MMD3 posted:

The Joy Formidable from Saturday night. highly recommend shooting if you get the chance, the lead singer, Ritzy has a crazy amount of energy.

shykid10 posted:

Was this at Crystal Ballroom? Got to shoot Joy Formidable a few months ago at MFNW. Lots of fun to shoot.

MMD3 posted:

Yeah, Crystal Ballroom. That's right, I remember seeing a few of your shots from MFNW but I don't know if you ever shared any of The Joy Formidable did you?

shykid10 posted:

Just had a few that I processed. Ritzy was spazzy in such a wonderful way.

quote:

Papermag assigned photographer Rebecca Smeyne to shoot Matisyahu's "Festival of Light" Hanukkah show last night at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Fun, festive times, right? Apparently not. We were dismayed to see a tweet from Rebecca around 10 p.m. saying the laid-back Hasidic rap star had kicked her in the face and broken her camera's expensive flash during the show. What?! Chilled-out nice-guy dub-reggae star Matisyahu did what? We've seen Rebecca shoot concerts and parties and she isn't aggressive or obnoxious in her pursuits to get her great shots, nor were we told flash wouldn't be allowed at this show. So what happened? Rebecca breaks down her side of the story for us below.

The night was strange from the start. It was December 21st, yet it was so unseasonably warm outside, I left my coat at home. I was on my way to cover Hasidic dub reggae star Matisyahu's 6th annual Festival of Light Hanukkah Tour -- one of his three nights at Music Hall of Williamsburg (where he happens to hold the record for the most sold-out shows). When I arrived at the venue, there was a crowd of Hasidic men standing near the entrance. They weren't patrons of the show, but on mitzvah missions, looking in a likely place for people who would answer affirmatively to the question "Are you Jewish?" My editor and I had pre-arranged a photo pass for the show through Matisyahu's publicists, and there was no mention of restrictions in terms of photography or flash. For the first half of the show, I shot from the floor, behind someone, near the side of the stage. I didn't use flash most of the time because there was bright enough lighting. About halfway through the set, Matisyahu went to the opposite end of the stage to light a huge menorah. I moved closer to get a shot of this key moment, and ended up toward the center, still behind a few people. After he was done with the Menorah, Matisyahu resumed performing in center stage. I took the opportunity of my proximity to take some flash photos, to get some detail shots. And this is when things got weird.

After 12 flash shots over a few minute period (the camera gives me this data), Matisyahu stepped toward me, off the stage. The person in front of me moved and the next thing I knew Matisyahu's foot was on my face and I fell to the ground. At first I assumed he was trying to crowdsurf, that he wasn't deliberately trying to step on me. But when I got up, he was in the middle of the audience. When I turned to look at him, he charged at me and attempted to forcefully wrestle the camera away from me. I had the camera strap wrapped around my wrist several times, and I held the body tightly with both hands. Finally, he ripped the external flash off the top of the camera, leaving wires exposed. Suffice to say, this is not an inexpensive piece of equipment, and he had clearly damaged it deliberately. I went to find security, and requested to talk to the manager. They told me to go outside, so I did, and then I called the police. I wasn't hurt, but I wanted to be reimbursed for the equipment damage and felt I needed to file an official report. The cops showed up while Matisyahu was still on stage. Eventually, after the officers made it clear they weren't leaving, Matisyahu's manager sheepishly came out, said he saw the whole thing, apologized for Matisyahu's behavior, and said it was "out of character." He said they'd pay for the damage, and I accepted, but still wanted to file the report, to have some documentation. Then he offered to settle in cash, on the spot. He gave me a fat stack of bills, and I thanked the police for coming out and called it a night.

So why did he freak out? This is a performer who's been in the spotlight for ten years; he has nearly 1.5 million followers on twitter. He should be very used to photographers. And I shoot performances often enough (over 600 different bands in the past 5 years, professionally) to know I wasn't doing anything, shall we say, un-Kosher. As it turns out, Matisyahu had been in the news a lot this week, after he unexpectedly shed all of his facial hair and curls and announced via twitter that he is "reclaiming" himself from religious rules." This week at Music Hall was, in fact, the first time he'd been seen in public with his new look, which the press has described as "confusing to fans." And no, he's not giving interviews about it. Whether these recent changes caused him to snap, is unclear. I will say, though, that the show itself was pretty underwhelming, save for the talents of his backing band (holla Dub Trio), and a supremely awesome huge disco dreidel hanging from the ceiling. But I guess at this point, you could say I'm biased.

