Covering band recording - any good examples/advice

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/25/2011 06:45:21 PM · #1

A friend asked me to cover a 10 hour recording session with his blues-rock band next week, at a professional studio.
I think it will be mostly unposed and pretty improvised, as they have quite a few songs to record, but I should be able to get them together on the breaks.
I'll be bringing a reflector and my flash along, but I am not really much of a flash photographer, it's a little thingy I found in a snow covered box in front of a shop in Copenhaghen and bought for pretty much nothing :)
I have been using it for portraits diffusing from a wall, but that's pretty much all I can do, so if light is low I'll mainly use a fast prime and crank iso up.

My friend is a photographer as well and prefers a classic look and not too much photoshop.

I was wondering if anybody could suggest some example of photography in recording studio and band photograhy in general, so I can ideas about what to try.
Also, any other advice is more than welcome.

Thanks!

geinafets

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

11/25/2011 07:24:38 PM · #2

Don't underestimate the power of bouncing light off a wall; that's like having a room-sized softbox if you aim the light right! I think if you have a flash and a nice big white wall, that could be all you need. If the walls and/or ceiling aren't white, then you'll need that reflector to bounce the light off of.

Just don't take any pictures while they're recording. If they have professional equipment, even the softest camera will be picked up by the mics. You can always shoot through the window if you want to get shots of them playing.

I don't know any specific photographers who shoot bands while in the studio, but the first picture that came to mind was the one on the Fourfa homepage. Silly web site, but I've always liked that picture.

Good luck and have fun!

Giles

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

11/26/2011 09:54:41 AM · #3

some producers/recording engineers get seriously arsey over noises etc as their mics pick it all up, i had an altercation with one for a band i roadie for while photographing the drummer in the studio. engineer kept saying he could hear my shutter, i said im sure you can when the guys not drummimg but when hes drumming you cant......

so try to stay out the way get the candid shots, most important thing to remember is recording is utterly boring lots of sitting around while one guitarist plays a riff 50 times while the rest sit around board and uninterested hehe.

theres a few studio sessions in here

//www.flickr.com/photos/cyberprop/sets/72157627789284447/

11/26/2011 03:31:30 PM · #4

Stefanie, Giles, thank you very much for the input.

I will be shooting inside between takes and I think just outside the studio there might be some interesting downtown London views for some more posed and creative shot at lunch break.
For shooting though the double glazing I think I'll use the tupperware shoot through trick I have seen somewhere in the DPC forum, if it works for aquariums it should be good there too :)

As for the attitude of sound engineers, honestly, having done some recording myself, I am kind of sympathetic. Sometimes, even a fieble click in a busy mix can ramp up when equalizing, not to mention the loud whining of my flash recharging :)
And sometimes even good technicians and gear will not help, I remember a psichedelic moment in a Pink Floyd track where at some point you can distintly hear somebody saying "Scusi, dov'e' il bagno?" (Italian for 'Excuse, where's the toilet?'). It can be annoying for me as a photographer, but I guess it's the same as standing aside of a strobo during a photoshoot. Maybe it won't interfere, maybe it it could be fixed easily in PS, but it doesn't matter, they will ask you to move away :)

I have been reading basics on strobist and I think I'll get myself on the cheap a shoot-through umbrella, light stand, straws and cardboard for DIY snoots and grids, and will practise on my poor 2-year old ("Dad? Shall we say goodbye to our camera now?".

Thanks for the links. The emo guy looks actually very Sex pistols :)
Giles, you have some good stuff there, I love the hard rock drummer on the background of old-style pub tapestry:) Did you use flash in any of those?

geinafets

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

11/26/2011 06:21:45 PM · #5

Originally posted by mcaldo:

I have been reading basics on strobist and I think I'll get myself on the cheap a shoot-through umbrella, light stand, straws and cardboard for DIY snoots and grids, and will practice on my poor 2-year old.

If your reflector is a 5-in-1, then one of the parts is a shoot-through, so you might not need the umbrella (save some cash!) if you have someone around to hold it for you. In a pinch, you can always hold your own shoot-through since it's so light. That's what I usually do. But the stand will come in handy since you'll be able to keep the light at a consistent height and difference, so you can better calculate the proper exposure.

