sting and joss stone in concert

[Andy]

hey everyone,

last night my dw did something pretty cool, she took me to the sting "broken music" concert in new york :huh i'm lucky because i have to say that for the past few days, it's been "sting central" at our house, nancy's had four of her fellow sting fans visiting the house. have i mentioned that like 90% of sting concert goers are hot women?? :lust :lust :lol3

anyhow, i thought i'd share some of the pics from last night. first of all, after seriously shooting at three concerts, my best advice is to set your expectations low, and shoot a ton of shots :lol3 it's *really hard* to get good results!

i shot exclusively with a canon 20d, canon 85 f/1.8 aboard. this was a perfect focal length, as i was in the 4th row center :thumb thanks to experienced concert shooter waxy for his pre-concert advice in terms of my lens selection. oh yeah, shay was the recepient of a late night phone call the other night, too for some last minute sanity checking. i kept my iso as low as i could, but with the 20d was free to shoot all the way up to 1600 without any concerns whatsover. some of the best shots i got were in fact at iso 1600 :D and the 85 f/1.8 is sure one of canon's sharpest lenses, and you can't beat the price/performance ratio!

i think the key for successful concert shot exposures is to shoot in raw so that you can correct any wacky white balance issues in post, and to shoot with *alot* of negative exposure compensation. i used between -2/3s and -1 2/3s exposure compensation the whole night. oh, another thing - shoot bursts of at least three shots always! the second and/or third shot will be the sharpest.

the night started with the throaty british sensation joss stone - who, at 18 years old, sings with the feeling and conviction of janis joplin in her heyday - truly a magnificent performer, and very easy on the eyes. in fact, my 18 year old son absolutely *begged* me for my ticket tonight :lol3

in post: adobe camera raw, minor *very* minor exposure adjustments (no multiple exposures needed; occasional wb adjustments due to wacky concert lighting; convert to photoshop; crop to taste, light light light usm (75, .4, 0).

(click on the piccies for the exiffies)

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/22029734-L.jpg (http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=22029734)

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/22029735-L.jpg (http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=22029735)

and then, of course, the main event

as i said, the 85 f/1.8 sure is a sharp lens, and gathers a *ton* of light
http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/22029725-L.jpg (http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=22029725)

slow your shutter down and you can get some cool effects.
http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/22029726-L.jpg (http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=22029726)

dominc miller, sting's guitarist
http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/22029727-L.jpg (http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=22029727)

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/22029729-L.jpg (http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=22029729)

josh freese, the drummer with dominic and sting

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/22029858-L.jpg (http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=22029858)

http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/22029958-L.jpg (http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=22029958)

there are a few more shots in this gallery (http://www.moonriverphotography.com/gallery/533072 )

lots more to process for the *extremely demanding* sting hot momma fans :lol3 but i have the rest of the weekend. today, they are all going to see sting again :rolleyes in nyc's greenwich village, at a small private concert in a tiny club. they won tickets through the sting fanclub. here's how crazy they are: they are leaving now so that they can stand in line at 10am, becuase the concert is "general admission" in that the first folks there will get closest to the stage. the concert's not till 8pm tonight :crazy :lol3

enjoy (making your sting-obsessed wife deleriously happy) photography

[bfjr]

Well Andy
How well did you do, well let's see............:scratch
If I tell you that I can hear & feel the music through your images.....will that work ??? :thumb :wow

Now I will wait for my hotmama photo fix :lust :lol4

[Andy]

Well Andy
How well did you do, well let's see............:scratch
If I tell you that I can hear & feel the music through your images.....will that work ??? :thumb :wow

Now I will wait for my hotmama photo fix :lust :lol4

thanks so much ben!

hehheh i wish i could supply a tape recording of the conversations in my house right now!

they're all running around my studio this morning, getting ready for sting again today - like a bunch of teenagers! "what to wear?" "is my makeup right?" "is this skirt too short?" (no :lol3)....

