Photographing live gigs- part 1

Want a challenge? How about shooting a live stage performance? The lighting will be tricky, but the results can be great.

Whenever I think of really difficult light conditions I think of live stage performances – especially of rock music. Few situations present the photographer with more challenges than a live pop concert. Everything is difficult – for a start, the amount, contrast and colour of the lighting is likely to change every few seconds and the performers will be moving or jumping around the stage. You will be working immediately in front of a sound system so powerful it can easily damage your hearing, and behind you the paying audience will not be at all pleased if you block their view of the stars on stage.

I was reminded of all these problems at the weekend when we went to enjoy a gig by a fantastic local band here in SW Scotland. I was not working – just there to enjoy myself, but at the band’s last gig in the same theatre, I did take lots of pictures. Singer Mary Barclay and her husband lead guitar Doug Carroll, of the ‘The Sensational Mary Barclay Band’ are personal friends of ours, so it was a job done with real pleasure.

If you decide to try this type of assignment yourself, it will really test all your skills in timing and camera craft. The result can be great set of pictures and a tremendous sense of achievement. Most rock groups and musicians, except famous professionals, will be only too pleased if you approach them and ask if you can photograph one of their live gigs. However, it’s always best to check with the theatre manager well before the event.

Who knows? the band may become famous one day and then your pictures might be worth a small fortune. In the case of The Mary Barclay Band, they really do deserve stardom and fame. Mary has a fantastic voice and Doug is one of the finest lead guitar players in the UK – if not beyond. The band now write and produce much of their own music and songs.

If you don’t fancy rock music, there’s sure to be an amateur dramatic society putting on live theatre somewhere near where you live.

I’ll go into the technique side of photographing this type of subject in part 2. Meanwhile I can recommend you listen to some of the band's music at…

http://www.sensationalmarybarclayband.com

http://www.myspace.com/sensationalmarybarclayband

Top photograph

This was real hard rock number and I was just about to move position from the stage wings when I noticed that Mary came across to Doug and they stood back to back. The level of lighting had dropped quite a lot and I was down to 1/45sec – not ideal for freezing the action, but by firing the shutter exactly as Mary’s arm reached right up, I was able to get everything reasonably sharp. This is my favourite shot

Time spent working from below the stage and in front of the audience has to be kept to a minimum because you may be blocking a paying customer’s view. Try to work from one side of the stage if possible, but you don’t want to get too close or too low down because with a wide angle lens you will get distortion and the figures will look ten feet tall. Also, you may be looking straight into the glare of the lights from a low angle. This shot of me working in the wings is by John Scott

Photographing the wind

Living on the west coast of Scotland offers plenty of opportunities to photograph the effects of strong winds. Wind-bent trees make fantastic subjects, and my students often photograph them when we head off along the coast to take landscapes.

There are two basic methods of showing the wind actuality blowing – one is to use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action, and the other is to use a slow shutter speed to allow the movement to blur. Both can be highly effective when done well.

The practical difficulties of actually putting the camera on a tripod and using a long exposure in strong winds can be hard to overcome. Camera shake is the biggest problem. Yes, even when the camera is on a tripod, it can still be subject to vibrations and movement when the wind whistles around it. A good heavy tripod is one answer, but failing that you might try weighting the tripod down with a plastic bag full of stones or sand. Anything will do. The last thing you want is for the camera and tripod to get blown over. Most tripods these days have a hook onto which you can hang a weighty bag.

For the picture of the waves, I used a 200mm lens to compress the perspective and pull the waves closer together. 1/350sec was used to freeze the action.
The shot of the wind-blown grass was done with the camera on a tripod – a heavy Benbo. A slow shutter speed of two seconds was used to show the movement in the grass as the wind blew through it. A wide angle lens was used to fill the foreground – because that is where the action is.

Photographing seascape and coast - Part 1

Coastal scenery offers unique challenges to the photographer simply because it seems able to perform visual somersaults every few minutes. Partly, of course, this is due to the rise and fall of the tide which can transform a view of rolling breakers into a scene of mud, sand and rock pools within minutes. And of course, there's the ever changing light...

Backlight over a dimpled shiny surface, like these wet rocks (picture above), can create wonderful results just bursting with atmosphere. Again, timing is critical for success. Take several shots to ensure you capture the spray when it is in mid air. There is often a moment when it is almost suspended – that’s the moment to press the shutter button

As with all landscape photography one of the prime considerations is the direction and quality of the light, and the quality of the light along our coast can be spectacular. Sea and sand reflect the light, softening and putting detail into the shadows. I’m lucky enough to live in Galloway on the west coast of Scotland, and as I prefer to have the sun low over the sea and not over the land when I’m taking photographs of the shore, this means I don’t need to get up at dawn to take pictures of some of the coves and inlets along this beautiful coast. I can delay my assignments until later in the day and shoot into the low afternoon sun, or work even later as it sets into the sea.

TIPS
1 - Check the tide times before you go – do not get trapped by a rising tide.

2 - Time your photo shoot to have the sun low over the sea.

3 - Check the weather forecast before setting out – there are often clear, blustery skies following a cold front - ideal for dramatic sea and sky pictures.

4 - Take a good look at the scene and try to form a rough plan of action. Try to walk across the beach along the edge of the surf if possible. That way you won’t spoil pristine sand with your own footprints.

5 - Keep lens changes to an absolute minimum when working on the sea shore. Don’t change lenses in wind and spray.

6 - Always use a UV or Skylight filter to protect your lens from sand and spray. Keep plenty of lens tissues handy.

7 - Anticipate cloud movements. Have your image framed in the viewfinder and be ready for the moment the sun breaks through.

