I caught up with the guys of As I Lay Dying on the Cool Tour for a quick portrait session before their headlining performance. As is often the case with assignments like this, we had about ten minutes for the shoot. Going in, the goal is to have the lights as dialed in as humanly possible, so that I can focus on directing and composing the guys.
To my good fortune, the crew of As I Lay Dying, from the band to their tour manager, was exceedingly nice to work with – which made this hot, outdoor shoot a breeze instead of a nightmare.
Photographer’s Notes:
The setup for this shoot with As I Lay Dying was a four-light job. Despite a 2:00pm call-time with blazing sunshine, shooting in the shade not only kept the band nice and cool, it made for great control over ambient lighting.
Camera Gear Used:
Lighting Gear Used:
The key light for this setup was a Nikon SB-900 Speedlight shot through my 18-Inch Beauty Dish. This light was used on a monopod that was boomed over the band. I triggered the key light via a Nikon SC-28 Remote TTL Sync Cord, which freed me up to use all three of my SB-900s as off-camera flashes while still getting the benefit of on-the-fly adjustment via CLS on the commander.
In addition, I used two 45″ Photek umbrellas on either side of the band, which provided a little simple edge lighting to help create a little pop from the background. However, in addition the bringing in light from the sides to light the edges of the guys, the umbrellas also provide some nice, directional fill as well.
I used two Nikon SB-600 for a little rim light behind the guys, slightly off-center camera-left. While I used two SB-600s, you could just as well just use one light – I like using two of the lower-powered speedlights to keep recycle times brisk.
End Notes:
Shout out to the very cool guys of As I Lay Dying for being pros and a pleasure to work with on this shoot. If you missed the set from their live show, you can check out AILD’s headlining performance on the Cool Tour here:
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 7:09 am and is filed under Portrait Photography and tagged with aild, as i lay dying, band, jordan mancino, josh gilbert, nick hipa, phil sgrosso, portrait, promo, tim lambesis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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So many lights for such a clean shot! Did u composite the lights out or just carefully hid everything?
Hey Melly,
Yeah, it does seem like a lot of lights. No composite for this shot, all the lights are out of frame. The backlight wasn’t very strong relative to the exposure, and the two umbrellas on either side were probably a meter or so from the band – maybe a little more camera right.
Solid shots T.O. (I can call you T.O. right?) You usually shoot your rim lights bare don’t you? Why did you decide to go with the umbrellas this time? Wanted a bit more coverage/fill, or just a bit different look?
I do usually shoot rim lights pretty bare, but I wanted to try the umbrella approach again, as I liked the results from the recent Devil Wears Prada shoot.
The umbrellas create a nice soft edge effect while also providing fill for the members in the back, which I liked.
Right on…just curious ;) I do like the result. Looks like quite a bit more coverage while still maintaining enough light to make them ‘pop.’
Portraits of metalcore band As I Lay Dying, shot on location w/ speedlights: http://bit.ly/d8ZSm3
We usually shoot bare just because it seems like we never have enough time to set up umbrellas. Great job on the pic with the hands. Good lighting and story telling.
Hey TJ, thanks comment. Yes, bare speedlights are certainly fast in the setup, and they’ve served me well for many band shoots.
We had this setup all ready to go before the band showed, up, so setup time wasn’t a big factor once we’d scouted quickly.
Great photos here Todd, nice blend of strobe and ambient.
I shot my first ever 5 member band this evening. Had an assistant so I know how much it’s valued to have extra time to direct.
Hey Jim,
Actually, basically all the light here is pretty much strobe light – there’s very, very little ambient light in the mix except for a tiny touch of fill. This was shot under pretty good shade of the trees, which provided coverage from the harsh sun.
Having assistants is great. Definitely a valuable addition, and necessary for this sort of work when one is holding a light!
I only meant in the way it looks overall, to us we know its lit via our own lights, but it looks more natural than what I’ve seen off you before.
Hey Jim,
Ahh, gotcha. I think some of that has to do with the umbrellas and the softer fill they give. Thanks for the clarification.
RT @toddowyoung: Portraits of metalcore band As I Lay Dying, shot on location w/ speedlights: http://bit.ly/d8ZSm3
Cool shots as usual Todd!
Hey Donnie, thanks a lot.
Just found you on google and wow, these are NICE shots! Bookmarking your blog. Oh and just an FYI, you can get All That Remains’ new song “For We Are Many” for FREEEEEE: allthatremainsonline.com if you like As I Lay Dying, you’ll dig these guys
Todd, love your work buddy!!
Always enjoy looking at your photos and learn something at the same time ;D
I usually do gig photography, my best work so far is doing ‘the living end’ photoshoots last week here in Perth, Australia at Metro City.
Recently i’ve asked to do promo shoots for some bands. Actually, I’m going to do one this weekend. They are a metalcore band, same as ‘as i lay dying’. They chose an abandoned mental asylum site. Creepy site! i’m a bit hesitant, but thats what the theme that they’ve chosen and i cant say no to that.
Now, we’re planning to start shooting at 3PM which is gonna be bright day light prety much same time as the as i lay dying shoots.
Question is, do i really need those much ‘flash’ speedlites? i’m only starting out and i only have 1xspeedlite with diffuser with remote flash trigger. Will this be ok?
Where would i place the flash at? 45 degree angle from the subject? as per usuall setup. I know this can be answered in many different ways, but how would you do it if you were me.
Thanks,
Alvin