James Brown: Godfather of Soul [Large Images Warning]

[DwightMcCann]

I know this has been a long time in coming, but that darn Surfkahnnannanl (or whatever) took up so much time with wine sipping, photography talk and other general wastralness that I just haven't had time to post until now ... but what are you going to do? The youngin's need some guidance (and drinking partners.)

Anyway, I was allowed first three songs at this concert, so I was shooting like a madman ... but the "songs" went on and on and when I finally decided they must have done three songs I looked down and had shot 635 images, so I put my camera away, saw some front row seats empty and plopped myself down in one. Fabulous show with amazing talent. The long haired guy playing the sax was utterly amazing ... no AMAZING! They featured him over and over and each time he was better than before. The three backup singers in the black dresses were good, the guitars were good, the trumpet was very good, the two white dancing girls were good. So, without further delay, here are some images ... the first of which, the collage, is not for advertising ... it is for wall mounting by executives! ;)

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/ChumashCollages/JamesBrownCollage-1000.jpg

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/JamesBrown08252005/JamesBrown4784-1000.jpg

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/JamesBrown08252005/JamesBrown4891-1000.JPG

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/JamesBrown08252005/JamesBrown4942-1000.jpg

I know this isn't the sharpest image in the world, but it is "flavorful!"

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/JamesBrown08252005/JamesBrown4841-1000.JPG

And my final initial submission because my wife liked it:

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/JamesBrown08252005/JamesBrown4615-1000.jpg


There are more images on my website from this concert at http://www.dwightmccann.com/ChumashCasinoResort/JamesBrown08252005. (http://www.dwightmccann.com/ChumashCasinoResort/JamesBrown08252005.htm)htm (http://www.dwightmccann.com/ChumashCasinoResort/JamesBrown08252005.htm).

Surf did mention that he thought the printed and uncompressed versions of the collage were much more impressive than the versions I post ... I was pleasantly surprised but now that I look I think it is true. So, when you look at the collage, think more vibrant colors and image sharpness. :rolleyes:

[Dave_G]

whoa! these are COOL!

I know you're using a fancy 2.8 lens, but what shutter and ISO do you use?

Do you shoot RAW?

Probably been asked (and answered) before, sorry :)

[martook]

Dave_G: I hope you have read the excellent thread: "Q & A: Dwight McCann (Event Photography)"
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=81761

[bachscuttler]

Dwight strikes again!

I particularly like the 4th full stage shot.
I'm saving hard for a 1D :confused:

[DwightMcCann]

Dave, I shoot large jpegs and I think all the EXIF data is still in the images. At this concert I was shooting only ISO1600 as I was NOT allowed to shoot from in front of the stage (where I can usually ratcher down the ISO) ... I was back about 20 rows or so to shoot the 'full stage' shots.

Thank you, Martook.

Bachs, thank you, I actually have another very similar one I liked:

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/JamesBrown08252005/JamesBrown4918-1000.jpg

[Dave_G]

thanks Dwight :) saves me reading for 3 months straight! I would have been impressed if you'd shot 400 or maybe even 800.

martook - obviously I didn't. I will do now though, I think. just so I know.

cheers guys. I might post some of my concert photography one day...hehe

[DwightMcCann]

Dave, sometimes I get down to 800 to 1000, but only under the best of circumstances and lots of shooting time (not limited to first three songs) ... this is one of the reasons I keep threatening myself about using that expensive Gitzo monopod I bought, sigh.

Oh, has everyone noticed how perfect the 'horizon' is in those two full stage shots? Isn't that impressive? Well, I rotated them both and then cropped ... I am a horrible "leaner" when shooting even though my steadiness seems pretty good. I just can't tell when I'm upright. ;-)

[mikegoat]

James Brown is the MAN! He makes Mick look like a pixie. I am in awe. Great pictures. Glad to read it was a great show. I love his energy and his knee angle. He kind of pulls his body up and gets hs feet out and his legs just kind of contort at the knee. Don' t need to see his face...you could ID JB from the hips down.

[martook]

Oh yeah, sorry, forgot to say that I really like your photos (as always), the first two of the man himself... he's just so cool! :D

[4nR]

Amazing shots and amazing subjects as usual dwight. Just awesome.

[mijbril]

Magic stuff Dwight, all the energy of a virtual living legend captured... in 635 shots, LOL... Thanks for sharing, some great ones on your site too :)

Hey, maybe you can get a James Brown tattoo?? ;) hehe

[DwightMcCann]

4nR, Glad you got over here. :-)

mij, ROFLMAO! Tears in my eyes!!!:lol:

[myth337]

eye to eye, station to station........ Ladies and Gentleman.. James Brown!!

I was wondering where this was!! was offline for 5 hours last nite (my time) but didn't come across this till now.

