If you've been following along, you know I was recently in Italy photographing a wedding. Naturally, that might be the next post. It takes me a while to sift and cull and edit a full wedding… so trust, that’s coming. In the meantime, let's take a dive into a concert I also photographed recently that I felt pushed me as an artist, all while having a heck of a lot of fun. Buckle up, this one’s a long one.

In April I got a pit pass through a concert workshop with the legendary David Bergman to shoot the Luke Combs concert in Indianapolis, Indiana (with Lainey Wilson as an opener). So, before you keep reading…. pull up the most recent Luke Combs album, crank it to 11. Better yet, put on “Beer never broke my heart” or “Fox in the hen house”... and LETS GOOOOO.

"David Bergman's annual "Shoot from the Pit" workshop brings in 10 photographers of varying skill levels to learn in real-time how to photograph arena-sized concerts. You can check it out here - the man is legendary, and I remember discovering who he was when I first saw his concert photos of Bon Jovi. More on him later… David, that is.

The workshop was first brought to my attention by my good friend Korey Hunt. Mr. Korey plays keys for Luke on the road. I want to say a few whiskeys and several beers and cigars deep, he persuaded me to get in touch with David. I settled on the Indi show. "Since moving to Nashville, I've made quite a few friends in the country music industry through my cousin, and many of them happened to be in attendance at, or playing in this show. There's something really special about photographing your friend doing what he loves on stage, watching your friends and family jam out to it, all while being in my element and learning from a world-renowned photographer. I feel like you can get a sense for that full-circle kind of joy in the photos I took."

Let’s get the fun, nerdy stuff out of the way for the gearhead in me. I rocked my two Leica cameras (trust…I got a lot of side eye from the other photographers). On my right holster I had my SL2-S: as we get into the weddings and my professional shoots, this is my work horse. It's a 24 megapixel, mirrorless, black-on-black, dependable camera, and the more I shoot with it, the more I fall in love with it. I had planned on bringing my 24-70 Leica and my 70-200 Panasonic F4, BUT, Mr. Bergman suggested we have something longer than 200mm. Typically the 200mm is my go to for bigger weddings, its long enough to step back and get some close up shots at a ceremony or even some of the other concerts I’ve photographed and filmed. This is an Arena tour. Luke and Lainey would be playing in a building that can hold up to 63,000 people for an NFL game… 200mm may not be close enough.

SO, I did what all photographers who don’t have infinite money to buy every lens on the planet (or maybe just Leica shooters, lol) do. I rented a Sigma 150mm-600mm F/5-6.3 DN OS Sports for L mounts. Mouth-full. YES, 600mm, which means I could zoom in 3x as much as the 200mm, while the f5-6.3, variable f stop forced me to shoot at f6.3 at 600mm. All that means is that I'd have to crank up my ISO (sensitivity of the camera) to a bit higher than normal… but also.. stage lights are bright AF. I got the lens from lensrentals.com - they were great to work with, and luckily were located just down the road in Memphis, so the shipment came quickly.. Bergman was right; that lens got me so dang close. Close enough for me to see Lainey’s pupils and Luke's sweat. On my left I had, of course, the trusty little tank -my Leica Q2. I’m thinking this camera is going to need its own post here at some point…

Bergman starts the workshop off with some basic instruction. This is actually wonderful for anyone that needs a refresher or is just getting into real pro-level photography. I liked the review and I loved watching another teacher teach. I picked up a few things along the way, specifically two things the Berg does: using back button focus and shooting a concert in manual.

Back button focus is a pretty basic concept and I think it works much better on mostly every camera except for the SL2-s. I highly highly recommend it for anyone and everyone shooting an event of any kind. It basically moves your autofocus functionality to the back of the camera where your right thumb can decide when to turn AF on and off. This means your AF wont change when you compress the shutter button, allowing you to be a bit more accurate in choosing your point of focus. I used to use this all the time when shooting with my Nikon d800 (sorry… I mean all the d800s I would borrow from friends, thanks Devesh and Sam). Also on my fuji Xt3 when I shot weddings I’ve become very good at focusing on my SL2-S, not using this method. While you can map it on the Leica… I just don't have the patience to mess with my process of doing something that’s already working great for me.

And my image from the A7r5 and the 14mm Samyang. at f2.8 1/40sec

The Second thing Bergman did was shoot in manual. That means you're choosing all three variables in every shot. He makes an excellent argument for doing this, noting that you are the artist and the photographer, YOU should be making the decision for what your exposure looks like vs. letting the camera decide and potentially missing something that you wanted to be something else. Incredibly valid. I don’t want to step on his toes, so here is a good explanation of it from the man himself : HERE

I still shoot in aperture priority mode, as I have most of my event career. I’m used to moving quickly with aperture priority. Adjusting the exposure compensation while I shoot is fast for me because I’ve been doing it for so long and I like using different ISOs. That's not going to be the same for everyone, especially if you're learning or like having a locked ISO setting (film users). It's just another great reminder that cameras are tools and each photographer will use those tools the way that ultimately works for them - there is no ONE correct way.. I try to tell my students not to get hung up on methods or settings, find what works for you in creating what you want to create.

I've photographed and filmed plenty of concerts in my day (insert old man gif here). In highschool and into college I shot with my nikon n2000 and pentax k1000 several small punk shows and college concert series. 10 years ago, I shot photos and videos at Coachella and Stagecoach festivals several times and helped my business partner Sam Shimizu-Jones cover for Dilplo and Major Lazer. So, being at a live event like this wasn't much different from what I am used to. HOWEVER, I’ve been collecting visuals for money for about 20 years at this point, always being concerned with a job and a product that needed something specific. This concert experience was one where I could just play. If I missed a moment or decided to NOT take a photo, or focus on the piano player and not the singer… that was OK. I had never shot a concert or event like this with the sole intent of making dope photos that I wanted to make..

Concerts come with a specific set of challenges. There is limited space to move within, after a while, photos can start to look repetitive, and timing is everything. More than just timing, if you want to separate yourself from the status quo, your compositions and exposure need to tell a story.

One of my favorite photos of the night is this one, solely focused on the small words under Lainey’s hat that most of the audience wouldn’t have noticed. With just a sliver of her face and the flare from the lights creates an entire mood. (Again, needed that 600mm for that one)

Finding myself incredibly close to the stage shooting UP into a very large space, I tried to use negative space to create a bit more of the epicness in the stadium. I’ve found that even if you catch behind the scenes stuff like scaffolding, if you compose it well enough and time it out with a gesture from the band, it can still make for an impactful photo. Photography for me has always been: take the photo in a way so that when you look back you can remember everything - the sound, the vibrations, the feeling of being there - and if you do that, then the viewer will pick up on that too.

A lot of times the lighting director has done the hard work for you. Our job as photographers is to look around at what's going on, identify the story and emotion, and push that to the absolute limits using the technical variables we have on our cameras.

This photo of Mr. Korey, isolated and playing a song on his own to a sold-out stadium, was an incredible moment for my Nashville family to witness. If you're reading this, Korey, I have a print coming your way!"

W