by Amy Leibrock
When you think about the best formats for showcasing rich, expressive photographs, concert tour books usually aren't first on the list. There are exceptions to every rule, however. Case in point: The Maroon 5 Concert Tour Book.

Shot by adventure filmmaker and photographer Bob Carmichael, it's more than just another band tour book. Instead, it's something that a true fan of the pop-rock group can savor, flipping through the pages of electric, provocative images taken at live shows. This is no merchandising afterthought; it has the resolution, saturation and overall quality of a collection of fine art prints.

Capturing the Music
You can feel the unmistakable energy of a Maroon 5 show through Carmichael's crisp, colorful images. Capturing that feeling is no accidental feat. One of his guiding principles, inspired by Ansel Adams, is knowing his environment. He has practiced this tenet throughout his career as a motion picture director and photographer. An expert climber, skier, cyclist, sailor and surfer, Carmichael specializes in executing the dangerous shots that many others simply can't get. He's put his daredevil skills to use to direct and shoot some of the world's first "extreme" adventure sports films, as well as sports, automotive, aerial and marine projects for the likes of Ford Motor Company, Kawasaki, Hawaii Tourism, the America's Cup, the U.S. Marine Corps and more. He also cut his chops capturing live performance when he worked for NFL Films early in his career.

But music is another passion for Carmichael, especially Maroon 5's. His son, Jesse Carmichael, is the band's keyboardist who also plays guitar and writes some of the music. Jesse has been playing with the same band mates since the eighth grade, so Carmichael has come to be their natural documentarian over the last 12 years, giving him a new outlet for his work.

"Shooting them in all the different clubs in LA, from the Roxy to the Troubadour to the Whisky to the Viper Room, has just been really good training ground for shooting live performance," says Carmichael. "I really love musicians, and I love just everything about being on a stage and trying to capture what that's all about. Capturing the unrehearsed moment is instinctual and rewarding. [It's] like hunting but no one dies; ideally you come home with the bacon."

Carmichael stalks his prey like a ninja, wearing a dark suit, hat and vest, taking extra care not to unplug or trip over anything. "In the music world, it is about knowing the band's music, so you are ready for the solo from the lead guitarist or the moment when the lead singer is most expressive. It's also about not tripping over cables and stands and letting the tech crew know you are confident and won't pull out anybody's amplification," he says.

Carmichael plays guitar himself and says he loves to see a really "tight" band. "Anyone who appreciates music is just blown away by the level of mastery and communication that's going on. I really just try to hone in on that."

He prefers to hone in on those moments with his Hasselblad 645 H1 and the H System lenses on Fuji's 800 color negative film. "I figure as long as I'm going through all these motions I should be capturing with the highest resolution possible," he says. "I like the idea of shooting negatives that are 2.3 times as large as a 35mm negative. There's sort of an organic look to film. It's not pixels; it's grain so you get, what I think, is better resolution."

Carmichael's only other equipment is a Monopod and a Sekonic DualMaster L-588 light meter, which helps him with image stabilization and getting the right exposure in the rapidly changing light. He also carries a headlamp so he can see what's going on with the camera. Just to be safe and prepared, he makes sure all his magazines are working, loaded and numbered before the show starts. "There's no secret to what I do," he says. "It's just knowing how to use a spot meter on a stage and doing it quickly; and getting some skin tones and then dialing it in and then shooting." "I use continuous auto focus to track the action and when the moment is there, you are just a quick touch away from an exposure. I am looking to capture the essence and energy of their performance on film."

From Negative to Positive
Having worked with West Coast Imaging to produce his landscape photography (another current passion), Carmichael enlisted Master Printmaker Terrance Reimer to work on his Maroon 5 film. "The idea was to take it to a guy like Terrance and have him really, really pull out everything there is on that negative," he says.

Reimer was impressed with what he saw. "It was pretty obvious that Bob had something pretty special with this collection of photographs," says Reimer. "From there we just looked to get the most beautiful print quality out of what was already a beautiful film capture."

Getting that beautiful print quality started with sending Carmichael's negatives through WCI's legendary Heidelberg Tango drum scanner to produce 300-megabyte RGB files (a whopping 5400 dpi). "That's the vital component of the whole chain, because we're taking that analog information on film and we're bringing it into the digital realm," he says. They made such large files because, in addition to the tour book and his 2007 Maroon 5 calendar project, Carmichael had life-size posters in mind for some of the images. (Two huge--30X40 and 30X50--prints now hang in Maroon 5's management office.)

From the scans, Reimer and Carmichael worked together to fine-tune the colors. Carmichael had provided Reimer with some smaller files to help guide the interpretive decisions he needed to make in Photoshop. Using adjustment layers, selective masking and other techniques, Reimer tweaked the files to get as much out of the originals as possible. The two would discuss each shot over the phone using 8 X 10 proof prints until they arrived at a final image.

"We have very good communication, and that’s because Terrance is a photographer, as well...he is in sync with what I like, and how to interpret my files. It provides a great collaboration" says Carmichael. "Terrance was terrific to work with, and his creative input, and can-do attitude in the face of a very fast-track project, really saved the day."

Once they were both satisfied with the files, Reimer made a complete set of prints—on Fuji Crystal Archive Glossy Paper—that Carmichael could use to pitch his 2007 calendar project and subsequent tourbook. Then, once the selects were made, Reimer had to translate the RGB files into CMYK files for the printer. His calibrated monitor was key to this step; it allows him to see how the color changes and density reacts when he does the translations. For this project, he added saturation and adjusted tonal curves by etching the color plates in Photoshop.

At that point, the project was in the printer's hands. Printing presses and the inks they use have their own distinct characteristics, and it's hard to know how CMYK files will translate until seeing a match print. But in this case, the job was seamless. Signatures Networks, Maroon 5's music merchandising company, oversaw the printing, and Carmichael was thrilled with the finished product.

"The results are just really dramatic, because you feel like, 'wow,' this is a photograph that allows you to walk into it," says Carmichael.

Reimer was likewise impressed. "Once I saw a copy of [the tour book], I was blown away at the quality," says Reimer. "It's rare to see excellent reproduction, where the colors are vivid and accurate and full, and the sharpness is rich, especially with a mass-produced tour book."

But Reimer is quick to credit Carmichael for his brilliant shooting.

"He was in the trenches making beautiful exposures, working under very adverse lighting conditions," Reimer says. "If you photograph anything with that kind of dedication and passion, you're always going to make provocative and engaging images. Bob certainly has the eye for capturing the essence of rock and roll!"

Carmichael's Website

View Other Featured Artists