FINDING THE RHYTHM Highlighting his adeptness at capturing the energy of live performances, Spearing earned recognition as a top director and cinematographer in the industry
allowed him to look at other options. As well as leaning towards vintage looks, Spearing likes to keep his kit compact, carrying only a small backpack to maximise his ability to respond to what’s around him. That means big lenses are out of the picture. Luckily, it was around that time Cooke released the SP3 primes. “Philip Jimenez at CVP said they had a couple of sets so I pulled the trigger; I didn’t even test them as I would usually do. They were small and I could tell they were going to be perfect – and they have been. The lenses have that vintage look, but they’re also sharper and cleaner while in such a tiny housing. I bought them and was using them for two or three months straight on tour with Pink.”
Spearing likes to use the FX6 on these jobs because of its portability. Touring with any musician entails long periods of waiting; when something does happen, it’s fast, so a heavy unit is not ideal for capturing the moment. His commitment to what is effectively a run-and-gun approach meant he couldn’t take all his vintage lenses out with him. “I took the 25mm, 32mm and the 50mm. I then had to decide between the 75mm and 100mm, settling with the 100mm in the end because there’s various shots of Pink when she’s down the runway. For that environment, they look amazing.” He did have some initial concerns the T2.4 lenses might prove to make some backstage footage slightly too dark,
but reckons they managed to hold up extremely well. “Even when I pushed the ISO or exposure, they didn’t break up at all, which is the difference between using these compared to vintage lenses, where you can see it fall apart a bit. But when I was shooting with the audience for instance, and the light hits them, it looks beautiful. I have never seen the FX6 look this good.” Spearing worked broadly in the music industry, both in this style of reportage and on music videos – and the differences are huge. While the day-to-day touring schedule has a rhythm – load in, sound check, pre-gig build-up, performance, after-show, load out and travel – there are few opportunities to set up shots.
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