The piano takes one slow spin. The lights go out, the music follows. We’re in the eye of the storm.
In the next moment, it’s all white-hot light and Alicia Keys crushing the ivories of her grand Yamaha in an entrance that establishes one thing: this woman is a force.
A few short bars later and Keys is up and owning the stage, backed by an entourage of dancers, singers, and supporting musicians.
Touring for her third studio release, As I Am (2007), Keys exploded out out of the gates to set the pace for a performance that saw the singer strutting over the stage as much as behind a keyboard.
Photographer’s Notes:
About 15 minutes before the performance was slated to begin, I was met by the tour’s super helpful media contact, who led me down onto the floor. There was a long extension from the middle of the stage that split the floor and restricted access, so we stayed stage right.
Alicia’s media contact was flat out the nicest and most helpful rep I’ve ever met at a concert, and she went so far as to give me a detailed rundown of when the singer was coming out, what she was going to do, and details to watch for. Honestly, if you’re shooting this show, there’s not too much I can add; she’ going to hook you up.
Still, despite the pre-show tips, I should add that this was a technically challenging shoot due to the high amount of movement on stage during the first two songs. Alicia Keys was dominating every square inch of the stage and just tracking the singer was a fast-paced workout.
There was no demarcated pit for this show, just the aisles in front of the seated section on the floor. I shot for the first two songs.
Lighting:
Lighting for this set was actually as tricky as it was bright, at least in my experience. There is a huge array of lights positioned directly over the main stage and these lights fire in different patterns, bathing the stage in a lot of surprisingly bright light.
Exhibit A:
All those lights you see take turns blasting the stage with more white hot light than you can shake a stick at. The quantity is the good part.
The bad part is the directionality of the light, which created some high contrast shadows on the singer. This was most true toward the front of the stage.
Aside from this light, there was also blue accent lighting from behind in the first song, followed by more red washes toward the end of the second.
Lenses & Gear:
I shot with the Nikon D3 and Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 for a large portion of the set, which proved to be a nice all around range for wider shots of Alicia Keys and the production. I also switched to the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 for several tighter shots and was glad to have this lens as well.
Exposure & Metering:
This was a tricky one. Ultimately, I settled on ISO 640 at f/3.5 and 1/640 second.
End Notes:
I’d like to give a big thanks to Alicia Key’s media representative at the concert, who was exceedingly helpful prior to the shoot. Give this woman a raise, Sony.
26 Comments Add your own
1. Keith | May 12th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
These shots being in an arena certainly have a different feel that those of a smaller venue. I like the orange-toned shot where she has her left arm in the air. Lots of variety!
2. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 12:59 am
Hey Keith, nice to hear from you.
Yes, there’s definitely a “big house” feel to these. In looking at these, I think part of it is that the lights are more distinctly high overhead, rather than just in the front and back, as they often are at smaller club shows.
You picked out one of my favorites from the set, that was shot right before the end of the last song when I was escorted out.
Glad to hear you saw the variety, it was choreographed chaos on stage.
3. Chris | May 13th, 2008 at 2:56 am
Favs: 1, 3, 6, and 10 after the jump. Like the incorporated dancers in the first shot, you KNOW why I love the 3rd, the 6th one has so much power too her it’s amazing — I didn’t even notice the other singer in it the first 3 times I looked at it, her expression and the freezing movement of her hair is absolutely brilliant. 10 I think shows her in a different environment and gives her a different character, which I like.
Something I haven’t mentioned before: dislikes — 4 and 5. 4 isn’t bad, but I wasn’t as drawn to it as the others, whereas with 5 I actively dislike because of her facial expression and her arms seem ‘limp’.
Regardless — amazing shots. And that stage is RIDICULOUS! Looks amazing. (I really am awaiting the next time you use that 14mm! Haha). One question — why the opting of 3.5 instead of 2.8 and a lower ISO? Or why just 3.5 in general? Just to lesson the blur of the background, or what?
4. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Hey Chris, thanks for your picks, good and bad. I think you’ve nailed almost all of the popular ones so far.
Personally, I’m kind of split on #6 as the photographer, but I had to include it because of the hair. It’s almost “music video” hair!
I can see what you mean about #4 and #5. On the latter, I had to include it because it seemed like a more unusual moment in the set.
The stage was pretty cool, I should have shot a snap of the long catwalk while the house lights were up, too.
I’m photographing Tech N9ne and Paul Wall, so I will probably break out hte 14-24mm tonight if the lighting works out. Stay tuned.
The reason for the closed down aperture, as Andi suggests below, is just to help bracket for the rapidly moving subject. That, and there was plenty of light to do so, even with a “low” ISO and high shutter speed.
5. Andi | May 13th, 2008 at 3:01 am
Arr, #6 is the money shot here, I like the facial expression and the lighting fits. Nothing to critizise this time, good work
6. Andi | May 13th, 2008 at 3:04 am
Why f3,5? I’m not Todd but I’d say, considering that ISO640 is nothing on the D3, the closed aperture lessens the burden of the AF-system to get that active singer into focus (since there will be just more depth of focus). And even those new zooms optical performance improve when stopped down a bit.
7. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 4:03 am
Hey Andi, thanks for the pick! And please feel free to bring the criticism, too. Just look what you’ve started.
You’re right about the reasons for stopping down, too. Funny when ISO 640 is “low,” isn’t it?
