Artist Portraits
Todd Owyoung
Lessons
Class Intro to Getting Started in Music Photography
01:13 2Live Music Photography
13:40 3Camera Settings
09:34 4Tip & Techniques for Capturing Live Music
09:14 5Research & Preparation
06:20 6Challenges & Pain Points
00:40 7All Access
16:29 8Shooting for Editorial
03:15Capturing Music Festivals
03:58 10Using Speedlights
07:44 11Photographing Drummers
07:44 12Gear
25:39 13Location Scouting
19:57 14Artist Portraits
06:56 15Artist Portraits - Stairwell
06:48 16Artist Portraits - Outside
12:04 17Sound Check with Low Hums and Wild Powwers
05:12 18Photographing Live Shows - Low Hums
06:29 19Photographing Live Shows - Wild Powwers
05:22 20Getting Started
10:15 21The Photo Pass
19:38 22Photo Pit Etiquette
06:29 23The Business of Music Photography
12:02 24Post Processing Workflow
26:02Lesson Info
Artist Portraits
So excited to be working with BEAR AXE right now. We've just met Shay, John and Matt. And looking at shooting onstage here at Neumos. And we have this great red curtain, and we're just gonna work with a richness there. And working with one key light and the back light, just to kind of put a little light on the background, and just have a little bit of that texture. Overall we're kind of looking for a darker, moodier look with this, to kind of play off that red curtain and kind of work with the vibe of the band and kind of their own style. All right, looks good, yep. Shay you are perfect. Comfortable sitting like that? Cool. Oh yeah. Okay. I think Jon, you're looking at Matt? Maybe we have you angle off a little bit, yeah, perfect. And you know, kind of, the intent of this we want to put you know have you and whatever makes you feel both comfortable but also powerful. We wanna like put you and have kind of like present your energy like arghhh (laughter). But you know you might, mayb...
e if it's leaning forward or... I have to stay seated here? You could...would you feel more comfortable standing up? No, no. I'm fine seated like this. Okay, yeah, maybe it's leaning up, maybe it's like throwing your head back a little bit and uh (laughter) Yeah, cool, all right. You both are good, we might... Matt, just have you lean forward a little since you're kind of on a different plane, your face is kind of All right. All right, cool. Looks good. Then let's say Matt, kind of, lean to your yeah, that. Perfect, just like that. Great, nice, I like it. Shay, you look great, perfect. Yeah even, yeah. John, you looking off camera like that is looks great. Nice. One, two, three. (camera shutter) Looks good. (camera shutter) Cool. Just gonna do a minor adjustment, just dial the key light up a little bit. (camera shutter) Just like that, one more, perfect. Cool, I just want to show you what we're working with here. Just kinda the look we're getting. Rich your look in the back, kind of like, a little darker, moodier. Okay. I'm gonna sit back actually, if that's okay? Yeah. Is it all right? Cool, this attitude right here, looks good, nice. (camera shutter) Looks good, great. (camera shutter) Cool, I'm just looking to get a variety of focal lengths, different distortion here. I can back up and shoot with a little more telephoto, here at about fifty millimeters, or come in for a little bit more perspective, and this is about twenty-eight millimeters. As well as mixing up frame between full length, so to speak, or a little tighter just to get a little variety in the shots. (camera shutter) Nice. Would you feel more comfortable standing? Do you want to try some shots over there? All right, looking good. Let's see we have Shay centered up right here, great. John, move back a little, and Shay, get um, yeah. You feel good like that? Just like straight on to camera? Looks perfect. Lets see, yeah, you're good like that. John and then Matt, we can kind of get you angled off like this. You can even just hook your, yeah pocket like that. Perfect, then we kind of adjust you a little bit. All right. And then Ken, if you come in with the light, then we can come in about like that. Nice. All right. Looks good. Perfect. Just a little test shot right here. (camera shutter) And, can you come forward a little bit, and even a little down, a little bit closer, great. Looks good. (camera shutter) Cool. Let's show you guys, what's looking in there. I like that, I like the hands on the hips, looks good. I gotta suck that gut in. Looks good. Great. Looks good, right here, perfect, nice. All right, love it, and then Shay, if you could even sort of angle your face towards the light a little bit. Yeah, even just the angle I think that is perfect just like that. Yeah and its a lot of attitude right here. Nice. (camera shutter) Love it, looks good. (camera shutter) And John, even a little more sort of off, yeah just like that. Nice. You good? All right. Awesome. (camera shutter) Cool. So as far as camera settings, we are at ISO 64, shooting F-45, and even though it's not stopping out a ton, it's gonna be enough because all the plane of the faces, is basically in the same plane, so everything's going to be in focus there, and at 1/200th of a second to synced with the pro photo. (camera shutter) Cool. Looks great here. This lower angle is kind of giving a little more of a heroic look to the band, it's kind of playing with perspective a little bit, at about twenty-six millimeters or so. And again, just gonna back up to get a little bit of a flatter shot, and a variety, here. Shay, right here. (camera shutters) Awesome. Just giving you a full length shot now. Same set up. One, two, three, perfect, nice. (camera shutter) Looks good. Think, last shot for this location right here, great and Matt, eyes back at camera, perfect. One, two, three, great. So in contrast to the previous setup, we've stripped away the back light and we're just working with key light, we've moved the band a little closer to the background so that the light the key light is both hitting the subjects and the background and getting a little bit of that texture of that nice red curtain. So I think we have got this stage set up, set and we're just going to move on to a stair location, This is right down on the way to Barbosa, and wrap it up.
Ratings and Reviews
Alexandra U
I highly reccomend this class for any one who would like to get started or dip their toes in the concert photography scene. This class has many useful tips and trick for any level of photographer, not just beginners. I have been in the music scene for over 10 years and I was able to gather so much information in every chapter. Watching this video boosted up my confidence as a photographer because it validated that I am already succeeding in my concert career. Thank you for this amazing stream. It sparked my creative soul once again.
Kris Comer
Wow, this was awesome! I have been a concert photographer for almost 3 years now and I still learned some great tips! I loved that he covered different ideas for promo shots which is one of my weaknesses. Any beginner should definitely check out this course! It is straight and to the point with all of the most important steps.
a Creativelive Student
I have been taking Creative Live classes since 2010 and this is at the top with the best classes t I have taken. This may have been the first time Todd taught a class, but you would never be able to tell. He doesn't just brag about the high profile clients he has shot, he also makes sure to relate to the photographer just starting out. I really enjoyed the two live shows as well as the additional portrait shoots. His concepts on location scouting, playing with distortion, multiple poses in one spot, speedlights, etc. can be applied to all kinds of photography, not just music photography. Highly recommend!
Student Work
Related Classes
Commercial