Diane Birch

Diane Birch, the Pageant, St. Louis, January 19, 2010

Opening for Nick Jonas & the Administration, Diane Birch rocked her Rhodes and opened up the night with a big dose of soulful, bluesy pop.

Diane Birch, the Pageant, St. Louis, January 19, 2010

Diane Birch, the Pageant, St. Louis, January 19, 2010

Diane Birch, the Pageant, St. Louis, January 19, 2010

Diane Birch, the Pageant, St. Louis, January 19, 2010

Diane Birch, the Pageant, St. Louis, January 19, 2010

Diane Birch, the Pageant, St. Louis, January 19, 2010

Diane Birch, the Pageant, St. Louis, January 19, 2010

Diane Birch, the Pageant, St. Louis, January 19, 2010

Music Photographer’s Notes:

Seated at her Rhodes electric piano, Diane Birch was static in her position, but anything but a boring subject. While her duties on keys and vox kept her behind the piano, Birch presented a very nice challenge for this music photographer in capturing a variety of expressions and gestures.

Backed by a full band, I turned my attention away from Birch from time to time during the three song limit to pick up other players, but for the most part, my focus was on the singer.

Just as with photography for Nick Jonas, Diane Birch had the same set up. Photography from just behind the barricade was allowed, and fans hung back in there seats at the instruction of security (though the front row was allowed to mob the stage during the last song).

I started on house right and then switched to house left during the second song, just to cover both angles. Diane’s mic was coming in from house right, but I think that either side is just fine for shooting if one had to pick.

I shot almost entirely with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 on the Nikon D3 for this set, with just a few supplemental shots with the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 on the D700.

Exposure for this set was around ISO 3200 at f/2.8.

Related Posts

  1. Nick Jonas & the Administration
  2. The Jonas Brothers
  3. Sara Bareilles
  4. Brad Paisley
  5. Kings of Leon
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About the author: Todd Owyoung is an internationally published music photographer specializing in concert photography and band portraits. He also grills a mean steak.

Contact Todd for image licensing and assignments wherever the rock show lives. You can also get in touch with Todd via Twitter.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 11:46 am and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with , , , , , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

12 Responses to “Diane Birch”

  1. Wow… she’s stunning. Great work Todd.

  2. UmlautSteve says:

    Hmm – seems like she’s giving you “the look” in that last pic before your notes. A love connection? (Ha ha) Great work, as always!

    • Todd says:

      Hey Steve,

      Ha, I’m sure “the look” was intended for the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8, rather than me directly. As I heard someone once say about the lens, “Somethin’ that big should have a name!” Which is just to say, the lens draws looks from pedestrians and musicians alike.

  3. Phil says:

    great shots. she is a natural beauty, plus talented! where was this?
    own her cd, has a great future.

  4. Tom says:

    Nice series. I usually don’t like it when they sit behind the Piano, makes the job tougher ;)

    • Todd says:

      Hey Tom,

      Thanks for the comment. Ideally, I’d love some more action than a static position, but I think situations like this can provide their own interesting challenges. The main one being, of course, to make it look like there were no impediments at all.

  5. Corey says:

    I really like this set man … piano players always offer a bit of a challenge .. my fave shot is the one where shes looking at the camera :)

  6. riley says:

    Hey! I went to the concert (Nick Jonas and the Administration) and i was wondering where i could find the picture of me and Diane Birch.

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