Dara Maclean followed For King and Country on this 10 band WinterJam 2012 tour. This is the second time I have had the opportunity to see her and her music and sound is really growing on me. She sounded like she has been heavily influenced by singers like Adele; her voice was smooth and her songs powerful.

Dara Maclean photo set after the jump

Shooters Notebook:

Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Nikon 80-200mm 2.8

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For King and Country was next up on the Winterjam 2012 tour. Billboard Magazine named them 1 of 17 artists to watch for in 2012 and American Songwriter raves they are “Australia’s answer to Coldplay,” which is a great description of their Brit-rock tinged worship said Kevin Davis from NewReleaseTuesday.com.

For King and Country photo set after the jump.

This was the first time I have ever seen For King and Country and I was pretty impressed with both their unique sound and stage presence.

Shooters Notebook:

Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Nikon 80-200mm 2.8

I had all of my normal gear I carry for any show, Nikon 80-200mm f2.8, Tamron 17-50mm f 2.8, Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, and my 50mm f1.8. But for the most part the only lens I shot was my 80-200mm. Mainly due to the fact that I wasn’t permitted to shoot inside the barrier area. The thing that help me the most though, was there was a thrust stage that went out the the middle of the arena and that did give me a chance to get some of the images your seeing here.

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Having covered the Rock&Worship Road Show,  I really wanted to check out WinterJam as well. This year I took the 2.5 hr drive up to Penn State and it was worth every moment on the road.

We As Human opened WinterJam 2012 this year with a vibrant sound and screaming guitar riffs. A great opener.

We As Human photo set after the jump.

Shooters Notebook:

Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Nikon 80-200mm 2.8, Tamron 17-50 2.8

This was a “No Pit” shoot.. even though there was one, I wasn’t permitted behind the barrier;  rules setup by the venue and not the tour. It was disappointing, but it happens and you make the best of it. So needless to say I shot almost the whole night with my 80-200.

The other challenge was the lighting.  For the earlier bands there were spot’s but not enough to cover the stage. So I spent a bit of time setting up a potential composition and wait (& hope) for someone to hit the mark.. As you can see, using this method I was able to get a few good frames.

This was my first time seeing We As Human but you can bet I’ll be watching for them to come close again as I really want another shot at photographing them.

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I did my first ever band portrait shoot a couple weeks ago for Anderson Grove. They are our church’s worship band..great musicians and all around great guys. They are in the process of recording a record, CD, Mp3′s..or whatever you call’em these days

As this was my first shoot, I’d love to get your comments and thoughts about some of the images I was able to make.

As I said, this was my first band shoot, but not only that, it was also my first real group portrait shoot. Many people don’t realize there is a huge difference between shooting concerts and something like this.  For a concert you have to photograph what your given. All the lighting is already set, the performers move in whatever way they choose… you can’t just tell the lighting guy.. “Need More Light” or a performer… “Stop and don’t move”… although it would make for kinda a funny show if you could..

In the portrait environment the band is looking at YOU for direction at every single step. I spent the whole day before scouting locations.. some worked some didn’t.. You have to research band posing… it’s gotta be a cool pose right.. Here I am so thankful for Lee Steffen! He is the Creative Director at Penguin Creative in Nashville. He’s shot people like the Chris Tomlin band, Family Force 5, Toby Mac, Building 429.. and just about every other Christian band on the planet. I met him on Twitter some time ago and asked him a few questions about this shoot. He couldn’t have been kinder and gave me a lot of tips.. THANKS LEE!

Then you gotta figure out lighting..I went for using as much available light as I could. I’m still a little nervous about using my hot shoe flash though it’s a pretty good one. The whole project was for sure a challenge. But sometime’s you just gotta jump right in and go for it… So I did and these are my favorite shots.

I would certainly love to get your feedback and thoughts on these images!

Do you have a favorite? Why?

In a previous post, Lightroom 3 custom metadata templates, I showed you how you can easily create a metadata template and apply it to every one of your images upon import.

In this post I wanted to share with you another setting that I apply to every image upon import as well. Develop Settings. These are settings that I used to find myself going back to all the time with in the Develop module.

It used to be that once I had an image imported, I’d open it in the develop module, zero out all of the sliders, check my camera calibration and enable the lens correction for auto detection. This gave me the starting point I wanted, but it took a lot of extra time to do this for every image. Then I found a great tip over at Lightroom Killer Tips that turned my world upside down. It taught me how to create a custom develop setting that I could apply to every image on import.

Let me show you how to do it and maybe it will be an eye opener for you as well.

Step 1

Starting in the Develop module.. Zero out out all of your sliders under Basic Panel

Zero out the setting under the Detail Panel

Move down to your Lens Corrections Panel.

• Click to mark the box Enable Profile Corrections.
  Lightroom 3 has a series of various types of lens profiles built in and by setting the Lens Corrections panel correctly Lightroom will adjust your image for any focal distortion that is inherent in the lens (for instance when you are using a very wide angle lens)
• Under Setup; use the drop-down and set it to Auto
  Basically, this tells Lightroom to automatically set the lens correction used on an image you are importing.

 Step 2

With your develop module ready, it’s time to make a preset from them. While still in the Develop Module look to the panel to the right side of the screen and find one called Presets. See the “ + “ sign next to it? Click it and the dialog box you see below will open.

This is the Dialog box that opens from above that allows you to finalize your preset.

Rather then me trying to explain each box (you can look them up on your own) just check the boxes I have marked. They are the one’s that effect the changes that you made in the develop module.

