Micky and his uke

[fuzzyedges]

My friend Micky Ramsbottom  strumming the uke and signing off

[FUJI]

An interesting character study, well seen and beautifully taken.

My dilemma when shooting instrumentalists.

I must admit to finding it very difficult to know where to crop when taking or processing those playing a musical instrument........crop tightly and you miss the overall personality.......crop half way to include the instrument and you've chopped the person in half.........crop extremely tightly just on to fingers or mouth, the essence is there, but the character is lost..........full length and everything looks too small.

Decisions! Decisions!

I have posted guitar and sax players, but never been entirely happy with the results...........What do you musicians and gig attenders think?

I guess the best idea is to study what the Pro's do?

FUJI

[ChrisLumix]

I think there are several approaches, and many potential pitfalls, and this shot I took at the Jubilee in a Devon village is a good example of what I mean  :

 

 

I would much prefer a tighter crop on the banjo player and the two puppets at his feet, but that would mean losing the rapt attention of the little blonde girl on the left. Also I would prefer to clone out the two young girls (top left) and have the little girl's head isolated without distracting elements.

 

Perhaps I should have two pictures : one as is, the other with the tighter crop I mentioned. I could even go tighter and make a third picture, just of the banjo player's upper half and instrument.

 

I guess this is why photographers at a gig are given preferential positions to shoot from, as otherwise there would too many distracting elements. Even on this occasion in the wide open air space, there was a lot going on (Jubilee) with people passing all the time.

 

Should we then say that musicians ought to pose for a shot without actually playing anything? There's certainly something in that I feel, but on the other hand there have to be those moments when the photographer captures the joyous concentration, the emotional rapture, of a gifted musician in full flow as in Bugs's pictures of his favourite girl troupers.

 

I certainly think that a tight crop of face/hands/instrument would be a telling portrait, but the wider context - e.g. the audience - is also important. There are so many factors to consider, and no approach should be exclusively taken at the expense of other considerations IMO.

[fuzzyedges]

You can only take whats there (unless you add in PS) Then create what you personally like

[ChrisLumix]

You can only take whats there (unless you add in PS) Then create what you personally like

 

Sorry Fuzz, perhaps I should have made it clearer that I was replying to Fuji's questions. 

[fuzzyedges]

So was I

If there is an audiance and the performer take that then the performer alone then the audiance and any other angle you can come up with

If you stick with a perceved angle or type of shot you will miss the one thats right for you and end up with a load of samey's

Its better to go in with an open mind and work towards what you think might work as you settle in, time permitting