And at f/3.5, the Nikon 24-70mm does a simply excellent job. Sharpness is very, very nice, but contrast is fantastic just stopped down from wide open.
8. Bryan | May 13th, 2008 at 8:33 am
I dig the #7 photo a lot. The one with the hair all wavy. Nice photo set Todd
9. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Thanks, Bryan! I didn’t realize that the hair shot would be a favorite for many people, thanks for the pick.
Coming back to this set after a few weeks, I find that I actually like a lot of these images more now than I did just after the shoot. Funny how that happens.
10. Rod | May 13th, 2008 at 9:49 am
this one is ultimate ! Congrats.
But I don’t like very much this gallery for 2 reasons :
I can imagine the profile of the stage, it would be nice to shot some public to give a “beiing” attractive set.
All musicians are forgotten.
I know you had only 2 songs, but I’m sure during the 30 first songs you had already in your Compact Flash killing shots.
Otherwise, as always : good job. Excellent. In fact.
11. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Hey Rod,
Thanks, it seems you’re picked one a few people like! Also, thanks for the criticism.
On the first point, do you mean you’d like a more environmental shot showing the crowd, or from the crowd’s point of view?
On the second point, yes, I made a conscious decision to concentrate exclusively Alicia Keys (with the exception of one shot of her backup singers, since they were in the spotlight at the end of the second song!). Given the limited time and very fast-paced shoot, I wanted to focus on Alicia to ensure I got the shots I wanted of her.
Thanks for the criticism again, I appreciate it. It’s always good to hear what doesn’t work as well as what does.
12. john | May 13th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
todd,
i could really feel the electricity of the performance just by looking at the photos. great job.
too bad you were limited to the first 2 songs. would’ve liked to see things other images during her slower sets.
can’t wait to see what you do with kanye. heard his concerts are out of this world which probably means lighting hell for photogs.
13. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Hey John, thanks very much for the feedback. I’m glad to hear the energy of the performance comes through in these images, Alicia had me jogging in place just to keep up.
I’d have loved to photograph this set for three songs; leaving after two, I felt like it was just a warm-up.
On Kanye, ha, I guess I should take that off. I listed that as a bit of a wishlist gig. In addition, Kanye West is actually not allowing any photographers to cover his set, though the production sounds amazing.
Aside from Kanye, I would love to photograph Lupe Fiasco and have another shot at N.E.R.D. under some proper lighting. Lupe in particular puts on a really nice show that I’d like to see again. Maybe next time!
Thanks again.
14. andy stenz | May 13th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
amazing shots todd. looks like a very high energy and exciting show! the light is great. the one of her at the keys is a hoot. she sure is a performer!
15. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Hey Andy, thank you. Great shot of the Swell Season on your site, too!
Glad the high-energy vibes translated for you. The lighting was pretty intense, but worked out in the end. There’s no doubt, Keys is a performer, through and through. She rocked the arena.
16. Chris | May 13th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
How does a smaller aperture “just helps bracket for the rapidly moving subject” ? Could you explain a little more about that? I’ve never heard of it before, in terms of moving subjects, etc.
17. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Chris:
This is “bracketing” in a loose sense, simply in that the DOF is increased by stopping down, thus helping account for any movement in the subject or deficiencies in AF.
18. Chris | May 13th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I know about DOF and stopping down, but I did not know that a increased depth of field meant better focusing. Interesting
19. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
In this instance, stopping down for more depth of field is like stepping up to the plate with a bigger bat.
When I mentioned AF, the deeper “zone” for focus just helps make up for any inaccurate focus, whether this is a result of subject motion of twitchy AF.
20. kenny | May 13th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Todd-
Great set!
I shot this show in Philly this year and you are right…the media rep that we had was awesome! sooo much information for us…wish they all were like this…
I really had a great(yet quick)time…she is beautiful and definitely owns the stage…
21. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Thanks, Kenny. The media rep deserves a gold metal, I’m surprised she didn’t tell me what exposure settings to use.
Those two songs did fly by, didn’t they?
22. Robert | May 13th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
sweet shots as usual todd. I asked and you delivered. especially the back shot!
-yeeeaaaaah boy!
23. Todd | May 13th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
I was wondering when you’d see these, Robert. Nice to hear these shots were worth the wait!
24. jan | May 14th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
great shots, Todd! Unfortunately i havent been allowed to shoot at her german event… for whatever reasons the management didnt allowed agency photographers… therefore she didnt get the attention in germany as she needed.
25. Lori | May 19th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Wow. I’ve seen Alicia three times in concert and NEVER imagined her dancing onstage like that. Not sure what I think about it, honestly. Not that I think she should be sequestered behind the piano/keyboard for the entire set, but I guess I see her as more of a serious musician rather than an “entertainer.” Am I making any sense? I’m sure she killed it, because she gives her all for every performance…but doesn’t the world already have Beyonce Knowles to fill this niche? Ah well. She looks like she’s having fun.
Anyhoo…great pictures as always. I especially like the final one. Cause banging out tunes on a keyboard standing up is hard enough without the four-inch stacked heels!
26. Todd | May 19th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Hey Lori,
I was surprised by the sheer intensity, because I was expecting a little more of a piano-driven performance as perhaps you’d seen before.
Regardless, I think Keys definitely hit both roles as the serious musician and entertainer. And she seemed like she was having a blast.
Thanks for the pick! She really made it look easy, even in heels.
speak up
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