single photos Maynard Ferguson

Here is something different for me... I am a BIG fan of Maynard so I went to a concert and

played. I've never before tried to photograph at a concert... Does this have any merit at all?

I'm clueless about this type of photography...

I saw him in Washington DC in 1996, and then he still had the incredibly high notes. It looks like he still has got them 10 years after. I like the way he comes from the dark and how his trumpet shines.

John,

 

it's unseemly to fish for compliments: you MUST know what a knockout shot this is.

 

This might be the best "on stage" shot I'ver ever seen, can't say enough good about it

I agree with Jack!! :-)

must say something about my state of mind, from the thumbnail view I thought it was a shotgun

 

more to the point,,,, a great photo, such shots are terribly difficult to do well.

I really like that one... I just started to think how could it look in b&w... It would be good too.

Excellent image.

Very good exposure,light and composition,John.

Amazing shot... I love the way he comes out of the dark, nice posture, nice light... simply perfect

I prefer the coloured version, most, becouse of the golden light reflexion on his face.

Fine composed, Great Image, Maynard!

 

I remember Maynard Ferguson from when I played trumpet in High School. He was/is? the BEST stratosheric jazz trumpeter. Glad to see he's still around.

 

BTW, the picture is perfect and your gallery is fantastic!

 

You should send this photo to Maynard and/or his fan club. It should be on his next cd cover!

My goodness I really did not expect to get this much feed back... and to the poster who chastised me for trolling for compliments... HONEST I'm not.. if you look at the rest of my portfolio you will see I'm a nature guy! This is very new to me... and yes HARD to do.

I thought what an excellent studio shot, with a single light positioned just properly to lit sharply just what needs to and his face by scattered light. Then I read your description. The stage lighting guy must be doing something right. This image can be used for artist's publicity right away, especially if he doesn't have many good images of himself playing. Send it to him, you might get a request for licensing (or a request for permission to use for free, which would be up to you to allow or deny :). Double acknowledgements to you if you have got it in a good resolution (no blur on a larger image), but it is usable as it is already.

It is a very good shot.

But he has changed just a 'bit' from when I saw him in person in the early 60's (may date me a bit...). A goal for all of us that played trumpet in school. Good composition and lighting ... :-)

Cool shot of The Boss. I am surprised that so many photographers here know about MF.

Yup, I saw him in the early 70's in High School and he was then... he like I have put on a few pounds since then... He does not play nearly as much but when he does it is still just as exciting. He plays a ton of dates and still does a bunch of High School gigs. I have always admired his willingness to work with the High School players. Way back in the day I could play along with MacArthur Park note for note and drove my parents crazy.... :) Now I'd be lucky to hit C never mind a high C... :(

 

Thanks again for all of the kind feedback... I knew I liked the image and felt it was okay but I honestly did not know how to judge it compared to people who do concert stuff for a living. I know I suck at wedding photography and most other people realated stuff.. Guess I got lucky on this one!

 

A lot of his old records have been remastered and re-released... Amazon has most of them, well worth checking out!

 

Oh and Vadim I have it in a RAW file from a Canon 1D Mark II.. it was shot at 800 ISO. I just recently found out that my cousin after 30 years went to visit an old high school friend in CA... then she says "her father for all of you Jazz enthusiasts is Maynard Ferguson..." So I guess I'll be using that connection to send a .jpeg for him to see...

Maynard would love this!

I am a huge Maynard Ferguson fan. This is one of the best pics of him I have ever seen. It is certainly the best recent pic I have seen.

 

Congratulations.

Maynard WOULD love this! I've seen him in concert several times ... twice at "Blues Alley" in Georgetown where we always sat at the front table (it's a small jazz bar) and he would always talk to us. What a great showman he is!! MF!! This is a wonderful photo ... profiling him against the black background. Great job with the lighting. I can almost hear it ... Gonna Fly Now!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all to those who don't know my Dad, fishing for compliments is not his style.

 

At all. :)

 

Now that that's out of the way...this picture is SUPERB! The glow of the trumpet, as well as the way he pops out of the shadow's is absolutely stellar. The contrast is brilliant. It's a very well done shot.

 

My Dad = Greatest Photographer Ever.

 

C'MON ARGUE WITH ME, I DARE YOU!!

 

:)

Seems I touched a nerve, was only joshing when I accused you of "fishing for compliments"

 

Point was, is, this is such a magnificent shot that only the man who took it could question it's merits, we being our own worst critics.

 

If you'd said it took hours in a studio to get this, I would have said, sure I understand, something this fine must be the work of a painstaking portraitist

 

Really like your whole portfolio

It's a fine image. I think it works well in color, though a B&W version is also attractive. The glow on his face, horn, and shoulders is lovely, as are the streaks of light running down the front and sleeves of his coat. His hair is overexposed -- almost inevitable using a dslr in this very difficult lighting. I wonder if you might be able to pull it down a bit in raw conversion, or perhaps do a double conversion, one for highlights and one for shadows, and then merge them. Agree that this would work as a publicity photo for Maynard.

 

Not a criticism of this picture, but it'd be interesting to see another from a lower angle, a bit to the front of him. Might have more energy. Here he looks a bit more like a classical player than a jazzman.

 

Usually in a concert photo -- rock or jazz -- we'd be looking for more energy or emotion than we see in this one, and perhaps some interaction between the performer and bandmates or audience. Maynard is now a very bulky, very old gentleman, so that sort of shot might be hard to come by.

 

I met him briefly in the 70s after a concert. He was tipsy and funny and had a discolored notch in his lip from pressing his horn there. Never did figure out how he gets all that sound from a mouthpiece that my music teacher called "a quarter with a dent in it."

First, please forgive my exciteable son... whom I love dearly... He is just being silly and loves his dad...

 

Next, Chris.. an excellent critique.. thank you for such kind feedback. I believe the hair is blown out.. I'll go back and look again but I'm almost sure there are not pixels there... A good suggestion none the less.

 

Jack, no nerves touched see comment about the son above... :) I am truly honored at all the kind feedback and while I liked the shot honestly did not know it might be this well received. In the past I've been guilty of liking a shot and then realized I had an emotional connection to it and others thought it was so so... Thanks again for your time and willingness to comment!

Ha. I apologize if my comment came across wrong. Sometimes my sarcasm can be a bit...overbearing??

 

No offense meant at all. :) I'm just here to support my dad, and check out some photo's. Heck, I don't even take pictures myself other than with a digital camera.

 

We're all friends here. Really.

It's so appropriate that you posted this image when you did. Maynard Ferguson passed away yesterday evening. Here is the link to his website.