[Adrian van Ammers]

hey everyone,

last night my dw did something pretty cool, she took me to the sting "broken music" concert in new york :huh i'm lucky because i have to say that for the past few days, it's been "sting central" at our house, nancy's had four of her fellow sting fans visiting the house. have i mentioned that like 90% of sting concert goers are hot women?? :lust :lust :lol3
(Boy, what a nice quality pictures. I really, really like this. OMG so I will need this 20D by the end. Yesterday I did a shoot in a very little church. All young solist singers, one of them my future :dunno daughter in law. I have some nice pics but still when I see this, woohoo. I actually was thinking - again - about it while shooting yesterday. Do I need a 20d? Hehe, i guess yes. Thanks for sharing these wonderful pics, Andy.

[MuskyDude]

I'm absolutely FLOORED by these shots Andy, just stunning... I think Sting and his band, no I KNOW they would LOVE these... Signed of course... :nod

So what's the view like, from cloud 9? :wink

Heh, I like your story too. :wink It's definately true what you say about his followers... :lust :thumb

AJ

[wxwax]

Great shots, Andy, I especially like the first and the last. And thanks for again sharing your tremendous insight into technique. :clap

Amazing how you always nail the exposure! Shooting in bursts is great advice, makes a huge difference.

I take it no-one hassled you about the camera?

[Dee]

on David Letterman's show and wondered if your wife was going to get another Sting fix.

Fantastic shots, looks like you had plenty of light, but I know you probably didn't. Your timing is just right on these poses and captures too! :clap :clap

[John Mueller]

"is this skirt too short?" (no :lol3).... :rofl:D
Great captures Andy.
Like the story as well:thumb

[iluvhim]

I love those pictures they are so crisp in color, I also love the angle of some of them b/c it definitely makes you feel the action that is going on at the concert...:D

[Steve Cavigliano]

I just got done commenting on the 2 shots you posted over at DPR.....lol

How do you rate? I get great seats at concerts all the time and they never let me bring a camera in. Not even a super compact :huh Is it because you and Nancy are personal friends of Sting? Or do they let anyone bring Dslrs into the show? Either way, you are one lucky dog.....lol I'm sure Nancy is thrilled with these too :thumb


Steve

[Andy]

I just got done commenting on the 2 shots you posted over at DPR.....lol

How do you rate? I get great seats at concerts all the time and they never let me bring a camera in. Not even a super compact :huh Is it because you and Nancy are personal friends of Sting? Or do they let anyone bring Dslrs into the show? Either way, you are one lucky dog.....lol I'm sure Nancy is thrilled with these too :thumb


Steve

sting's got no problem with photos taken at concerts.. his website (www.sting.com) is full of them :D but the venues, they have really strict policies ... so...... my secret:

put the 20d body only at bottom of d.w.'s purse, underneath about a dozen tampax. put the 85mm lens in a pouch, down near a certain other pouch, and voila. no beefy security guard is going to touch or either area... when he sees a dozen tampax they say "come on right in ma'am" :lol3 and he for sure isn't going to check me "down there." :nono :ymca

don't try this at home folks :lol3

[lynnma]

sting's got no problem with photos taken at concerts.. his website (http://www.sting.com/) is full of them :D but the venues, they have really strict policies ... so...... my secret:

put the 20d body only at bottom of d.w.'s purse, underneath about a dozen tampax. put the 85mm lens in a pouch, down near a certain other pouch, and voila. no beefy security guard is going to touch or either area... when he sees a dozen tampax they say "come on right in ma'am" :lol3 and he for sure isn't going to check me "down there." :nono :ymca

don't try this at home folks :lol3God Andy.. you walk in with that lens clunking around in your knickers???
wonderful shots... I must get my canon lens out, I'm inspired...

[Andy]

God Andy.. you walk in with that lens clunking around in your knickers???
wonderful shots... I must get my canon lens out, I'm inspired...


they're "tightie whities" :lol3

[4labs]

Great shots Andy. I saw Sting and Annie Lenox at Jones BEach last summer it was an incredible show and I am sure Joss Stone was just as gtood with him.

[Nikolai]

Great shooting Andy! You really nailed it!

