The Funk Band

This past Friday I was hired to photograph the Dance Hall Docs, a local band, in concert during the Berks Jazz Fest here in Reading, PA. I had photographed them in rehearsal once before and certain members that were part of another group during a performance last year. Always exciting to cover a live performance.

I usually try to get to the venue early for sound checks. This lets me scope the place out and get a feel for camera angles and any problems that might have to be dealt with. If I am lucky, I can also get an idea of what the lighting will be like. The set up for the band was definitely going to pose some problems. All solvable but initially I wasn't sure how!

As you can see from the photo above, there were thirteen members of the band. They were arranged in three tiers. The three singers were up front. Behind them was the horn section (five strong) with the guitar player next to them, stage left. In back of them, was the rhythm section - drums, percussion, and base guitar.

To add to the clutter on stage were music stands and monitors and the drummer and percussionist were surrounded by their gear. The drum set had so many cymbals that it looked like the Fortress of Solitude. Getting photographs of the drummer was important - he was paying me!

Now usually at these events, photographers get the "three songs, no flash" direction from the band. You can shoot up front for the first three selections and then, "Adios, baby!" Luckily, I was basically with the band and I could stay throughout the performance.

The other tricky bit was that the room was set up like a cabaret. Tables instead of row seating. And the place was packed. When you are photographing performances, you want to be as stealthy as possible so as not to be in the way of the audience. That means a lot of crouching and low angle shots from the front, occasionally rising up to get a quick shot. A low angle shot of anything but the front row singers was going to be difficult.

 

However, I began to see some solutions. There was a dance floor. People would be dancing up front. I could stand and get between the dancers and the stage and get some nice angles. I wouldn't have to worry about the seated audience behind me since the dancers were already in front of them.  That worked well. 

Also, there was a film crew working and I watched where they positioned themselves during the performance. They were making their way on stage and shooting from the wings. I followed suit. This allowed me to get close to the drummer and percussionist on either side of the stage. It also let me shoot from behind the band which gave me some good images. So all in all the experience was excellent. I shot more than a thousand frames and came up with some shots that I really love. 

I processed everything in Lightroom 3.4 with results both in color and monochrome. Here are some examples:

 

Above is guest singer Brent Carter. He has sung with Tower of Power and one of the three lead singers with the Dance Hall docs on this night.

 

The toughest people to shoot were the percussionist, the keyboard player (above), and the guitar player. All were at the periphery of the band and were not lit well. 

 

This shot was interesting. The guitar player was close to the edge of the stage (stage left). I got as close to him as I could and, while sitting on the riser to his left, reached around with the camera just below his knees, pointed up, and shot a burst of about four frames. This is the one I liked the best 

All in all it was a successful shoot. I was shooting for two hours and the time seemed to fly by. Got home at midnight. Way past my bed time!