I do have a question for you guys...have you ever been told you couldn't take photos and then still did it? Just tried to be stealthy - keep moving so the guards don't catch you as your snapping pictures?
My other hobby is audio taping concerts...and on some occasions I've hid all my gear on my body, mics in my hat, and stood still like a human tripod trying to record the concert. Just wondering if there's any stealth photogs out there?
thats some weird hobby ask yourself, is it worth getting your camera and equipment taken away just to grab some images? unless its a life and death situation, thats something i wouldnt do. i say just wait until the next concert to get some photos and plan it ahead of time. and of course, be professional about it. but..if you do decide to keep doing it...one simple advice, dont get caught!!
My other hobby is audio taping concerts...and on some occasions I've hid all my gear on my body, mics in my hat, and stood still like a human tripod trying to record the concert. Just wondering if there's any stealth photogs out there?
Wow, you must rattle when you walk into gigs with all that stealth gear secreted on your person!
It is somewhat of a weird hobby, I guess. It also has many negative overtones attached to it with bootlegging and ebay, but some folks just do it for the love of music. Just like photos, that recording captures a memory. Its nice to be able to listen to the memory again.
Many bands actually allow live audio taping. The band last night did and the recording sounds great. I just wish I had some pictures to go along with it.
Photography and taping actually have a lot of similarities.
bored? check out my photo site...and if you have the time, leave a comment or rate some pictures while you're there.
Canon 20D | Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM | Tamron 28-75 f2.8 XR Di LD IF | Canon 50mm f/1.8 II | Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
It is somewhat of a weird hobby, I guess. It also has many negative overtones attached to it with bootlegging and ebay, but some folks just do it for the love of music. Just like photos, that recording captures a memory. Its nice to be able to listen to the memory again.
Many bands actually allow live audio taping. The band last night did and the recording sounds great. I just wish I had some pictures to go along with it.
Photography and taping actually have a lot of similarities.
I'm an avid DMB tape trader as well as other bands...hats off to all the live music tapers out there. I love it when the steath tapes come out....usually it's a show that pretty special.
Recently I bring both P&S and SLR to the show. If they hassle me...I take SLR back to the car and crotch the P&S. screw em
Thanks guys, this has been a very informative thread, i loved the tutorial link, i may have to revise my parameters for low light indoor shoting ( horse shows) and see how it works, also at my sisters wedding Im doing, just ordered the 85 mm f1.8 and the section on getting the most out of your 50mm f1.8 was also very enlightening. I only have a shot someplace of a bar band, if i can locate it, but have really enjoyed my foray into the people section!
Thanks guys, this has been a very informative thread, i loved the tutorial link, i may have to revise my parameters for low light indoor shoting ( horse shows) and see how it works, also at my sisters wedding Im doing, just ordered the 85 mm f1.8 and the section on getting the most out of your 50mm f1.8 was also very enlightening. I only have a shot someplace of a bar band, if i can locate it, but have really enjoyed my foray into the people section!
CookieS, glad to hear you've benefited. I can't wait to see your work-looks like you got the right gear, now go out and get some dope shots! (that 85/1.8 will treat you nice, I assure you)
and ocgiii, don't think that shot went unnoticed... from the devilish grin to the bud can, that shot hits it; yeah, there's a little blurriness, but nothin' to scoff at-definitely a proudworthy shot
We are the music-makers; and we are the dreamers of dreams.
... come along.
LowePro Slingshot 100AW Review
So this post could go in the gear forum too, but I think it applies most to this thread.
I picked up the LowePro Slingshot 100AW today. It's a relatively compact sling-style bag. Lowepro has a 200 version too (its bigger) that I haven't had a chance to view in-person. However, I can't see bigger being better for my sit-e-a-tion (long vowels, say it with me).
I do mostly local-style gigs (as opposed to big concerts) so I rock the D70s with the 85mm/1.8. I will be getting a 50mm before too long. I have a SB800 also, though I've yet to use it at a show (booo live show flash). I also have a monopod, old-school from a friend's father, which I will, but have not yet, used. I'm also always equiped with an extra pack of cigarettes and a handful of cds from musician friends on the way up the music-business food chain.
So how did this bag make the cut after 5 months of waiting to find the right junk?
