lunchwithmerv asked: what is your current setup? film and digital
Hey man i think it’s been asked before. But to update on the CURRENT after much movement and change :
I work on a 5D MkI and a couple of lenses. 24/1.4 & 50/1.4
I feel on a Leica M2 and a simple 50/2 Jupiter.
Then throw in the usual flash unit and a few portable studio light head and stands.
Oh and a pet monkey in the bag.
just kiddin.
lostsuns asked: Oh okay, could you possibly post a tutorial sometime, or a link to some good tutorials? I do shoot some shows but I never post the images anywhere as i'm never satisfied, I didn't realize so many concert photographers did post-processing! Oh and I saw you outside TP yesterday, I was the angmoh dude, not sure if you saw me haha.
Well, now that you’ve added me on messenger, i guess i could help you out from there! But just to share something here, check out this guy :
Todd Owyoung.
He has got lots of guides and tutorials which i think would be really of help for people who’s looking to do some photography at shows! enjoy!
Anyway i guess we shall hang soon. That’s the thing i’ve always liked about photography. Minus the subject. Minus the camera. And you get to meet new people and friends.
pseudoperfection asked: ryan
you been an inspiration since day 1 (the time i followed you actually). and giving me all good reason to dig film photography for good. im excited with it. the concert photos are awesome though im afraid you use digital during those coverage. ordinary scenes convey so much life with when you shoot. you must be a god.
anyways, real. keep it up.
Dude! please! I’m no god please dont say that. I’m far from it, far from perfect. I’m even far from good. really.
I have my own ‘gods’ and inspirations so let me share them with you.
http://ryanrussell.net
Overjoyed that you appreciate my work so much though it’s actually nothing at all when compared to them really. You’ll be happy to find out that Ryan Russell shoots almost all his photographs in film. oh yes you heard me right.
hear from you again!
lostsuns asked: Do you do any post-processing after shooting digital, mainly concert photography?
Hey. I do a LOT of post-processing for the studio and press-kit stuff because i think they should be processed as aesthetically beautiful as possible.
However for the stage and concert shots i would tweak a little of the curves if the lighting is too harsh. Or i may change the color balance a little when those irritating stage lights get too saturated due to the overload to the camera sensor.
Thanks man.
polychromats asked: OMG!! YOU JUST GOT AN M2!!! :DDDD AWESOMEEE!!!!! Really awesome pictures you got there! haha. you knoww.. you had always been an inspiration to me. :D your street works are just awesome. FILM FTW! :D
Hey dude
Yea i love the M2! Though it feels different from my previous M6 and M8, which i still miss, it gives me a whole new feeling. It’s just a timeless classic. I like the fact that it is one of the last full metal M body from leica, has the rarer unclutted framelines and the lack of a meter or any electronics within the camera. It just brings me all the way back to what photography was about and ultimately what a camera was all about. I think with it being a fully mechanical and straight forward camera, it might still work even after i throw it into the Singapore River.
I’m glad you can gain some inspiration from my photographs! I’ve not done street photography for awhile but i’m surely gonna prowl the streets again now that i’ve had my M back. Hear from you soon!
evbabyblog asked: Your pictures are amazing! I'm really glad that you're successful, you definitely deserve it.
Don't be a stranger,
Eva
Hey Eva
You got me really surprised as to say i’m successful. I never ever thought i am successful. At least for the so many things that i yearn to do and have yet to had the chance to. And i guess i will never have the chance. Whose gonna get me to live on the other side of the planet to shoot the big bands. Whose gonna get me there to shoot bamboozle and Warped Tour.
Then again, no matter what dreams that have yet to found its way to me, i’m still contented with what i do here for myself and for others. Thanks alot Eva!
elizabethfriar asked: You seem to get a lot of chances to work with really famous musicians backstage and during shows. How did you come by this opportunity? The rules are probably different in the States (I know a lot of venues now only allow official photographers to shoot the first 3 songs of the set, which to me is absurd), but what you're doing is exactly what I want to do with my career and I was just curious as to how you go to this point. Your work is very inspiring.
Thanks!
Liz
Hey Liz!
Awesome to know that someone actually admire what i do! You know the funny thing is, your question is exactly what I ask people who are living in the States. So i’m really surprised at this question.
