Photographing musicians during a live performance can be a bit of a challenge.
But I dig it!
If you follow this blog you know I am charged with creating the marketing images for bands who play at Sound Bites Grill in Sedona. Also, the ‘Wall of Fame’ is a record of performers who have graced the stage and is becoming a history of entertainment at the restaurant. To date, there are over eighty art pieces presented on the wall.
Here is the latest.
The Black Market Trust Band
Here is the finished piece as presented on the ‘Wall of Fame.’
While the band is performing, I isolate each member and extract them from the scene and then blend them back together while creating the art piece for the wall. These were captured with the Lumix GX7 and the 35-100mm f2.8 Vario lens. After each member is placed on the new canvas layers of texture, drop shadows, and lighting effects are added to create depth and dimension.
While the musicians are on site, I gather their ‘message to the house’ and autographs for inclusion in the final art piece. These are signed in black Sharpie on white paper. After scanning, using Adobe Photoshop they are imported to the final image, sized and inverted to white text. The Blend Mode of the Layer is changed to Screen. This makes the inverted paper, which is now black disappear with no further selections necessary.
Images for the newspaper are also prepped. I shoot in color but do the prep to black and white for the best printing results. Many times a color image is just changed to greyscale by the paper and using NIK Silver FX Pro 2 makes for better contrast and tones. These were captured with the Lumix GH4 and the 12-35 f2.8 Vario lens.
There’s a new rendition of Esteban and company on the Wall of Fame at Sound Bites Grill in Sedona. It was time to get drummer Joe Morris in place as he’s been playing for the last two years. Some great music at the bottom of this post. You might want to click play on that as you read the rest of the info.
Esteban – Teresa Joy and drummer Joe Morris
Here’s the rundown on the creation of art for the SBG Wall of Fame. I start with images of the musicians captured during live performances. They are individually extracted from the scene and then reassembled into the final composition.
In Adobe Photoshop the pieces are composited while adding layers of texture in various Blend Modes. Drop Shadows add depth. The Inner Glow Mode is used to create lighting effects. Artists are asked to add messages and autographs in black Sharpie Marker. These are inverted and added to the image as it would be almost impossible to track down people after they have completed their gig.
My cameras of choice are either the Lumix GH4 or the GX8. Both cameras have the density range and frame rate to handle the LED stage lighting which can be tough as there is only pure color in the lights. My primary lens choice for getting the individual photos is the 35-100mm f2.8 Vario. The lens is equivalent to a 70-200mm full frame.
Full stage at Sound Bites
For the entire group and stage publicity photos, I use the 12-35mm f2.8 Lumix Vario lens. It’s a solid wide angle zoom that teams up well with the 35-100mm.
Esteban – La Paloma Classical Guitar with Teresa Joy on violin
Sound Bites Grill adds Melanie to the Wall of Fame
Remember Woodstock?
Me either. A little before my time.
But I do remember I grew up with a lot of music from that era. One of the artists recently appeared at Sound Bites in Sedona, Arizona. Melanie put on a fun show with a reprise of her classic hits like New Key and Look What They Done to My Song along with some newer material. Follow up with Melanie’s website here for more music info, tour dates, and history.
One of the benefits of being the house photographer at SBG is I have the opportunity to attend a lot of shows and view lots of entertainment. The other bonus is Stephen and Michele appreciate the work I do and allow me to create the art pieces from the live performances.
Melanie from her live performance at Sound Bites.
ORIGINAL CAPTURES WITH LUMIX GH4 35-100MM F2.8 VARIO LENS 1/40TH SEC F2.8 ISO 3200
Here’s the process. I photograph the performers through their show. Once images are downloaded, I cull the non-keepers. There can be quite a few of these due to blurred movement, changing lighting conditions, etc. Then I choose one that helps to tell the story, and I extract the performer from the image using Adobe Photoshop. I’ll open another file and import the extracted image. Then I’ll experiment with bringing in different textures as Layers. Changing the Blend Modes of the layers changes how they interact with the layers below. Layer Masks allow me to be selective about where changes will show. I have the artist sign their autograph and ‘message to the house’ in black marker on white paper. That is scanned and brought into the final art. That layer is inverted making the text white, and the Screen Mode is used to make the paper disappear.
Melanie & Family – Melanie has some incredibly talented progeny. They joined her on stage. Son Boe wails on the guitar. Daughter Jeordie is a singer/songwriter in her own right. (she’s playing some dates down the road in Phoenix in the next few days) All in all a great show.
You can see here that while the same general technique was used on both images, there is an entirely different ‘feel’ to the imagery. I enjoy the challenge of trying to do something a little different for all the art that hangs on the Wall of Fame. If you find yourself in Sedona stop by, grab some grub, and check out the ‘Wall’ in person.
Lessons from a Personal Photo Project – Strawberry Lesson
“You can’t always get what you want, But if you try sometimes, you get what you need!” Rolling Stones
I am always trying new things for art, for practice or just to see if I can do it to add to my photo skill set. Yesterday I found (what I thought was) a beautiful looking strawberry and decided to see if I could create some art with it.
