I’ve been a big Frames and Glen hansard fan for a number of years so I was looking forward to shooting the Swell Season show at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh NC. Besides, Once was one of my favorite films of the last couple years.
Meymand Concert Hall is a nice venue in general. It’s 100% seated with a very low stage. In general, a fantastic place to hear music. It has nice lighting which makes my job a little easier. One oof the obstacles inherent with this venue is the whole reserved seating and low stage. This means there’s no photo pit, and the paying audience is seated right next to the stage. I always try to be considerate of the fans who paid good money to see the show, so I don’t want to stand up in front of the first row. besides, with such a low stage (2-3 feet high) I’d be right in the performer’s face. So I take some time prior to the beginning of the show to chat with the audience and let them know that I’ll be shooting during the first 3 songs, and will try not to block their view too much, and will keep moving as much as possible.
I shot most of the front images from my knees before moving to the soundboard area to get some full stage shots, the to the side aisle to get a few different angles. For this shoot, I was using 2 camera bodies. My Canon EOS 1Dmarklll with a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens, and a Canon EOS 350D with a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens. This gave me a full range of focal lengths from a fairly wide angle to a nice long reach with the longer telephoto. After the first 3 songs, I was instructed I could shoot from my aisle seat, and I used my longer lens for all of those shots as I was seated in about the 15th row.
by leighann
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