Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band


I'm nominating an old image that I took of Dave Matthews Band playing in Melbourne, Australia just to mix things up a bit as portrait/celebrity/concert photography is pretty lacking in WP:FP. This is obviously not a technically and aesthetically perfect image - there is a bit of noise. I have reduced it significantly already - it was shot at ISO1600 - but I think reducing it much more may remove some detail in the process and lets face it, concert photography almost always has grain due to the lighting available. That said, I think it is a pretty good example of its kind. It doesn't come across as a completely static image as it shows Dave Matthews doing a little dance with his guitar, although it is difficult to capture the energy and atmosphere in a single shot. An alternative is showing the entire band, although the composition is a bit messier.


 * Nominate and support. - Diliff  | (Talk)   (Contribs) 12:44, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
 * weak support. I really like the colors and the movement you can see in the image, but the composition is a bit off - I think there's a bit too much space above Matthew's head. Mrmaroon25 13:09, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Fair enough, but the space above is head is to show two other band members. If I cropped to show just Dave Matthews, it would look a bit odd - you'd see only half a torso behind him. Perhaps it would have been ideal if I were a little lower and had one band member on either side of him or something instead. Diliff  | (Talk)   (Contribs) 13:25, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Comment. Pretty decent quality for a concert shot. I'm just wondering about the license, is it ok to take pictures at a concert and post them as free on the web? Aren't those showbiz type of guy usually pretty strict about pictures and the assocoated rights? Anyway, I have no clue, just asking. --Dschwen 22:24, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure about the licencing to be honest. I do know that Dave Matthews Band has been fairly tolerant toward bootlegging audio in the past. I assume photography is also tolerated as plenty of people bring cameras and take snapshots at concerts, although it is possible a line is crossed when the images are of commercial and salable quality. Diliff  | (Talk)   (Contribs) 23:26, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Weak Oppose. The nominated photo is good quality for a concert shot, but leaves out Carter, Leroi and Stefan.  The alternative is more promising, but I'm not sure Butch should be in the photo, since he isn't an "official" band member.  Assuming unofficial band members are included, then Tim and Rawhawn should probably be included too.  In any case I like the alternative better than this one. -- Moondigger 01:20, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, I could only photograph the members that happened to be on stage (and in the frame in this case!). Tim and Rawhawn were not touring in Australia so that was not possible. Besides, the band lineup tends to be a bit fluid so it should not be expected for all the unofficial band members to be on stage at any one time. Really, this is a photo of Dave Matthews himself with some backing members, rather than trying to be a complete band shot, but admittedly it is in the band article, not the article on Dave himself, so your comments are valid. I assume you're a bit of a fan too? Or did you just read the article comprehensively? ;-) Diliff   | (Talk)   (Contribs) 09:14, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
 * No, I'm a fan... and not to get too off-topic, but I prefer the live lineup without Butch for most songs. I think they just sound better without the keys most of the time.  I realize I'm in the minority on that, though. Back on topic, I would probably support the alternative shot you linked to if it were nominated, even though Butch is in it. :) -- Moondigger
 * Support This is a good shot, nice colors well composed. I am going to buck the trend of people not supporting modern portraits. -Ravedave (help name my baby) 18:07, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Support. Yeah, what the heck, composition, colors, notability all FP level. --Dschwen 19:20, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Oppose. The composition of this shot is not feature-worthy in my opinion. Pstuart84 19:55, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Oppose unless the goal is to convey that a DMB concert consists of DM in the spotlight and a bunch of clerical workers in the semi-darkness. ~ trialsanderrors 20:18, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
 * What does that mean? They're obviously musicians in the background and don't look remotely like clerical workers - does the equipment not give it away? ;-) IMHO a featured picture doesn't have to define the subject of the article. An aspect (as long as it is significant) is enough. In any case, the DMB concert I photographed DID consist of this very scene, so I don't your point. Diliff   | (Talk)   (Contribs) 23:24, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Well the keyboarder could quite as well type on a typewriter and the violinist, I guess it was just an unlucky moment that he's waiting for his cue, but nevertheless they're both in the shadows looking like men at work (no pun intended) rather than musicians playing in a band. On the other picture there is actually eye contact, and the band is lit. I've never been to a DMB concert, so I don't really know if the atmosphere is usually one of "Dave and some hired hands" or if they're actually playing as a band. I'm assuming it's the latter, which is why I'd rather go with the other picture. But of course I might be wrong. ~ trialsanderrors 00:32, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
 * [[Image:Symbol oppose vote.svg|15px]] Oppose Good level of noise and decent sharpness for a concert shot, however I don't feel the timing was all that good. The "little dance" Dave Matthews is doing just looks like an awkward pose, and it would have been nice to have his eyes open/visible. Did you take any other photos (excluding the alternative)? As I agree with you that we should have concert/portrait images as FP's --Fir0002 00:57, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
 * [[Image:Symbol neutral vote.svg|15px]] Neutral I won't vote oppose right now to avoid a pileon but on technical grounds alone I don't think this image is even eligible to go up for FP since the copyright status is so up in the air. Cat-five - talk 01:12, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Raven4x4x 07:14, 7 December 2006 (UTC)