8 - Wellie boots are far more useful than walking boots – you can get right into the water

9 - Try to capture splashing waves just before they start to fall back into the water – they will be almost suspended in mid-air for a fraction of a second.

Don’t restrict yourself to landscape format. Think vertically for extra impact and crop in closely. This shot was taken with a wide angle lens – remember, your wide angle lens is not just ‘to get more in’. It can be used as a compositional device to accentuate an illusion of perspective and create a feeling of distance within the shot. You must not overexpose photographs like this when shooting almost straight into the light. Let the blacks go black to increase the contrast and add drama. Over exposure will lead to bland, flat uninteresting images

Next, in Part 2. Getting the exposure right

How to photograph a two-headed camel

I show you this picture for no better reason than I hope it raises a smile.

It's genuine, there is no digital trickery involved. I was photographing these camels in the back of a lorry in Cairo when this shot just presented itself.

If there is a lesson to be learned from it - it's keep that camera to your eye every moment the subject is in front of you. That way you will never miss those fleeting moments.

How to photograph night events. Part 3

This final shot was taken well after dark - when all the light had gone from the sky. Of course that needed a very slow shutter speed - 1/2sec. This meant I had to wait for a moment when the marching bands were actually standing still before pressing the shutter button.

The event ended with a fireworks display, and, of course I photographed that. The problem was that this display happened way over to my right - in another part of the sky. As my client wanted photographs that would promote the town in brochures and posters, this called for a little artistic license. I simply put the images together on the computer by using the layers and mask layer facility. In fact there are three pictures layered together here. One for each firework, and one for the street scene. I very carefully used the polygon lasso tool to select an area around the castle so that the images of the fireworks would appear to be in the sky some distance behind.

If you do this sort of composite picture of a public event, I feel it is important that you tell that client exactly what you have done.

The original shot of the street - without fireworks - is shown here on the right.

Capturing action photographs

I’ve talked about how to shoot action with fast and slow shutter speeds, and demonstrated with two pictures of the horse trotting races. That evening, my group of students and I also spent time looking around the stables between races. This was all part of my plan to keep everyone ‘visually aware’. I did not want them to get fixated on one aspect of the event, but to explore their subject thoroughly.

I spotted the horse tethered to a short chain. He obviously wanted to see inside the stable door and kept stretching as far as possible. I wanted to see the top of his head because I thought it created such a beautiful and unusual angle. Especially as his mane dangled down and the combination of colours was so good. The horse's movements were very quick indeed – just snatches of action. They had to be anticipated, so the only place for the camera was firmly fixed to my eye.

That may sound obvious, but it is amazing how many photographers lower their cameras between shots and raise it again when they think the action is happening – don’t do it! The camera belongs to the eye. It is the only place if you want to capture instant action.

I waited several minutes for this picture, but feel I was well rewarded for my patience.

The light was fading, but I kept the ISO down to 200 for reasonable quality.
1/125sec f5.6

How to freeze the action

By speeding up the shutter speed – in this case as high as 1/1000sec, the action is almost frozen. You can even read the writing on the cart in the picture of the horse. Blur has been eliminated. Good timing is even more vital with this method of capturing the action because the horse’s hooves must by outstretched. Here, all four hooves are off the ground. This is not just luck – although that always helps - but good timing.

I do not like squirting off several frames a second. I use only single shot for this type of action. I watched the legs of the horse intently as it sped past in order to press the button at exactly the right moment. This does need practice – but surely, that’s part of the fun of photography!

And yes, I did pan the camera as the horse rushed past me.

The down-side of this sort of ‘frozen’ action shot is that it also 'freezes' the background and shows any ugly, unwanted detail.

The backround helps the shot of the beach tumbler (an old picture of mine) because the palm trees are essential to give a sense of context. Once again this was taken with single shot and a shutter speed of 1/1000sec. I did not like the motor-drive of the camera taking one shot just before his hands touched the sand and the next shot just afterwards. Far better to time the one shot perfectly.

How do I get great 'panned' shots?

It’s a great feeling for a photography coach when his students produce great pictures. It means the teaching and training has really paid off. Maria Falconer has been coming to me for tuition for almost two years now. This year she came for the second time to Menorca, and, as I am always looking for new ways to vary the itinerary, I took the group of photographers to the horse trotting races in Mahon.

Photo by Maria Falconer

This is an exciting, colourful and action-packed evening. Picture opportunities abound, both on the track and behind the scenes in the stables.
The main exercise for the event was to practice panning – capturing the action by following the horses in the viewfinder as they raced past. This sounds easy, but it needs a lot of practise to press the button at exactly the right moment in order capture a fast moving subject. The secret of a well-panned shot is to get the subject in the viewfinder as it approaches, follow it carefully and press the shutter button as the horses race by. But, most important of all, you simply must ‘follow through’ and keep the camera going in the direction of your subject AFTER you have taken the picture. A bit like a good golf stroke.
Maria photographed the riders as they came round the bend in the circuit with horses and carts tightly bunched together. It is a picture absolutely brimming with action and it has caught the very essence of speed. It is an impressionistic view of the race and you can almost hear the horses hooves pounding, the crack of the riders whip and the shouts of the spectators. Slight over exposure has created a ‘high-key' lighting effect and added an extra surreal effect to the picture
Maria used a Canon EOS 5D with a shutter speed of 1/20sec and an aperture of f10 The ISO was set at 1250. That slow shutter speed has created 'blur' and a tremendous feeling of movement.
If you want to capture the action by 'freezing' the movement, you will need very fast shutter speed for a fast-moving subject like these horses. I'll talk about 'freezing' action in my next post.
Philip Dunn
http://www.photoactive.co.uk/