1) Basic gear (mentioned above) - comfortably accomodated. The D70s with 85mm and hood slide nicely into the main pouch. This main pouch is readily accessible without removing the bag from your person. Simply slide the bag 'round from yo' back and to yo' front and voila: zip-remove-zip and camera in hand. This main pouch is connected (though errant extra-un-zipping is prevented by plastic snap-in clips on both sides) and will house a 50mm & 5-7 cds (replacing cds with a larger lens-I've got a 70-300mm-is cake) with ease.
2) Packing it tight. Without much difficulty one could accomodate cds, an 85mm and a 300mm+ in the main pouch. It would require placing the 50mm elsewhere (not a problem) and mounting the 300mm+ on the camera (w/o having the hood 'extended').
3) Protection. The bag seems a durable build. It also appears weather resistant, generally, while also hiding a rain-cover accessible throught the bottom of the bag. Padding is reasonable. More padding would make it unnecessarily bulky, less would worry me. As it stands, I don't feel it is a major extrusion from my back when I'm wearing it, and I wouldn't worry if I had to use it (gear inside) as a pillow for a night .
4) Goodies. The secondary pouch makes up the head of the bag and fits-sorry for those who don't like tobacco-5 packs of smokes, with spare room for you car keys. It's meant for more wholesome packing, but I have no frame of reference. Ahh, yes, this part will fit a SB800 or 50mm as well as any spare lens hoods you need to cram. Also, there is an exterior pouch, which, if not for the rounded top edges would fit a standard cd jewel case (if carrying a tight pack and a flash in the secondary pouch, this is where I'd recommend putting that 50mm). That exterior pouch is also perfect for business cards and hand-bills (little flyers)... wink-wink.
There are a handful of stretchy-loop-like things attached to various points of the pack; creativity required, but I see a monopod jerry-rig in my future.
5) Bottom-Line. This is a somewhat roomy on-the-go pack that is compact enough (mostly because of how it sits on your body) to squeeze through metro train and music crowd alike. Of course, one should check it personally with their own gear and make sure it makes sense. Nonetheless, I see a bright future for me and this bit of gear.
We are the music-makers; and we are the dreamers of dreams.
... come along.
thats pretty darn sharp for the amount of light available
FocusPocus-
those came out really well. what settings were u using and were they handheld? what lens did you use?
Thanks! Yes they were hand held and I was shooting wide open at F2.8 and 1600 ISO. The lens is an old 35-70 2.8 Nikor. This was my first try at concert pics and I was pretty pleased, given the low light conditions.
Well, my pride and joy, my 350D, has been draining it's batteries overnight whilst switched off for some reason, so it's off to the repair shop. Luckily it's a) still under warranty and b) I don't have any gigs coming up that I need it for
Oh, and I'm a Crumpler man after one of my mates recommended them - unfortunately we both have the same colour and both own 350D's (except he works for Canon so they made sure he got one that works !) so we look a right couple of saddos when we turn up at the same gigs
Thanks for the review on the sling bag. My wife found that while she was cruising the net the other day. So we ordered the 200 version. That way we have some extra room in case we can't fit all of the baby's junk in the diaper bag (also a backpack). It arrived yesterday while I was at the firehouse so I have just had a few minutes to look it over this morning. First impression tells me I should be fine fitting everything into it, maybe even my Elan 7 body as well. Only time will tell! Thanks again.
Let me jump into this thread!
Hey Guys - have spent the last hour looking through your pics and posts. Very interesting to say the least. I thought that I might drop in and post a shot that I made last month in Ohio. This is Darrell Scott, singer/songwriter performing at the Kent Stage. I was able to shoot from the side and get the mike out of his face. In my post-processing I took out the mike, stand and wires.
Let's do Willie this time
So, I got that last one to post w/photo! You have to go easy on the old man. Here is another one - this is Willie Nelson and his sister Bobbie playing the piano. They were in Bowling Green last year for a show. In both of these shots I was using the Sigma EX 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. It is about the only one I use at shows anymore.
sthig: I don't see anything when I follow your link.
LarryTee: WILLIE!!! As Andy Williams says, "su-weeeet." Did he do a Taco Bell jingle :uhoh ? That's alright, Willie got hit by the taxman, so he's forgiven... though it does show at least one side effect of marijuana in action: "huh, taxes? oh shit, I forgot all about that... wow was I high!"
