She’s With the Band

Photography student Sarah Swartz hones her craft at an outdoor music concert with the versatile Tamron SP 70-300mm VC lens.

Article By Jennifer Gidman

Images by Sarah Swartz

It was a family connection, however, that enabled Swartz to experiment with the Tamron SP 70-300mm VC USD lens over the summer. Her uncle Jerry, a keyboardist for Long Island cover band Like You Mean It, let her know his band would be performing not too far from where Swartz was staying on Fire Island for the season. “Uncle Jerry was playing at a local car show in Massapequa, New York,” she says. “He had mentioned needing some photography done for the event, and my parents and I had never seen him play, so I invited them up so we could all go see him together and I could take some pictures of the concert.”

The 70-300’s versatile zoom range and Vibration Compensation (VC) technology helped Swartz hit all the right notes during the band’s performance of classic rock favorites amid the classic cars. “The 70-300 was phenomenal,” she says. “I was able to step back into the crowd a little bit more than I normally would and use it from a distance. I was also able to get great close-ups: The band was amazing and let me come up on stage, where I not only took pictures of the performers, but also of their instruments and gear. I wanted to get a little bit of everything to tell the story of the day’s events, and this lens helped me do that.”

Swartz quickly realized that she had to continuously change up her perspective to capture the true rock ‘n’ roll feel of the day. “With music and concert photography, it can get kind of stagnant — there’s only so much you can do on a 12x12 stage,” she explains. “But just moving myself around to shoot from different angles helped a lot. You want to find those unusual vantage points and facial expressions that make images like this stand out.”

For example, Swartz suggests, if you’re photographing the lead singer, move away from the center instead of always shooting directly in front of him. “By moving to the side, you can get a portrait of him singing into the microphone, instead of just photographing a guy standing behind a mic,” she says. “That’s something I’ve become more comfortable with as I’ve shot more. When I first started shooting, I was always trying to be inconspicuous so I wouldn’t annoy anyone, but standing in one place isn’t how you’re going to get the best shots.”

Not only do you achieve better images by moving around — it’s also proper concert etiquette if you’re photographing a live performance. “If I have to get in front of someone in the crowd to get a shot, I take the shot and then move back,” Swartz says. “I do my best to think about what I’m going for before I do it: If I know I want a particular shot from stage right, for example, I position myself, get the picture, then get out. I don’t believe in standing in front of someone for the whole concert just because I have a camera.”

The 70-300 excelled in Swartz’s “detail” shots of the musicians’ tools of the trade when she was invited up on stage. “I really love playing with depth-of-field, like in a shot I did of my uncle’s hands on the keyboard,” she says. “Those types of close-ups are often hard to do with a longer lens, but the 70-300 really came through. Part of the reason I wanted to go to school for photography was to learn the technical ins and outs of my camera — not just put it on manual and passively let it do what it’s going to do. With the 70-300, I can selectively focus on one element but still show everything else going on. For instance, when I was photographing the singer, I often still wanted to get the band behind him — the band is about everybody, not just the lead singer.”

All of Swartz’s handheld maneuvering around the concert venue as the sun started to go down required a lens that could handle low-light situations and compensate for camera shake — both hallmarks of the 70-300 lens. Thanks to its Vibration Compensation feature, the 70-300 allows photographers to shoot without a tripod up to four shutter speeds slower than might otherwise be achievable. “The concert was outside, so as the day progressed into evening, the lighting waned,” Swartz says. “There was some stage lighting directly on the performers themselves, but it wasn’t as bright as it had been earlier during the day with the ambient light. The VC capability of the 70-300 really helped as I had to use progressively slower shutter speeds.”

Swartz capped off her evening with some beach photography back on Fire Island, which also showcased the 70-300’s versatility. “I got back from the concert just in time for sunset and the moon coming out,” she says. “It was fun using the 70-300 for these shots, because you can back up and then zoom in to get closer to compose these type of shots in a variety of ways. Plus the VC was essential once again: It was such a beautiful night, and I didn’t have a chance to get my tripod. I had my shutter open for close to a second, and I was leaning up against a lifeguard chair for added stability — typically for a night shot like that you need a tripod. With the VC on, I was able to get some amazing shots.”