If you can't afford the "Work" photo book, maybe this will do

The Denver Post has twenty-five of the photos.

As a former rock concert photographer, I fear that they only showcase Dave Bergman's lack of skill with indoor lighting and depth of field: He's much better with natural light and outdoor shooting (see photos #21, #22 and this). And why does he turn all his black and white pics into brown and white ones -- does he think coloring them adds to their value?

Photos 1, 4, 12 and 16 should be in color, #6 could be much more effective cropped and in black and white or a monotone. I'm glad Bergman decided that #15 shouldn't be in color, but he should have used a blue rather than brown monotone to exploit the moonlight effect. Nor does Bergman do the most basic retouching -- #7 should have the mic stand removed or cropped out, and the fan in #8 has a hand growing out of her head (fixed here).

Photo #17 is as close as I can come to having a favorite; the rest are just ordinary one-dimensional glorified snapshots.

P.S. Bon Jovi.com is inviting fans to send in pics of themselves reading their copy of Work (http://twitter.com/#bonjoviwork).

Not bad at all...


Photo: Dave Bergman
Photo Styling: Rocknation

Aloha !

Although I agree that David Bergman rarely ever shoots a quality image others from the front row can't (milomom of this board proved she could and would often come up with better shots), I disagree with most of your comments in regards to a change in color or tone, or your suggestions to do some Photoshopping. The mike stand has a purpose, etc.

Yours is actually pretty bad. It looks like a scan from a second rate magazine. It's way too dark, and the upper tier is completely lost in your version. As are the fireworks

The pictures are done in brown/white because it gives them a little bit more depth than your average black and white picture. Sepia gives a photo the same touch as a black and white photograph, but the slight addition of color gives them a bit more emotion. Sepia can also bring back details in a picture that are otherwise lost if the photo is either in color or just in black or white.

These are all things any real photographer knows though. It's basic knowledge.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Having all the knowledge in the world doesn't help if you don't know when and how to utilize it. His imagination is too limited, that's all. By the way, that IS a second-rate monotone scan, and as real photographers know, if the upper tier and fireworks were brighter, the photo would look flatter.

................

Now THIS is what I'm talking about! Look, Ma -- no fog banks!

Aloha !

What you just said doesn't make any sense in relation to what I said about your photoshopped picture.

Your photoshopped picture is exactly that; flat. Not even Jon's arms give more depth to it because they're completely white and Jon's just as black as the rest of the crowd is. Your contrast is too high and your brightness is too low.

But I wasn't talking about David Bergman went I mentioned the common knowledge among photographers thing. It does seem to be a new thing for you however, while you claim to be former rock photographer. Bit strange, that.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I think David Bergman is a pretty good photographer. The guy knows how to use his equipment and take a picture. Occasionally you'll see something truly unique or a pretty good story. For instance, #8 isn't anything special at first view, and then you see it. The crazy lady trying her damnedest to cop a feel. I mean she is really to touch his ass... from a photojournalism standpoint, it's perfect. It isn't something I'd enlarge, frame, and hang, but it does exactly what it is suppose to do. #7 is a beautiful shot. I just wish he had stuck around a little longer to get something interesting... like #17.

The type of black and white (with a touch of sepia) conversion featured in this article are pretty perfect, IMO. I've seen some of his work where he gets a little carried away with the browns, but these for most part look pretty good.

i also enjoy most of the pics, i am not an expert of course but i like them.
i also believe having a guy like bergman with them helps them enrich their archive. maybe another documentary, backstage footage etc, i quite liked wwwb doc, it had its flows but i really liked it

I freely admit that photo was a total fluke