pwn fucked around with this message at 10:19 on Aug 6, 2009

# ¿ Aug 6, 2009 09:54

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

pr0digal posted:

An update on the Unearth show on the 22nd (rockcity you are going to love this).

I just got this message back from my contact after telling him that I would send the band web sized pictures for their myspace/website:

Seriously? What the gently caress?

and some more hosed up reasoning

I'm not annoyed at my friend or his brother's band but Unearth is pulling some weird poo poo. Pictures to be used for a world wide DVD release given to you for free?

gently caress that

Ahahahaha. SORRY DUDE. YOU BLEW IT. UNEARTH. ONCE IN A LIFETIME BRO, ONCE IN A LIFETIME. UNEARTH. _{_{_Who?}}

The balls of these people are unbelievable. Though I almost prefer to believe that "worldwide DVD release" poo poo is supposed to be a sardonic jab, "you're just being soo unreasonable, man, we're just a little band, it's not like we've got a worldwide DVD release coming up and wanna rip off all your precious pictures, dork. Hey that's really funny, put that in the email."

# ¿ Aug 8, 2009 08:00

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Local band Letters From Earth, at a local venue, Friday night. I love shooting at this place, it's lit nicely and you can instantly get behind and beside the stage.

Set on Flickr

Shooting an all-day music festival today/tonight, it's a great weekend. :dance:

pwn fucked around with this message at 12:47 on Aug 30, 2009

# ¿ Aug 30, 2009 12:41

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Capture NX for basic stuff (levels, WB, pushing/pulling,) Photoshop CS3 for all further work (style, formatting, logos.)

# ¿ Sep 14, 2009 03:03

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

KingColliwog posted:

Thanks a lot. I always shoot in Raw so this was already covered. The article you provided is really nice, thanks a lot it will be of great help. I hope I can find a small show to practice before next friday because I really don't want to mess up, it would suck big time.

Since my RebelXT doesn't have spot metering I should use partial right? Is 1/60 fast enough to get something that isn't blurred most of the time? Or should I switch to a higher ISO if all I can get is something around that (if I'm not trying to record the movement)?

1/60 is usually fast enough, though sometimes the band is more hyper than others. Do as best you can, it's unfortunate that XT is crippled to not have spot metering (seriously?) so meter as best you can, shoot, review, then manually adjust as necessary. You'll usually want to have the lens at max aperture and ISO cranked to 1600 (there's PP tricks to reduce noise etc.) So shutter is the only thing to play with.

For reference, I think all my shots at this show were at 1/60th and ISO 1600. That was with a well-lit venue, and slower lenses, so I had more freedom to use my other focal lengths. In the dreadfully low-light situations I am limited to one lens (50mm) because it's my fastest. I would also shoot in aperture priority, like psylent said.

pwn fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Sep 19, 2009

# ¿ Sep 19, 2009 07:20

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Post Processing. One thing I do frequently with band photography is open the levels-adjusted "final" photo in Photoshop, duplicate the original layer, then Noise Ninja the original layer. I leave the duplicate alone and convert it to B&W, then blend it with the bottom layer, usually Overlay or Soft Light, depending on what kind of photo it is. I usually adjust the opacity of the layer too, since 100% is almost always too harsh an effect. This lets me keep a lot of the detail of the image, since the ugly digital noise looks better after B&W conversion.

I don't even always do the Noise Ninja step, it really depends on what each photo needs.

pwn fucked around with this message at 13:43 on Sep 19, 2009

# ¿ Sep 19, 2009 13:38

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Shooting a lot lately, breaking in my new toys. A show I shot Friday, Round Robin - 4 bands, one in each corner, each plays a song and then they go to the next, etc.

What pleases me is how little post I felt was needed, besides a few WB mixups and a couple push/pulls (hardly any, dynamic range/high ISO is a beauty.) Love it.

pwn fucked around with this message at 11:06 on Oct 1, 2009

# ¿ Oct 1, 2009 11:02

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

edit: nevermind

# ¿ Oct 16, 2009 08:13

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Backstage Concert series

# ¿ Oct 18, 2009 06:56

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

"We" = HPL and you.

I actually agree with you, however with bands I find that very limiting, which is why I try to make small sets of mostly medium sized pics and one or two large.

And those are great shots, particularly the tenor sax player against GREEN.

