Photographing piano player Brandon Goldberg with the Nikon D850

I’m a fan of jazz music in general and enjoy listening to artist such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul. They represent just a few of the contemporary jazz artist that I regularly listen to.

Shortly after leaning that the young jazz pianist (he’s only 17!) Brandon Goldberg would be playing at one of our local jazz clubs, the Sapphire Room, I inquired to see if I could make a few environmental portraits. I was granted permission but the allocated time to capture images was very short, about 15 minutes between the early and later show and he needed to have dinner during that same time period. When it was all set and done, it turned out that between the first photo taken and the last, only 3 minutes had lapsed, possibly the shortest portrait session in history! It turns out that he was served dinner late which cased the delayed start to the session.

The setup: SB5000 with 30” umbrella using radio AWL system, Nikon D850 with the Nikkor 24-120mm lens

During the 3 minutes I was able to create content, these were the selects that resulted from the session:

Portrait of piano player Brandon Goldberg The setup: SB5000 with 30” umbrella using radio AWL system, Nikon D850 with the Nikkor 24-120mm lens

Portrait of piano player Brandon Goldberg The setup: SB5000 with 30” umbrella using radio AWL system, Nikon D850 with the Nikkor 24-120mm lens

Portrait of piano player Brandon Goldberg The setup: SB5000 with 30” umbrella using radio AWL system, Nikon D850 with the Nikkor 24-120mm lens

Portrait of piano player Brandon Goldberg The setup: SB5000 with 30” umbrella using radio AWL system, Nikon D850 with the Nikkor 24-120mm lens

While he was playing the piano, I was aiming to get as much of a reflection on the lid and I think it worked out pretty well. Overall, considering the time I had, I’m happy with the results. Let me know your thoughts in the comments as to the results and if they could be improved, what would you do differently.

To learn more about Brandon Goldberg, here is his official biography taken from his website: https://brandongoldbergpiano.com/:

Brandon Goldberg, Pianist and Composer

Brandon Goldberg, now 17 years old, has been playing piano and making music since he was three years old. With “ample dexterity and wise-beyond-his-years sound” (JAZZIZ), Goldberg found his passion for jazz by listening to his favorite artists including Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. Goldberg has performed at the Newport, Litchfield, Twin Cities, and Caramoor Jazz Festivals as well as the Monterey Jazz Festival with the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra and Bravo Niagara Festival of the Arts.

He has played on the stages of the most prestigious jazz clubs including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Dizzy’s Club, Birdland Theatre, The Blue Note, Mezzrow, The Apollo Theater, The Side Door in Old Lyme, Keystone Korner in Baltimore, The Adrienne Arsht Center, FAENA Theater in Miami, and Carnegie Hall with the NYO Jazz Orchestra under the leadership of Sean Jones. Goldberg has also performed at classical piano festivals, including the Miami International Piano Festival. Goldberg is the youngest recipient of the ASCAP 2022 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award and a four-time winner of Downbeat Student Music Awards in both the Jazz Soloist and Original Composition Category. As a leader, Goldberg has released two albums, both earning four-star reviews from Downbeat Magazine.

His debut album, LET’S PLAY!, released in April 2019, features Ben Wolfe on bass, Donald Edwards on drums and special guest Marcus Strickland on tenor saxophone. The album has three original compositions and six standards and reached top seven on the Jazz Week charts. It was recognized by Downbeat Magazine as one of the top albums of 2019. Goldberg’s second album, In Good Time, released in September 2021 features the late, great drummer Ralph Peterson, Jr., with Stacy Dillard on saxophones, Josh Evans on trumpet and Luques Curtis on bass. In Good Time showcases five original compositions and five standards, garnering rave reviews from London Jazz News and four stars from All About Jazz and Jazzwise. In Good Time has also been recognized by Downbeat Magazine as one of the top albums of 2021.

In his hometown of Miami, Florida, Goldberg has been a featured performer with The Miami Symphony Orchestra (MISO), the Jazz Roots Series at the Adrienne Arsht Center under the direction of Shelly Berg, the WDNA Miami Downtown Jazz Festival, The Miami International Piano Festival, The Melton Mustafa Jazz Festival and the FAENA Summer Jazz Series. In 2018 and 2019, The Miami Symphony Orchestra commissioned Goldberg to write two original compositions for the symphony for piano and orchestra, “Surroundings” and “Rhapsody in F”, which were both performed live and recorded by MISO and received high praise and accolades. Goldberg was a featured performer at TEDxYouthMiami, TEDxBocaRaton and TEDxCoconutGrove conferences. He also works closely with the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) and performed at their annual Gala – A Great Night in Harlem at the famous Apollo Theater where he presented McCoy Tyner with his Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

At a young age, Goldberg had some break-through moments on National television in Season 1 and Season 2 of NBC’s Little Big Shots, The Steve Harvey Show and the Harry Connick, Jr. Show.