I was not successful in creating art.
I learned several things, so I consider the shoot a success!
Strawberry image after a little play in Adobe Photoshop to clean up some of the bruises that presented themselves as the shoot progressed.
Image created with Lumix GH4 and the 45mm Macro Elmerit Lens
I placed the light behind and camera left which created the highlight. The camera right side of the strawberry was lit with a reflection of my hand curved into a cup to wrap the light around the top of the fruit. (note the slightly warmer color because of the skin tone)
• When photographing food with a macro lens any, and I mean any imperfections will be revealed. Lesson learned for future – when photographing food, especially perishables examination of the object should be carried out with a magnifying glass. Even if you think you have the hero make sure there is plenty of other possibilities cause as the set heats up with lights the fruit will reveal more and more imperfections from picking, packaging and handling.
• In a low light situation, I learned that my hand could be used as a shaped reflector.
• Playing with the white balance on the camera and the Fiilex P100 (AKA the Brick) color adjustable LED light can lead to some very interesting different rendering of the subject.
I now have more information about photographing food in case that comes my way.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – As I was writing this post I think I may have found a way to process this strawberry into some art… Back to Photoshop for some more PLAY!
Find Solid Lighting for Your Photography Portraits
To find a beautiful natural light for your portrait subjects I recommend looking for shadows. Shadows are the hallmark of depth and dimension in two-dimensional renditions of our subject.
First, look for porches or overhangs that will remove the overhead light. Ideally, you’ll have a bright surface like concrete or sand or bright building reflecting the overhead light into the shadowed area. This situation works well because the larger the light source, the softer the shadow edge transitions will be. There is a magical place just under the portico that will yield very flattering light patterns. One way to discover the right spot is to hold up and examine the back of your hand and examine the shadows as you move your hand through the scene. This method allows you to see how the shadow-edge transitions will play out. If you have beautiful smooth hands with no ridges and alternative is to bend the middle finger down and watch the shadow as it falls on your palm.
Fondly referred to as the reverse salute, the middle finger can show you how the shadows will look.
Once you have decided on the proper place for your subject, you then have the opportunity to set the lighting pattern by changing her angle to the light. By rotating your subject you have the ability to create the most flattering light whether that be broad light, split light or short light. Most times I will opt for short lighting as I feel that adds the most depth and interest to a portrait.
Note The light on camera right side is less wide than the shadow camera left
Note the light and shadow are just about even in this image
In this image, most of the mask of the face is lit with just a soft shadow camera left. Note the slight ‘kicker light’ on her face on the camera left side.
This particular space was a bonus in that it was more of a tunnel with an opening on the other side which added a subtle separation light which adds more dimension to the photograph.
I was photographing this session as part of a job for the Sedona Meditation Center, which is now under the guidance of Ichibuko Todd (my fabulous model!) who has relocated here from Hawaii.
Images captured with the Lumix GH4 with 35-100mm f2.8 Vario Lens. Settings ISO 200 1/400th sec. f3.5 47mm (94mm in 35mm)
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – If you want to have higher contrast with harder shadow edge transitions move your subject further away from the main light source.
Always fun chatting with Skip Cohen about the photography business. This is a chat about Embracing new tech in photography. Being a Lumix Luminary has moved me from being the last to jump into new technology to getting to try out new things that are changing faster than you can imagine.
Embracing new technology. Weekend Wisdom with Skip Cohen Listen here
With new ways of processing and capturing images in camera there are more tools at our beck and call then ever before. If you aren’t checking out some of the new ways to leverage these tools in your business you may be falling behind… Many cameras are now more like a computer with a lens attached. Time-lapse captures have never been easier with in-camera processing. 4K video allows you to capture video and pull still frames that can easily be printed to twenty inches. Again the 4K video can be leveraged to give you the opportunity to choose your focus point after the fact. I’m sure there are a number of cameras capable of many of the things I’m sharing here but, I’m familiar with the Panasonic Lumix cameras. The GH4, GX8, G7, FZ1000, LX100 and others are changing the way photographers work and the way photography is growing into the future.
Check out the podcast and let me know what you think…
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Fotopro tripods are well worth checking out. You can learn about the ones I use and recommend by clicking on the Fotopro Tripods link at the top of this page. If you want to see what other tripods might fit your needs check out the Fotopro.com website. Check back with me before you buy as a Fotopro Ambassador I’m able to get you discounted pricing including complementary continental USA shipping for my followers that you won’t find through retail outlets.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
Lightning, waterdroplets, sound, time-lapse, HDR sequences, smiles and much more control for your camera!
Cameras Get Smarter -
A High Speed Smart Camera Remote
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Platypod has become a great resource for being creative in getting your camera gear easily into unusual places. As an Platypod Pro I get to work/play with the gear even before it comes out. Head over to Platypod, subscribe to the newsletter and you will get special discounts reserved only for subscribers.
Here is the finished piece as presented on the ‘Wall of Fame.’
Black & White photo The Black Market Trust Band
Color image of the BMT Band
