Eric Hamilton – Celebrity / DJ / Nightlife Photographer

Archive for October, 2008

East Bay Studio is one of the largest photography / video production studios in Utah, but few people in the industry know it exists, so they decided to host a little get-together hoping to put it on the map. The private event featured a fashion show, two live bands, and a lot of local photographers. While most of the other photographers were off shooting in the many locations available at the studio, I decided to concentrate on shooting the bands — because, well. I like music photography… but you already knew that.

For this shoot I used a pair of SB-600′s. One was mounted to a speaker stand using a Superclamp, and the other was mounted on a light stand. Both were mounted with umbrella elbows to aim the flashes. I used the 18-135mm superzoom DX lens, mainly for its versatile zoom range. It’s slow, but when there’s no ambient light to speak of and you’re creating your own light, that doesn’t matter as much.

For the last few shots of the second band I powered up the on-camera flash to fill in some shadows and create a distinctive look I’ve played with on a few other shoots. The style is the bastard love child of the lo-fi on-camera flash style that has been so hot recently, and the off camera strobist style. Using either style in concert photography is kindof rare. Using them both at the same time is… well, let’s just say a lot of other concert photographers think I’m bonkers. I think it creates a really interesting, raw look.

This is the effect:

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I get a lot of questions about which photography gear I personally use or recommend, so I decided to answer the questions once and for all. I put together the main products I like at NikonStrobist.com. Amazon.com handles fulfillment and customer service. It covers just about everything you need to get up and running, including flashes and triggers, light modifiers, stands and clamps, cameras, lenses, software, and even some recommended reading. Enjoy!

Ki Events and Harry O’s teamed up to bring DJ Mag’s #1 DJ to Utah.

The world famous Harry O’s is well known for their Sundance Film Festival celebrations, but it’s a little out of the way for Salt Lake City residents. That didn’t matter Friday night for Armin’s enthusiastic fans. The club was packed!

The show was a resounding success, and Armin played skillfully to the energy of the crowd.

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