UPDATE: Matisyahu's PR team just sent over the rapper's official statement about what happened at the show:
"I regret what transpired when I tried to remove the camera from the photographer's hands last night. As an artist on stage, it is very distracting and disorienting to have a camera flashing in your face for an extended period of time. I reacted impulsively out of frustration and for that I apologize."

UPDATE: Matisyahu has tweeted the following in response: "@papermagazine @rebeccasmeyne Sorry about last night. I totally snapped. I wouldn't call it a kick, more like stepping into the crowd. and being that you've shot so many shows you should know how distracting a huge flash in your face is. Seemed like you were there everywhere I turned with that flash. Next time be more sensitive to the performer."

I, Butthole posted:

HPL posted:

It was a dick move on the artist's part. All he had to do was ask and she probably would have cut out the flash pronto.

If you check the EXIF info on the flash photo, she was shooting at 1/80, f/4.5, ISO 3200 so it's not like she was totally cranking it.

Nilson posted:

If she has been doing this 'professionally' for 5 years, surely the 3 Songs No Flash rule as the absolute norm/unspoken rule would have sunk into her head by now. Sheesh. I don't blame Matisyahu for getting angry, at all.

I don't think I even take a flash to gigs I'm shooting anymore...

MMD3 posted:

I have pretty much never taken a flash to a concert at anything bigger than a hole in the wall club and it's never been an issue. Any decent sized venues have plenty of light, especially if she's rocking a 5dMkII.

While I agree that it's completely inappropriate for a performer to lash out at a photog like that her justifications are pretty stupid. She must've been bugging the poo poo out of him (and likely noticeably so) for him to go at her like that.

I, Butthole posted:

According to her quote in the article, 12 photos with flash over a minute. Once every 5 seconds, a strobe from a 580EXII goes off. That poo poo would HURT.

HPL posted:

Oh man, I am busting a nut right now because DxO Optics 7 has a slider called "Protect saturated colors" that is perfect for fixing those blotchy oversaturated highlights from LED stage lighting.

Evilkiksass posted:

How does DxO fit into your workflow?

HPL posted:

I just put up a post in the EVIL/NEX/blah blah blah thread about it. If I knew how to link to a particular post, I'd do that.

Sarsaparilla posted:

Also - what should I look for when shopping for a fish-eye lens?

HPL posted:

Don't.

Look for fast primes like the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. I've shot tons of shows over the years both in big venues and crappy ones and by far, the most used lens in my bag is the Sigma 30. You'll actually get a ton of mileage out of just a Sigma 30 and a fast 50. When I want to travel light, that's the combo I take to a show.

dunkman posted:

Cut Copy put my pictures up in their Gallery thing, with credit.

http://cutcopy.net/photos/

Scroll down to the 2nd to last. Feels pretty good!

HPL posted:

Don't.

Look for fast primes like the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. I've shot tons of shows over the years both in big venues and crappy ones and by far, the most used lens in my bag is the Sigma 30. You'll actually get a ton of mileage out of just a Sigma 30 and a fast 50. When I want to travel light, that's the combo I take to a show.

Also, as an alternative to a fisheye, take a look at an ultra-wide like the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8. That lens has totally saved my bacon in small venues. You'll be able to get full body and group shots when nothing else will. It's also good for shots where you want to show the band interacting with the crowd. It's also good for jump shots because you can frame conservatively and get everything in the frame as opposed to trying to predict how high the artist will jump and guessing wrong and cutting their head off or whatever.

Fisheyes are by and large a gimmick lens. Yes, you can get awesome photos out of them but for a photographer starting out, your money is far better invested in fast primes because you'll use them all the time as opposed to occasionally.

HPL posted:

Isn't it kind of hard to get social pics when you're outside the building?

psylent posted:

Ugh. I just had to reject an offer to shoot PJ Harvey.

The Australians here will be familiar with Faster Louder - I put my hand up to shoot PJ's Sydney show tonight weeks ago, and they finally sent me details about it yesterday. Three songs from the sound booth and then escorted from the venue. Of course, they also want me to get lots of "social pics".

gently caress that noise. If I'm shooting for free I should at least be able to stay for the whole show. It'll probably mean that they won't use me again for anything, but it's just not worth my time.

Gravitom posted:

From what I'm reading a photo pass sometimes get's you free entry, sometimes it does and sometimes you just get in for your 3 songs. What is your experience with this?