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Earlier this month I had the opportunity to photograph one of the world's best heavy metal bands - Dream Theater. They are three quarters the way through their latest world tour and around forty of my photos appear in their current 2009/10 tour program. Thanks to their fan club in London I was able to pull off a real coup for anyone shooting concert photos. Their drummer, Mike Portnoy has one of the biggest drum kits in the world of rock music and I wanted to try and photograph this to give their fans something that they would not normally see.

I attended three of their shows and at the second one of those I was able to set up a remote controlled Canon 40D with 10-22mm EF-S f3.5-4.5 USM lens over his left shoulder. After checking out angles and exposures during the sound check I set the ISO at 800 and put the camera in aperture priority mode set on f4. Therefore depending on the amount of light hopefully I could obtain a shutter speed quick enough to avoid blur. Well I shot around 300 pics with some 50 keepers. Usable shutter speeds went from 1/15th to 1/320th depending on the light level. I have a number of L series lenses but anyone who has this particular lens at their disposal will tell you it is an exceptional lens for the money and as you can see here - the results are more than acceptable.

Once Mr Portnoy saw the results he thought that one of his endorsement companies could use such a photo as this angle is rarely seen in rock photography. As such a rather larger poster version of one of these shots will be going up on a stand at the annual NAMM Music Show in Los Angeles in a few weeks - a successful shoot. Here are some of the details:

1) This was recorded at 1/40th of a second with just enough movement in the stick for something interesting.

2) Here is a shot with much more light but still only at a 1/30th. I am at far right of frame with the RC unit

[3) A wide shot of the band from the front with camera at right of drum kit

Congratulations on what appears to have been a very successful shoot. While I've never attended, I am quite familiar with NAMM, and to get your image displayed there as a part of a product endorsement is quite an achievement. Congratulations, and well done.

The first two of these images are very bloody good. When shooting drummers, I try to get some stick movement in in order to try to capture a sense of movement, and you have done well here. Your angle of view is great, and as you say, this is an angle that is rarely seen.

The chimes: where they used by the keyboard player, or by the drummer? Regardless, I find that, for a heavy metal band to be using these sorts of percussion items is quite impressive. The musician within me doesn't see enough use made of true percussionists and it's not something that we would normally associate with this style of music.

And I am intrigued by the rear view mirror in the tl of these images, attached to the mike stand. Is that to keep an eye out for slow moving bassists?

The third image ... was that shot on a different evening from the other two?

These are great captures. I love the first two, especially the first. You've done really well and the colours are fantastic considering the stage lighting.

Alex

Thanks guys for the feedback. Gary - the chimes are indeed part of drummer, Mike Portnoy’s arsenal of percussion instruments. I used the term “heavy metal” as a general term but the exact type of music is called “progressive metal”. It originated in the late 60’s as progressive rock – think the likes of Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Electric Light Orchestra et al. This is a combination heavy metal and lighter orchestral music played in complex odd time signatures.
Dream Theater is considered to be at the very top of their field and a large portion of their fans are musicians themselves as each of the four players are considered maestros for their respective instrument. Portnoy was just voted fifth in the top fifty drummers of all time while keyboardist, Jordan Rudess was the youngest ever pianist to enter the Julliard School of Music in New York at the age of nine. Therefore trying to illustrate their incredible skill was paramount to pulling this off.
The photo from the front was taken on the same night with the tripod mounted camera on the right side of the drum kit. NAMM is the Photokina of the music industry and players such as those of Dream Theater demonstrate their skills on new instruments that their endorsee companies launch, many with their input. The rear view mirror is a bit of a mystery but I think it might be for cues coming from images dislayed on the huge screen behind him. I have some more images here.
Here is another image where Portnoy is spinning his drumstick between drum strokes taken at 1/50th of a second. To the left vocalist James LaBrie is heading back stage while Rudess is on the right watching the drummer’s deft display of juggle drumming.

This is another shot from the front with the two guitarists out front of Portnoy’s kit with camera on the right.

Virtuoso keyboard player, Jordan Rudess is seen here sharing time between his two banks of keyboards.