Finally give your preset a name, I call mine “Concert Start” and click the Create button.

Step 3

Now that you have your preset created you can use it in the Import module. Remember in the last Lightroom tutorial, Lightroom 3 Custom Metadata Template Tutorial, I told you where to find the Metadata template that you created? You will find you can choose your Develop Setting in the same area. In the Apply During Import panel.

Now if you import using your custom Develop setting it will be applied to each image imported.

Comments, Questions?

Let me know.

In my workflow, I have a pre-created a metadata template as well as a starting Develop Setting that I apply to all my images during import. The metadata template includes all of my copyright and contact information. The Develop Setting I’ll share in another post, but here is how to create a custom metadata template you can apply to all you images upon import.

By using a custom metadate template you can easily embed your copyright and contact information into every image you process.

As you probably know there are lots of ways to do the same thing in various applications. I don’t plan to show you every way, but rather I am going to share the way I do it and I’ll leave it up to you to figure out the other ways.

Step 1

To set up your custom metadata template I am going to start in the Import screen; you can get to it by being in the Library Module and clicking the Import button:

While in the Import screen look on the right side and locate the Apply During Import panel. In that panel you’ll find a drop-down for Metadata. Use the drop down menu and click on New.

Step 2

A new metadate template window will open.

At the bottom of the panel click Check None. This will remove all the check marks and ensures that you are not adding any blank fields in your metadata.

Step 3

Under the IPTC Copyright fill out you copyright information. I also have added my contact information under the IPTC creator section. This allows someone who finds my image the ability to contact me in case they want to license it.

Once your finished, give your template a Preset Name (I call mine Full Copyright) and click the Create button at the bottom of the template.

Step 4

To use your new template; return to your Import screen.

In the Apply During Import panel use the drop-down and select the template you created and import you images. Your metadata will be automatically applied to each image.

Comments, Questions?

Let me know.

This year I really wanted to start sharing, what I hope to be, some valuable info to this site. Many of you are photographers really interested in (or already are) shooting shows. I wanted to share the process I go through to process my images to be posted at NewReleaseTuesday.com as well as here at CollidePhoto.

There are a ton of applications that folks are using to process their images; Photoshop, Aperture, Gimp, Photo Mechanic, iPhoto and many others. I have been working with Photoshop since version 2, but over the years I have gravitated to doing about 95% of my concert work in Lightroom. I think it’s an amazing tool; from cataloging, to image processing and final export, I couldn’t be happier with what Lightroom has to offer.

If your a lightroom user I hope this series will be useful to you!

I know this is a rather ambitious series as there is so much in Lightroom.  I have a feeling some posts will take longer then others to get posted and I may not cover every little thing.

I hope you other shooters will chime in on the comments and add your valuable insight.

Comments, What Apps are you using?

Let me know.

When I first got into concert photography I had no idea where to start, but through some searching and a little social media (mainly Twitter) I came across some of who have been come the concert photographers I religiously follow now.

It’s not just because of their quality of work either (though it’s outstanding) it’s because each of these shooters really believe in supporting the concert photography community by sharing tons of tips and tricks on their blogs, actually being willing to talk via twitter and so much more.  They have really been an inspiration to me!

..in no particular order

	Todd Owyoung: Site: ISHOOTSHOWS.com Twitter: toddowyoung
Todd’s photography is amazing! You can learn so much about angels & composition just by looking at his work. However, his site is so much more then that, He offers insight, tutorials and tips and techniques to try to make you a better concert photographer.
	Brad Moore: Site: bmoorevisuals.com/ Twitter: bmoorevisuals
Brad is nicest person to talk to. Always very encouraging an uplifting, ready to offer a bit of advice in a moments notice. Brad works for the infamous Scott Kelby and was Joe McNally’s assistant for a number of years.. Brad really knows his stuff inside and out.
	Allen Ross: Site: artistXposure Twitter: artistxposure
I met Allen through Twitter. He’s a great shooter out of Atlanta and a wealth of info when it comes to the concert scene. He’s always willing to share.. send him a tweet sometime and you’ll instantly find out how helpful he can be.
	Alan Hess: Site: alanhessphotography Twitter: shotlivephoto
This Alan is a concert photographer, author, & runs a concert photo workshop at Photoshop world. He has a lot of great insight to share in the area of Concert and lowlight shooting in general.
	Philip Rood: Site: Philip Rood Photography Twitter: philiprood
Philip is Freelance Photographer, Founder & Co-owner of Rapzilla.com. His coverage is all about Urban and hip-hop shows. There are a number of unique shooting issues when it comes to this style of music and this is the guy who can help you out with that.

These aren’t all the concert photographers out there who are more then willing to help out and are putting great work out there. These are just some of the folks that I’ m in pretty constant contact with who keep me challenged and striving to be the best concert photographer I can be.

Who keeps you inspired?

MercyMe batted cleanup closing out the night of amazing bands and music on the Rock and Worship Roadshow in Cleveland OH.

MercyMe photo set after the jump.

Ending this amazing evening of music and worship, MercyMe took the stage and put on an fantastic show. Having a repertoire that goes back further then 2001, they had plenty of music to draw from. And the whole night for $10 bucks, how can you beat it!

Shooters Notebook:

Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens:  Nikon 80-200mm 2.8, Tamron 17-50 2.8

See the details… Lighting, ISO, challenges, etc.

Comments, Feedback?

Let me know what you think.