I was asked to be at a school coffeehouse, an open stage for budding musicians. I brought a camera.
My favourite concert shots are taken from the wings or behind the performers, with the spot lights lighting just their edges. Shapes are defined, but details are left up to the viewer. I've also been fond of light coming in strongly from one side of the subject. The feel of the image then, depends on how dark the shadows are. If they are very dark, the image becomes moody and mysterious. If they are lit up a bit, the mood becomes more dependent on the subject himself. This night, I set up so I could take both types of shots.
The first shot was a quick grab, though it has become one of my favourites. There is a big mirror at the back of the stage area, and when I saw Paul's reflection, it felt immediately iconic. I had not yet set up any lights, so I was at iso 800, f2.8 and 1/60s. The image stabilizer on the lens made it possible-usually, an exposure this slow with a lens this long (200mm) would be junk because of camera motion.
I put two flashes stage right, one high and one low-both were slightly in front of the performers. When I shot from the crowd, the performers were sidelit, and when I shot from the opposite end of the stage, they were backlit, defining just their shapes. I set the exposure to leave just a bit of detail in the shadows-I wanted the shots to be a bit dark (it is a concert after all), but I also wanted to make sure you could see people, n
ot just shapes.
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