@davidbergman

Wednesday was a really cool day. In the morning, I was the featured speaker at the “Apple Campus Lecture Series Photography Tour” in Philadelphia. I spoke for about an hour and a half – plenty of time to show some of my images and go through my Aperture workflow.

After the talk, I met innerpartysystem manager Stephen Penta for a two and a half hour drive to the band’s house in Mohnton, PA. Their music is hard to describe – sort of electronica with rock and metal influences. Depeche Mode meets Nine Inch Nails.

Mohnton is in the middle of nowhere. The four guys live together in this house and are pretty much surrounded by computers and keyboards all the time. It reminds me of my time as a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

In addition to managing the band, Stephen is also a video director so we spent the entire week before the shoot coming up with funky photo ideas. The guys didn’t want to do any traditional band photos, so we decided to play around with some old TVs and video cameras.

In one of my emails with Stephen, I mentioned that it might be cool if we had a smoke machine but I wasn’t sure where I’d get one out there. He responded with, “Of course we have a smoke machine!”

We put the guys in the house and I set up the TVs and my lighting in the backyard. I shot a few different arrangements, but this is my favorite image.

Last week, I photographed Ministry in concert during the band’s farewell tour.

I knew it was going to be an interesting night when I walked in and saw them erecting a 10-foot high chain link fence in front of the stage.

The show wasn’t easy to photograph because I had to shoot through the fence most of the time. Also, this band must be allergic to light because they didn’t have any.

Luckily, Al Jourgensen would poke his head out over the top of the low fence section every once in a while.

What’s with the “no flash” rule at a show like this? The default rule for concert photography is “three songs, no flash.” Since I was on assignment for Kerrang Magazine, I was able to shoot the whole show, but why no flash? During the set, the band had a lot of strobe lights. I can’t imagine that they would even notice a photographer’s flash going off.

I’ve asked performers about it and they never have a problem with flash. Maybe it wouldn’t be appropriate at a quiet James Taylor show, but no one cares at a heavy metal gig.

So I kept the strobe on my camera “just in case.” Of course, as soon as Al popped his head out from behind that fence, the flash somehow accidentally went off. Oops. Not sure how that happened.

Earlier this month I shot a handful of concerts for Avril Lavigne. She’s currently on tour to support her album, “The Best Damn Thing” and is putting out a live DVD from the Toronto show.

I’ve worked with Avril before but had not seen this tour. She really knows how to work an audience and her fans love it. The last time I photographed her she was just a kid, but now at the ripe old age of 23 she really seems to be having fun on stage.

 
 

On Sunday I flew to Grand Rapids, MI for the afternoon to photograph Mayday Parade.

The band picked me up at the airport in their rental RV. It’s a major step up from the beat up van that most bands travel in when they’re on tour.

I immediately hit it off with Brooks the guitarist because he was reading a book about how to properly play and bet blackjack. I learned the game by playing a video game when I was a kid. I still enjoy playing whenever I find myself in Vegas or Atlantic City. Not big money – just for fun.

Good luck Brooks and let me know how you fare.

I took the guys downtown near the river and we spent a couple of hours shooting. I always like to make people scream for photos and it was easy to get the guys into it. I usually scream first and then they follow along.

I’m surprised that no one called the police as we were right in front of the Gerald Ford Museum.

For the last 4 or 5 years, Sports Illustrated has assigned me to cover the NFL draft. On the days leading up to the event, they take some of the top prospects around New York City and I’m granted exclusive access to ride around town with the guys.

It’s a bit like Groundhog Day considering that they pretty much do the same 6 or 7 events every year — the network morning shows, football drills with local kids, visiting sick children at Mt. Sinai Hospital, etc.

I’ve posted a few images of #1 pick Jake Long:

 

– Having makeup put on with his mother for the Today Show:

– Getting destroyed at Wii boxing by a 10 year old at Mt. Sinai:

– Looking at cheap handbags on the streets on NYC with fellow draftee Chris Long (no relation):

 

It’s pretty funny to see them checking out the wares on the street because Jake signed a deal with the Dolphins for almost $60 million. I’m sure Chris, son of hall of fame player Howie Long, won’t do so badly either since he was the #2 pick on Saturday.

Overall, this group of guys was great to deal with and didn’t seem to mind me being in their face for two straight days. I spent some time chatting with Boston College QB Matt Ryan and was really impressed with him. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders.

He’ll need it because he was the third overall pick and will be taking the reins for the Falcons someday soon. Their last star quarterback (2001 #1 draft pick Michael Vick) didn’t fare too well.

At the draft itself, I put a lot of pressure on myself to make unique photos each year at Radio City Music Hall. This time I set up a couple of remote cameras including one with a fisheye lens behind the stage.

 

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I’ll let you decide.