Sam Beggins

Designer. Photographer. Traveler.

Learning.

Samantha BegginsComment

I recently upgraded to the Canon EOS 70D and I am really excited to learn all that I can do with it. I shoot my first concert with it on July 29th with Matt Nathanson and Gavin DeGraw. In the meanwhile, I have been reading up a lot about the camera and I have came across the function of multiple exposures in camera. I was messing around with it this morning and came up with this.  It wasn't necessarily what I was going for but it's a start. Practice makes perfect, right?

The Coathangers.

Samantha BegginsComment

When I emailed out to see if it would be okay for me to shoot this band when they came through Orlando (at Will's Pub) I was asked to also shoot possible press shots. I was excited because I want to get into this more, but I was also nervous because I had never done a real actual photoshoot before. I said I could do it and was put in contact with the singer so we could meet up when they got to Will's. The girls, there were three of them, were naturals. They made it really easy and there were a couple good locations around the venue, a graffiti wall, a wall with painted runners, a garage with plants and a blank white wall. These photos may never get published for actual press shots but it was cool to do.

During the actual show I was a little discouraged because it was very dark (one of the spotlights overhead was turned off) and I didn't have a good vantage point. There was a main light and it was pink, and it was very pink and gave everything a weird tone so that was an obstacle I had to work with. I kept shooting anyways and tried to make it work as best as I could. The manager, my contact, had told me he was always looking for new, good shots of the band so I wanted to do a good job. When I got back home and loaded the pictures onto my computer and started editing I felt a little better. I was shooting mainly with my kit lens, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 and it worked well, even though some of the pictures are very noisy, again, I did the best with the conditions I was in.

Show @ Backbooth.

Samantha BegginsComment

Last night I shot a show at Backbooth and it was some local bands from Orlando, and one of the bands was from Akron, Ohio and going out on tour. The Vivid, Gillian Carter, CityCop and Henrietta. Going into this I didn't know what to expect from this venue or from these bands, but they were all very talented and I was impressed with their passion for doing what they're doing. They're just a bunch of guys hanging out and playing music. I was worried about the lighting conditions I would be shooting in so I brought my flash and my 18-55mm kit lens, but only used my 50mm because the lighting was pretty good and I was liking what I was getting. In hindsight I could've played around with the flash but I felt like I would've been distracting, but maybe next time I play a smaller show like this I'll mess around with it and see what happens. I was happy with how my pictures came out and I didn't have too much trouble editing them and going through all of them, I'm improving little by little and getting more used to it and getting the hang of it as I go.

The pictures from CityCop are my favorite, I think.

The Vivid

Gillian Carter

CityCop

Henrietta

Parks and pictures.

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My roommate Kelcey had a photoshoot scheduled at a park today, and I joined her because I wanted to see the park (she has been there before and told me how pretty it was) and I wanted to shoot around some because why not? The two parks are separated by a street and are called Langford park and Dickson Azalea park and are located on the outskirts of downtown. It's a really pretty location and a great location for photo shoots. So much greenery and so many trees.

Say Anything. A good night.

Samantha Beggins1 Comment

Tonight's show was a lot of fun. I was shooting with the same people from Cage the Elephant so familiar faces and I was used to the venue so I was comfortable. After the show I went to get pizza with the other photographers and got a chance to talk to them without the loud music overpowering our conversations so that was nice. I was talking to one of the photographers in the beginning about shooting and different stuff along those lines and I brought up Adam Elmakias (music photographer and awesome human being) and she knew who he was, as most people shooting music photography should know who he is, and I just liked being able to talk to other people about stuff that I care about. Side note, Adam Elmakias is the main reason I wanted to get into music photography and he is a huge inspiration to me.

Anyways, on to talking about the show. I did not get confirmation that I was even shooting this show until around 5:30, and doors opened at 6 and I live about 30 minutes away from the venue. I had almost about given up on being able to shoot it but in the end it all worked out and I had plenty of time to get there and get in. I was super excited because I still had the 24-70mm lens in my possession, I have to return it tomorrow, but I was happy to get two shows out of it. And this was my first time shooting a show where people were crowd surfing and falling into the photo pit.

New venue. New bands. New lens.

Samantha Beggins1 Comment

Yesterday I got confirmation that I was able to shoot Cage The Elephant at The Plaza Live in Orlando. I wasn't expecting to hear back from them in all honesty because I emailed them a little while back so I was surprised but I was excited. I decided I wanted to do something different for this show and mix things up instead of sticking to my 50mm set up so I looked up renting lenses and I found a place called the Lens Depot that was 15 minutes away from where I live and I could do in-store pick up in time for the show that night. I decided on the 24-70mm f/2.8 and I couldn't have made a better decision, I loved having more range and it was an overall good lens and relative to the cost of the lens, renting it was a good, more affordable option.

Bear Hands was the opening act and then Cage the Elephant came on, and the show was sold out. I got a big sticker photo pass that I stuck to my shirt and could enter the photo pit with which was a nice decent size considering there were 6 other photographers, which is double the number that I have shot with before. This venue was larger and had an upstairs balcony which I shot from and with the 24-70mm I was able to get some cool shots.  

