Last spring, I was commissioned to produce an action video for a high school lacrosse player. His parents wanted a professional video that they could send to college coaches along with his school application.

Most of the time, parents just use the existing school video footage and highlight their son or daughter with a circle or an arrow. I wanted to make something that was more “NFL Films” than “Public Access.”

I brought in two other photographers - Rob Tringali and Mike Ehrmann - and we covered 15 matches over the course of the season.

We shot with the Canon 7D hybrid HD-DSLR at 60 frames/second and then slowed it down to 24p in post to give it a cool slow-motion look. I bought a Canon-Nikon adapter so I could use my Nikon lenses - including a 400/2.8 for the action shots.

That also meant everything had to be shot using manual focus.

I occasionally shoot manual during a game these days, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had to follow-focus 100% of the time. It was not easy, but that muscle memory slowly came back, allowing me to get enough shots for the completed video.

The final piece for the client was three minutes long, but editor David Szarejko and I also produced the one-minute sample below.

The music is “King Louie” by Taddy Porter (off their new self-titled album) and is used with permission.

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I did a portrait shoot with the band We Came As Romans recently in the Detroit suburb of Troy for Kerrang Magazine. We found a location in the woods outside of a prep school near the band members’ homes.

The guys were normal and mild-mannered. That is, until we came across a shallow pit and I suggested that they act as if they were clawing their way out of hell. Then I got this:

(Nikon D3, 24-70, ISO 400, 1/250, f/8)

I’m using all Nikon SB-800 and SB-900 strobes. I placed two in the front on each side, two are on the sides a bit behind them for side/rim light (you can see a flare from the back left), and two are in the hole in the ground with warming gels to simulate fire (although you can’t see much of that light in this particular frame).

Everything is fired with Pocket Wizards and I used Nik’s Color Efex Pro inside Aperture for the post-processing.

These Romans could teach the Greeks a few things about conquering Troy.

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I’ve photographed the Barenaked Ladies in concert more than 50 times, but I made my new favorite photo of them during their show at Radio City Music Hall in New York last month.

It was the first time I had heard them play their hit “Brian Wilson” since Steven Page left the band last year. Steve and Ed always did a few jumps during the song, but I had no idea if Ed was going to jump solo.

It was the last song of the night, so I positioned myself on stage near Tyler’s drum kit and hoped for the best. The spotlights looked good and the smoke machines were working overtime.

Then Ed jumped.

(Nikon D3, 24-70, ISO 2500, 1/320, f/4)

You can purchase high quality prints of this photo, along with my other Barenaked Ladies pictures, Bon Jovi pictures, and Hanson pictures at TourPhotographer.com.

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Patrick Hall and Lee Morris from Fstoppers.com recently produced a cool video about me and my work with Bon Jovi.

I was able to get them backstage at the New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey and they even got a few words from Jon Bon Jovi himself (watch all the way through to the end!).

You can read Patrick’s story about the making of the video on his site.

I suggest you turn up the volume and click the four arrows in the bottom right corner to watch full screen. Use headphones if you’re in the type of office environment that frowns upon loud music blasting from your desk.

(If you subscribe to my blog via email or RSS feed and don’t see the embedded video above, click the title of this post to open it in your browser.)

Big thanks to the band and management for allowing this video to be produced. Also to Patrick and Lee who did an amazing job!

You can see more of my Bon Jovi pictures and purchase prints at TourPhotographer.com.

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Hello blog, it’s been a while.

I didn’t have much time to post this summer because I was on the road for six weeks as the official tour photographer for Lilith (see my first post here). After a 12-year absence, Sarah McLachlan brought the music festival back for a summer run.

(Nikon D3, 70-200, ISO 1250, 1/160, f/4)

Sarah was the headliner, but there were up to 10 other female performers at every show. They rotated throughout the tour with some playing only one night while others - like Sheryl Crow - stayed with us for five or six dates.

(Nikon D3, 24-70, ISO 2500, 1/1000, f/4)

I shot over 63,000 images at 23 concerts across the United States and Canada. One of the prettiest venues was The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state.

(Nikon D3, 24-70, ISO 500, 1/250, f/4)

In addition to making photos all day, I had to find a way to deal with those digital files. Different pictures had to be sent to various places every day (wire service, tour management, in-house use, email to staff, etc) and each set of photos required a different output resolution and watermark.

Thankfully, I use Apple’s Aperture to edit and tone my photos. On tour, its ‘smart albums’ feature was a lifesaver.

I applied keywords to the images as I edited, and Aperture automatically sorted them into separate folders. Then all I had to do was export the contents of any particular folder using my output presets (with designated resolution and watermarks), and I was done.

I also used Photoshelter extensively to deliver images to management and make off-site backups of my best photos. I used Photoshelter’s Aperture plug-in and rarely had to leave the program.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from Lilith 2010.

Nancy Wilson of Heart can still rock out.

(Nikon D3, 24-70, ISO 2500, 1/400, f/4)

I photographed Jenni Rivera’s mariachi band as they prepared to take the stage.

(Nikon D3, 24-70, ISO 800, 1/250, f/4)

Mary J. Blige stole the show with her rendition of “Stairway to Heaven.”

(Nikon D3, 70-200, ISO 2500, 1/250, f/4)

I made a “Ray Charles” shot of Sarah’s music director Vince Jones.

(Nikon D3, 70-200, ISO 200, 1/800, f/4)

Sarah was a blast to work with and was pretty comfortable with me backstage.

(Nikon D3, 24-70, ISO 2500, 1/30, f/4)

Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson posed for me before taking the stage.

(Nikon D3, 24-70, ISO 1600, 1/30, f/4)

I had a blast doing this tour and made a lot of new friends. I shot the crew photo on the last day by putting my camera on a tripod and triggering it with a Pocket Wizard wireless transmitter.

(Nikon D3, 24-70, ISO 2000, 1/250, f/5.6)

Next summer’s Lilith is already in the works, and I hope to be back out on the road with Sarah again.

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I’m on the road all summer as the tour photographer for Lilith. The all-female music festival ran each summer from 1997-1999 when it was know as Lilith Fair. Sarah McLachlan is the headliner every night, but over 100 musicians will rotate in over the course of the tour.

As a photographer, the challenge is to make unique images beyond the standard concert photos. Here are some from the first few days.

Our herd of busses was lined up at sunset outside of the rehearsal venue in Vancouver.

(Nikon D3, 70-200, ISO 800, 1/250, f/4)

Sarah McLachlan does her sound check in Calgary.

(Nikon D3, 70-200, ISO 200, 1/5000, f/4)

Clouds roll in during the Calgary show.

(Nikon D3, 70-200, ISO 640, 1/400, f/4)

Sugarland performs in Edmonton.

(Nikon D3, 24-70, ISO 2500, 1/500, f/4)

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