Learning From Success

You can learn much from your failures, but you can learn equally from your successes. Case in point: this shot.

I was approached by a friend, who needed some pictures taken for a job she was applying for. She sent me the list of requirements for the pictures, and boy were they long.

And detailed.

And involved.

And on occasion, contradictory.

I wasn't sure I was good enough to take the pics, but I said I would try. So I read and re-read their requirements, pulled out some of my photography books on lighting and poses, read some more, and set up my gear.

I had a black cloth backdrop to absorb some of the light, she (and my snake, Pokey) in front. A hair light shining down from above, one strobe at a 45 degree angle on the left side about 4 feet away, and another one at 90 degrees from her at the same distance.

I used my 50mm lens at F/14 (now, a sidetrack here: F/14 isn't a "real" f/stop in the classic sense, but it worked in this case) set the ISO to 200 and shutter to 1/250.

One of the requirements of the shots that are submitted is they cannot be photoshopped in any way, straight from the camera only. So what you see is what I took.

I took about 30 shots, and she submitted the ten best. All ten were accepted and she got the job. I was super happy for me, but also for myself, for it showed I could pull off demanding shots in an area I'm not well versed in.

Concert Work

Haven't done a packed concert in a while but one came through my town. Local favourites Municipal Waste, along with thrashers Toxic Holocaust and punk bands In Defense (pictured here) Ramming Speed and Unsacred.

I knew the show would be packed so my best chance to get some good shots was for the opening acts. There was serious moshing and stage diving going on throughout the entire show so I had to watch where I was, lest I get sucked in and have my camera gear damaged.

I settled on ISO1000, typically with a shutter speed of 1/200 and of course, shot wide open, f/1.8 to 2.8, depending on the lens used. I fluctuated between the 50mm, 28mm and the 80-200mm. The venue was well known (to me) to have very iffy lighting, so I was pleased when I discovered they'd done some upgrades.

Furthermore, the venue was using a lighting computer with a set progression of  lights so it was very easy to time.

Accidental Portraiture

From the metal band, Spiral Fracture. This is their lead guitarist. Nice guy and one heck of a shredder. The lighting when they were on stage was very iffy and most of the pics weren't very good, but I liked the way the rig backlit his hair.

Had my camera cranked to the max settings for this. 50mm f/1.8, 1600ISO, 1/100 sec shutter.

Emilie Autumn

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Emilie Autumn. She came to my town and was kind enough to let me photograph her in concert. I was nervous about it for a few reasons:

(one) It was at the local metal venue, which meant all red lighting.

and

(two) I didn't know her music.

Let me explain these two issues:

With (one) All red is great (ish) for death metal and long haired wild eyed thrashers, if push comes to shove I could convert to B/W and call it "artistic." But with the lovely Ms. Autumn, B/W will wipe out some of her elaborate outfits,and the red will kill her beauty.

And with (two) I didn't know what kind of stage show I'd be in for. Youtube wasn't giving me much to go on.

So I researched using flash at a concert (a great big no-no) and some other options (all equally out for various reasons) and having no luck, resigned myself to doing the best I can. When I got to the event, I found out the show was going to use their own personal lighting guy, and some of the horrible red filters had been removed. 

I grew hopeful, and when the show started and white lights appeared, I knew I was in for some special pictures. As it turned out, the show was fantastic, and I urge you, my dear readers, if you have any love for concert going at all, to catch her live. Her show is best described as a cross between a Cabaret and Rocky Horror Picture Show. Full of laughter and tears, stage antics and audience participation.

I got so many wonderful shots, that I'm having a hard time chucking any. Regardless, I'm posting some of my favourite ones here for you.

A Promise

This is Steve, from the awesome band, Play Dead. I promised his some time ago I'd get good shots of him (sooner or later!) and with the good lighting at the dive, I did.

So, Steve, promise kept!

A Different Venue

So my trusty gf spots some of the bands we like to shoot, are going to be at a new place. Some small dive way off the beaten path. Well, sure, can't be any worse than where we've been already, so let's go.

To our utter amazement, it's a small dive sure, with a huge lighting rig. I don't know who set it up, but sent some serious cash on the set up. The lights can change colours, I think some of them can move, they got them front mounted and rear mounted, and shock of shocks, white lights too!

It was heaven to shoot there, I could dip down to ISO800, and even get away with f/2.8 for some of the shots. So thanks to the venue for investing the cash, thanks to the bands for inviting us, and thanks to my girly for finding the place!

A Nice Diversion

In the metal world, female musicians are a rarity. Apparently not so in the pop punk world. The guitarist here is from a local band called "We Call This Courage" and was very good at her job, if a tad shy, but it was her first time on stage, so, understandable. I like the venue, they have much better lighting, shame not much metal comes through that place.

It's All About The Lighting

Lights, or lack thereof. I know it's cool to dim the lights for a metal show, but it makes good concert pics darn near impossible. Lots of conversion to Black and White for these shots, it minimizes noise. I did convince the venue workers to turn on some of the lights for a while, but then they shut them off again, probably expensive to run them, but for a shot period of time, I could see things.

The Grand Illumination

Every year around this time, several buildings in the downtown area set up lighted animals and adorn the local trees with lights as well.

Being an Indian Summer style now (we have 75 degrees) it wasn't such a big deal to walk there after work and see if I could take some better pictures than the ones I took of the area last year.

Sunset was at 4.51pm so you will see different colours here, as the sun went down and the artificial lights came into play.

Expanding the View

In addition to the open floor plan, the lighting was good enough to bring my wide angle into the show. I lost a stop and a third of light, going from 1.8 to 2.8, but there was still enough for some full band shots. The lights over the musician on the left side of the picture were burnt out however, so some of the bands I shot didn't include all the band members. Hopefully the venue has fixed that for tonight.

Second Story

Unlike the last club, this one has an open floor plan, allowing me to shoot from a higher vantage point. Most of the shots from up there are not worth posting, but some, like this one of the singer and drummer for Cattle Decapitation, so something a little different.

The few non-red lights were aimed at the drummer, some weak blues and greens, so of all the people, the drummer has the most even skin tones (well, even for this show anyway)

Alone She Will Break

So I've got my 50mm on my D2x, and for the first band I bloody well forgot to back off and get a group shot, so for these guys, the great band Kysmet, I backed off and made sure I got some full band shots.

Each band had a different lighting style, Unto Thee was blue and red, Kysmet's was green and yellow(ish) which worked to my advantage as it rendered skin tones more true to life.