If you haven’t followed Bon Jovi in a long time, you might be surprised to know that they were the #1 grossing tour in 2008 and 2010. They continue to put out new music, tour constantly, and sell out shows—including 80,000 seat stadiums in the US and overseas.

When I started working with the band in early 2010, they booked me to do Gigapans at a few of their concerts. I would fly into a city, do my thing, and get out. I was still working for other clients like Sports Illustrated and was on the road all summer as the official tour photographer for Sarah McLachlan Lilith Fair. But somehow I was able to make the timing work.

While the Gigapans were successful, Jon Bon Jovi really liked the traditional still photography I was doing. So the band put me on a tour bus and I shot many of their concerts and appearances through the end of the year.

I covered so many events because we were offering prints and custom photo books for sale from each show through my company, TourPhotographer.com. I created it six years ago so that fans could get high-end photos of their favorite artists without having to worry about taking bad photos with their cell phones.

My goal is to bring the artistry back to tour photography by making photos that fans want to frame and hang on their walls. It also allows me to do the kind of work I love, and the artists make money too.

Since I was doing a lot of backstage photography, Jon asked me to travel with the band, instead of their crew, in 2011. That meant I would spend the rest of the tour flying on the private jet and staying at fancy hotels all around the world.

No complaints from me.

The European summer tour leg was an amazing experience. It started in Croatia and ended 17 countries and 8 weeks later in Portugal. By this point, I went everywhere with Jon. I photographed him on stage, backstage, at dinner, and in his hotel room.

Some of the more personal photos may not be published for a while. For example, during this rainy show in Helsinki, Jon tore the meniscus in his left knee.

He somehow performed for another two hours and finished the show. Afterwards, he was in obvious pain as his knee was examined. This photo has not been shown until now.

In the car back to the hotel, we didn’t know how serious the injury was, or how it might affect the remaining shows on the tour.

Amazingly, Jon didn’t cancel any shows. He wore a brace on his knee so he didn’t damage it any further, and even showed off his temporary cane at a concert in Denmark. The crew made it for him with a shaker on the end.

A few weeks later, he had surgery in Ireland to remove the torn meniscus. I was in the operating room with him as he was put under for the procedure. I’m holding on to those images for now.

Here are a few more photographic highlights.

I went up in the rafters at the Air Canada Center in Toronto to get a different perspective.

Jon and Richie Sambora shared a moment outside our hotel before dinner in Istanbul.

I had a unique view of the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest. The building was designed by the Ceausescu regime, but he was overthrown and executed before he could move in.

In Oslo, there was still some light in the sky just before midnight as the show came to an end.

At the end of tour in Lisbon, I asked Jon to turn everyone around so I could document the occasion.

Since the tour ended, I’ve photographed some personal events for Jon. For example, he visited the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor with his family.

Jon Bon Jovi is one of the subjects that photographers dream about. He appreciates the value of documenting this crazy life that he and the band get to experience.

I’m so happy to be along for the ride.

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To properly cover a sporting event, you need to do more than just point-and-click. The key is to anticipate what’s going to happen so you can put yourself in a position to make the photo.

I covered the New England Patriots playoff games this month on assignment for Sports Illustrated magazine.

Coming into the game two weeks ago, Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was the big story. But the New England Patriots were up 35-7 at halftime, essentially ending Tebow’s miracle season.

I decided to spend some time shooting behind the line of scrimmage when the Broncos had the ball. It was a risk, because if Tebow threw a bomb down the field for a touchdown, I would have been out of luck.

But since the Patriots defense was all over him, I took my chances and came up with a nice sack photo.

(Nikon D3, 200-400 at 280mm, ISO 4000, 1/800, f/4)

The next week, I covered the Patriots in Foxboro again. This time it was the AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.

It was still a close game in the fourth quarter when the Patriots brought the ball to the Ravens one-yard-line.

Quarterback Tom Brady tried a QB sneak, but he was ruled down before the ball crossed the goal line. I thought he might try to score it himself again on fourth down, so I focused on him and zoomed in pretty tight.

He jumped over the top of the defense and reached out just enough to get the ball across the goal line and score the game winning touchdown.

(Nikon D3, 200-400 at 400mm, ISO 4000, 1/800, f/4)

You never know what’s going to happen when covering sports, but with preparation and the right opportunity, you can create some of your own luck.

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I haven’t been a photo assistant in a long time, but when Neil Leifer asked me to help him photograph Muhammad Ali, I jumped at the opportunity.

(Nikon D700, 24-70 at 70mm, ISO 200, 1/250, f/4)

Ali turned 70 years old this week. Whatever you think of his political or religious beliefs, there’s no denying his status as a cultural icon. At one point, he was considered to be the most recognizable person in the world.

Neil Leifer‘s career will forever be tied to Ali’s. If you don’t know him by name, you’ve definitely seen Neil’s iconic photograph of Ali standing over Sonny Liston during their fight in 1965. Ali knocked out Liston with one punch during the first round.

I helped Neil make the transition to digital photography a few years ago for a special project and am proud to call him a friend.