I assume the music was great, too!
Cheers, mate!:1drink

[Andy]

Boy, what a nice quality pictures. I really, really like this. OMG so I will need this 20D by the end. Yesterday I did a shoot in a very little church. All young solist singers, one of them my future :dunno daughter in law. I have some nice pics but still when I see this, woohoo. I actually was thinking - again - about it while shooting yesterday. Do I need a 20d? Hehe, i guess yes. Thanks for sharing these wonderful pics, Andy.

thanks adrian :D when you do go for it, you won't regret it...

[Andy]

I'm absolutely FLOORED by these shots Andy, just stunning... I think Sting and his band, no I KNOW they would LOVE these... Signed of course... :nod

So what's the view like, from cloud 9? :wink

Heh, I like your story too. :wink It's definately true what you say about his followers... :lust :thumb

AJ

the view's great, aj :D thanks so much. tonight: she's bringing home 3 more, so there'll be 6 in the house!

[Shima]

I agree with the majority opinion, those are some fabulous shots, great job!

[Kirwin]

What else can I add:dunno

... ooooooooohhhhhhh yyyyaaaaaaaaaaa.:):

[ian408]

These are some nice concert shots. The DW and F must be happy with the
results :thumb

Ian

[tlittleton]

Great shots Andy! You're not kidding about taking a ton of shots and getting few good shots. I had my first experience with my camera at a concert last week.

I love the one you shot of him in silhouette

[Yuri Pautov]

Andy!
Congrats! Very impressive photos!
Was it 'full zoom'?
Spasibo,
Yuri

[Andy]

Andy!
Congrats! Very impressive photos!
Was it 'full zoom'?
Spasibo,
Yuri

hi yuri, no zoom. 85mm f/1.8 prime lens. that's it. :D

spasibo, and thanks

andy

[Skippy]

[QUOTE=andy]hey everyone,

last night my dw did something pretty cool, she took me to the sting "broken music" concert in new york :huh i'm lucky because i have to say that for the past few days, it's been "sting central" at our house, nancy's had four of her fellow sting fans visiting the house. have i mentioned that like 90% of sting concert goers are hot women?? :lust :lust :lol3

How clear are those shots??? gawwwwwwwwd and under that kind of lighting too......incredible......and not only that but you got to have a wonderful night out too.......Gosh Andy those images are really cool.

Skippy (Australia)

[GREAPER]

Great stuff Andy. Very impressive. They are crisp and clear when you wanted them to be.

Ive never seen any concert shots better, including in bands' own PR material.

[Andy]

[QUOTE=andy]hey everyone,

last night my dw did something pretty cool, she took me to the sting "broken music" concert in new york :huh i'm lucky because i have to say that for the past few days, it's been "sting central" at our house, nancy's had four of her fellow sting fans visiting the house. have i mentioned that like 90% of sting concert goers are hot women?? :lust :lust :lol3

How clear are those shots??? gawwwwwwwwd and under that kind of lighting too......incredible......and not only that but you got to have a wonderful night out too.......Gosh Andy those images are really cool.

Skippy (Australia)

thanks so much skippy!

[Harryb]

Hey Andy,

Fantastic shots. I can see the 3rd and 7th shots on album covers (if they make albums anymore). Really some of best stuff to date.

[binghott]

put the 85mm lens in a pouch, down near a certain other pouch, and voila.
i used to be tempted to buy equipment from you. . .http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/uhoh2.gif
http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/yelrotflmao.gif

anyway, cool shots, but i had a couple questions. were you taking pictures the whole time or were you just enjoying the show most of the time? you posted 15 pictures, is that because you didn't take too many or because you weren't satisfied with that many? just wondering, thanks!

also, if for some crazy reason you ever want to shoot some new york area bands and shows, i'm your guy.

[Andy]

i used to be tempted to buy equipment from you. . .http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/uhoh2.gif
http://dgrin.com/images/smilies/yelrotflmao.gif

anyway, cool shots, but i had a couple questions. were you taking pictures the whole time or were you just enjoying the show most of the time? you posted 15 pictures, is that because you didn't take too many or because you weren't satisfied with that many? just wondering, thanks!

also, if for some crazy reason you ever want to shoot some new york area bands and shows, i'm your guy.

i shot plenty.... but since i was immobile in my assigned seat area there's not a lot of variety :D i think i have about 25 shots that i gave the wife... out of maybe 125 or 150..

cheers thanks!

