Singer
The Sophia Vassalos Band played a local festival, and I got this amazing shot of the lead singer.
The harsh contract really accentuates the emotion I thin...
Read more
The Sophia Vassalos Band played a local festival, and I got this amazing shot of the lead singer.
The harsh contract really accentuates the emotion I think
Read less
The harsh contract really accentuates the emotion I think
Read less
Mar, 2016Views
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Awards
Spring Selection Award
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Emotions
Impressed
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Behind The Lens
Location
I am the Photographer for a small musical event in my local town, The Wellingborough Diggers Festival, and hosts many small local bands - this photo was taken in The Horseshoe pub. It's a yearly event, usually in the same venue, and I have been taking photos at it for 4 years now so I am very accustomed to that venue. The Sophia Vassalos Band played on the stage in the middle of the pub, a large stage but not a large place for the audience.Time
The music went on all day, from around 4PM till Midnight - this photo was taken about half-way through the acts, at about 7PM and the pub had started to fill out. I had to keep moving to find small spots of open space to take photos without getting knocked about by the customers.Lighting
The sun was beginning to set outside, the main lighting for the earlier bands, and the lighting inside wasn't anything spectacular, so I made this shot Black and White to help accentuate the contrast in tones rather than letting it distract.Equipment
I was using my Canon 7D with my old SLR lens (70-220 f/4) This was obviously then manual focus - which is horribly awkward when shooting live bands, but is by far the longest lens I have and is fantastic for getting very close to members of the band, as long as I have the space to take the shot and not get pushed about. I would have liked to use a Monopod but I have tried in the past and it didn't work as well because I was moving around too much, so I tried to do these shots freehand again.Inspiration
As I was taking photos the bands, I noticed that the singer of The Sophia Vassalos Band was far more involved in her singing than many of the other performers and I wanted to capture one of those moments. You can tell just how much energy she's putting into singing here and its strong poses and emotions like this that make great band photos.Editing
I do a lot of post processing - aside from converting to Black and White, I also pushed the contrast and Tonal Curve to a very extreme end. I was trying to achieve the effect a lot of 1970's punk band photography had - a rough and raw vibe to them, so it feels like you're really there and you can feel the energy of the gig. I think the harsh contrast and bridging up the Clarity helped that.In my camera bag
I always have my Canon 7D with me and my SLR 35mm f/2.4. It's a manual focus lens but so versatile and I have captured so many beautiful shots with it. I also have a few filters for the 35mm that I carry with me everywhere - a Cross-Filter, an ND2 and (my favourite) a Polarising Filter. You can get some great effects with a few filters by just playing around for a while. I usually travel light so I don't take a tripod with me or another body. I do have a Canon 550D but save that for things like gigs so I can take a wide and a telephoto lens.Feedback
Gig photography can go a lot of ways, and usually you need to roll with the punches and change how you're shooting. There wasn't a Pit where I was so I was in with the crowd, moving in and out of people trying to find the right spot. However, throughout the set I knew what I wanted - a shot showing her emotion as she was singing, rather than resting or distracted. I also had an idea how to edit the shot as I was shooting, so it was just a case of finding the right place and waiting for the right moment - which is mostly a luck issue. Thankfully I was in the right place at the right time.