I’ve always admired photographers living in the States, where all our favorite bands reside and do all their tours and shows. I can only DREAM of meeting Adam Lazarra face to face and actually shooting one of Taking Back Sunday’s shows. I don’t even know if they will ever come to Singapore. My point is that, in the States, a certain city might have a different band visiting and playing every month or every few weeks even. But here in Singapore, we would be lucky if they would even think of flying all the way here to play a show.
Back to your question, i think it doesn’t happen over night. I’ve been shooting shows for about two to three years? It started out as a hobby but it’s all passion now, and it grows with every show that goes by. Always being determined would help, helping bands out by shooting their show for free when they ask you to, remembering to showcase your work as widely as possible after each show so people can view your talent and improvements and ultimately know about you. Doing all these i just mentioned in the beginning, would certainly take you a long way. You’re doing it for the passion of photography and for music. When the word spreads about your work, it will eventually reach bands and organizers. Likewise, having a portfolio with works of a solid line up and from reputable organizers, would give you credibility when you approach the big boys for assignments. ( I can only wait a lifetime to shoot Warped Tour or Bamboozle and have their backstage passes, like the likes of Elmakias and Ryan Russell. But just because i’m living on the other side of the world, i can’t. You feel me now? )
About the 3 songs rule, I’ve never experienced that except for 1 event, in which it was an annual festival. I’m guessing normally if it’s a big festival or show they would enforce it as such big events normally have got many photographers and media personnel from the various organizations. To be fair they should enforce it as it would get really messy and it might not be pleasant for the band or the audience. But it’s really rare here so i really don’t know how it’s really like there.
You’ve got no friggin idea how MUCH i wanna be there. Be contented! And thanks a lot Liz, for being interested in my photographs it’s heart warming!
avacantmind asked: how did you get to be a photographer for scape in the first place?
Hi there. I can’t really remember actually, it started really long ago. I guess i was just shooting a couple of shows for some bands and one of the venues happened to be at the Scape Lab.
I had gotten to know one of the staffs before hand as my band used to play at Scape. So if i’m not wrong, he saw me holding a camera instead of a guitar and that’s how everything started i guess. That’s like, 3 years ago? I cant really remember.
I love the place actually, I’ve made lots of friends there.
mmmandy asked: "I guess it’s just my opinion that the places around you would always wait with patience but people on the other hand, change and move faster then you can imagine."
Wow you said it so well. I agree! gonna follow you now :)
oh man i didnt know people would actually bother to click an ‘About’ button hahah! Thank you so much!
scottmacwatters asked: Hey man, I love your concert photos, but I was wondering how you get that lighting in them. Do you use an off camera flash?
When you go to shows do you bring it with your? how do you trigger it? and what approach do you usually take to how much power it has?
hey awesome that you love them! Shooting shows bring much joy to me too!
Anyway regarding lighting, which ones are you talking about? I’m someone who prefers natural light when shooting shows. Like these ones. ( here & here & here ). But i do use a flash unit as well, which is a simple 430EX for shots like these. ( here & here & here ).
I use natural light when i want the viewer to ‘feel’ the ambience of a show or particular moment. To me, flash kills off all real atmosphere a potential photo might bring. It flattens out the colors and might bring the wrong sense of energy in the band, (like i was mentioning ‘kills off all real atmosphere’). However i use flash when i wanna amplify the subject in the photograph. For example they might be doing some fancy showmanship or expression that i wanna stress ( here & here ).
Yes i always bring it to shows, especially to venues that i’ve never been to. You never know how the lighting conditions would be like. Even for venues you are familiar with. Different shows bring changes to the stage lights according to the band’s preferences. I don’t normally trigger it off-camera firstly because i’m lazy and secondly because sometimes we do it till an extend that the photo turns out unnatural-looking. So it’s always on my hotshoe.
Regarding power output, i think it depends from situation to situation. One factor might be the distance between you and the band? If the distance always differ, like when the band moves around or when you have to move around, i set it on auto output. Another factor might be the venue you’re in. Imagine it was a really small venue, like the BANE show i recently did. The flash’s auto output might be perfect for the subject but it may leak beyond the subject, on to the background or wall, which makes the photo look flat in terms of lighting. So i usually set it to the least power available ( eg: 1/64 ). This way it still lights up the subject but stops at lighting up the entire photograph. In fact it’s better like this sometimes because it helps me isolate the subject and bring out a more impactful photograph for the band! ( like here ).
Despite the advantages of a flash and contrary to popular believe about flash, natural light CAN also be your best friend at times for shows too. This is one of my most loved photographs and it’s my current wallpaper.
Keep shooting!
