by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix GX8, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, people photography, photographer of musicians, photography
Photography of Entertainers
I enjoy photographing musicians and entertainers. Whether it be a studio or location shoot for marketing or CD covers or live performances there are challenges to be met. In a studio or controlled environment creating the lighting that tells the story and eliciting emotion and expression is the challenge. During a live performance, lighting is what it is and the emotion is always there but the challenge becomes capturing the right moment when all the pieces come together.
Whether it be a studio or location shoot for marketing or CD covers or live performances there are challenges to be met. In a studio or controlled environment creating the lighting that tells the story and eliciting emotion and expression is the challenge. During a live performance, lighting is what it is and the emotion is always there but the challenge becomes capturing the right moment when all the pieces come together.
I love a challenge.
Here are some images from a location photo shoot for the Saith band (here’s lead singer Nathan’s web site). I was hired by Valerie Romanoff (Sedona/New York Musician) to capture here working with the band over in Jerome at the Spirit room. And here’s bass player Dom’s web-site.
In between sets we needed to make a band/group photo. The awning out front with everyone standing on the bench with a little fill flash was just the ticket.
Here’s one of my favorites of Valerie. It shows her in her element. Action and energy! The Lumix GX8 and the 7-14mm Lumix G Vario f4.0 lens was perfect for getting in all the action from a very close position.
Another fav… Shows the sparkle in her eyes and smile!
Images in this post were captured with the Lumix GH4 and 35-100mm Lumix Vario f2.8 lens (except for the ‘dancing guitar’ image) I’m still enjoying the smal, lightweight form factor of the Lumix line of pro camera gear. It allows me to be low key in live situations but still gives me the quality I need!
Just a reminder I am a Lumix Luminary and am sponsored by them for speaking to photography groups. That means I get to try out a lot of the new gear too!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Need a speaker for your photo group or organization? Get in touch and let’s see what we can put together! Contact info is right at the top of the page. Here are some of the programs I teach.
by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, photographer of musicians, photography, photography creativity
Jeff Dayton Band – A Salute to Glen Campbell
Last Saturday night The Jeff Dayton Band played their Salute to Glen Campbell at Sound Bites Grill in Sedona, Arizona. Jeff and the band share stories of backing up Glen Campbell on the road and in the studio. It’s a fun show that’s an emotional roller-coaster with lots of laughter.
Stories and music led to Steve and Michele to add Jeff and the band to the Sound Bites Grill ‘Wall of Fame’. Here’s the band.
Jeff Dayton Band – Salute to Glen Campbell
Jeff Dayton
Images were captured with the Lumix GH4 with the 35 to 100mm f2.8 Vario lens. Then the individual musician images are selected and cut out using Adobe Photoshop then layering the images together then using textures and blend modes to create the artistic look.
I really enjoy photographing and creating art for musicians. And sharing ideas with you.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix GX8, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, photographer of musicians, photography education
Miller and the Other Sinners Band
Take an electric guitar. Acoustic guitar. A bass guitar. A small sax… and a large one. Throw in someone who knows how to play the drums. Add in a voice that is pure magic and the namesake of the band. And what do you get?
A really good time listening to Southern Soul!
What is SOUTHERN SOUL?
A sweet blend of blues/gospel/americana/r&b with a splash a cayenne pepper.
Saturday night Miller and the Other Sinners performed at Sound Bites Grill and I had the fun job of photographing them for the ‘SBG Wall of Fame’. This group really rocked the house with a bluesy sound that had everyone bouncing in their seats.
Sound Bites Grill Wall of Fame image for Miller and the Other Sinners
I used two cameras for the event.
I used the Lumix GH4 with a 35-100mm Vario f2.8 lens for the individual band member captures. I generally shoot at ISO 3200 in aperture priority with a minus 2/3rds of a stop exposure compensation in RAW. This will generally get me an exposure between 1/60th & 1/100 of a second. Taking the images into Adobe Camera Raw with just a little push up of the shadows slider and a reduction of the highlights I am able to get the entire dynamic range of the scene.
The second camera is the Lumix GX8 with a wide f2.8 12-35mm Vario zoom. These images are of the whole band and used for press releases and marketing. Same basic settings on the camera. A great feature of shooting with these cameras is the Live View function as you are seeing the image as it is being captured so it’s easy to make tweaks to the settings before firing the shutter.