Anyway... I love your collages!! (may have said that once before...)

too bad about the 3 song thing... sometimes the show gets interesting when the band has been playing for an hour or more. good to see that you enjoyed taking the pics.. and also had time to relax and enjoy the concert too.

I don't know.. but the horizon shots are a bit too straight, don't you think?? ;)
just kidding. sometimes my shots are a bit tilted.. and once or twice.. I have had them framed so tight that straightening them would cut off part of my subject. (have to loosen up my framing a bit.. can always crop a bit in PS)

the monopod might help with the shutter speeds and lower ISO.. but it may not keep things straight.. (sometimes I lean a bit more WITH the monopod.. for some strange reason...)

anyway... great shots!! I like the shot with James at the keyboard.. with the big grin...

.. Lee

[Croasdail]

Wonderful shots - can't even imagine trying to get WB and exposure corrrect. Gives me something to work towards. Cheers.!

[bikerider]

Fantastic shots of the 'Master of Soul' Dwight, the guy just rocks and rocks and rocks and.....

[DwightMcCann]

Myth, I thank you, again. I am afraid I have enough ego that I can withstand any number of compliments without becoming beligerent.

Croasdail, I do work on the white balance for some shots using the 'color cast' tool in PhotoImpact (a wonderfully clever tool) ... but the truth is that the color is so distorted that anything you do looks OK! :-)

Bike, yes, he was still dancing around tirelessly 90% of the way into the show, soaking wet from sweat, and didn't miss a beat! So much better than Lyle Lovett!!! :-)

[SurfKahakai]

Surf did mention that he thought the printed and uncompressed versions of the collage were much more impressive than the versions I post ... I was pleasantly surprised but now that I look I think it is true. So, when you look at the collage, think more vibrant colors and image sharpness. :rolleyes:







Definitely! I don't know what it was but I just never got a great feeling from looking at your colleges, that is until I saw the B.B. King collage in person. The images are much more alive in print. Our computers don't do them justice!

[DwightMcCann]

Myth, I realized that I didn't link in that image of James at the keyboard you commented on and a lot of folks don't click links, so I'm going to link it in here:

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/JamesBrown08252005/JamesBrown4833-1000.JPG

[BottomBracket]

Excellent posts as usual Dwight! Did you use any noise reduction software on these?

[DwightMcCann]

BB, no noise reduction ... but they are, on average, much noisier than I expected. I have been given some suggestions for noise reduction software but I'm a bit resistant ... almost think that the noise in the high ISO images are part of the ambience. Guess I should at least trial a couple and see what I think, though ... maybe after I move and get settled in.

[bachscuttler]

Dwight McCann...The Godfather of Concert Photography :lol:

[DwightMcCann]

Be careful there, Bach, or I'll have to make you an offer you can't refuse! :-)

[Croasdail]

Dwight... so I shot some pics of a friends band playing last night - nothing compared to your shots - and was printing up some 5x7's for them, and my wife was mentioning that she didn't like all the misscoloring due to the lights - very red, or yellow images. I correct a couple of them, and she liked them better, but they no longer represented what it was really like.... you got any thoughts on removing what some (my wife) would consider heavy coloration do to lighting and how far you should go with it?

[DwightMcCann]

Croasdail, this is one of my pet peeves: People who think Live Performance images were shot in a studio (or should have been.) I think of concert photography as a subset of journalism whose product is supposed to lean heavily toward documenting what transpires. If the venue only has two or three incandescent lights (like the first bar I ever shot bands in) then that's pretty close to what it should look like, although setting your white balance for it is a good plan and flash is probably needed for some images. So, I'm against trying to make stage lighting look like sunlight at noon although even I will agree that some small adjustments to please the eye are OK.

Another thing I've noticed is that when I start pulling that red/yellow out of extant images, a lot of detail disappears and the images start looking really noisey. I do sometimes do some white balance or color cast corrections, particularly when there are two or three casts obvious and I'd like to balance them out a touch.

The bottom line is that I usually ignore people for whom this is a big issue unless they are writing checks to me. :-)

[davepgh1]

Great work, I like the way you take a picture and build your collage over and around it. I keep making a mental note to try this but this time I'm writting it down.

[DwightMcCann]

Thanks, Dave. I've tried several different things on which to build the collages. The Gipsy Kings background was a shot of one of their drum sets with some painerly effects applied and then made big. Sometimes I take an OOF or poor DOF image particularly if they are heavily color casted and blow that up as background. But, my favorite is a good wide stage shot. Would love some alternative ideas if you have some other concoction. :-)

[DwightMcCann]

UCSB is having their annual Staff Appreciation Week in the middle of next month and they are calling for Staff art to display. I offered several of these collages in 11" x 17" matted and framed to 20" x 24" that hang over my desk at home. I sent links to four collages so they could review and choose them and although they have accepted my offer they haven't let me know which ones they want.