[Andy]

on David Letterman's show and wondered if your wife was going to get another Sting fix.

Fantastic shots, looks like you had plenty of light, but I know you probably didn't. Your timing is just right on these poses and captures too! :clap :clap

hiya dee :D the light is plentiful... you have to be lucky to catch the light right... shooting 3-4 shots at a time really helps. thanks so much for the feedback i really appreciate it!

[Mitchell]

I heard that at his last show in NYC (Saturday) a woman screamed out that she wanted to sing with Sting. He then invited her up on the stage, handed her a microphone, and they sang together. How cool is that?

When I heard this, I immediately thought that it must have been Andy's wife. Was it?

mitch

[Andy]

I heard that at his last show in NYC (Saturday) a woman screamed out that she wanted to sing with Sting. He then invited her up on the stage, handed her a microphone, and they sang together. How cool is that?

When I heard this, I immediately thought that it must have been Andy's wife. Was it?

mitch

it was the woman standing next to my wife. the woman wasn't even a sting fan :pissed and she didn't even know the lyrics to the song that he invited her to sing with him :uh oh

[ginger_55]

Good gosh, I am jealous! And I can't understand Sting, as "old" as he might be, so I wouldn't have gone. But "to go", it looks like a blast! A total blast!

I love your shots, the first ones of the 18 yr old, the one with all the energy.
And the last one, the blk and white of Sting, good lord, that is worth everything. Jail time if you had to, for the sake of "breaking rules". I am glad to hear you break them, too. I have been afraid to on the concert thing. But the ones I can afford now, they are as much fun, for me, with the frenzy, but no problem with a camera.

Every other rule, I think I have broken, but for some reason, I did not want to get thrown out of a thing I had paid mega bucks for, and waited to see.

I remember before going to an outdoor jazz concert, I asked you for lens and shooting advice. You gave it to me, and it worked great. I have no idea what it was, and I no longer have any of that equipment, except the sandy lens, but it was probably the 28-135 lens.

Your advice was spot on, months ago, last fall, now you are telling me that you had to ASK for advice on how to shoot a concert???

That was dicey. (Blur, for me, seemed to work best from the back or side, but then I was outdoors. The newspaper guy switched to flash. He insisted on putting a flash on my naked camera. I ended up trashing all those photos.)

I am sure glad you know how to do this now, Andy, so I can ask you for future events. Really good work there.

(I would put the last one up for sale)

g

[ginger_55]

You only shot 150? That sounds like so few, to me. Especially, if you think about bursts.

I was thinking last night, how I shoot whatever amt of memory I have, for any occasion. I have 400 gbs all total. I think I could shoot it in 5 minutes, if that
was all the time I had, and that is an exagerration, but I am a big believer in percentages and editing after the fact.

What did you do with the rest of your time :rofl ?

I know what someone meant about "seeing" the show. I shot so much of the Memorial Day Mens Club Concert, a local biggy, that I realized afterwards, I had missed the whole occasion. That was last year.

OK, I am going to sit on myself this year. No shooting while the event is going on. It is amazing how brazen I was, and how they let me do it. It must have been distracting to others. I, of course, was in some kind of photo fog and didn't realize that I had missed all the dialogue and songs. Everything I SAW was through the camera.

On the jazz thing that you told me how to shoot, I had a blast shooting!

ginger
I can hear the beat and still shoot, it is almost like dancing.:D

[Steve Cavigliano]

they're "tightie whities" :lol3
LOL Andy :rofl

I'm sure that lens created a nice "bulge" :lol Next time bring your 70-200mm....the wimmin will mob ya :lol4


Steve

[Markjay]

That #3 shot is to DIE for! So sharp, such excellent saturation. That is one of the sharpest concert images I've ever seen. Great work, Andy!






http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/22029725-S.jpg (http://williams.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=22029725)

[SusanB]

Oh my! I agree with everyone else, :agree , those are the sharpest, clearest, best color images of a concert I've ever seen! Way to go :clap :clap


Susan

[Jeremy Hall]

Having shot a ton of concert shots of late, I can say categorically your shots are wonderful. Because I am roaming around the theater not in the front row, I typically use my 70-200L IS, and dealing with the low lighting in the bg and hot spotlights can be tough. I need to work more with exposure compensation as you did. Absolutely beautiful shots.