Here's a link to last night's shooting at H St Martini Bar
Big mistake of the night: Not checking my battery charge before leaving the house. I had about 30 exposures of power, booooo. (and, hence the lack of diversity in subject at an open-mic night) Comments and critique, as always, are welcome and appreciated.
Must say though, that this open-mic has some tremendous talent rolling through-from singers to rappers to (mostly) poets. And the host, Komplex, who left early last night, is mad talented (you can see him in my U-Turn gallery).
Take care all.
Good shooting,
LeDude
We are the music-makers; and we are the dreamers of dreams.
... come along.
Step-by-Step
I hope this next couple posts is informative. I recently discovered some new methods in PS Elements which proved very useful for getting a shot processed, and I thought that since I just learned it maybe some other folks would benefit from my experience. This is not advanced. It is also not necessarily the best way to do things. Thus (as always), comments, questions and critiques are welcome and encouraged.
We start with [edit: we start by putting on some music... I've selected Herbie Hancock's "Canteloupe Island" - a mid-'90s released collection named after his most famous song] the shot I took two/three nights ago converted to jpg from raw, completely unprocessed:
I wanted to get in tight on Thad here, so I didn't worry about getting the whole trumpet.
This shot was culled from about ten almost identical shots. Some were a little blurrier or had caught a cruddy light artifact in the background or caught Thad between breaths (hence, no puffy cheeks). In any event, this seemed to be the best overall and without any major flaw.
I do notice however, that there are some very hot spots in my near future. They will have to be dealt with somehow, but my methods until recently were very limited. Now they are only quasi-limited.
In any event, I start with Nikon Capture.
1) Color Mode (Under 'Advanced Raw'): set to "Mode I" (a version of sRGB, supposedly for "people")
2) Exposure Compensation (Under 'Advanced Raw'): "+0.33" (I will check back on this later, as it sometimes needs adjustment after other changes are made... this time it will stay.)
3) White Balance: "Calculate Automatically" is altogether worthless... thanks Nikon . There are also presets, which can usually be fine-tuned. I know from shooting at this locale at an earlier date that because of the bloody pink lighting, "High Color Rendering Fluorescent" is going to be my preset. There wasn't any fluorescent lighting at the time... but hey, it looks like it works and the other settings don't. "3700 k" is close, but I like "3600 k" better-this is set with the fine tuning adjustment slider.
Progress:
eeeegads... more to do
*4 & 5 are a back and forth process for me, using the auto-adjustment and tweaking*
4) LCH Editor (Master Lightness): This is like the levels adjuster in Elements and I settle on "4" on the left and "214 on the right. (4,215)
5) Curves: Red (4,241); Green (1,224); Blue (2,215)
*No "curves" are actually created here, just straight lines. I still need to study the curves stuff more to understand what I'm doing and, hopefully, become effective at using them.
My explanation was pretty poor, so here's a screenshot (apologies if it's too small to read):
6) Unsharp Mask: No science to this, but I decide on...
Intensity: 15%
Halo Width: 30%
Threshold: 10 levels
7) Noise Reduction: Actually, no NR here, but I did notice some crud going on in the background... setting Color Moire Reduction to "Medium" seemed to help.
8) Crop: I've already tipped my hand with the screenshot, but I cropped to eliminate a couple problems. One, there were 2 weird bright spots (like one would see if looking at the sun through an almost evaporated droplet of water on a car window) to be rid of. Two, there were the blown light reflections off the end of the trumpet. And, I didn't think it hurt composition any (it may have helped).
Here we are:
Not bad, but nothing that grabs me... and the colors are rather drab, arrgghh. Alright, so what about B/W? Well I've been using the Nikon Capture conversion and getting used to it, but it's limited. And, I've not long ago downloaded the optikVerve plugin for PS, so I'm gonna go there with my jpg for the conversion.
[to be continued]
We are the music-makers; and we are the dreamers of dreams.
... come along.
Step-by-Step (part deux)
The first thing in the editor that I do is create two duplicate layers of the base image. Names are not important ... except that L1 is on top and L2 is just above the background. With L1 selected, I begin to peruse my options in optikVerve-Virtual Photographer. Color is not out of the question, but I find myself liking the B/W preset called "Brownie." I fooled with the settings a bit, but wound up changing little from the default. Specifically, under photographic style, red filter, I move the slider to "0" from 13 (this takes the luminance/brightness/I don't know the name down to a reasonable level. Also, I increase the blur with the slider to "25" from "6". I hit process and am given:
But, to me, the contrast is too much and that white shirt-deal of Thad's is blinding me... always with the white clothing. So I want to take down the shirt, within theme and without showing a masking line.