I never use snoots or grids, but I'm also obsessed with super soft light. If you move the shoot-through part closer to the light, you can also get soft light with harsher highlights, which is nicer than plain harsh light, and it might fit with more up-beat or strong music.

11/26/2011 07:07:10 PM · #6

Originally posted by geinafets:

Thanks, that's really good advice!
I've been using the reflector as an handheld diffuser in the past, it worked all right (perhaps I might loose a stop or 2 compared to an umbrella due to spillage?) but I am not sure there will be somebody available to help me out. As you say calculating the exposure quickly could justify the stand, as a newby it will take a few tests to get it more or less right, and I might need to set the strobo quite high and distant to light the four of them full figure.
Thanks so much for the tip on the flash/diffuser distance. I am definetely looking for keeping harsh highlights. That was my concern about bouncing off the wall. I have done it for portraits of friends with their kids (typical high key stuff on the family bed with white linen all over:)
But I am not too sure the band would like the baby johnson look, more dramatic lighting might serve them better. Also bouncing off the wall seemed to disperse too much light. Had to crank iso up big time to keep it half power (recycle time is slow with my flash, maybe with no bounce and a diffuser I'll be able to keep power 1/4 or at least 1/2).

geinafets

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

11/27/2011 12:53:47 AM · #7

Originally posted by mcaldo:

Originally posted by geinafets:

If your reflector is a 5-in-1, then one of the parts is a shoot-through, so you might not need the umbrella (save some cash!) if you have someone around to hold it for you. In a pinch, you can always hold your own shoot-through since it's so light. That's what I usually do. But the stand will come in handy since you'll be able to keep the light at a consistent height and difference, so you can better calculate the proper exposure.

I never use snoots or grids, but I'm also obsessed with super soft light. If you move the shoot-through part closer to the light, you can also get soft light with harsher highlights, which is nicer than plain harsh light, and it might fit with more up-beat or strong music.

Thanks, that's really good advice!
I've been using the reflector as an handheld diffuser in the past, it worked all right (perhaps I might loose a stop or 2 compared to an umbrella due to spillage?) but I am not sure there will be somebody available to help me out. As you say calculating the exposure quickly could justify the stand, as a newby it will take a few tests to get it more or less right, and I might need to set the strobo quite high and distant to light the four of them full figure.
Thanks so much for the tip on the flash/diffuser distance. I am definetely looking for keeping harsh highlights. That was my concern about bouncing off the wall. I have done it for portraits of friends with their kids (typical high key stuff on the family bed with white linen all over:)
But I am not too sure the band would like the baby johnson look, more dramatic lighting might serve them better. Also bouncing off the wall seemed to disperse too much light. Had to crank iso up big time to keep it half power (recycle time is slow with my flash, maybe with no bounce and a diffuser I'll be able to keep power 1/4 or at least 1/2).

The trick about getting harsher highlights by keeping the shoot-through closer to the flash works better (and more noticeably) when the light is relatively close, as 0.5-2.5m away. Keep in mind that as the light moves farther away from the subject (and therefore becomes relatively smaller due to the increase in distance), the light becomes naturally harsher. That means you can keep the flash relatively far from the diffuser if the flash is more than 3 or 4m away from them, which it probably will be for group shots.

Keeping the flash far away from them during group shots is a good idea anyway since light falls off so quickly (when you double the distance, you halve the light, so if the person closest to the flash is twice as close as the person farthest away, the closer person has twice as much light on them which makes for an uneven exposure).

When you're shooting around outside, you should have plenty of light to shoot how you want, but I suspect that inside, you'll be limited to using wide apertures so you don't have to go so high with your ISO. You can position them so their on pretty much the same focal plane so that getting everyone sharp will be easier. I know it can be awkward sometimes when your flash's recycle time is slow, but if you do candids, the band members might not even notice how much time passes between photos : )

Sounds like your shoot is gonna be fun! Enjoy! And don't forget to show us the results!