[dzstudios]

Wow - shot number 4 is the awesomest. (Is that a word?) One day when we grow up, we're going to take wide angle pictures just like that. Everyone pin sharp - no distortion... and every pixel crammed with goodness.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[DwightMcCann]

Oh, DZ, you're from the Mother Country so I think you can mangle the language any way you want! I expect that #4 was shot with a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS from the area of the lightboard around 60' away (I'm terrible at estimating distances) but the EXIF is gone since I added my logo. And if you were there your pictures would look just as nice as this if not better! You know there are a few more back at the website!? So, are you saving to get HIM a 300mm f/2.8?

[Spearin]

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, has passed away (http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2006/12/25/james-brown-061225.html). RIP :(

[DwightMcCann]

The Godfather is dead. Long live the Godfather.:(

[johnstoy]

James Brown...The Man's Man...Wonder whom he wants to follow in his foot steps and to fill his shoes? I don't know of anyone remotely close to the energy he applied in entertainment...(to answer my own question.) As for filling his shoes... I doubt any one ever will...He is the one and the only, very original James Brown... and now he's gone... May He Rest In Peace...

[mumbles]

He will be missed, big time. Dwight, consider yourself lucky to have shot him.

[Fade2]

RIP Brother James Brown!
Godfather of Soul!
You will be missed! :cool:

[DwightMcCann]

I went on a bicycle ride after hearing this news and halfway up my exercise hill I realized that the local paper would probably be running a little something so when I got home I sent some images from this August 2005 shoot down. Today there were two big articles on his passing in two different sections of the paper and they both ran large, different images of mine. It was a nice memorial to him for me. [I provide courtesy images to the local papers as part of my work with the casino.]

[johnstoy]

I went on a bicycle ride after hearing this news and halfway up my exercise hill I realized that the local paper would probably be running a little something so when I got home I sent some images from this August 2005 shoot down. Today there were two big articles on his passing in two different sections of the paper and they both ran large, different images of mine. It was a nice memorial to him for me. [I provide courtesy images to the local papers as part of my work with the casino.]


Our local Internet Radio station broadcasting World Wide, traditionally plays Country Rock and mostly Country music... Today, they are playing some of James Brown songs...I just can't imagine anyone doing the dance steps James Brown did...mesmerizing, his stuff is...

[rab_cilbup]

Was never a huge fan, but was sad to hear about it, hugely influential artist (Funky Drummer is one of the most sampled recordings of all time) - and despite what I've read in the press sometimes he was apparently a nice guy, one of my friends worked as a night porter at a hotel in Aberdeen that he stayed at when doing gigs in the city and had nothing but nice things to say about him and his entourage.

[blackshadow]

I had the pleasure of seeing JB perform in the 80s - amazing show by an amazing performer.
Sad to lose one of the best there ever was.

[DwightMcCann]

Even got a call from my 22 year old son that he saw my pictures in the paper ... this is a new high! :-)

[ASP]

Dwight you never cease to amaze us, I appreciate you sharing your photos and insight.

[scorpiojo]

May his soul rest in peace. I saw him in the 70's in Africa. I'll never forget.

[steveathome]

No 2 is awesome, well dont dwight.

James Brown RIP.

[pttenn]

REad this thread after reading about James Brown dying. These may be some of the last shots of him in concert????
Karen

[DwightMcCann]

Karen, that would be good, eh? But these were shot in summer of '05 so it is unlikely. At the moment I do have images of the last KISS concert on my website.

[TARPONTIM]

Dwight you ROCK

[DwightMcCann]

Dwight you ROCK

Watch out ... you'll have Chris Fritchie calling me arrogant, again! :-) Thanks, Tim.

[taygull]

Watch out ... you'll have Chris Fritchie calling me arrogant, again! :-) Thanks, Tim.


I would never do such a thing!:p

[tweatherred]

I live in his hometown, so there was a lot going on with his funeral this weekend. Yesterday morining I went down and shot these pics of his statue in the middle of downtown Augusta covered with flowers and other tributes. While I was there at 7:30 in the morning it wasn't too crowded, but there were people there from as far away as Virginia and Pennsylvania taking pictures and leaving messages.
#1
http://weatherred.com/coppermine/albums/JB/JPEG/_MG_1169.jpg

#2
http://weatherred.com/coppermine/albums/JB/JPEG/_MG_1162.jpg

#3
http://weatherred.com/coppermine/albums/JB/JPEG/_MG_1154.jpg

#4
http://weatherred.com/coppermine/albums/JB/JPEG/_MG_1176.jpg


In case anyone is wondering the album that is in some of them is Sex Machine.

As usual, Dwight got some great shots; they could have used some of them as a model for the statue.

[DwightMcCann]

Thanks, Tweat! I think the statue is a rather good likeness. He and B.B. King are two of the four matted & framed photo-collages in my photography office, all done during my first year of shooting the really big names. [For the intersested student the other two are Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard.]

[Fried Tempeh]

Great shots Dwight.

Long live the Godfather!