# ¿ Nov 5, 2009 08:03

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

I did a shot for an article on this band last night. They were already drinking.

Bonus shot from another band playing last night too

# ¿ Jan 24, 2010 12:50

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Went to see Leo Koettke and Leon motherfucking Redbone tonight. :c00lbert:

They've been touring together for decades. Redbone owns, as he has for the past 35-odd years, playing early 20th-century music and Tin Pan Alley classics. I'd never heard of Koettke before tonight.

Thing about Leon, he had a lamp on a little nightstand by him when he played. That was the only source of illumination. :suicide:

I cranked it to 6400, 1600 when I had something to lean on for lower shutter speeds. I shot these to be B&W so it worked out that the ISO had to be pushed to capacity. I also shot a roll of TriX 400 @ 6400 which will be back from the lab today, see how well it pushes 4 stops.

Leo Koettke was properly lit, in more ways than one. He told awesome long rambling stories in-between songs, often going on far longer than the songs themselves.

pwn fucked around with this message at 10:13 on Jan 28, 2010

# ¿ Jan 28, 2010 09:17

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

thehustler posted:

I really like both of these. Band looks relaxed in the first shot, and that drummer shot is pretty rad. I always struggle to freeze drummers in the act but when you pull it off it's cool. Sometimes a little bit of blur adds to the shot, of course.

Thanks! The drummer hamming it up because he knows I'm shooting him doesn't hurt either. It's rare I can get so close but that's one of the perks of tiny venues.

ZoCrowes posted:

I'm so jealous you got to see this show. I love both Redbone and Kotke.

Have one (two) more for the road...

pwn fucked around with this message at 13:28 on Feb 7, 2010

# ¿ Feb 3, 2010 10:49

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

ZoCrowes posted:

Shot my second real show ever on Saturday night. The Lexington, KY based band Tula does a tribute to the Band's Last Waltz that features musicians from the Kentucky and Nashville music scenes. Being a huge fan of The Band and wanting to get more concert experience under my belt I took quite a few photos. It really made me wish I had a faster lens. I used my Sigma 18-200 f/3.5-6.3OS which worked out well byt there were quite a few shots that I wish I had a shallower DOF on.

At one point there was over a dozen people on stage so I just said gently caress trying to shoot too many group shots. I was not happy with my composition so I mainly tried to shoot portraits which is my strong point.

I'll probably go into Photoshop and make the DOF artificially shallower on this one when I have more time

I wouldn't change a thing. I glanced over the description of the event and looked at the photos. When I saw this, it made me think of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" because I'm obsessed with The Last Waltz too. Then finding out that this was from a Band/Waltz tribute concert... yeah, don't futz with it. It evokes exactly what it is meant to evoke. It screamed it to me and I had no idea the photo's origins.

I'm jealous BTW, that show looks awesome.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2010 21:30

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Bojanglesworth posted:

This. Its good to hear other photographers feel the same way.

That's what always gets me, a person who cannot come up with $25, like how do you feed yourself?

rockcity is completely right, and yet I feel compelled to dress you down when you mock someone to whom $25 is a lot of money. Have you been poor?

edit: If you don't have the money, that's fine, you don't buy the thing you can't afford. A photographer absolutely should ask what she or he feels they're worth. But understand from your perspective as someone selling a service that someone not being able to afford you != lack of appreciation or understanding of your craft. It's not a judgment on you, yet you're making dumb blanket judgments about them.

pwn fucked around with this message at 18:46 on May 14, 2010

# ¿ May 14, 2010 18:38

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

When I shot Leon Redbone and Leo Kottke it was at a theatre with amazing acoustics, no pit, sounds like the same deal. I generally hid off to the side of stage right behind curtains and scaffolding, chosing my shots carefully, when the audience began to clap or they were laughing at one of the performers' comments, because the shutter rang out like a miniature pistol in that theatre.

# ¿ May 26, 2010 06:57

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

I shot a special show last night, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and Laarks' Brian Moen have a side project together, The Shouting Matches.

Moen ripped his snare drum head a few minutes before this shot. After the show they were both gracious enough to sign it for me. :3:

I'll post more later.

