sting and joss stone in concert

Andy · May 14, 2005

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

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)

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

slow your shutter down and you can get some cool effects.

dominc miller, sting's guitarist

josh freese, the drummer with dominic and sting

there are a few more shots in this gallery

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 · May 14, 2005

Well Andy
How well did you do, well let's see............

If I tell you that I can hear & feel the music through your images.....will that work ???

:wow

Now I will wait for my hotmama photo fix

:lol4

Andy · May 14, 2005

bfjr wrote:

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

Now I will wait for my hotmama photo fix :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

)....

Adrian van Ammers · May 14, 2005

Andy, you have outdone your self!

andy wrote:

hey everyone,

last night my dw did something pretty cool, she took me to the sting "broken music" concert in new york 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??
(

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

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 · May 14, 2005

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...

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

Heh, I like your story too.

It's definately true what you say about his followers...

AJ

wxwax · May 14, 2005

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

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 · May 14, 2005

Caught the tail end of Sting
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!

John Mueller · May 14, 2005

andy wrote:

"is this skirt too short?" (no )....

D
Great captures Andy.
Like the story as well

iluvhim · May 14, 2005

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 · May 14, 2005

Excellent work Andy ^5
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

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

Steve

Andy · May 14, 2005

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

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 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

Steve

sting's got no problem with photos taken at concerts.. his website is full of them

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"

and he for sure isn't going to check me "down there." :nono :ymca

don't try this at home folks

lynnma · May 14, 2005

andy wrote:

sting's got no problem with photos taken at concerts.. his website is full of them 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" and he for sure isn't going to check me "down there." :nono :ymca

don't try this at home folks

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...

Andy · May 14, 2005

here we don't call 'em "knickers" for guys lynnie

lynnma wrote:

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"

4labs · May 14, 2005

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 · May 14, 2005

Wow!
Great shooting Andy! You really nailed it!

I assume the music was great, too!
Cheers, mate!

Andy · May 14, 2005

Adrian van Ammers wrote:

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 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

when you do go for it, you won't regret it...

Andy · May 14, 2005

MuskyDude wrote:

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...

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

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

AJ

the view's great, aj

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

Shima · May 14, 2005

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

Kirwin · May 14, 2005

What else can I add

... ooooooooohhhhhhh yyyyaaaaaaaaaaa.:):

ian408 · May 14, 2005

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

Ian

tlittleton · May 15, 2005

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 · May 15, 2005

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

Andy · May 15, 2005

Yuri Pautov wrote:

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

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

spasibo, and thanks

andy

Skippy · May 15, 2005

Boy! What an Opportunity That Was!

andy wrote:

hey everyone,

last night my dw did something pretty cool, she took me to the sting "broken music" concert in new york 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??

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 · May 15, 2005

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 · May 15, 2005

Skippy wrote:

andy wrote:

hey everyone,

last night my dw did something pretty cool, she took me to the sting "broken music" concert in new york 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??

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 · May 15, 2005

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 · May 16, 2005

andy wrote:

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. . .

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 · May 16, 2005

binghott wrote:

i used to be tempted to buy equipment from you. . .

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

i think i have about 25 shots that i gave the wife... out of maybe 125 or 150..

cheers thanks!

Andy · May 16, 2005

Dee wrote:

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!

hiya dee

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 · May 16, 2005

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

sting and joss stone in concert

Comments