Phoenix sounded fantastic in their first appearance at The Pageant, a show I’d been looking forward to ever since it was announced. How’d they look, though? As long as the lights were up, the band looked great, but this set was a huge challenge with a mixture of strobes, projection, uplighting, and just about everything in between.
Photographer’s Notes:
This show was a little insane to photograph. First off, there was a plastic tarp in the narrow photo pit, covering the floor and the sides and braces of the barricade, all of which made treading carefully a necessity. There’s a kabuki curtain and curtain drop later on in the show, so the plastic sheet is there to keep the kabuki clean.
The major challenge of this show, however, was the lighting. In general, there’s a lot of darkness during the first few songs, which is punctuated by short-duration lighting of all kinds, from seeming every direction. The band’s lighting seemed to employ everything from uplights to strobes to projectors and strong backlights.
Cameras Used:
Lenses Used:
I used the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 for the majority of my shooting with Phoenix. Singer Thomas Mars does a great job at working the front of the stage, so in spite of a row of monitors on the high stage, he makes things relatively easy.
The Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 came into play most notably for drummer Thomas Hedlund at the back of the stage, but was also key for when Mars stepped back to center stage, as you can see in the lead shot.
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This entry was posted on Friday, August 13th, 2010 at 9:42 am and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with band, Christian Mazzalai, concert photography, Deck D'Arcy, french, Laurent Brancowitz, live, music photographer, music photography, phoenix, photos, Thomas Mars, tour, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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I had a heck of a time shooting them here in Houston. They band used a lot of stage fog which made for some moody shots but also made getting sharp images difficult. I ran into a lot of the same challenges you encountered.
Good work, especially with the treacherous plastic covered photo pit.
Hey Eric,
Thanks for the comment. Seems like this has been a tough tour all around for photographers. Your link didn’t show up for me, try again?
Hi Todd,
lighting is always a problem when shooting Phoenix. I shot them four or five times and i was never satisfied with the lighting. But i was lucky enough capturing some shots of Thomas when he jumped off the stage last time in Cologne:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter-wafzig/4114913141/in/set-72157622830844626/
So that was okay for me ;)
Greets,
Peter
Hey Peter,
Nice one. There are just some bands, it seems, who favor difficult lighting. The Strokes and Julian Casablancas are another set who’s treatment seems to always be tough for photographers as well.
Still, what’s a show without a little challenge, right?
Absolutely ;)
Phoenix threw strobes, projection, uplighting and just about everything in between. . I threw them ISO 3200. http://bit.ly/cEia3b
Phoenix used strobes, projection, uplighting & everything in between. I used ISO 3200 and prayer. http://bit.ly/cEia3b
RT @toddowyoung: Phoenix used strobes, projection, uplighting & everything in between. I used ISO 3200 and prayer. http://bit.ly/cEia3b
RT @toddowyoung: Phoenix used strobes, projection, uplighting & everything in between. I used ISO 3200 and prayer. http://bit.ly/cEia3b
RT @toddowyoung Phoenix used strobes, uplighting & everything in between. I used ISO 3200 and prayer. http://bit.ly/cEia3b << @timburton
Hi!
I am already jealous that you got Phoenix ;)
Congrats to your blog and your concert pictures. They are really awesome!
I am also running a concert blog and trying to catch as many interesting bands as I can get in Vienna
Keep up the good work
greetings from Austria
Matthias
You are so consistent in your work it is almost more interesting to see one of your tough shoots than business as usual. Nice work as always. I envy your ISO 3200, I’m still limping along with a Canon XSI (max 1600).
Hey David,
It’s the challenging shows that really show the most about a music photographer, isn’t it? Arena shows and amphitheater shows are the easy ones! Thanks for the comment, I appreciate it.
Yeah it was a really disappointing shoot for me too… but after them i ran over to Empires of the Sun for some for best lighting of Lolla
Hey Matt,
I’ve seen amazing photos of Empire of the Sun – they are definitely on my list to shoot. Funny, for all the comparisons of early Phoenix and the Strokes, both bands seemed to have really rough lighting at Lolla (and in general).
Did you shoot Soundgarden too? I think i might have see you over there…