# ¿ May 30, 2010 13:34

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

dreggory posted:

I cannot wait for this sort of poo poo to die, oh my god. This represents pretty much the entire Dallas 'photo scene' right now, which sucks because the minute you say "I'm a photographer" around here this is the stereotype you're up against.

I have no idea what I'm looking at on that site. Am I that out-of-touch?

# ¿ Jun 29, 2010 17:27

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Paying ironic bills with ironic money made at my ironic job, ironically. Like, it's soooo stupid, right, as if I'd actually think that, hence, y'know, the irony.

# ¿ Jun 29, 2010 21:03

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

I've been approved to shoot Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers next week! :dance:

There is a restriction on shooting from "the pit" but as there is no pit at this venue I'm hoping I can get just one song from behind the wall off of stage right (hard to describe, it's about ten feet from the corner of the stage.) The note from their people seems like there's wiggle room:

quote:

Wanted to let you know the following media restrictions for Steve�s show. Photographers can shoot the first three songs no flash. It is also preferred that the photographers shoot from in the house at a soundboard or aisle, etc and not from a pit.

Obviously their main concern is a photog jetting around between the band and the people who've paid good money to be there, lessening the experience. It's pretty easy to be invisible behind the wall and get some great shots (Leon Redbone and Leo Koettke)

Even if I'm stuck in the balcony or aisle the whole time, I'm stoked. I grew up watching him.

pwn fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Jul 22, 2010

# ¿ Jul 22, 2010 07:26

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

I'd be up for this, but there's not a lot of big acts that come through central Wisconsin. I've been mulling over saying anything here because, while I'd love to work on it, most of the bands I shoot are local. And though the local scene isn't anything to spit on (hey, we produced Bon Iver :v:

,) I don't see this site having much need for smaller bands. I'll cover anything that comes through though.

It'd also give me an excuse to get to the Twin Cities more often.

pwn fucked around with this message at 10:49 on Aug 5, 2010

# ¿ Aug 5, 2010 10:47

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Anti_Social posted:

I blew through 48 gigs of CF cards.

I shot a lot?

Ok well see you in 2015 when you've finished sorting + editing them. :suicide:

evil_bunnY posted:

It's designed for crop sensors. It'll mount and shoot on an EF camera, but it vignettes like crazy.

This is easily fixed: Compose to crop later.

pwn fucked around with this message at 07:42 on Aug 12, 2010

# ¿ Aug 12, 2010 07:37

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

It's really like shooting a 30mm lens. It is designed to be cropped, and when cropped, the field of view is about that of a 50mm lens. The focal length is 30mm, however you decide to crop or not crop the image circle it projects doesn't change the optics.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2010 08:42

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Region is The Midwest. Location is Eau Claire, WI and surrounding areas.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2010 13:20

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Pfft you did a good job blowing out his shir :fuckoff:

But seriously, that's a great capture of your archetypal basement mosh pit. That shirtless dude right in front of the singer is great.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2010 16:52

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

I was all set to shoot what would surely be the social event of the season last night, a HUGE basement show with lots of bands. Then Friday afternoon I get stuck with three 12 hour shifts at work this weekend.

:smith:

# ¿ Sep 5, 2010 12:11

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

I finally got around to uploading these from the end of May: The Shouting Matches, the side project of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and Peter Wolf Crier's Brien Moen, both from my hometown of Eau Claire. Their May performance was the first since December 2008, it was an exciting event for a town not used to notoriety. Just this morning I found this article on Pitchfork (third item down,) and they have my video of it up on there. I had been wondering how it got so many views. :v:

The Shouting Matches by You, Me & Nikon, on Flickr

Brien Moen broke his snare drum head during the set, which they both signed for me afterwards. :3:

Siggies by You, Me & Nikon, on Flickr

# ¿ Oct 31, 2010 16:22

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Crosspostin from SAD and I don't care

I got to shoot Jeff Daniels (The Other Guy From Dumb And Dumber�) last night. He sings songs, did you know that? He was great, he got the audience involved, and even sang about my first car

pwn fucked around with this message at 13:34 on Nov 14, 2010

# ¿ Nov 14, 2010 09:48

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# ¿ May 6, 2024 01:33

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

AtomicManiac posted:

Another venue has two flood colored flood lights

What colour is "Flood"?

# ¿ Nov 18, 2010 08:08

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Bands and concert photos, Bottom Liner asked for a thread title change