Styx in concert
M38A1
Registered Users Posts: 1,317 Major grins
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Lensmole
http://www.lensmolephotography.com/
Thank you. I'm pleased with the set, but personally think in retrospect the reddish light tones on #3 and coldish tone on #5 could be fixed. But that's pretty much what it looked like so I left it. Full gallery HERE and there's two or three shots that I'd trash in a heartbeat but they are of the owners.
The company my wife works for was recently acquired by a larger company. The owners of the smaller (hers) company wanted to throw a party to show their appreciation, so they booked a private party for employees/spouses. I'd guess there were no more than 450 in attendance. About 10 minutes before the show I wandered unobstructed to the left third of the stage and propped my left shin against it. I didn't move for the entire 75 minute show.
Here's the stage/venue about 10 min prior to showtime:
A very personable group I sort of grew up with, I had no idea they've actually been around in some form or another since 1961. And two of them live in Austin!
A lot of fun for sure.
Yet on the other side of the coin, I realized a concert is a TOUGH venue to shoot, even with great access. I shot most at ISO 5000 or 6400 'thinking' I needed that kind of speed as it was dark. Well, when those spotlights hit the subject, I found out later one really doesn't need to be that high. But I figured that out about half way through..... And some light combinations just are not aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The shots I gravitated to were mostly the plain white lights. And B&W conversions do wonders for taking all that nasty color stuff out.
Funny story too..... After the first few shots I freaked out. I started shooting at 6400 then trying 5000 and then 3200, I saw an improvement in results. But those first few shots at 6400 left me scratching my head wondering what-in-the-world-has-happened-to-my-camera.
After a dozen shots like this, I was ready to order via iPhone the D4 body right then and there in the middle of a concert for it's low light ISO performance. So here is a fairly dark (ok - it WAS dark) venue. I'm looking at a little 3.5" so-so resolution screen and this is all I see for my images. Look at the jacket and his forearm. Closely. And imagine what YOU would be thinking.
You'd be going - OMG! WHERE DID ALL THOSE PIXELS COME FROM? IS MY SENSOR WHACKED OUT? IS IT DIRTY? ARE THEY DEAD PIXELS?
Never fear. IF you ever see this, it's probably just sequins.
Oh, and the reason the 'pixelation' seemed to go away? He took off his jacket.
Yeah, I'm still learning......
I really enjoyed the gallery - some very unique POV's - love the shot of
the audience member playing the guitar!
And, OMG!! ...Styx at a private party!
Thank you as well....
I shot about 1300 frames and once I started to cull, honestly, they all looked the same - four guys and a drummer on a stage playing instruments in some pose or another. Kind of boring in retrospect. The lighting, facial expression, focus and eye contact were the four biggest items I looked for in what to keep on first pass (250/1300). So since they all sort of looked the same after a few more cull passes, I wanted to try and capture more of the 'little' things that people might not be aware of, thus the different POV's.
I still have to laugh at myself for those dead pixels/sequins though.....
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