Vancouver baed and Juno Award winning Dan Mangan, graved the stage of the Jack Singer Concert Hall. This is probably one of the most challanging shows I have had to photograph in a long time.
Photography unfortunately is heavily dependent on light. For those of you who have shot concert photography know that, it is a challenge to shoot due to the large dynamic range. Manual is the only way to shoot, and getting your camera dialled in quickly is important with a three song limit in many cases.
The challenge here was the minimalistic lighting. To me it felt almost black. After the opening acts, to be honest it took me by surprise. I remember thinking to myself, they will get brighter as the music builds. They didn't.
Even wide open at 2.8 and 10,000 ISO it was still dark. But this is the challenge I love about this kind of shooting. I will be the first to admit, that I walked out of there thinking, that I might not have one shot that is even remotely usable. Some people might think it is crazy for me to admit that, but it is the truth. That fear tells me that I care about what I produce, and if you don't care about your output, in my opinion it is time for a change. Also it is a great opportunity for me to push my limits and grow a little more. Again the whole reason I love photography, and mores love concert photography.
But lets get back to Dan. Dan was phenomenal, smoke and minimalistic lighting matched the heavy tones. Which sounded phenomenal in the Jack Singer which is probably one of the best places to hear musicians live. I can't wait to get the opportunity to photograph Dan again, and revisit the Jack Singer Concert Hall.