Q & A: Dwight McCann (Event Photography)

I wrote this in the other thread:

"Mr. McCann specializes in live musical events photography. His work is breathtaking. Full of life. You can feel you are there by looking at his photos. He gives you a front seat to that event when in actuality you are looking at your PC monitor."

Some of the recent work by Mr. McCann:

Chaka Khan

Steve Winwood

Tony Bennett

Charlie Daniels Band

And many others which you can find in his website here: http://www.dwightmccan​n.com/

Please post your questions and Mr. McCann will gladly answer them.

Dwight, great photos!!

OK, I'm new so I haven't seen any of those photo's before. The first question that comes to mind is:

How do you handle white balance? What do you meter on since the stage light usually consists of so many light sources and different colors.

Also if you please, what lens, what shutterspeed and what ISO settings to you find that you use mostly in these events?

(ok maybe too many questions and not too "professional")

CyberPet, there's no such thing as too many questions (I have a three year old daughter!) and any question worth asking is worth asking twice (or more.)

White balance is a darn good question! I shoot Live Performance almost exclusively in indoor venues with stage lights. In one venue, the Maverick Saloon(s) the lighting is very incandescent even though they have a few cans with gels. I use my incadescent setting when shooting there when I remember! You can see those images on my website in the Maverick Saloon Project, http://www.dwightmccan​n.com/MaverickSaloonPr​oject.html ... you can also see how my images have matured in the couple of years that I have been shooting there. The other venue where I shoot is the Chumash Casino Resort and when I shoot there I usually just use Auto White Balance. They have $750K (yes, $750,000) worth of lighting including "daylight" spotlights ... couldn't do anything about the light there if I tried!

Let me go on to say that among my "friends" I get ongoing complaints that the performers "look orange" at the Maverick and no amount of explaining that it is beyond my control satisfies them! OTOH, the folks who have been there or who really love these artists seem to love that look ... I'm with the second group.

There is so much color variation that I don't think there's much to be done "in camera" with white balance in these situations. I would have much different opinions of shooting in 'open shade' or overcast outdoors.

BUT, I DO shift the color balance a little to improve skin tones when I can see a slight to moderate color cast on a white object that is part of the main subject. My "dirty little secret" is that I still use PhotoImpact 10 [I have all the PS CS software and have read books and books about CS, but until I run into things I can't do in this under $100 program I will continue to use it.] PI has a 'Colorcast' tool that use a dropper and a color gradient, so you don't have to make things white ... you can just sorta' shift the white balance a bit. Very nice.

Please remember, any question worth asking is worth asking twice ... if I didn't answer your question, try again! I will put more answers in separate replies.

CyberPet asked about metering. I spot meter on faces when I can, although this has turned out to be a bit problematical with my 1D Mark II. With my Fuji S2, it works pretty well, but the Canon spots are smaller and skin is "too bright" causing underexposure. This is a hard lesson to learn because the images in the LCD on the camera tend to show up brighter. I have learned and am relearning 'the hard way' to use the histogram! About every dozen images or so I review AND CHECK THE HISTOGRAM. Depending on the histogram, I adjust the compensation either way up to about 1-1/3 (that's 4/3's) stops. I strongly suggest bracketing. And I also think bracketing is a good idea. But if it's a new or tough venue, then try bracketing. Which leads me off to another point: SHOOT UNTIL YOU HAVE NO MORE STORAGE! I keep forgetting this and pay the price every time. You can't get too many images. I can't tell you how many times I've thought I had the perfect image in the can (well, on the CF card) and it turned out not to be quite as good as I thought when I saw it on the computer monitor and how many times that happened when I had just kept shooting anyway and then found the truly perfect image way down near the bottom of the thumbnails. BRACKET! SHOOT UNTIL FULL!

OK, I know that's a lot of images! I am now shooting with a 4 GB card and I admit that going through 1000 images takes a long time. If you wanna' be the best it's gonna' take a long time! I'm sure I will dwell on this at some later point, but I spend five to ten times more time and effort post processing than I do shooting. Get over it if you want to be the best.