Guitarist, John Petrucci is considered to be in the top three of the world’s metal guitarists and here he is giving thanks to a very appreciative crowd. It is not often that a photographer is given such free reign of the sacred stage and to take photos from the other side was very special indeed.

At the second concert I was the only photographer given access to the photo pit and by setting myself up in the centre of the stage I was able to get some amazing shots like this one of vocalist, James LaBrie.

Thanks for the feedback.

Dipstix Pix wrote: This is a combination heavy metal and lighter orchestral music played in complex odd time signatures.

Oh, I see. Like, you mean jazz?

Seriously though, thank you for the further information; I appreciate your further input on this.

I'm not familiar with these guys, but to me, if they're good musos, then their skill will shine through regardless of the genre, and that is precisely what you are saying here, and that is good to see and hear.

I love going to gigs where the audience consists of other musos; the atmosphere is a very different one from one where the audience is just a listener fan-base, and I find that the musicianship generally is turned up a notch or two because the guys on stage know that the audience is with them at a very different level of appreciation.

Portnoy was just voted fifth in the top fifty drummers of all time

By other drummers, I presume? I'd be interested to hear who the others were; are you able to provide a link?

The rear view mirror is a bit of a mystery but I think it might be for cues coming from images dislayed on the huge screen behind him.

That makes sense. The organist at the SOH has a similar arrangement so that he can watch the conductor, even though he needs to play several seconds ahead of the orchestra.

while Rudess is on the right watching the drummer’s deft display of juggle drumming.

Actually, he may be getting musical cues from Portnoy. Knowing where the various beats are - knowing where "one" is - is critical to playing in time, and being able to also see when the drummer is beating time - or is about to beat time - can be a vital part of making one's music. While hearing the beat is one thing, anticipation also plays a large part, and the visual cues will be playing a large part in ensuring that they can all work together at exactly the right times.

At the second concert I was the only photographer given access to the photo pit and by setting myself up in the centre of the stage I was able to get some amazing shots like this one of vocalist, James LaBrie.

I particularly like this image as well.

Where was the venue? The Enmore?

Beautiful work with a very tricky subject. You have excelled!

You have demonstrated the benefits of having an intimate knowledge/passion of the subject with the ability to capture it well. Good job.

Thanks for the kudos, especially from a former “outstanding member of the year” – I mainly put it up to show how one can work outside the square when the client (the band) are willing to let you go there. Portnoy was voted number five in the October 2009 issue of British drum magazine - Rhythm but there is an extensive list of his accomplishments on Wikipedia, here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Portnoy
As to the type of music yes jazz/fusion would be included as Rudess plays honky tonk and other forms of music on his keyboards. They craft songs by pulling the best from the likes of Frank Zappa, Muse, Tool, Metallica, Yes and a bunch of others. Portnoy’s personal favourite drummers are the likes of John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Keith Moon (The Who), Neil Peart (Rush) and Ringo Starr – he has put together tribute bands for all of those bands as well as Dream Theater recording icon albums like Pink Floyd’s "Dark Side of the Moon” and Deep Purple’s “Made In Japan” on their own label to name a few.
The venue was St Kilda’s “Palais Theater” – an awesome looking venue when seen from the stage. I’d like to close with a photo I took of Portnoy on his last tour of Australia. As can be seen his drum kit was 50% bigger than the one he had this year. Basically they came to Australia with their “B rig” for a one week tour whereas the previous one had their A rig – awesome isn’t it. Thanks once again for the interest.

Dipstix Pix wrote: Basically they came to Australia with their “B rig” for a one week tour whereas the previous one had their A rig – awesome isn’t it.

Puts Nick Mason's rig during the Delicate Sound of Thunder tour of 1987(?) to shame.

I wonder where John Bonham would have rated in the drummer of all time list? His stick-less solo (forget which song it was) was amazing.

Here is the Top 5 with your mate at the top of the list.


1. John Bonham



2. Buddy Rich



3. Keith Moon



4. Neil Peart



5. Mike Portnoy