Reworking some images

 It's easy to take a million shots at a concert, even more so when the band is as dynamic as the lighting. It's also easy to get overwhelmed when you get home and realize you took over 1000 pics, and as you do a quick once over, realize you got way too many that could be usable. So you grab the top 10, and skip the rest, figuring you'll get around to them one day.

Well this is that one day, and here they are. While my Nikon D2x is getting long in the tooth, it can still get the job done when the chips are down (and the light is right.)

 

The Old Ways

A co-worker of mine owns this Lotus Elise. He was kind enough to loan it out to me for an afternoon photoshoot. This was taken at a local school yard on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

I shot it with my Nikon D2x, 17-35mm lens and an ISO of 200. While I should have brought a tripod (we shot it elsewhere around town and I didn't want to lug around too much gear) it's sharp enough.

I used to drive Italian sports cars exclusively when I was younger and wish I'd been into photography at that point in time. No matter, I can borrow the Lotus anytime.

It's nice to have friends like that!

Macro and Light Work

So, getting a headstart on staying on top of my goal of shooting daily, I pulled out a set of cheap wine glasses and I used only one light, trying to give them depth and direction. The first shot was converted to Black and White (which made almost no difference, but I'm throwing that out there) and the second one was shot with a blue filter over the single light, which was set at 45 degrees to the subject matter. I set my Aperture to 11, ISO 100, Shutter speed for the Black and White was  3 seconds, and on the blue one, 1/250th of a second (I tripped the flash.)

With a single light, you can create dynamic lighting, and while the subject here is rather simplistic, I want to explore this option more with a person, I think that could create some great images.

A Month of Macros, Catching Up

Okay, so the "severe fog warning" was a bust. I was up in time for it, there just wasn't any. What we did have was rain, which effects thereof can be interesting to shoot, but given I wasn't feeling all that swift this morning, I decided against. What I did do instead, was work with some more controlled lighting, and my ever growing collection of ties.

While my job allows casual dress, and indeed almost demands it, my last job was three piece suit and tie affair, and so I have a large collection of ties. Arranging them to be interesting, however, much much more challenging that I was expecting, and in the end, I don't think I pulled it off. The settings were the same as the miniature work from the other day, with the exception of different colour background. In any case, I'll let you be the judge. Tomorrow is the start of a full work week, and I will be shooting some detail from the city.

Back for Attack

I do so love photographing concerts, especially concerts where there is proper lighting. Witness the following four pictures. The lead singer from 3 Pill Morning, the bass player from Twelve Foot Ninja, the guitarist from In This Moment, and the drummer from Starset. The venue was darn near perfect. We had a dedicated press pass, photo pit, unlimited time to photograph each band, and on top of all that, interviews with some of the bands and a free water cart.

What more could I have asked for?

Well, a better camera of course. While I love my D2x to death, the low-light/high ISO  capabilities are starting to be long in the tooth. Oh Nikon D3x, you will soon be mine (just as soon as I sell off all my old gear that is, which, since I am loathe to part with it, will probably be never)

I have been too long removed from music, this shall be rectified in the coming year.

Gone Daddy Gone

A band I hadn't heard of before, The Glorious Gone. The bass player was incredibly enthusiastic about his playing  so most of my photography efforts for this band was concentrated on him. As I recall the singer could hold a note and what I heard I liked.  

No Introductions Required

I'm sure this man needs no introduction, but on the off chance you don't know who he is, it's Ice-T and his band Body Count. The music is a curious mixture of Thrash and Rap, but mostly Thrash. He was very good at talking to the crowd (something a number of bands I've shot could stand to learn) and got them laughing as well.

His enthusiasm for the concert meant he was bouncing all over the place and coupled with a packed press pit, made good shots difficult to get.

I threw in the drummer pic because I liked his mask. 

Very Loud

I always wear eagplugs to a concert for several reasons, one, I'm usually next to the speakers, and two, by drowning out the music it allows me to concentrate on the musicians themselves and predict what they might do so I can catch a good shot.

This is a band called Hatebreed, who played at the GwarBQ. They were so bloody loud it was like I didn't have earplugs at all. I've never encountered a band that could penetrate what I have for hearing protection. Needless to say, I shot a bit of the band and got out of the pit as fast as possible. I have no idea how they managed to be that loud. 

