Delays, Delays, Nothing But Delays

As usual, I meant to have this post before the holidays had arrived, not after. Oh well, distractions abound. I wanted to wish all my readers a happy and joyous holiday and New Year's celebration. I will be photographing Gwar in concert tonight at a venue known for having proper concert lighting. 

If you are unaware of who, or what Gwar is, I urge you to look up their live work on YouTube, it's a sight to behold. I fully expect to come back with ruined clothes (Gwar are well known for spraying their audience with all sorts of liquids during the show) so I'm going in grungy outfits with a rainpouch for my camera gear.

I probably won't get to processing and sorting the pics until the New Year, so check back here in 2014 to see samples.

Cheers!

Something I've been meaning to do

I've been wanting to play a musical instrument for decades, and some years ago I bought a number of guitars, thinking I'd find time to learn. Well that never happened and I ended up giving them away to a friend, and selling the more valuable ones.

Fast forward to today, and my life has changed (for the better!) so with more free time, I picked up a bass guitar and signed up for lessons. This is an Ibanez SR500 in solid mahogany good with active pickups. The sound is stunning, deep rumbling to light tones, and I hope I can do it justice.

Firmly attached to the Ibanez is Ollie, a snow corn snake who was a rescue. It's quite difficult to get snakes to pose properly for the shot and I ended up with a dozen or so outtakes.

Gear used: Nikon D2x, Tamron 17-35mm lens, Manfrotto tripod and studio lights set at 45 degrees from each other.

Fun With Chemistry

I ordered a bunch of frozen meat (mice to be specific, for my reptiles) and it came packed in dry ice. A huge block of it. So after I did the usual fun experiments, it was time to break out the camera and lights for some shots.

Here is one, just before the bubble burst. Shot with my Nikon D2x, the 50mm Macro, tripod, and a set of studio lights, one giving a 50% flash to light it up evenly. There is no post processing on these shots, they are all straight out of the camera.

Advantage

One advantage of a crowded venue...crowd shots! Given the lighting from the angle I was, I had to drop the shutter speed way down to 1/40 of a second, risking motion blur but felt any blur would add to the energy of the shot

Interaction

Toxic Holocaust lead singer/guitarist here. The band consists of only three members, so getting a group shot is difficult. Add an active mosh pit and it was pretty much no chance of one. Nonetheless, I did get some dynamic shots on individuals here.

Ramming Speed

Even with the cyclical lighting the lighting was only so-so. And of course some of the most dynamic poses came when the lights were at their worst.

Case in point, great pose, terrible lighting, so off to LightRoom for conversion...

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.

Local Nightlife

Went to a great punk/metal show the other night, and these guys were hanging out waiting for the show to start.

Nikon 28mm f/2.8, 1/40sec (it was dark outside) and converted to B/W

Texture

 A study of wood grain and effect on a cloudy day. ISO 100, F/8-11, Nikon D2x. Images converted to B/W.

Can I Play With Madness?

Nearly a full moon, perhaps this weekend it will be. In the meantime, the clear night and bright moon helps with getting the settings dialed in. I'm pretty sure I've got it set now with the reflex lens. f/8, 1/800 sec, ISO100, Tripod (of course) on mirror-up/time delay mode (to minimize blur)

I didn't expect to see it again, it was supposed to be cloudy tonight but fortune smiles upon me again.