Okletsgo - Music Photography of Matt Palmer

Goldfrapp

Goldfrapp was at her costumed best when I photographed her show at Brisbane venue The Tivoli. Her costume was used to its full effect too, movement deliberately created in her costume by having a small industrial fan pointed at her from the floor infront. It’s always nice for photographers when performers explore the details within their live performance, not just the music but the visuals too.

Although Goldfrapp poses well for the camera and is full of visual interest, her tendency to move towards and away from the crowd, fully utilising the depth of the stage she is on, makes it difficult to achieve reliable focus while she is on the move. The easiest way to counteract this under normal circumstances is to increase the aperture and therefore have more depth of focus, however this is a luxury not afforded in live music performance. It’s probably one of the most difficult obstacles to deal with in live music shooting, far more so than saturated red lights or dodgy microphone shadows. I found that a lot of my frames were slightly out of focus from this back and forth movement, and really the best way to deal with it is to try and try again.

Aug 01, 2010 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2010, Allison Goldfrapp, Goldfrapp, The Tivoli | Leave A Comment »

Beth Incognito

Beth Incognito is one of my regular make-up artists and wanted some shots to document her new hair. It was an impromptu shoot but due to some good costuming choices, well tied in make-up, and the simple fact that Beth’s hair is awesome, we got some good shots.

For the shoot I had 3 flashes (gelled with different colours) pointed towards the camera (2 left 1 right) at differing heights to create some drama in the background. We had a fog machine shooting into the backdrop and I would take the frames when the smoke drifted in front of this set of lights. Front lighting was provided by one seriously overworked 580EXII flash bouncing into a Softlighter 60 (a very big umbrella).

Also in the gallery below are two photos of Beth’s newly decorated Fender. It’s pretty.

Jul 25, 2010 | Categories: Portrait Photography | Tags: 2010, Beth Incognito, Portrait | Leave A Comment »

Go-Betweens Bridge Concert

The Go Between Bridge (Which I am calling the Go-Betweens Bridge as that is how it should be written) was opened on Friday the 25th of June in a manner most befitting of a bridge named after one of Queensland’s most famous musical entities.

Robert Forster of the Go-Betweens stole the show and was ably assisted by a line-up of the John Steel Singers, Bob Evans, Yves Klein Blue, Josh Pyke and Angus & Julia Stone.

There were a few logistical errors made on the night, which included photo pit being too small, which meant that the photographers were kicked out of the Yves Klein Blue set early as crowd members needed to escape through the pit to escape crowd crush. The lack of easy access from the pit area to any form of food and water was also a significant problem. Given that the location was a bridge it did compact the crowd which added to those issues.

The lighting however was a real highlight (no pun intended), with nice bright spots illuminating the lead of each act, backed up by multicoloured background lights shooting through a decent supply of fog. This is how I think lighting should be done. Colour washes are all well and good but only when the mood of the song is amplified by the lighting, not for the hell of it.

Staging a music concert on a bridge could have been a great opportunity to do something really unique, however I feel that was probably diminished as the location felt closed in. I also think the risks associated with having a huge crowd on a bridge probably influenced the layout of the event significantly also, with the sides of the bridge having large fencing and patrols.

Overall, the music was great, the lighting was quality, but unfortunately the event failed to capitalise on its location fully.

Jun 26, 2010 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2010, Angus & Julia Stone, Angus And Julia Stone, Bob Evans, Go Between Bridge, Go-Betweens, Go-Betweens Bridge, John Steel Singers, Josh Pyke, Music, Robert Forster, Yves Klein Blue | Leave A Comment »

Youngcare Benefit Concert 2010

Bernard Fanning (joined by Clare Bowditch) continues his great support of the Youngcare charity organisation by curating a lineup featuring a who’s who of Australian Music. Throughout the night, which was hosted aptly by Julian Morrow of TV show ‘The Chaser’, various mystery guests were unveiled.

Being the cheeky person I am, I noticed that all the microphones were labeled, and worked out early on that two of the four mystery guests would be Tim Rogers and Missy Higgins. Not bad at all. Later the crowd would experience some great circus performer with juggler Joel Salem, before the crowd were treated to the full lineup of Bernard Fanning’s band ‘Powderfinger’.

The light was all pretty good as there was a video camera team that it had obviously been set up for. Most of the lighting had a strong fill that was fairly colour neutral with multiple back lights.

Mar 26, 2010 | Categories: Music Photography | Tags: 2010, Bernard Fanning, Clare Bowditch, Joel Salem, Julian Morrow, Missy Higgins, Powderfinger, The Tivoli, Tim Rogers, Youngcare Benefit Concert | Leave A Comment »

Bacardi Express 2010

Bacardi (Rum) sure know how to throw a party, putting together a great lineup with La Roux, Art Vs Science, Yves Klein Blue, Miami Horror and Cassette Kids tearing up the Tivoli.

The bands were all solid, with Cassette Kids being quite impressive to someone who hadn’t seen them before, and Yves Klein Blue keep getting better every time I see them. Infact I’ll probably be saying that the next 17 times I see them too, their stage prescense and ability to inject energy into their show has come a long way and they now put on one of Brisbane’s best shows.

The light was fantastic with some nice fill light being complimented by LED backdrops and spots installed for the event. La Roux had some interesting light, and was a bit more of a challenge, with the whole stage being fogged out with saturated colour washes over the top. To battle this I switched lenses to the 70-200 2.8 IS USM which I have found has a better ability to cut through fog and take images with clarity in tough conditions.

Promoters should also take note of the way Bacardi, although obviously financially well off, treated the photographers. Although shooting rules were standard we were given 2 drinks on the house and I made my way from the venue with a free inflatable penguin in tow. Who doesn’t want a free inflatable penguin?