@davidbergman

Sports Illustrated recently sent me to cover the first professional basketball game to be played outdoors. The WNBA’s New York Liberty scheduled a game against the Indiana Fever at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the home of tennis’ U.S. Open.

I knew the picture I wanted to make and went to the stadium the day before so I could scout locations.

During the second quarter — as the sun was setting over the Manhattan skyline in the distance — I made the photo.

After the game, they had a performance by Menudo. Yes, Menudo! They were one of the original boy bands and brought us the singer we would come to know as Ricky Martin.

Every girl under the age of 16 stayed around and screamed as loud as they could for this new crop of Latin heartthrobs.

A few months ago, I was in Toronto working for Avril Lavigne. Coincidentally, my friends at Wind-Up Records were shooting a TV show in Toronto with some of their bands on the day before my shoot.

I was asked to document the live performances, but I brought my lights with me and took the opportunity to do some portraits as well.

First I worked with country artist Eric Durrance. We had dinner the night before and he’s the real deal. Down to earth guy with a big heart and that country twang.

For the shoot, I worked in a big room behind the old church where they were shooting the show. Luckily there was a cool door with some character that I thought would play well with Eric’s look.

I also did some tight headshots and the label is using one of them on his upcoming album.

The other band I shot was Thriving Ivory. Man, what a sound. Lead singer Clayton Stroope has one of the most distinctive voices I’ve ever heard. Think Axl Rose meets Robert Plant.

During their live show, the band occasionally throws in a little Led Zeppelin and Clayton’s high register perfectly matches Plant’s near the end of “Stairway to Heaven.”

Thriving Ivory’s musical style is “piano rock” and their epic sound has been compared to U2 and Coldplay. You can listen to the single “Angels on the Moon” on their website and buy the album on itunes.

I wound up doing a few quick portraits with the guys in that room behind the church. They’re now using this photo in some promos (vote for them on VH1), on their Facebook and MySpace pages, etc.

Because that shoot went so well, Wind-Up recently sent me to San Francisco and Las Vegas with the band to shoot more photos. I’ll put some of those up after they pick their favorites.

I sure am glad I brought my lights with me on that Toronto trip!

This weekend I got to photograph the Billy Joel concert at Shea Stadium.

Besides shooting the show, highlights for me included seeing the back of Christie Brinkley‘s head and talking to a chef from the Food Network whose name I didn’t know.

I later found out it was Guy Fieri. I had no idea how popular those cooking shows are. He couldn’t go three feet without someone wanting to talk to him.

The first pop group to play a concert at a U.S. sports stadium was the Beatles at Shea in 1965. There have only been a handful of concerts in the stadium since then, but the list includes Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Not bad.

They’re tearing down the stadium at the end of the baseball season so this was billed as the “Last Play at Shea.” A documentary film should be in theaters by the end of 2009. Maybe they’ll feature Guy Fieri.

Last week I drove out to New Jersey to do a portrait of Staind.

The band is on tour with 3 Doors Down and I actually got lost getting to the venue. I arrived there much later than I wanted and knew I wouldn’t have too much time with the guys.

I did the obvious photo first in front of Aaron Lewis‘s tour bus. I like the reflection of the trees in the windows.

They thought I was nuts, but then I asked them to crouch down near the bus’ tire so I could photograph them in the hubcap. If you look closely, you can see me behind the camera in the middle.

Driving time: 4 hours.
Shoot time: 10 minutes.
Sneaking myself into a photo with a band that’s sold 15 million albums? Priceless…

I recently shot portraits of Matt Rubano, the bass player from Taking Back Sunday.

I met him at his apartment in New York City and he couldn’t have been more accommodating. When you’re in a band that has headlined arena tours around the world, I suppose you’re used to having your picture taken.

After doing a few photos indoors, we went to the roof of his building which has an odd patch of grass on it. I assumed it was for dogs to do their business but Matt said that management was very strict about not allowing animals on the grass.

I though it would be fun to have an “American Gothic” type pose with his upright bass.

We shot up there for a while and didn’t have any trouble. As long as we refrained from going to the bathroom on the grass.