Jazz Band shoot for some high school kids

I was asked to shoot a high school jazz group for a website.

Thank god I offered to do this for free. Hard to complain about the product given the price.... : )

I discovered I have no idea what I am doing with lighting. I only had 90 minutes so I used three speedlights....not the AB's....wish I would have had about another hour.

I am looking for some constructive criticism and things you folks see that can be better and how to adjust lights and settings....man this hard.

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I really like the one with the drums, I think it's the 4th picture. The first's lighting is much too harsh for me, but the pose is nice. The 2nd to last photo is sort of awkward, as their heads are all tilted in odd ways and the fellow on our right has his face almost completely in shadow. I do like the 6th photo. OVerall, nice job, just as soon as you get the hang of lighting it'll be a lot better as well.

I like the first two. The shadows are kind of harsh, especially in the first, but I like the effect in this case.

The rest I don't really have a reaction to, good or bad.

I realize you're working with high school kids, but nothing says 'jazz band' more than the smokey nightclub setting. IF this was a high-school, they probably have a fog machine used for staging. Set up some real stage lighting, turn on the fog machine and shoot the band in B&W!

Now to me, THAT would say 'jazz band!'

For a lifetime musician, I've never known another musician who is keen on taking along drumsticks to prove who's the drummer. The double-bass is a nice 'prop' to gather around for the band, but other than that, leave your gear behind if you're not playing.

dave

Hey, I've the same keyboard (Roland RD170) in my studio!!.

Sorry but these should have been taken in a live (club) setting. I see no jazz vibe here (I've played in jazz bands myself) 1, 2 & 4 are Ok as individual portraits tho.

Get out there in a live setting with some fast lenses to capture some better action. The group shots just don't work for me.

I like the first image; the background design/texture makes it look like there's smoke co ming out of the bell of the sax

I don't care for the lighting in the last four....looks like it's coming from underneath?

I did enjoy the series....

-TomD

Goodness... Good looking boys!!!

Thanks all great input.

I had some softer looks initially and they all scoffed at them. They wanted the hard light effect so I obliged. I posted to get your opinions and glad you responded....

I actually borrowed a friends fog machine. But in true high school attention span form, these guys were done with this photo deal after about 40 minutes. Having it drape the floor on the group shots would have been ideal.

Fog out the sax bell would be very cool.

Live shots in a smoky bar would have been nice, but they play at a few local restaurant's and the background was pretty poor.

Still trying to learn how to use flashes, lights and low ISO...I shot sports...not stuff standing still

I too like the one with the drums. Sorry I can't give you lighting advice.