Image Focus

I knew straight away that I had this shot. I always get a gut feeling when I have captured a great moment. The shot is of Jevin de Groot, who is one of the two guitarists from the band Temple Fang. I have been following the band as a documentary photographer since they band started, and this was the first time I had been with them over the border from The Netherlands to Germany.

They were playing at the Umsonst & Drinnen Festival in Lohr am Main. It was a great weekend; the stage was huge and there were loads of great bands performing. It was May 2019 and no one had a care in the world or knew what the next year would bring.

Jevin is such an amazing guitar player, he really bends and moves his whole body while he’s playing. I am always afraid to take a look at the back of the camera because everything moves so fast during performances and I don’t want to risk missing another moment of him, or the rest of the band. The image is very special too because of the depth of field. His face is sharp, but the rest of the image is just a bit blurry. It was perfectly timed, combined with a little bit of luck. It’s always very difficult when you’re shooting music as you never know what the light is going to do next – it can change in an instant.

I always set my Sony Alpha 7R III to have the same basic settings, a shutter speed of 1/160th or 1/200th sec and then the aperture is very wide, which is usually f/2.8 or f/3.5 on my Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master lens. That lens is my go-to, as it’s good in every situation, especially when I am shooting concert or documentary photography. Combined with the 42 megapixel sensor of the Sony Alpha 7R III, it gives me a lot of flexibility when shooting and editing.

I take photos based on intuition, I’m always trying to feel the moment rather than be too concerned with where I stand or how the composition looks. Jevin told me that my images are a catalyst for the band – I make the images that reflect the way that they feel about music, it’s a great collaboration. You have the flow of the band and then you have the audience and the energy that they are bringing. I try and capture that energy.

After the show, when I was sitting behind my computer and going through the images my heart started racing. I was so excited that I got this shot. It captured everything. Everything is just perfect.