First, I take L2 and return to the VirtualPhotographer. On this layer I still use the "Brownie" preset, but now I adjust to make it much darker, decrease the blur to 0, and even add some coarseness by adjusting the "film speed." Processed:
Now the shirt looks right to me... and that bright spot to the right of his playing hand is less painful as well. In order to merge the two I will use the "Eraser Tool" and "Background Eraser Tool." The basic idea is to erase pixels from L1 to reveal L2 below. Thus, I will be erasing the bright-bright shirt and revealing the bright-but-not-ridiculously-so-and-a-little-grittier shirt.
"Eraser Tool"
This is used for the major areas of the shirt and anything not at the edge of will-erase and don't-want-to-erase. Opacity is set to 100% and the brush is set large (100+ pixels) at first. As I work my way closer to the edges I decrease the brush size to about 50. I don't have to kill myself getting super-close.
*It should be noted, that I have turned off L2 while erasing. The redness of the background image makes it obvious when something has been erased on L1... if this weren't true, I would probably add a layer of some bright color to help me in this way.
Getting Super-Close (aka "Background Eraser Tool")
I have tried to brighten and darken certain areas of a photo using Elements and masking tools in the past. My problem with this has always been the harsh edges that appear. These edges limit the amount of adjustment that can be done before the adjustments become obvious.
The Background Eraser Tool is useful, in my mind, because it aids in blending the images (not blurring the edges... I've tried that before and it looks cruddy when done en masse). The eraser circle is present, as with "Eraser Tool," but now there is a small crosshair in the center. And, there are several new options at the top of the screen. The crosshair is the tool's 'hotspot' and the circle is the tool's boundary of activity. The pixels selected in the hotspot will determine which other pixels in the circle (along with those in the hotspot) will be erased.
Tolerance: The hotspot pixel(s) of a certain color/shade will be compared to the rest of the pixels in the circle. Those that are similar will also be erased. Those that are dissimilar will not. 100% Tolerance means that dissimilarity will be 100% tolerated (all pixels will be erased). And, vice versa!-er, only identical pixels will also be erased.
Limits: This is set at either Contiguous or Discontiguous. When Contiguous, the pixels selected in the hotspot and those surrounding will be erased only if they are connected-or, next to one another. Discontiguous simply compares hotspot pixels to all others in the circle.
Diameter is the circle size... and, Hardness (I left this at 100%), if less than 100%, means that the effect of the tool will decrease as one moves away from the hotspot and towards the perimeter of the tool's circle.
Alright, enough of this tool description nonsense (it's found in help anyway).
The key to erasing along the edges, and why this tool is useful, is balancing settings so that a "blended edge" can be created between the top and underlying image. On the boarder between Thad's shirt and face I used the Contiguous mode and set my tolerance high (about 50%). I set the diameter of the circle large enough to cover the gap between what had already been erased and what I didn't want erased (there SHOULD be overlap... the tool should take care of enough that you don't have to be precise-if there are problems, then the settings on the tool should be adjusted) and click-click-click, my new border is easily created. For some of the 'fuzzier' boarders, like those between the shirt and the background or the edges of that blowout to the right of his hand, I set to Contiguous and keep a lower tolerance. The exact level was determined by the effect the tool was having, but the idea was to have some effective blending going on.
After making my way around all the boarders I was left with this in view:
Some touch up was required (using the Eraser Tool) along the bottom of the trumpet, since the edge was so close in color to the shirt. I eyed it the best I could.
So I turn on both L1 & L2 and save to jpg (after saving my psd file).
Finished product:
Whew... hard to learn (though easy now); definitely not easy to explain.
Hope this helps someone. Any clarifications I need to make or elaborations some experts might have, well, throw 'em my way ye Kings of camera, ye Princes(-esses) of Photoshop.
-LeDude
We are the music-makers; and we are the dreamers of dreams.
... come along.
Dang Gus, I bet you were holding your camera tight for some of those shots.
