The Life In Music

Documentary - The life of music

Plan of action- During my course at Fife college studying HNC Photography, the subject class documentary is one in which we were asked to take photos of something which we enjoy or are passionate about and document it.  I have chosen to document the life of music. I will do this by going to a variety of gigs/concert and take photos. The type of photography I will do will be close up shots of instruments and of band members or the individual. I will get these images between December and January. I will first start by doing research for three music photographers that specify in live performances that inspire me.

When doing my research I first came across this photographer who inspired me, I like a lot of his close up photography with the instruments.   http://www.kenalsworld.com/2013/07/26/omaha-live-music-photography-john-doe-at-chrome-lounge/ here is an example of one of the photos that inspire me:

The next photographer who inspired me was a music photographer - Adam Gasson. I love his digital images how the majority of his images are captured when the singer is half way through their song of word/phrase that their singing. He seems to capture them at the perfect time. Here is an example of one of the photos that inspire me:

The third photographer who caught my eye is James Marcus Haney, I love his composition when he takes photos, from his images a lot look like he knows exactly what he wants in a photo and captures something different every time. Here is an example of one of the photos that inspire me:

22nd January - I have collected a range of images and have made a contact sheet.

My first contact sheet

My second contact sheet which include a final 10 images, another five will be added to my final collection. 

27th January - I have chosen my final 15 images, I have put them into a narrative sequence.

 Below is my final 15 images -

1) 

  

 My 1st image I took at a gig through in Glasgow at the Garage to see a singer Lewis Watson. This photo was took before Lewis came onto the stage. It was interesting watching the sound guys and other members setting the stage up for him. It was clear Lewis had a certain style of how he wanted his stage to look. I took this image into photoshop and edited the security guy standing at the side in the corner to make it look slightly faded, I also brought the exposure to brighten the image up.

                                                                                2)

My 2nd image is the male singer Lewis Watson, I like this photo as it captures him singing and it shows what he specifically asked to have as his stage 'the carpet'. When looking through my contact sheets and referring to other images it was hard to find an image which I liked specifically of Lewis due to the lighting across the face/head I found it difficult to edit however I feel I have managed to edit this to the best of my ability and has turned out not to bad. I would have liked this image to be a little sharper however this would have been achieved if I had used different settings on the camera therefore this is something I can work on.

                                                                        3)

  The 3rd Image is an action shot during Lewis's performance. I really enjoyed watching the drummer as he showed his passion throughout. I also loved the design on the drum therefore I wanted this shot to have the drum kit in it. I turned this image black and white as it gives it a certain feel which I didn't get when it was in colour.

                                                                                4)

I felt it was important to get a shot directly of the drum kit. This image has been cropped as there was slightly more in it previously however, I felt it was more effective just to have the attention of the drum kit.

5)

The 5th image is an end shot of this gig. Lewis went off stage and an encore began to get him back on stage. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to get a shot of the audience and the stage. I feel although it's important to take photos of the gigs and the main artist(s), the audience/atmosphere and surroundings is a big part of what makes a gig. It makes me so happy to see this photo as it shows the amount of support Lewis has gained in a short time since he started out putting videos up on youtube of his singing.

6)

This image was taken at a gig in Glasgow at King Tuts. To see a band called Amber Run. I like this image because it captures the male singer mid flow of singing. I like the stance of his hold of the guitar and I also like the lighting of the blue which matches his shirt. I found there wasn't much to edit for this image and I left the lighting to how it was shot. On screen this image looks fairly light however since it's been printed it has came out slightly darker. Between the on screen and printed and I can't decide which I prefer better.

7)

This is another image of Amber Run, I turned the image to black and white because I thought it looked better. I like how I've managed to capture mid-flow of his drumming and how he's totally focused with what he's doing, I also like how I've managed to capture the instruments in the image as well.

8)

This image is of Amber Run, I like how i've captured the guy of the keyboard however, the main guy on the guitar is in focus the most. The reason why I took this shot was at this moment he had the pick for his guitar in his mouth and I thought it was a great opportunity to capture and shows his focus as he looks down at his guitar.

                                                                      9)

This shot was captured at Amber Run's gig. I thought this was an interesting shot to take because a lot of people would ask why as there is nothing that captures the eye in that sense. However, I found it funny how they were allowed to have alcohol whilst performing but also had the water next to it. I also specifically didn't crop this image as I thought it was interesting leaving the mark of the cross as it's curious as to what it is and what it means. I am disappointed as this image has came out grainy however I do like the shot overall.

                                                                       10)

This is the last image from Amber Run gig, I like this image because it is a close up shot of the guitar and it being played. I turned this image into black and white as I thought it looked better.

                                                                                 11)

This image is of the guitarist from Dominic Kirwan's Concert in Edinburgh. I like how i've caught him looking happy whilst being focused with his playing.

