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Simone Simons
Simone Simons of Epica photographed in Worcester
Simone Simons of Epica photographed in Worcester
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Canon EOS-1D X
Aperture f/20 ISO 100 Shutter 1/160 Focal Length 200/1 
Worcester, Massachusetts, US
Feb, 2021Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken at the Worcester Palladium upstairs before doors opened for the Epica show, one of many shoots I have done with Simone.Time
This was taken around 1230 in the afternoon, as when I do band photo shoots, they normally have to either take place before doors open so we have the entire venue to use for photos, or we have to find another location away from fans, or worst case we shoot in a dressing room/backstage. In this instance we shot all around and outside the venue well before most fans had arrived.Lighting
For this lighting I normally shoot with out a flare. I would normally shoot this profile with a single light 45 degrees behind her pointing toward her face with another up high pointing toward her hair getting almost entirely silhuette with a little sliver of light on the opposite side of her face giving a really cinematic sort of feel, but when shooting with that light set up, if you move to the side you get more light on the face and a bit of a lens flare which worked well for this shot, it made the eyes pop, gave that bit of lens flare which really goes well with the album they were touring for at the time "the holographic principle" which, the album art is very space/lens flare driven, I figure this portrait would go well with that.Equipment
Canon 1DX, Canon 70-200 lens, ISO 100, F20, at 200mm. 1/160th sec. Using dynalite lighting with a uni400 w/47" grandbox camera right a little behind the subject pointing at her face and another uni400 from above pointing at her hair giving the lens flare both at 50% power.Inspiration
When I photograph a subject I tend to not go for a singular look, especially when its someone who I do not get to shoot with often since they are over here on tour from another country, and who knows when they will be back. So the idea was to get as many looks as possible, and this set was absolutely my favorite as I tend to not really use lens flares in my shots but for this one, it was perfect. With Simone being a rock/metal vocalist who sings in a operatic style, its important to give that rock flare to it but still keep it soft so you get the same duality in the image as you do from their music.Editing
Not much honestly, Just a bit of lightroom sliders. I grew up on film and was always taught "Get it right in camera". Being that I shoot digital, thats what test shots are for... to make sure editing will be minimal, so for this shot its a bit of contrast, brightness, color, corrections, but beyond that, its as shot.In my camera bag
Depends on the shoot, sometimes I'll be set up doing a full day of photo shoots with a band on location, or in studio, or also shooting a concert along with the portraits or flying into a shoot and flying home the same/next day... in general my go to's that I always have in my bag are my Leica SL-2, Leica 24-90, 16-35, 70-200, and Canon 85 1.2, for lighting I always use 1-4 lights, Dynalite Uni400s with 47" grandbox is always my main, with Matthews Studio Equipment rollway base, 40" c+ riser and mini boom for stands, additional Matthews C+ stands for side lights. What I have in my bag changes all the time though depending on what I am shooting.Feedback
In terms of photographing bands, I know its not easy to break into music photography, I teach seminars and workshops on music portraiture, getting published, lighting demos, and more (and have some of that on my patreon as well). I would say keep shooting as much as you can whenever you can and work on attaining and maintaining good professional working relationships in the industry that you can build on. In terms of capturing the same style shot, its all about the lighting, having the large soft lighting behind the subject to light the face and the hard lighting to create the flare is what makes it work, no matter where you move, no matter what you do, the flare will change and youll never be able to get the same photo twice, but youll always get something interesting... just make sure the flare isnt completely washing out your shot.