I taped a band called The Locust (speed thrash death metal - whatever you want to call it), they were opening for a different band that wasn't metal at all. I had no idea what to expect, but I took my spot in front of the sound board, about half way to the stage and all of a sudden they came on wearing ski type masks and the crowd busted into a huge mosh pit. And there I am with all my taping gear strapped to my body. Surprisingly enough, nothing was damaged. I told the guy sporting a leather jacket and a mohawk next to me that I was taping and every time a mosher came kicking and thrashing at me he pushed them as hard as he could. It was actually quite a good show.
I don't know if anyone on here has heard of it, but I'll be heading down to Tennesee next weekend for the Bonnaroo Music Festival. Unfortunately only point and shoots are allowed if you don't have a photo pass. Taping is allowed though, so I'm considering trying to hide my 20d in my taping bag. I won't really be near the stage since I'll be taping, but it'd be nice to get some wide angles of the crowd and pictures of the stage when the lights go down. I don't know what to do. If I get stopped on the way in, its about a 45 minute walk back to the car. I might just be taking the olympus ultra zoom with me and hoping for the best.
Le Dude - Just noticed all of your photoshop tips today. I have a feeling I'll be coming back to that post quite a bit next time I do some editing. Thanks!
bored? check out my photo site...and if you have the time, leave a comment or rate some pictures while you're there.
Canon 20D | Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM | Tamron 28-75 f2.8 XR Di LD IF | Canon 50mm f/1.8 II | Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
Dang Gus, I bet you were holding your camera tight for some of those shots.
Last few ones they supplied a 'minder' for me. The amount of times i had the camera up & the crowd smashed into me was unbelievable. He would position himself between the crowd & me.
Got a shot here somewhere of a chair flying through the air. Cool kids though...all they do is dance..never once have i seen a fight where as i could walk into any pub where footballers/military drink & see 10 fights in one night.
Comments
Many bands actually allow live audio taping. The band last night did and the recording sounds great. I just wish I had some pictures to go along with it.
Photography and taping actually have a lot of similarities.
I'm an avid DMB tape trader as well as other bands...hats off to all the live music tapers out there. I love it when the steath tapes come out....usually it's a show that pretty special.
Recently I bring both P&S and SLR to the show. If they hassle me...I take SLR back to the car and crotch the P&S. screw em
Can't wait to see your pics.
Kevin
www.rightangleimages.com
Here's one of John Flandsburgh of They Might Be Giants, shot in 1992 in Richmond, VA.
CookieS, glad to hear you've benefited. I can't wait to see your work-looks like you got the right gear, now go out and get some dope shots! (that 85/1.8 will treat you nice, I assure you)
and ocgiii, don't think that shot went unnoticed... from the devilish grin to the bud can, that shot hits it; yeah, there's a little blurriness, but nothin' to scoff at-definitely a proudworthy shot
... come along.
So this post could go in the gear forum too, but I think it applies most to this thread.
I picked up the LowePro Slingshot 100AW today. It's a relatively compact sling-style bag. Lowepro has a 200 version too (its bigger) that I haven't had a chance to view in-person. However, I can't see bigger being better for my sit-e-a-tion (long vowels, say it with me).
I do mostly local-style gigs (as opposed to big concerts) so I rock the D70s with the 85mm/1.8. I will be getting a 50mm before too long. I have a SB800 also, though I've yet to use it at a show (booo live show flash). I also have a monopod, old-school from a friend's father, which I will, but have not yet, used. I'm also always equiped with an extra pack of cigarettes and a handful of cds from musician friends on the way up the music-business food chain.
So how did this bag make the cut after 5 months of waiting to find the right junk?
1) Basic gear (mentioned above) - comfortably accomodated. The D70s with 85mm and hood slide nicely into the main pouch. This main pouch is readily accessible without removing the bag from your person. Simply slide the bag 'round from yo' back and to yo' front and voila: zip-remove-zip and camera in hand. This main pouch is connected (though errant extra-un-zipping is prevented by plastic snap-in clips on both sides) and will house a 50mm & 5-7 cds (replacing cds with a larger lens-I've got a 70-300mm-is cake) with ease.
2) Packing it tight. Without much difficulty one could accomodate cds, an 85mm and a 300mm+ in the main pouch. It would require placing the 50mm elsewhere (not a problem) and mounting the 300mm+ on the camera (w/o having the hood 'extended').