[Angelia]

The first shot of Joss is breath taking!!!!!!!!!!

[Andy]

Great shots, Andy, I especially like the first and the last. And thanks for again sharing your tremendous insight into technique. :clap

Amazing how you always nail the exposure! Shooting in bursts is great advice, makes a huge difference.


I take it no-one hassled you about the camera?

thanks for the help in deciding on the focal length, sid :D i had NO trouble with the camera...

exposures? thanks :D yeah the key there is plenty of negative exp comp

[Andy]

:rofl:D
Great captures Andy.
Like the story as well:thumb

thanks so much, john!

[Andy]

I love those pictures they are so crisp in color, I also love the angle of some of them b/c it definitely makes you feel the action that is going on at the concert...:D

thank you veyr much, and :wave welcome to dgrin!

[Andy]

Great shots Andy. I saw Sting and Annie Lenox at Jones BEach last summer it was an incredible show and I am sure Joss Stone was just as gtood with him.

yep - we were at that show too :D annie lennox sure puts on a good act too, doesn't she?

thanks eric :D

[Andy]

Great shooting Andy! You really nailed it!

I assume the music was great, too!
Cheers, mate!:1drink

appreciate it very much, nik :D

[Andy]

What else can I add:dunno

... ooooooooohhhhhhh yyyyaaaaaaaaaaa.:):


thanks kirwin!

I agree with the majority opinion, those are some fabulous shots, great job!


:wave hi shima, very nice to meet ya, and thanks for the comments :D

[Andy]

These are some nice concert shots. The DW and F must be happy with the
results :thumb

Ian

thanks ian, yea the girls are really pleased :lol3

[darryl]

sting's got no problem with photos taken at concerts.. his website (www.sting.com) is full of them :D but the venues, they have really strict policies ... so...... my secret:

put the 20d body only at bottom of d.w.'s purse, underneath about a dozen tampax. put the 85mm lens in a pouch, down near a certain other pouch, and voila. no beefy security guard is going to touch or either area... when he sees a dozen tampax they say "come on right in ma'am" :lol3 and he for sure isn't going to check me "down there." :nono :ymca

don't try this at home folks :lol3

Ancient thread, I know, Andy, but I've been struggling with this forever. I really wish I could take more concert pics with my DSLR, but am far too chicken about getting "busted" to try smuggling it, or even my somewhat compact Canon S3 into a show.

What venue was this show at? And did the security guards working the stage really not care that somebody was shooting with a clearly professional camera?

I guess if you're not using a flash they won't care so much, but still, I always feel like I've got to disguise my shooting when I do bring my camera with me to an indoor venue.

That's one of the reasons I love love LOVE Bumbershoot up in Seattle. Their website may say no "professional" cameras (which they define as anything with a detachable lens), but they really only checked when entering their Mainstage (which featured Joss Stone last year, coincidentally).

So I was able to get up nice and close at the smaller stages. Now this was before I had my 50mm 1.8, but even with the crap kit lens I got some photos I was happy with.

Feist at Bumbershoot 2006, shot with Rebel XT w/ kit lens:
http://gladlee.smugmug.com/gallery/1865178_6FJqT#93737809

(I was going to post my Joss photos from last year, but all were shot with the S3, and I think I too often allowed myself to be tempted with the digital zoom, so many look embarrassingly crappy.)

Now that I've got a 50mm 1.8 and a 35mm 2.0 (hrm, and maybe I could rent a 85mm 1.8 for the weekend), I really want to head up there again. But hrm, might be tough with a 4-year old *and* a 8-month old. :-{

[RBrogen]

Andy, at first sight I thought you had gotten a private sitting with the group. The shots are so clear and capture the emotion of the singing. WOW man these are great. Have you ever had any issues with security getting your camera in?

[photocat]

Whatever you shoot becomes gold Andy... You have the touch! What more can one say? You got it!

[FlyNavy]

Amazing!! Superb work.

[zoomer]

I like that first shot.
Bet that was an amazing concert.
Thanks for sharing.