                                                                          12)

This is another image of one of the band members for Dominic Kirwan. I like this shot as it shows the drum kit and the focus when he's playing.

                                                                          13)

This image is of the male singer Dominic, I like how I've caught him slightly looking at the camera and the glare in his eyes. I also like the green lighting, this was during a song he was singing which was an Irish song which I also like because he's Irish.

                                                                            14)

This is again a photo of Dominic, I like how i've captured his stance as well as how i've got him in focus and we can see the drummer in the background. I found this difficult to edit due to the lighting but overall happy with this shot. Also, this image was used for Dominic's Newsletter which he gave me credit for the photo by putting my name is print at the bottom of the photo. At the bottom of the blog I will show the newsletter.

                                                                                    15)

This last image is Dominic singing his last few songs of his concert. I like this one because I have caught the audience in the shot and also it is a different view compared to the rest of my photos.

There are many ways I could have documented music but for me I found this made up part of what music means to me. About seeing the audience and the main artist as well as the band members and instruments. I enjoyed each gig and story behind each photo captured.

Evaluation Overall:

My initial plan for this project was to shadow my brother at his off road racing events and to get different shots. I planned to take shots of cars before, during and after using different apertures and shutters speeds to create different effects. I also planned to take the photos in different weather conditions and different routes etc. However, I became very ill in the lead up to Christmas therefore I lost the end of session opportunity to go and take photos. Be time I became feeling better, a lot of the races/events were cancelled or were on when I was unable to get work off. At this point I started worry as I was excited before and now felt I had nothing I could work with.

I then thought of an idea to document in the life of Dominic Kirwan, I’ve known Dominic since I was a young child because my mum took me to his concerts. I didn’t really know if this idea would work but I thought I would give it a try. I messaged Dominic explaining what I was studying at college and asked if it would be possible to photograph him and his band and possibly his rehearsals. Luckily he agreed. I went to his concert and met him before and saw him rehearsals where I managed to get different shots. 

During the concert Dominic made an announcement to the audience letting them know that I was taking photos and had also invited me up on stage. I was shy and embarrassed as I didn’t feel confident enough however Dominic knew this and saw I wouldn’t move from my seat so whilst during his performance he came over to me and dragged me up and from there I was able to get different angles/shots as I was on stage and gradually I felt more confident once I was taking the photos. Dominic asked me to stay in touch with him and to send the photos to which I did, a few days before Christmas I was reading Dominic’s fan letter to which I was shocked and overwhelmed to see a photo that I took of him all over the page with credit to my name for the photography. I was so delighted by this.

When I started writing my blog I decided although I was fairly happy with the photos from Dominic’s concert I thought it would be more interesting if I broadened the project into different gigs/concerts. I knew I had plenty of concerts coming up that I could take photos at so that’s what I did. When I went to the gigs I never had set shots planned in my head however, I knew from previous photography that I like taking close up shots of instruments as well as band members and the individual singer.

At each gig/concert I have started off getting a bit stressed as I’ve had to think of the settings and keep changing them as well. I got frustrated as the lighting kept changing therefore it made it difficult for me. However, that’s one thing I enjoy when doing music photography, I like having to think and although I may get annoyed, I end up getting some photos which makes me happy. Throughout this I have used no flash photography and have been lucky to not have had to go through a process to get official allowance to take photos, however event photography nowadays is extremely hard to get away with pulling your camera out your bag without permission to take the photos.

The journey from planning my initial thought to having to quickly come up with another idea has been stressful, I was worried that my photos may not be as good as others especially because my photos have seemed a bit grainy. As my evidence stands, I have now collected final 15 photos which follow a sequence and tell a story behind each one. I am fairly happy with my outcome however, would love to learn more about event/gig photography and be able to use the right equipment to get better quality of photos.

Evaluation after presentation at college:
25/2/15 I have just put my final 15 images up on display at college. I felt confident with my sequence and feel my blurb about the images explained itself nicely. I was nervous to put my photos up after seeing others due to the high standard of photography within both classes. However, that was them stuck on the wall right in front of everyone's faces to judge. As asked by our tutor I went around others and made critic of their final images. I enjoyed getting to see other peoples work. I eventually went back to the wall where my work is hanging up and saw several sticky notes underneath with feedback. Not one bad feedback, all positive. This has made me extremely happy and proud of my images. I can't stop smiling. Feedback suggested e.g. good camera technique, great theme, captured fantastic angles etc. To have feedback such as those makes me now believe in my own ability and my photography. Overall I am very satisfied with the outcome, I feel I couldn't have done anymore for this project. I could have tried different shots, different settings etc but feel I would have gained the same outcome or near enough. I feel I rushed and stressed throughout the whole process but glad I have completed it. If I were to do another project similar to this, I would properly think of my shots and official allowance to take photos. As well as produce higher quality and standard.