I know I have the bad habit of going off on tangents. I'm not going to change. I also frequently answer the question that I think should have been asked rather than the one asked. Feel free to drag me back to the actual question. And, any question worth asking is worth asking twice.

Cyber, my equipment is listed in my Gear List with a link in my signature. I use EVERYTHING! But my favorite is to get in the front row with a big lens and get a pot full of head shots. With the 1D Mark II I set it on 3 fps and then with my 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM (currently busted from an apparent drop, sigh) or my 300mm f2.8 L IS USM I figure who I want to shoot next, get the focus (I use autofocus ... be sure to get the latest firmware since they make autofocus improvements with it) and sit with the half-depressed button to keep the IS running and wait for some light ... then I shoot maybe 15 frames as the light changes.

Now, this gets back to a previous question that you asked, about metering. The biggest problem with Live Performace shooting is that the darn performers want to perform ... they just won't hold still ... most of the time ... so when I shoot 3 fps for 15 frames, I am hoping that somewhere in that 3-5 seconds or more they will have accidentally been still and I will get a sharp image. SHOOT UNTIL YOU ARE FULL ... don't save that memory for a rainy day!

Oh, yes, well, back to the question. I try to get full stage shots with my 24-70mm and sometimes even put on the 16-35mm to shoot the stage from the side with the first few rows of audience showing. Try stuff! Experiment. Develop a style!!!

How about auto-bracketing?
Do you ever do this?
Takes up more room on the card but could get you THE shot.

Didn't I mention bracketing? Oh, yes, I see I did. But that was only exposure bracketing. And with that you may have two choices: aperature bracketing or shutterspeed bracketing, eh? Of course, on my 1D Mark II there is also white balance bracketing! Yes, BRACKET! Use a monopod or tripod! Hehehe ... there is so much more to do than you will ever have time for ... just keep experimenting until you find what fits you.

BTW, I just posted Tower of Power at https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=81785

Dwight, I can't tell you how pleased I am with your answers. So indepth and clear. I'm very grateful that you took the time to answer my questions!

Do you have a "minimum" shutter speed, where you know that with several frames, you'll get at least one good? I asume you do have to push the ISO pretty much too. Do you use any noise reduction in post processing?

Cyber, on minimum shutter speed there is a rule of thumb: 1/focal length in mm. That is, with a 50mm lens you should not handhold at slower than 1/50th (or 1/60th) sec. With a 300mm, no slower than 1/300th sec. That is a really gross rule and is often used to forgive oneself for not using a tripod or monopod, etc. Of couse, with IS, it is not such a problem.

But in Live Performance shooting the biggest problem is the movement of the performers ... much worse than camera movement for me. However, it is sometimes surprising to see the blur when shooting 1/250th and the sharpness when shooting 1/20th ... go figure! I like a minimum of about 1/30th but I have some good images at 1/10th.

Something I didn't say in this thread was my process, so I'll run over over it in abbreviated mode: when I start, I almost always use Program Mode and ISO 1600. I shoot a few bursts of a couple of different things and review ... CHECK THE HISTOGRAM! ... then I may set the ISO down to 1250 (I don't know about the other bodies, but the 1D Mark II has a zillion ISO settings) to try to reduce noise. Then I shoot another few bursts and review ... CHECK THE HISTOGRAM (I should cut that so I can keep pasting it in!) ... then if I am comfortable, I will switch to Aperature Priority and start working with wide open, usually f2.8 ... sometimes this reveals that the camera was selecting a smaller f-stop and I could have been shooting faster. Anyway, I don't do this so much for the DOF but because the lenses usually shoot crisper/sharper nearer f8/f11 and the lighting and separation of the performers in my venues doesn't require using a shallow DOF to make them stand out. If the light is really bright (I can't figure out how this changes from show to show in the same venue) then I will edge down to ISO 800 (the slowest ISO I use in Live Performance) and work with the aperature.

