Sting @ EDP CoolJazz Fest

Musician, singer-songwriter Sting again in Portugal with his Back To Bass tour, this time performing at EDP CoolJazz Festival opening the night at Oeiras stadium. With a simple backup set of musicians, still powerful sound.

For us photographers on this assignment, and as I expected, shooting was only from the soundboard spot and we had to sign a photo-release contract (I will be writing an article in near future about these contracts and how they are killing concert photography).

Back to Sting show, his management let us shoot the first 2 songs, which is pretty nice, considering all the restrictions these kind of artists have. For the shoot itself, I had no problem with the lights on stage, simple but well lit.

Now about the distance you are from the stage, well that´s another story, of course your best bet is to go with a 400mm 2.8 VRII, as we were about 50-60 meters (not sure). But if you dont have almost $10.000 to spend or can´t rent one, you still can do it. But from the soundboard you are always limit in terms of composition.

Last words about using monopods, I myself dont like to use them, cause I want to have both hands free to grab the cameras and change to other lenses quick if needed it. Also monopods make you kind of stuck on the same place. Yes, it helps keep the camera steady and at this distance its crucial, but I trust my hands and I don´t drink coffee…!