Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are one band who I’ve always seen interesting images of, with a feast or famine mentality to the lighting design. Though the band did have some color to their lighting design, the overall takeaway was nearly monochromatic, thanks to the use of programmable spots blasting white light from the back and sides of the stage.
In fact, looking back, photographing Black Rebel Motorcycle Club almost felt like a slow-motion version of photographing the Dillinger Escape Plan. You know, without the screaming, climbing, and backflips.
Photographer’s Notes:
For me, this concert was all about problem solving, and particularly with regard to knowing when to shoot and when to hold back. This is a common issue with any concert to a degree, but I think that BRMC definitely proved a special challenge.
Timing was a huge factor for this shoot, as the light was constantly changing as the moving spots washed over the stage. To make clean shots of the faces of the members, a lot of patience was required.
Having never photographed Black Rebel Motorcycle Club before, I only had a good guess at what the lighting would be like. I was fearing full-on strobes, but luckily the lighting moved at a much more reasonable pace. Still, with roving spots and a majority of the show taking place in relative darkness, there were plenty of challenges for this gig.
In the end, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 did a great job for the ranges needed for this assignment.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 4:34 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 2010, black rebel motorcycle club, brmc, concert photography, music photography, pageant, photos, st. louis, tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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These are iconic mate. So good! From the aesthetic and “clean” nature of these, I actually thought that this was setup for a shoot – and not a concert! Great work as always Todd.
(two thumbs up)
Hey Nathan,
Wow, thanks for the kind words – for such a challenging shoot, if one might view these as stage, that’s a high compliment to me. Cheers.
I think perhaps because of the challenging lighting – your creativity really pushed through and gave you some iconic shots – I love the silhouette especially…something in a more standard lighting set up, maybe wouldn’t have happened? and that first shot w/the light coming in from the side at the guitar – kind of spooky and really cool!
Hi Elisa,
Thanks for the kind words here – I always appreciate your support and comments.
I agree, I think that the conditions here definitely allowed for some slightly different image making. The approach was very different than say, a well-lit arena concert where it’s all run-’n-gun for the whole three songs.
I’m a pretty new visitor to your site, and I just have to say that I love this whole series of shots. I love the silhouettes, the smoke, the dramatically spotlit objects, and the lights that look like the sun. I would definitely have guessed that these were staged shots as well.
Hi Anna,
Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for commenting on these BRMC shots. Hope you’ll be a regular visitor!
The silhouettes for this set were really fun – especially catching the 3D shadow-effect.
Wow – amazing capture on that first shot! You couldn’t have planned cooler lighting that that. Come to think of if, I don’t think I’ve ever seen light BETWEEN a guitarist and his instrument like that before. Well Done!
Hey Steve,
Thanks for the comment. The lighting design for this show wasn’t exactly your standard, but it was fantastic to work with, challenges and all.
I think that first image with the light between the guitarist and instrument is a new one for me, too.
Excellent set of images, Todd. The strobes were easier to work with than I’d expected, too.
I particularly enjoy how you put together a monochrome set of images, while I tried to capture the deep yellows and reds – the same show can look totally different from two photographer’s perspectives.
Hi Jason,
I have some color shots in the bag, but my favorites where these monochromes. Always interesting to see what everyone else in the pit got. Thanks for the comment.
I am completely in love with these shots, Todd. These blew my mind and I am so impressed by these!
Hey Allyssa,
Thanks very much, glad to hear you like these. We’ll have to get you back into the photo pit sooner rather than later.
I am definitely itching to get back in the pit. And like I said, I love these shots. My favorite one is the sixth imagine and I love the play with the lights.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – the slow-motion version of Dillinger Escape Plan? No, really. http://bit.ly/bXvmox
As Nathan said…Iconic.
I particularly love #1 and #6.
I have a handful of similar shots in the bag, but down to luck.
I’m sure yours are down to skill and experience!
Hey Steve,
Thanks for your picks. #1 seems to be a favorite.
Concert photography is always a little luck. Skill and experience are good, but give me luck anyday, I’ll take it.
Great work as usual, Todd. I’ll be photographing BRMC tomorrow night. Their shows are always tough to shoot due to the lack of nice front lighting. When you do get killer shots, though, it’s so rewarding and reassuring that it’s worth waiting for the perfect moment.
Well said, and I agree. Good luck with BRMC – you’ll have a blast, of course. Now that I’ve caught these guys, I’ll definitely look out for them when they come through again.
hey todd, solid work as always. i liked the 2nd drummer shot in particular (cool light emanating from the rack tom) and i just realized they have a new (female) drummer. i did a quick search and that was old news, from ’08. :D
anyway, i shot the band in ’07 when they opened for kings of leon and i recall the stark, strobe-and-fog laden stage. this time around (assuming i get confirmed…nothing in this game is certain) at least i’ll have a photo pit to use, rather than being relegated to aisles of a seated theater.
Hi Tim,
Thanks for the comment. Stark, strobe-and-fog laden stage – sounds like things haven’t changed all too much from the last time you shot these guys, though now they’re headlining.
The photo pit for this show was huge, plenty of room to move around in, which was nice. Good luck.
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this was a challenging shoot due to the cycling strobes, but i had no fog to deal with (apparently an arcane Boston law that prohibits night clubs from using smoke machines, but not theaters), and on the plus side after the 1st three i could shoot from the house.
had some fun w/ longer exposures and the strobe lights. tons of lens flare when using my ultra-wide angle too, as there were some very bright, direct lights that cycled.
if curious, the shots are here: http://www.prefixmag.com/photos/black-rebel-motorcycle-club-alberta-cross-house-of/
[...] they were out on tour with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, I met up with Band of Skulls for a quick portrait session. Even fresh from SXSW, the three-piece [...]