Wintertime Catchup

Now that cooler weather has shone up, my photography has slowed down enough for me to catch up with the *summer* pics from the GwarBQ. The press pit was packed to the gills to the point I could not move, so having to stake out a position and shoot from there means the pics all have the same angle to them, sorry about that but I never expected the sheer mass of photographers for this.

In any event, for your consideration is the bass player and lead guitarist for the mighty Gwar. 

Once In A Lifetime

 I won a once in a lifetime chance to fly on my choice of a WW2 B-17 Flying Fortress or the WW2 B-24 Liberator. When the event promoters called me up and told me I had won two seats, I was stunned, when they asked me if I was free that day, I told them, practically shouted at them, "Yes!" and my choice was automatic, the iconic B-17. So I gave them my name and my friend's name (wasn't a difficult choice on whom to pick to go with me) and they sent me the details and locations to be.

Fate having a twisted sense of humour, in cahoots with Mother Nature, ensured it was

 raining cats and dogs. Undeterred, I packed by best gear and went in search of the plane.

There is something about standing in the shadows of history that gives one pause. The men who fought and died in the plane, and damage it took, the sheer awesomeness of it all, it wasn't something to be approached lightly. With the, at times heavy downpour, the colours, already muted with military greens, were further rendered into drabness, all the exterior images have been converted to Black and White.

Despite the rain, there were a fair number of people about, both inside the plane touring, and outside, so taking a picture of each plane without people around was a matter of patience. We waited a fair amount of hours for the rain to let up, which it finally did, at least enough for the crew to take the B-17 into the air. Inside the bomber was much more cramped than I expected, given the tremendous size and moving about required dexterity and flexibility, but once we were settled in, the captain and co-pilot taxied us down the runway, waited for the green light, and then opened up the engines. 

The sonic wall of power and fury assaulted my senses and I was awash in the roar and motion as the B-17 tore up the tarmac and launched itself into the sky. Once up we were free to move about and explore, with the only off-limits area being the ball turret inside and read tail gun. Given the fortress had no fancy electronics, or radar, we stayed reasonably low, above the rain and mountains, but not so high up as to freeze us. Nonetheless I was glad for a heavy coat. I do not recall how long the flight was, but it was worth every second and even now my ear still hum

 with the sounds of the Wright Cyclones bass rumble.
I will probably never again have such an opportunity, but in this case, one will be enough.

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.

Up Close and Personal

One of the wonderful advantages of the 80-200mm lens, is getting right into the action, and coupled with the track not being that wide, gives me the chance to fill the frame with the biker. 

The downside is you really have to be quick on the focus and tracking, not an easy accomplishment when you're being pelted with gravel spray. I tossed more than one shot like this where I missed the focus.

Falling Behind

I've gotten way behind in posting pictures, so the next few posts are not going to be in chronological order. Life has gotten in the way (as life seems to do from time to time) and while I've made time to take the shots, I've not made time to post them.

Here is another dirt track bike race. As always, they are great fun to shoot, part action, part noise, part getting pelted with gravel spray. Everyone there was friendly, even the Canon users (and to all my Canon fans, they only thing more insufferable than a Canon user, is a Nikon user) and we had a great time swapping stories. Given this was a race for real-world money, hotdogging like this rider here was a rarity. I think he recognized there were more than a handful of photographers on site and was simply showing off for us. And we thank you for it.

Taken with my rock-solid, never-say-die Nikon D2x and impossible-to-kill Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8.

Need More Cowbell...errr...Colour

 I realized I didn't have enough smiling faces or colour for the summer, so here is a batch of happy people from the Colour Run. All shot with my absolutely wonderful Nikon 50mm on my Nikon D2x. Stellar combination really. Perfect for people.

A Splash of Colour

Some years ago the concept of a "fun run" came into being and around here started with a colour run. Five kilometres of running/walking/dancing through splashes of colours being lobbed at you. Start in white clothes, end a technicolour rainbow. All great fun.

I've photographed them from within the race, outside the race, and all points in between. The weekend had another one. Much smaller than any I've been to, but no less fun as evidenced by all the smiles.

Taken with my Nikon D2x (just cracking the 40k actuations on this) and the truly incredible and versatile 80-200mm f/2.8.