Published

[mvanrheenen]

I have a hobby next to photography and that is music (I play the trumpet). I'm as serious with my music as others here are at photography. I have played in several classical orchestra's, I taught many students how to play their horns and have even conducted a brass band. The last couple of years I have been playing a lot of jazz in big bands and now I'm exploring the art of improvisation.

As you can imagine, I have a lot of friends and acquaintances in the field of amateur/semi-pro music. The friends I make I usually end up in my Facebook friends list, where I do share some of my photographs on. One day, I got a call from a befriended marching band who were looking for a photographer for a groupshot for commercial purposes. They started a small formation for the Christmas season for which they dress up in clothes from the Victorian period. They had contacted a few pro photographers, but couldn't get an appointment in time.

Firstly I declined as I am not a pro photographer and don't have experience in photographing people, let alone in a group. They understood, but a day before the shoot they called again, asking me if I PLEASE wanted to at least give it a try. Who am I to ignore such a plead?

It was an outside shoot. I don't have any gear for light manipulation, other than 1 flash. Luckily for me, there was a fog which diffused the light for me in every possible direction. This was a good thing, as I didn't have to worry about "raccoon eyes" in the shot. The location however, was terrible for me to shoot. It was an old carriage house next to a busy street. I was standing there, on a crate in the middle of the street avoiding all the traffic where I could.

Anyway, this is the final result:



I don't like the image that much. Yes, the clothes give a nice atmosphere, but I cut of their feet, not everyone was looking at the camera and I did something in PP which makes the musicians look a bit like dolls. But, for some reason, they did like it and now the image has been published on 2 local websites and being printed for advertisement purposes...

Christmas luck I guess.

Mark

[sury]

If I were to look at it as its audience is intended, because of the outfits and the instruments,
I did not notice the feet of the front row being cut till you mentioned. Except for the large
rake like thing to the right next to the building as I am looking at the photo, it looks very good
for the intended purpose.

With best regards,
Sury

[jbtaylor]

To summarize, you were improvising.
Good enough for me.

[Dusty]

I think you did well for a first try.

Just a few pointers from years of wedding photography:

Never look in the camera when actually taking the shot. Set it on a tripod, frame it (with lots of spare room, you can crop later) and look from directly behind the lens to see who's not looking, smiling, hidden, etc., then trip the shutter.

Take several shots, someone always blinks!

Make it fun. You get them happy, and their smile will look better!

As long as they like the shots, you've done your job. Maybe yours aren't as good as they guy with 3 assistants and $20K of gear on site, but they didn't pay for that, did they? And you don't have $20K to invest in photography gear for a free or cheap shoot, nor can they afford that guy. Then again, maybe your shots are better. Either way you gave them more value than they paid for.

You can always do better, learn from your mistakes.

I'm glad you're getting published. The first time is always the best!

Dusty

[Dr. Harout]

I like it (except that big white Yamaha horn and the drum's stand. They just don't fit in the mood).
Anyway, congratulations.
At first, after reading just the first sentence I immediately tried to locate you in the group...

[mvanrheenen]

Thank you both for your tips Dusty and Doc!

I tried getting them to create an enthousiastic mood and get them to look at me, but being cold as it was, all the spectators around them (and me!) and the traffic interrupting didn't help.

What do you think about the colors and toning?

Mark

[Dr. Harout]

What do you think about the colors and toning?

Mark

Superb!

[mvanrheenen]

Thanks Doc!

I always doubt the colors a bit as I don't have a decent screen I can calibrate yet.

Mark

[sury]

I don't have a calibrated monitor either. The colors and tones are very eye pleasing to me.
I don't have a technical eye so my comments are more visceral than technical.

Sury

[aster]

Meeting the musician and the photographer Mark in a shot is a neat surprise, Mark.

Love the colours. They look very nice to my eyes.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

...my comments are more visceral than technical.

Sury

Upper visceral I presume...

[mvanrheenen]

I'm not in the photohraph btw.

[Dusty]

Thanks Doc!

I always doubt the colors a bit as I don't have a decent screen I can calibrate yet.

Mark

Mark, I think they're just a bit muted, but that adds more of a period look to the shot.

Dusty

[mvanrheenen]

Mark, I think they're just a bit muted, but that adds more of a period look to the shot.

Dusty

That's one way of putting it.

Definately need a screen I can calibrate.

Thanks Dusty!

Mark