I pulled out some of my old slides from concerts I shot when I was younger and scanned them on my flatbed (please forgive the poor scan quality; it's dynamic ranges isn't very good).

The first couple are of the late Michael Hedges (a very cool and talented fellow), and the third is of the Indigo Girls (who were also down-to-earth). They were all shot on Ektachrome 100HC. All of these photos were taken with a Minolta Maxxum 7000 and either a Sigma 70-210/3.5-4.5 APO zoom or a Minolta 50/1.7, so it really doesn't require superfast glass to get the job done.

The last few shots are of the Hoodoo Gurus, shot on Ektachrome 400. I generally used manual metering, zooming in as much as possible to get a reading, then setting the aperture/speed as needed to put the values where I wanted them. I don't remember how much I used the autofocus. I do remember my ears were ringing for three days after that show because I spent a couple of hours setting in front of a stack of Marshalls. That was even with earplugs. If you are going to shoot concerts, earplugs should be an essential part of your gear.

I hope these illustrate why I think that flash sucks. If I had used flash, not only would I have been thrown out immediately, I would have spoiled the dramatic effects that the lighting engineers worked so hard to achieve.

-- Mike Dixon (burmashave@compuserve.com), November 06, 2000

Answers

Whoaa, that's a lot of photos, too many to comment on.

Michael Hedges died? I didn't know that.

Most of the music isn't too cool for me, maybe I don't get as excited about the pix (excellent as they may be) because I'm not as into the artists. I like the right pic of Hoodoo Gurus best.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), November 07, 2000.

I so totally agree with you on not using flash that... well, I just totally agree with you. I hate flash and only use it for some macro stuff I've been fiddling with. These photos are way cool. I like both of Michael Hedges, especially the one that shows subject movement. I'm sure I would have enjoyed this concert. The Indigo Girls photo isn't as strong, I don't think, but nicely composed and exposed. All three of the Hoodoo Gurus shots are friggin fabulous. I really like the backlit hair fringe on the first one. Would kind of like to see his face better as it seems like he's on a really cool sounding verse. Some good stuff. I would add my one shot of George Winston in concert, but it's totally lame compared to these, and it's in BLACK AND WHITE!!! :-)

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), November 07, 2000.

Basically I could just copy/paste most of Tony Rowletts response... I too love the Hoodoo Gurus pics - esp. the first one, and agree wholeheartedly on the flash issue - so whatB4s new? :)

-- Christel Green (look.no@film.dk), November 07, 2000.

while concert photos are far from my favorite genre, i do think the second image communicates very well. the trick is not just to get the blur, but to get the timing of body shape right. so many concert pictures are simply wooden.

-- wayne harrison (wayno@netmcr.com), November 07, 2000.

To me, the Hedges shots are examples of what is pedestrian vs. what is, as Spirer said, "transcendent." Picture 1 is a geekly looking guy to old for his costume playing a guitar. Picture 2 is a soul in flight. (By the way this blur works so well because there is SOMETHING in focus...)

I've found that shots of musicians are sort of slaves to expectations... The subject seems to demand a narrow, rebels-in-action approach- At a portfolio review I had a very knowledgeable, hip photo editor tell me about a collection of my portraits: "I don't know- they don't seem to be about the music..." They were kind of dark and somber and formal- I think I was trying to present these artists as the serious poets I knew them to be- But they weren't musician shots as he expected them....

So lets see some musician or concert pictures that work, but would NOT be candidates for the Sunday Arts Section...

Also, if you'd like to review my portfolio of musicians, click Portraits at:

www.chrisyeager.com

-- Chris Yeager (cyeager@ix.netcom.com), November 07, 2000.