The Halcyon Band using Multiple Exposure Photography

A few weeks ago I went along to photograph the wonderful Halcyon Band, they are a rock/pop covers band and primarily play at weddings - their website can be found here. I was really looking forward to shooting their performance, as I had never photographed a band before - and in fact I don’t really take pictures of people. Well, I say that, but I feel I keep saying that so maybe I am adding more and more to the repertoire……Anyway……

I arrived as the band were setting up armed with my Canon R6 mark ii and my 24-70mm f2.8 EF lens (with converter) and my beloved 70-200mm f2.8 RF lens as I wasn’t sure which one I would need. As it happens I would spend the evening swapping between the two due to all of the problems to overcome when photographing a band! As previously mentioned I had never done this before so I shall take you through a couple of the problems I had and how I used multiple exposure, mainly doubles, to create a funky look from their gig. I have another blog on how to use the canon R6 mark ii for Multiple Exposure Photography here.

Problem 1 - There are lights all over the place and they constantly change colour

So after spending the time whilst the band were setting up taking test shots and working out what ISO and shutter speed to use, they started playing and I had added effects of all of the colour. I decided to use this to my advantage and you can see how in a couple of different images I created. As you can see in several of my pictures I decided to use the colour to my advantage and produce some images showcasing the whole rock and roll feel of the evening. The image above is a double in camera image where I focussed firstly on Aimée, the singer, and then changed my angle to include Dan on the guitar and Toby on drums. With the two different areas of the stage it creates a really nice overlay. This one also has a layer of lichen coloured wall over the top added in photoshop to bring out even more of the vibrant colour.

The Halcyon Band using Double Exposure Photography

Problem 2 - The audience get in the way

And when I say got in the way, I mean totally! There were probably a whole 3 bars of intro before the dance floor started filling up and it didn’t stop all evening - so all of my judging what focal length I would need to get dead centre and in the middle of the hall was a colossal waste of time. However, once I had found my niche positions - at either side of the ‘stage’ at the front sitting down on the floor (there was no rise to this stage!) I had to work with the angles that I had been given. I found that looking upwards was quite a good position to be in although there were still some band members that were tricky to get in. For this image I used my in focus - out of focus technique that I use a lot in the natural world. As the band were moving a lot (another problem I will come to later!) this did not work on most occasions so you have to be quick! I think it softens the image and Tom, the singer hitting a high note just adds depth.

Problem 3 - There are mike stands, leads, speakers, lights all over the stage

I got around this in various ways from the angle I was using to some post production trickery in Lightroom but I thought that this method made a really effective distraction. I did one sharp shot, followed by one ICM movement layer across the lights. This did leave me with some areas of brightness due to the wider aperture, however I think it looks rather funky! This was the only shot that I took in this way and I think I would definitely use this method again.

Problem 4 - The band members move - and not always to places you want them to

Well I didn’t exactly expect them to pose for the camera - they were performing after all and really into what they were doing but with mu multiple exposure head on it was hard to get the images lined up. With single shots you can fire off a whole load at a time, I could have used these in post processing and aligned them there but to get what I was visualising in my head I think it was easier to do this in camera, then and there. The below image of Aimée was a killer on my arms as I had to wait ages from the first exposure for her to be in the right position for me to have the composition that I wanted. I am really pleased with this one though so it was worth the wait! By the way all the time I spent getting my ISO right was also a waste of time as I put all the grain back in through Lightroom adjustments afterwards - I’ll remember this next time……..

Aimée, from The Halcyon Band in a Double Exposure Photography Image

Patrick, from the Halcyon Band using Multiple Exposure Photography

Problem 5 - Getting consistency in portrait images for the band

I really wanted to do an image of each band member separately, but to have them so they worked as a set. I used the 70-200mm and took a lot of single shots but with all of the lights it was not possible to get a coherent feel for these images on their own. I decided that the way to get the feel I wanted was to use out of camera multiple exposure in Photoshop. Each of the portraits that I liked was first converted into monochrome and then the same extra exposure was used for all - Christmas lights from Tottenham Court Road from last year’s Christmas walk! Interestingly I didn’t use the same blend mode every single time, but still managed to get the consistency I was going for.

It’s safe to say that I had a fantastic time doing this and that I will be back for more next year with a different camera and lenses - who knows what I will come up with then!!

If you have been inspired or have thoughts on this article do drop me a comment below or at janina@janinawilde.com

If you are interested in learning more about in camera multiple exposure then do join me on one of my workshops in Birmingham or London. There won’t be a band but plenty of buildings to practise on - they don’t move around so much!

How to: Use Double Exposure Photography in Gig Images

Inspirations: How I created my Multiple Exposure Autumn Orange series…..