All in all it was a pretty good night and I'm excited to keep shooting and learning and meeting new people!

Larry and His Flask and Foxy Shazam @ The Social.

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I'm going to start off by saying if you get a chance to see one of these bands play live, go and see them. I have not been to a concert that had such high energy as this one did in a while. Both bands were beyond words and I cannot wait to see the photos I got.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the bands, Larry and His Flask is a punk-bluegrass-rock band with five guys on instruments ranging from banjos to trombones to harmonicas. Jeshua Marshall played the contra bass and was so energetic and wild, he didn't stop jumping around the whole show.

Foxy Shazam is made up of talented guys who know how to put on a good show. Lead singer Eric Nally and back up singer Alex Nauth who also played trumpet, killed the show. About half way through the show the band members left stage to go change (they were wearing Larry and His Flask shirts they made in support of the band who got their band stolen along with some equipment) and while they were gone the crowd was eagerly waiting for more, chanting "Foxy! Foxy!"

There is a first time for everything.

Samantha BegginsComment

Tonight I shot my first concert.
It took a lot of getting used to and getting my settings right when I first started shooting to be comfortable in the photo pit. I am pleased with the photos so far, as I am sitting here going through deleting, editing and sorting.

I got to the venue, checked in, so to say, at will call and then made my way to the front and waited for the opening act, which was a band called Strange Babes. Admittedly, the whole first song I was nervous and because of that it led to me fumbling around with the wrong settings and it took a minute to get them where they needed to be. One big thing was that I had to be okay with the bad pictures and move on to get the next one, not stare at my camera and be bummed about one that the lighting flooded the screen (the lighting moves around and changes so much that I could take the same shot literally less than a second apart and have a totally different shot). To keep moving on and to keep getting usable shots, I would only glance at the image display and make sure it looked decent enough (lighting and composure of the shot) and not worry about much else right then and there. It was fast paced, as I was only allowed to photograph the first three songs. 

I was more ready for the second act, White Sea, as I wasn't nervous about my settings anymore and had more of a grip what was going on. I moved around and got different shots, I got in and I got out. After I was out of the pit I stood off to the side and clicked through my pictures to see how I was doing. Not too bad, but I could do better.

While waiting for The Naked and Famous to come on, the two other photographers that were there for the night came and talked to me and made acquaintance. (I handed out my business card.) Then when The Naked and Famous did come on, I was the most at ease I had been all night comfort wise and was up to the challenge of getting good shots. 

Before the show started I was talking to one of the security guards and asked him about The Social, since I will be shooting there Thursday night. He told me how to get there from where I was and after The Naked and Famous I walked over and looked around. It's a much smaller venue and will be a different kind of shoot. I'm up for the challenge.

Starting Out and Looking Up

Samantha BegginsComment

So since I am starting out in concert photography and am relatively unfamiliar and fresh to this field, I have been searching all over the web for articles and trying to pick up as many tips and ideas as I can. One of my favorite things about the internet is how resourceful it can be when you really need it. I have come across a lot of good information and I have been learning a lot along the way. A large component of my search inquiries was about lenses and what lens was recommended and what settings were recommended to use while shooting since lighting can be tricky. I read in multiple articles that a good lens to use will be one that has a large aperture, which makes sense due to the lighting. A 50mm f/1.8 was one that I saw recurring throughout the articles so I looked up on the Canon website and found that I could get one for a little over $100, which was relatively cheap compared to other lenses. Anyways, I called my mom and as it so happened she had a 50mm lens that she hasn't used in a while, so she shipped it to me and I am going to see how using it goes and I will bring it to the show along with my 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. One thing I'm worried about with using the 50mm is that it's set to one frame and I don't have the capability to zoom in/out so I will be getting a lot of shots within the same frame, but I'm not too worried about it because I will be moving around a lot and so will the band members, and it will be great for the lighting conditions. It will just take some getting used to since I'm accustomed to having the 18-55mm where I can zoom in and out. 

Some of the articles I have found most helpful are:

Concert Photography Tips by Darren Rowse 

Rock Concert Photography- 9 Tips on How to Get The Shot by Nyani Quarmyne 

Anatomy of a Concert Photography Shoot by Matthias Hombauer

And I have liked pretty much all stuff from Ishootshows.com like this article Becoming a Concert Photographer and 5 Essential Concert Photography Tips.

In addition to all that is going on, I just ordered a backpack from b&h photo to store all my gear in (I'll be posting about it when it gets here), because the bag I have now is just a bit too bulky. The backpack has room for 1-2 camera bodies and 5-6 lenses, is waterproof and I will be able to put my laptop into a separate compartment. I have 3 lenses now and only 1 camera body, my Canon rebel t3, so I will have room to grow with this bag. Also, I'm expecting my business cards to get here within the week, super excited!

And on top of the upcoming shows, I have been posting my Facebook page to the UCF pages and have booked two photoshoots so far with people from the area, so I hope to keep doing that as well. My first shoot is coming up on Saturday, which will be the 7th and the next one won't be until early July because of conflicting schedules. Also, I am planning to do a make-up shoot with my roommate Bridget on Sunday the 8th and will get more practice using the 50mm before Tuesday comes around, even though they will be totally different environments.