Art Meripol
Active Member
I thought I'd post another old shoot from my concert days, days when I had hair and could stay up late. This was in December 1984 in Memphis Tennessee on Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band's Born in the USA tour. I was the only accredited photographer there that night. Back in those days, pre digital and iPhones, I almost never saw another photographer. The record company controls were tight.
Most shows I took two FM2 bodies and a wide and a short tele to cover the stage. I was limited to the first three songs which was a standard rule. I never did get an official reason for that but I could assume they either didn't want photos that captured the artists all sweated-out or they just thought if you couldn't get something in the first three songs then you probably didn't belong out there.
Generally the first three thing limited me to shooting rewinding and reloading three to five rolls of Tri-X or occasionally some Ektachrome. This show was so exciting, so vividly visual that I managed to shoot 11 rolls. Bruce on stage was so active that there was never a moment that didn't give me something new.
Staging back then was not like today. These days the staging is spectacular and a big part of the show. back then it was some colored gels and a spotlight for the featured artist. Once you dialed in the exposure for the spotlight it was pretty easy to shoot. With Tri-X that was usually about 250 @ 2.8 at 400 ISO.
Hope you enjoy these.
Most shows I took two FM2 bodies and a wide and a short tele to cover the stage. I was limited to the first three songs which was a standard rule. I never did get an official reason for that but I could assume they either didn't want photos that captured the artists all sweated-out or they just thought if you couldn't get something in the first three songs then you probably didn't belong out there.
Generally the first three thing limited me to shooting rewinding and reloading three to five rolls of Tri-X or occasionally some Ektachrome. This show was so exciting, so vividly visual that I managed to shoot 11 rolls. Bruce on stage was so active that there was never a moment that didn't give me something new.
Staging back then was not like today. These days the staging is spectacular and a big part of the show. back then it was some colored gels and a spotlight for the featured artist. Once you dialed in the exposure for the spotlight it was pretty easy to shoot. With Tri-X that was usually about 250 @ 2.8 at 400 ISO.
Hope you enjoy these.