He’s a filmmaker now and rarely picks up a still camera, but with the birthday just around the corner, Neil ventured to Ali’s house in Arizona to make rare portraits of the man at home for Sports Illustrated. He asked me to come along and help with the technology.

How could I say no?

(Nikon D700, 24-70 at 24mm, ISO 320, 1/60, f/13)

I certainly wish I could have covered Ali in his prime, but it was still an amazing experience to finally meet the man. He is a kind soul who is respected everywhere he goes. One night at a restaurant, everyone stood and applauded when Ali came in the door.

His 30-plus year battle with Parkinson’s disease is well documented and it makes photographing him more difficult than in the past. But Neil and Ali are old friends, so they were able to make some classy, timeless photos over the course of the three days we spent out west.

(Nikon D700, 24-70 at 52mm, ISO 160, 1/250, f/14)

You can see Neil Leifer’s new photographs of Muhammad Ali on SI.com and in this week’s Sports Illustrated magazine.

(Photo (c) 2012 Neil Leifer—Nikon D700, 24-70 at 24mm, ISO 200, 1/250, f/14)

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Sometimes you just wind up in the right place at the right time.

Last week, I went down to Red Bank, New Jersey because Bobby Bandiera was hosting his annual Hope Concert at the Count Basie Theater. I wanted to show my support for Bobby, but also knew that Jon Bon Jovi was going to be making a surprise appearance at the event and thought I might be able to make some unique behind-the-scenes photos.

Jon was also ready for his next photo lesson. As Bon Jovi’s tour photographer, I began teaching him how to use his DSLR camera during the European leg this summer. We spent hours walking through parks in Vienna and Barcelona shooting pictures and talking about aperture, shutter speeds, and ISO values.

Photo by Matt Bongiovi

I photographed Jon at rehearsal in New Jersey and then went back to his house to talk about flash compensation and other geeky photo things.

That’s when things got weird.

A rumor on the internet said that Jon Bon Jovi had died.

After the initial shock, we all had a good laugh since Jon was right there in the room opening Christmas presents with his kids. He was very much alive.

Almost immediately, all of our phones began to explode with calls, texts, and emails. The news had spread like wildfire online. I picked up the phone saying, “No, he’s not dead.”

After about 15 minutes of this, I suggested that we shoot a photo or video to show the world that Jon was fine and this was all just a sick joke. I thought he should be holding a newspaper to prove the date or at least a handwritten sign telling his fans that he was perfectly OK.

He came up with a great line to write: “Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey.” He added the date and time so there would be no question that it was a current photo.

I put him in front of the Christmas tree in his living room, snapped a few quick frames, and posted one to my Twitter feed and Facebook page. We also put it on the band’s official Facebook and Twitter accounts so everyone would know that it was legit.

(Nikon D3, 24-70 at 40mm, ISO 2500, 1/30, f/4. SB-900 flash bounced off the ceiling.)

Later that night, when Jon came out on stage at the benefit, he said, “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Overnight, the picture went viral. It had 110,000 “likes” on Facebook and was shared over 60,000 times in one day.

I fielded media requests all day and my agent licensed usage to CNN, TMZ, The View, Extra, Access Hollywood, and The David Letterman Show among others. It was everywhere.

A number of parodies quickly popped up including a photoshopped version with the face of deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-il by Mad Magazine.

It was a surreal experience being in the middle of this international story as it happened. I had a similar viral experience with my Gigapan at President Obama’s inauguration, but I obviously couldn’t have planned this one.

Maybe my next photo lesson for Jon will be “How to photograph celebrities to prove that they’re alive.”

** UPDATE: The guy who started the rumor has come forward and regrets his actions.

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As Bon Jovi’s tour photographer, I’ve been on the road for most of the year. We’re currently on a two-month stadium run across Europe.

You’ve got to love a place where the “golden hour” often lasts until 9:30 pm or later.

(Nikon D3, 24-70 at 24mm, ISO 320, 1/500, f/5.6)

If you’d like to see new tour pictures as they’re posted, join my TourPhotographer.com page on Facebook. My personal profile is DavidBergmanPhoto.

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Sports Illustrated did something this week that they’ve never done before.

I covered the Jets big playoff win over the Patriots in Foxboro and made a photo of QB Tom Brady getting sacked and losing the ball. The image ran on the cover, my ninth for SI (10th if you count the Auburn commemorative in 2005).

@2shear on Twitter said that it looks like Brady is watching someone steal his car.

Since there were four playoff games, it had already been decided there would be two regional covers with different teams on each. SI’s director of photography wanted my photo to be seen in all copies of the magazine, so they published the full-frame horizontal version as a Leading Off in the other edition (John Biever’s photo of Chicago QB Jay Cutler is on the cover).

(Nikon D3, 200-400 at 360mm, 1/800, f/4, ISO 4000)

It’s the first time that a photo has been published as both a cover and a Leading Off in different versions of the same week’s issue.

I also covered last week’s Packers - Eagles playoff game and had a two-page photo of Philly LB Ernie Sims trying to bring down FB Quinn Johnson.

(Nikon D3, 600mm, 1/1000, f/4, ISO 3200)

I suppose I should blog about Sports Illustrated’s Leading Off more often.

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