I should note here that I attend to the exposure on the faces. Sometimes, when far away with lots of blackness in the frame, the exposure will want to be way too bright for the face of the performer. That is when I use the -1-1/3 compensation to darken it down. Review the images ... you know about the histogram, right? ... and this is another place where bracketing in 2/3 stops is very useful.

Here's another dirty little secret of mine: I don't shoot these types of events using RAW. I rarely use RAW. I shoot way too many images and spend way too much time on culling and other post processing. I frequently have 300-600 images to deal with (and a day job) and I shoot one to three events a week ... I need to spend time with my family and get exercise ... so while I truly believe that RAW is optimal, I don't do it.

Ask me again if I didn't cover what you actually asked ... I realize I went off on a tangent.

I'm happy with your reply. You did answer exactly the follow-up questions I might have had! Thank you!!

If you look at any of my images and want to know any detail question about particular ones or particular venues or questions about how that opportunity came about or what my plans are or anything else, please ask. About the only thing I won't share publicly is what I am paid ... not because it is so secret but because people have a lot of energy on that and it should be in its own controlled environment. I will share that I have a day job ... I have been a computer programmer at the University of California at Santa Barbara for about 30 years and that pays the mortgage ... and my wife, the educated one in the house, has a good job, too. I do not do this because I need the money. Oh, and I still have my first digital camera, a CoolPix 950! And I still use it from time to time.

I just added some Tom Jones images in the Urban forum, https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=81809

Edit: I have now given the CoolPix 950 to my son.

Wow, so you're the other person who uses PhotoImpact? And doesn't shoot RAW.

Your shots are great, and the Q&A was very interesting. Thanks!

Thanks for all the pics and the great answers! It's great that you left the EXIF information embedded in the jpgs so we can see what settings you used with each image.

Do you ever use more than one camera? Or do you just change lenses when you need to? Also do you ever use a monopod, or are IS lenses enough?

Great Job Dwight and very informative. It is great to see another photgrapher with as much passion about concert photgraphy as myself. It is an exciting subject, with a vast array lighting composition. I know its no easy task of capturing a very crisp image without tons of light or a flash, but you do a superb job at it.

Your openess and insight is what helps make POTN a great place.

If you ever have a really bug event andneed a second photgrapher, I am on the next plane there.

Lazy ... Yes, PhotoImpact 10, BUT I have PS CS and have read four or five huge books and am just waiting for some project that will require me to use PS and I'll convert. But everything I read about or hear about in PS turns out to be easier in PI, sigh. Please feel free to ask about balcony shooting.

Tim, I have to leave the EXIF in or I won't have a clue what I did! As of today I only use one camera body at an event. Tomorrow I should receive my "backup" 20D body and expect to use it so that I don't have to do quite so much lens swapping. I shoot mostly with my 70-200mm f2.8 (now in the shop, sigh) and some with 24-70mm f2.8 and once in a while with 16-35mm f2.8. And now with the 300mm f2.8 I shoot some handheld and some from a tripod at the back of the room, sometimes with a 1.4 or 2.0 TC. I try very hard to find new and different techniques, perspectives, angles, etc. at every shoot while repeating the things that work well, too. I am putting every penny from my business back into equipment (I have a day job to pay the mortgage) and have a 1Ds in my two year plan. That plan also includes a top end tripod [Gitzo G-1548GT Studex MK2; Gitzo Leveling Base G1321; and a Wimberly Head] and a 500mm or 600mm (or both) that I will setup in the back of the Samala Room as I have found that I get some good shots from back there but my current pan/tilt tripod and shorter lenses are not optimal. However, when I am up near the stage I don't use a tripod or monopod, although I keep threatening to try it ... I have both.

Eric, the pay wouldn't cover the airfare ... but I'd love to have you come out! You could stay with us. BottomBracket is thinking of coming out, too! Lordy, what a group, eh?

Tomorrow night is Lyle Lovett ... sure hope that 100-400mm I ordered arrives on time!