3) Protection. The bag seems a durable build. It also appears weather resistant, generally, while also hiding a rain-cover accessible throught the bottom of the bag. Padding is reasonable. More padding would make it unnecessarily bulky, less would worry me. As it stands, I don't feel it is a major extrusion from my back when I'm wearing it, and I wouldn't worry if I had to use it (gear inside) as a pillow for a night
4) Goodies. The secondary pouch makes up the head of the bag and fits-sorry for those who don't like tobacco-5 packs of smokes, with spare room for you car keys. It's meant for more wholesome packing, but I have no frame of reference. Ahh, yes, this part will fit a SB800 or 50mm as well as any spare lens hoods you need to cram. Also, there is an exterior pouch, which, if not for the rounded top edges would fit a standard cd jewel case (if carrying a tight pack and a flash in the secondary pouch, this is where I'd recommend putting that 50mm). That exterior pouch is also perfect for business cards and hand-bills (little flyers)... wink-wink.
There are a handful of stretchy-loop-like things attached to various points of the pack; creativity required, but I see a monopod jerry-rig in my future.
5) Bottom-Line. This is a somewhat roomy on-the-go pack that is compact enough (mostly because of how it sits on your body) to squeeze through metro train and music crowd alike. Of course, one should check it personally with their own gear and make sure it makes sense. Nonetheless, I see a bright future for me and this bit of gear.
... come along.
thats pretty darn sharp for the amount of light available
FocusPocus-
those came out really well. what settings were u using and were they handheld? what lens did you use?
ledude- the thing thats really helpful with that pack is the way the strap can be disconnected for a quick removal of the pack from your back.
hows the quality of the fiber? thick(rugged?)? soft? and hows the padding in the back?
Thanks! Yes they were hand held and I was shooting wide open at F2.8 and 1600 ISO. The lens is an old 35-70 2.8 Nikor. This was my first try at concert pics and I was pretty pleased, given the low light conditions.
fiber is rugged, on the thick side... might rough up a silk shirt
padding on the pack is, i think, reasonable... maybe 1/8-1/4" thick
... come along.
Oh, and I'm a Crumpler man after one of my mates recommended them - unfortunately we both have the same colour and both own 350D's (except he works for Canon so they made sure he got one that works !) so we look a right couple of saddos when we turn up at the same gigs
Thanks for the review on the sling bag. My wife found that while she was cruising the net the other day. So we ordered the 200 version. That way we have some extra room in case we can't fit all of the baby's junk in the diaper bag (also a backpack). It arrived yesterday while I was at the firehouse so I have just had a few minutes to look it over this morning. First impression tells me I should be fine fitting everything into it, maybe even my Elan 7 body as well. Only time will tell! Thanks again.
Hey Guys - have spent the last hour looking through your pics and posts. Very interesting to say the least. I thought that I might drop in and post a shot that I made last month in Ohio. This is Darrell Scott, singer/songwriter performing at the Kent Stage. I was able to shoot from the side and get the mike out of his face. In my post-processing I took out the mike, stand and wires.
Hope you agree that it helped the shot.
steel drums in Atlanta
photos: Scojobo.com
illos: sThig.com
fire, glad to be a help... I hope it turns out well, or I suppose I'll be the scapegoat; eh, no worries, I can take it
LarryTee & sthig, glad to see you posting... uh, but I don't see any pics
must end every sentence with an emoticon
really :uhoh
i can't help myself
... come along.
Let me see if I can get Darrell to appear this time.
So, I got that last one to post w/photo! You have to go easy on the old man. Here is another one - this is Willie Nelson and his sister Bobbie playing the piano. They were in Bowling Green last year for a show. In both of these shots I was using the Sigma EX 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. It is about the only one I use at shows anymore.
photos: Scojobo.com
illos: sThig.com
LarryTee: WILLIE!!! As Andy Williams says, "su-weeeet." Did he do a Taco Bell jingle :uhoh
Here's a link to last night's shooting at H St Martini Bar
Big mistake of the night: Not checking my battery charge before leaving the house. I had about 30 exposures of power, booooo. (and, hence the lack of diversity in subject at an open-mic night) Comments and critique, as always, are welcome and appreciated.
Must say though, that this open-mic has some tremendous talent rolling through-from singers to rappers to (mostly) poets. And the host, Komplex, who left early last night, is mad talented (you can see him in my U-Turn gallery).
Take care all.
Good shooting,
LeDude
... come along.
What a character. See this man before you die.
http://ozgeier.smugmug.com/gallery/1465006
This slipped under the radar until now. Very cool shots; I can see the character you are talking about in 'em
... come along.
