From: "Andre Langevin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Lasse, could you share the picture with us?
I'm very fond of musicians photography.
Andre
Thanks for asking Andre.
I'd love to upload some of my music shots. (I do rock, folk, latin, even classical if I get a chance), however I simply haven't built my own site yet.
As for the picture I mentioned, maybe I should wait until tomorrow after I've got some sleep.
Late at night it happens that I get carried away by craving hormones that tend to influence my judgement visavi pictures of women...
Furthermore I may still want to work some more, and in detail on it.
However if you stick around, or maybe if I'd send you sme shots in private when I have the time, I'd be happy to show them to you.
Any particular kind of music that interests you more than others?
Lasse
I'm into jazz and world music but I find most music making inspiring photographically (and musically).
I follow the local musical scene (in Quebec). Yesterday, I tried a newly acquired A85/1.4 in a low-light bar where three women were singing, backed by a rhythm section. Among them, the bartender who has, as far as I'm concerned, a nicer voice than Celine Dion (whose music is not my cup of tea).
On the technical side, yesterday I used TMZ at 1600, 1/60 on a monopod, f1.4 or f2 depending on the position of the musician. I've done all my developping in D76 until now but I found an old can of Microdol-X in my stuff and I'm thinking about trying it on yesterday film. Microphen will also be tried eventually. But D76 is always fine, of course.
I scan at 2700 dpi my very few good negs, go to Photoshop, transfer to CMYK mode, and then play (in Image/Adjust/Selective color) with the black and grey "colors" of the black layer to get rid of some noise, grain and dust and reach an unperfect deep black around the lighted musicians. I finish the job with the Airbrush Tool in Burn mode. There, you sometimes have to be very carefull around the lighted forms to "feel" where the form ends and where the surroundings begin. I begin with a big brush and get to smaller ones to finish the job around the people. This is easier to do in Photoshop than in a darkroom, and I can peek at the window once in a while... An example is on the PUG:
http://pug.komkon.org/03mar/david.html
There, I had enough light to use Tri-X and 1/125 at f2.5, so no pod. It is a lot easier to get nicely exposed photos in such great lighting conditions. Although musicians either move a lot or get into more introspective improvisations and then it's hard to grab the decisive moment out of subtle changes in posture and face expressions. So I have to shoot a lot to get a few good ones. And the LX is too loud when the music is played at low volume so I restrain my shooting then. I have yet to finish a home-made blimp case to address this problem.
I also jam once in a while on flute (chromatic panpipes, diatonic notched flutes, transverse flute). I'm very fond of scandinavian melodic invention. I love the Christmas album by the Kaasinen sisters and dig high energy groups like Hedningarna, Groupa and others. So many groups out there. And long winter nights...
Andre --