Marketing images are created in color but I specifically do the BW conversion myself so the best quality will be printed rather than someone at the publication just pushing the greyscale button. NIK Silver FX Pro 2 is the go-to software plug-in.
Knowing how the images are going to be used dictates how images are processed. I always try to create the best image file for the job at hand. Remember to ask questions in order to be able to provide the best product.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, people photography
‘Wall of Fame’
A new member for the Sound Bites Grill ‘Wall of Fame’ in Sedona, Arizona. Sound Bites is the largest live entertainment restaurant in Sedona and over the years have brought in some great entertainment. I have been fortunate to record many of the fine musicians and entertainers and create photographic art to celebrate their performances. Here’s one of the latest, guitarist Darius Lux.
Darius Lux ‘Wall of Fame’ Art
For the curious, here’s how I create the images for the ‘Wall’.
Capture live performance while trying to get good poses that tell the story of the artist. For example, Darius bill himself as ‘Acoustic Spirit & Soul’. That’s why I choose a shot of his eyes down in a thoughtful position. To capture the stage show I use the Lumix GH4 usually mounted with the 35-100mm f2.8 Lumix Vario lens. This makes it possible to capture the action with no flash and from low profile so I don’t disturb guests who enjoying the show.
The artist signs his or her autograph on a blank white sheet of paper with marker that is then scanned into the computer. Using Adobe Photoshop I invert the color so the words and signature are white and the paper black. Then the signature is moved to the file and changed to Screen Mode. This has the effect of making the paper ‘disappear’ and the text remain. This is resized to represent a regular autograph. This would not be possible after the fact as many of the musicians are from out of town. At the very least even of they are from Sedona getting up with them for the signature would take quite a bit of time.
The artwork is accomplished in Photoshop by selecting other images that contain textures and using more Blend Modes, color layers and masks to get the final look. While there is a unifying feel to all the images no two are created in the same way.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | commercial photography, Lumix GX8, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, people photography
Valerie Romanoff is a musician that shares her time between New York & Sedona and we have started working together to create images for her social media campaigns and possibly CD covers. Learn more about Valerie and her NY gig… Starlight Orchestras
I also photographed Valerie over in Cottonwood at the Main StageTheatre where she sat in with the Bottom Line Band who host the Bottom Line Jam on Thursday nights.
Here’s a few images from there…
Main Stage dance floor in Cottonwood, Arizona
Band and dancers at Main Stage
Valerie with Bottom Line
Sax man!
Guitar with Valerie
Valerie belting one out
Live performance photos were made with the new Lumix GX8 12-35mm f2.8 and 7-14mm f4 lenses. Kicked in a little fill light with an on camera speed light with diffuser bounced in as the stage lighting was really spotty
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | commercial photography, Lumix GH4, musician photography, people photography, photography, photography education, photography gear, photography lighting resources
I love working with musicians!
They are often solid creative people and have spent some time in front of a camera so getting good posing is not a chore. Good eye contact with the camera and an idea of the story they want told in the image makes for a fun photo shoot. Especially fine session with Valerie Romanoff of Starlight Orchestras who splits her time between New York, NY and Sedona, AZ.
Valerie was looking for images to use in her social media. Some images were set in the red rocks and some were during a live performances over in Cottonwood at the Main Stage venue. She performed with some great musicians as part of the Bottom Line Jam with host band Bottom Line. (Totally enjoyed the performance by the way!) When I was going through the first edit my wife Holly looked over my shoulder and said, “Oh my, she’s going to have a hard time choosing images! There are so many good ones.” I’d like to think it was mostly my skill, but Valerie is a skilled performer and is extremely photogenic!
Here are a few selects from the outdoor session…
The Path leads right to Valerie and Bell Rock is pointing right to her also…
With Courthouse Butte in the Background.
This is a pose idea I picked up from Peter Hurley (The Head Shot: Secrets to Creating Amazing Head Shot Portraits)
For the outdoor photo session I used my workhorse camera the Lumix GH4 with either the Lumix Vario 12-35mm or 35-100mm f2.8 lenses mounted. We had nice light a little after sunrise supplemented with a Paul C Buff mono light powered with a Vagabond Mini Lithium battery. Having power to take studio lights easily on location gits you enough flash power to control the scene. This was fitted with a 35″ foldable Octabox. In order to keep shape and form the flash was placed on the same side as the sun to not flatten out light.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Images from the Main Stage performance will be posted tomorrow