I hope this next couple posts is informative. I recently discovered some new methods in PS Elements which proved very useful for getting a shot processed, and I thought that since I just learned it maybe some other folks would benefit from my experience. This is not advanced. It is also not necessarily the best way to do things. Thus (as always), comments, questions and critiques are welcome and encouraged.
We start with [edit: we start by putting on some music... I've selected Herbie Hancock's "Canteloupe Island" - a mid-'90s released collection named after his most famous song] the shot I took two/three nights ago converted to jpg from raw, completely unprocessed:
EXIF
I wanted to get in tight on Thad here, so I didn't worry about getting the whole trumpet.
This shot was culled from about ten almost identical shots. Some were a little blurrier or had caught a cruddy light artifact in the background or caught Thad between breaths (hence, no puffy cheeks). In any event, this seemed to be the best overall and without any major flaw.
I do notice however, that there are some very hot spots in my near future. They will have to be dealt with somehow, but my methods until recently were very limited. Now they are only quasi-limited.
In any event, I start with Nikon Capture.
1) Color Mode (Under 'Advanced Raw'): set to "Mode I" (a version of sRGB, supposedly for "people")
2) Exposure Compensation (Under 'Advanced Raw'): "+0.33" (I will check back on this later, as it sometimes needs adjustment after other changes are made... this time it will stay.)
3) White Balance: "Calculate Automatically" is altogether worthless... thanks Nikon
Progress:
eeeegads... more to do
*4 & 5 are a back and forth process for me, using the auto-adjustment and tweaking*
4) LCH Editor (Master Lightness): This is like the levels adjuster in Elements and I settle on "4" on the left and "214 on the right. (4,215)
5) Curves: Red (4,241); Green (1,224); Blue (2,215)
*No "curves" are actually created here, just straight lines. I still need to study the curves stuff more to understand what I'm doing and, hopefully, become effective at using them.
My explanation was pretty poor, so here's a screenshot (apologies if it's too small to read):
6) Unsharp Mask: No science to this, but I decide on...
Intensity: 15%
Halo Width: 30%
Threshold: 10 levels
7) Noise Reduction: Actually, no NR here, but I did notice some crud going on in the background... setting Color Moire Reduction to "Medium" seemed to help.
8) Crop: I've already tipped my hand with the screenshot, but I cropped to eliminate a couple problems. One, there were 2 weird bright spots (like one would see if looking at the sun through an almost evaporated droplet of water on a car window) to be rid of. Two, there were the blown light reflections off the end of the trumpet. And, I didn't think it hurt composition any (it may have helped).
Here we are:
Not bad, but nothing that grabs me... and the colors are rather drab, arrgghh. Alright, so what about B/W? Well I've been using the Nikon Capture conversion and getting used to it, but it's limited. And, I've not long ago downloaded the optikVerve plugin for PS, so I'm gonna go there with my jpg for the conversion.
[to be continued]
... come along.
The first thing in the editor that I do is create two duplicate layers of the base image. Names are not important
But, to me, the contrast is too much and that white shirt-deal of Thad's is blinding me... always with the white clothing. So I want to take down the shirt, within theme and without showing a masking line.
First, I take L2 and return to the VirtualPhotographer. On this layer I still use the "Brownie" preset, but now I adjust to make it much darker, decrease the blur to 0, and even add some coarseness by adjusting the "film speed." Processed:
Now the shirt looks right to me... and that bright spot to the right of his playing hand is less painful as well. In order to merge the two I will use the "Eraser Tool" and "Background Eraser Tool." The basic idea is to erase pixels from L1 to reveal L2 below. Thus, I will be erasing the bright-bright shirt and revealing the bright-but-not-ridiculously-so-and-a-little-grittier shirt.
"Eraser Tool"
This is used for the major areas of the shirt and anything not at the edge of will-erase and don't-want-to-erase. Opacity is set to 100% and the brush is set large (100+ pixels) at first. As I work my way closer to the edges I decrease the brush size to about 50. I don't have to kill myself getting super-close.
*It should be noted, that I have turned off L2 while erasing. The redness of the background image makes it obvious when something has been erased on L1... if this weren't true, I would probably add a layer of some bright color to help me in this way.
Getting Super-Close (aka "Background Eraser Tool")
I have tried to brighten and darken certain areas of a photo using Elements and masking tools in the past. My problem with this has always been the harsh edges that appear. These edges limit the amount of adjustment that can be done before the adjustments become obvious.
The Background Eraser Tool is useful, in my mind, because it aids in blending the images (not blurring the edges... I've tried that before and it looks cruddy when done en masse). The eraser circle is present, as with "Eraser Tool," but now there is a small crosshair in the center. And, there are several new options at the top of the screen. The crosshair is the tool's 'hotspot' and the circle is the tool's boundary of activity. The pixels selected in the hotspot will determine which other pixels in the circle (along with those in the hotspot) will be erased.
Tolerance: The hotspot pixel(s) of a certain color/shade will be compared to the rest of the pixels in the circle. Those that are similar will also be erased. Those that are dissimilar will not. 100% Tolerance means that dissimilarity will be 100% tolerated (all pixels will be erased). And, vice versa!-er, only identical pixels will also be erased.
Limits: This is set at either Contiguous or Discontiguous. When Contiguous, the pixels selected in the hotspot and those surrounding will be erased only if they are connected-or, next to one another. Discontiguous simply compares hotspot pixels to all others in the circle.
Diameter is the circle size... and, Hardness (I left this at 100%), if less than 100%, means that the effect of the tool will decrease as one moves away from the hotspot and towards the perimeter of the tool's circle.
Alright, enough of this tool description nonsense (it's found in help anyway).
The key to erasing along the edges, and why this tool is useful, is balancing settings so that a "blended edge" can be created between the top and underlying image. On the boarder between Thad's shirt and face I used the Contiguous mode and set my tolerance high (about 50%). I set the diameter of the circle large enough to cover the gap between what had already been erased and what I didn't want erased (there SHOULD be overlap... the tool should take care of enough that you don't have to be precise-if there are problems, then the settings on the tool should be adjusted) and click-click-click, my new border is easily created. For some of the 'fuzzier' boarders, like those between the shirt and the background or the edges of that blowout to the right of his hand, I set to Contiguous and keep a lower tolerance. The exact level was determined by the effect the tool was having, but the idea was to have some effective blending going on.
After making my way around all the boarders I was left with this in view:
Some touch up was required (using the Eraser Tool) along the bottom of the trumpet, since the edge was so close in color to the shirt. I eyed it the best I could.
So I turn on both L1 & L2 and save to jpg (after saving my psd file).
Finished product:
Whew... hard to learn (though easy now); definitely not easy to explain.
Hope this helps someone. Any clarifications I need to make or elaborations some experts might have, well, throw 'em my way ye Kings of camera, ye Princes(-esses) of Photoshop.
-LeDude
... come along.
These are from the Smash Festival here last year (punk smash up derby if you like)
Been invited back to shoot it again this year but date isnt set.
I taped a band called The Locust (speed thrash death metal - whatever you want to call it), they were opening for a different band that wasn't metal at all. I had no idea what to expect, but I took my spot in front of the sound board, about half way to the stage and all of a sudden they came on wearing ski type masks and the crowd busted into a huge mosh pit. And there I am with all my taping gear strapped to my body. Surprisingly enough, nothing was damaged. I told the guy sporting a leather jacket and a mohawk next to me that I was taping and every time a mosher came kicking and thrashing at me he pushed them as hard as he could. It was actually quite a good show.
I don't know if anyone on here has heard of it, but I'll be heading down to Tennesee next weekend for the Bonnaroo Music Festival. Unfortunately only point and shoots are allowed if you don't have a photo pass. Taping is allowed though, so I'm considering trying to hide my 20d in my taping bag. I won't really be near the stage since I'll be taping, but it'd be nice to get some wide angles of the crowd and pictures of the stage when the lights go down. I don't know what to do. If I get stopped on the way in, its about a 45 minute walk back to the car. I might just be taking the olympus ultra zoom with me and hoping for the best.
Le Dude - Just noticed all of your photoshop tips today. I have a feeling I'll be coming back to that post quite a bit next time I do some editing. Thanks!
Got a shot here somewhere of a chair flying through the air. Cool kids though...all they do is dance..never once have i seen a fight where as i could walk into any pub where footballers/military drink & see 10 fights in one night.
I have Warren Haynes' acoustic live album from it a few years ago, awesome cd.
From 2004? I was there that year too!