The Grail hosts over a thousand bands a year including some very well known headliners. It is an 18+ venue and everyone is carded no matter what. It is a great, fun scene!
* * * Dysfunktynal Kaos * * *
This was a Hail Mary shot. I took a series of photos with my arm extended onto the
stage, up at the singer with my best guess at exposure. This is my favorite shot of the
evening but I wish the cable was not there.
Both drummers (two of them) wore gruesome masks. The other drummer's was
better but I am just not sure the photos are good enough from a photo 101 perspective.
A touch of software and I think they would be OK for Rock 'n' Roll.
I have an almost identical photo without the eye contact but it lacks the intensity of this one.
I like the sensitive expression of this metalhead and the blue light in the background.
All of these photos were taken with my 50mm f/1.8 at f/2.5, ISO3200-6400 (most at 6400 to keep the shutter speed high enough to overcome my occasionally shaky hands). I should have given wide open a try but in the past, the results have been very soft. I think I paid for my lack of courage. Additionally, I was determined to worry less about getting a decent exposure and worry more about the content of the photos. With the rapidly varying light it was hard for me to do. Lastly, I wanted to try to shoot less than 50 frames. I failed there also. Gotta work harder the next time to overcome my own hangups!
If I want to get into this kind of photography more seriously, I clearly need to get a 20ish mm f/1.4 or 1/8 lens because f/2.8 zooms are not gonna cut it on my crop sensor camera.
Good luck on your own shoots, everyone!
* * * Marily Memorial Edit * * *
Since Marily apparently has a thing for gruesome masks,
I present the following photo for entertainment purposes only.
Since Marily apparently has a thing for gruesome masks,
I present the following photo for entertainment purposes only.
Andreas,
ReplyDeleteMy favorite picture was that of the drummer. I could not tell he was wearing a mask until I read that in your narrative. I really wanted that to be his own expression because that would had been outstanding!
Now, I have a question for you: for those of us that do not have a sugar mommy or sugar daddy :) and/or the budget to purchase expensive lenses to take these type of pictures, is it absolutely necessary to have a 20mm 1.4 or 1.8 lens? Is there any other way I could attempt something like this?
Marily, I did ok with my $90 50mm f/1.8 but I would have liked to get closer with a wider angle lens. As it was, I had to get further back and just do what the 50mm could do. I shot most of it at f/2.5 which is not that different from the f/2.8 of my zooms. Otherwise, high ISO or flash are the remaining options. I think our two cameras have the same ISO capability. I think one could have used your f/3.5-5.6 also but there just would have been less keepers due to longer shutter speed and the resulting motion blur. There are some tricks that cam be used also but they are not that easy for me yet.
ReplyDeleteI've researched concert photography a bit because I'm really intereted in it.
ReplyDeleteBasically, the ideal setup for shooting shows is a kick-ass camera body capable of useable high-iso shots, along with fast lenses that are sharp wide open.
I've also noticed almost every concert photographer uses a very wide lens for many shots that include audience, because you can shoot kind of from the side and get both the audience and the musicians in the shot.
This really sucks for photographers like us because this equipment costs more than we can afford.
However, Owyoung mentions that you can make it work even with an entry-level slr and a kit lens.
I've started freelancing a bit lately and have had the opportunity to shoot a couple of live shows. I end up taking a lot of photos, because with my current setup only about 1 out of ever 10 or so ends up being useable. Basically, you have to time the shot just right to prevent excessive motion blur and get a decent looking shot.
I've even set my camera on a surface or held it as steady as humanly possible and shot at 1/5 or 1/10 of a second and got a cool shot. It's all about timing it just right.
My best shots were with my 50mm wide open at f1.7 and my 17-35 at the wide end and at f2.8. Luckily my 50 is a really sharp lens wide open, but my wide angle at f2.8 isn't the greatest.
I've also found some great photos can be made by getting backstage behind the musicians. This way, you get the band's perspective in the shot, with the musicians in the foreground and the audience in the shot too. You also get some pretty cool light flares.
Ok, neither of you have said much about my photo set. Now my inherent insecurities are feeding on themselves!
ReplyDeleteGood call. All in all, it's a pretty decent set of photos I think. I like the expressions of the lead singer/frontman. Owyoung talks about how he often focuses on one member of a band the most, usually the most energetic member. This guy seems like he would make for the most interesting photos for sure.
ReplyDeleteThe first photo of him is a little tight for my liking. But the expression is great.
Shot #2 and #3 are both solid. Again, great expression on both of them. You captured energy in the drummer pretty well. I think it may have been a better shot if done vertically and a tad bit tigher, eliminating some of the junk on either side of the drummer.
The fourth doesn't do a whole lot for me. More of a nouns/verbs shot and the noise color distortion is pretty bad.
5th shot is great! In terms of image quality, probalbly your best of the set. Nice expression on his face and good framing.
The last picture is OK, but again seems to be lacking adverbs/adjectives more than some of your others. Plus, it doesn't have the live concert feel the others do for some reason.
Here's a little advice if I'm qualified to give it... I wouldn't be afraid to shoot wide open, at least at f2 with your lens. Stopping it down to f2.5 is a little excessive and therefore you find you're having to bump ISO up to 6400 to freeze motion. I'd rather have a slightly soft image than a super noisy one.
Also, don't be afraid to slow your shutter down a little bit. Motion blur isn't the end of the world and could add energy to the photo anyway. Plus, some of these shots of guitarists won't have motion blur if you time them right, even shot at 1/50 or less.
It's always a struggle in low light, but I believe in using as slow of a shutter and as fast of an aperture as you can get away with to ensure the best image quality.
And why didn't you try anything wide angle?
I disagree with your last comment about your lenses. For one, a 20mm 1.4 lens doesn't really exist. I don't think a 1.8 does either.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of the shots Owyoung does, along with many other concert phtoographers, are done at 3200 or often 1600 ISO, at f2.8. He almost always uses 2.8 zooms for his shots, and like I said, rarely shoots above 3200. I wonder if you're overdoing it on your shutter speed. As I said earlier, try slowing the shutter down some.
Great thoughts, Mike - thanks! My hands get a little shaky at times so I probably keep my shutter speed too high to compensate for it. Next time I get a chance I will try what you suggested.
ReplyDeleteMike, Sigma makes a 20mm f/1.8 but it is supposedly very slow at focusing. On my budget, I usually have no choice but to rely on third party lenses. Typically they are much better than kit lenses but never quite as good as the real thing. I have also never had any kind of problem with them. My next lens will hopefully be a 30mm f/1.4 Sigma to get me a better 50ish mm equivalent lens on my 1.6 crop factor camera.
ReplyDeleteOkay Andreas, I'll abuse you since nobody else will.
ReplyDeleteRemember what I said about shooting a concert? Don't just shoot a guy on stage. We need to see what it was like to be at that concert. Show the crowd interaction, show the craziness of the event. I can see some intensity of the guitar player with the "face" or the vertical shot of the lead singer with the mic. I think those two are your strongest images from the edit. But where are the adjectives and adverbs that describe the event itself?
I think if you forced yourself to find a layer or two when you are shooting, even if it doesn't make sense right away, you might be able to start seeing different angles, perspectives and possibilities.
Also, stage lights are a pain in the boo-tay. Especially cruddy stage lights. Sometimes it helps to go for a manual white balance either by make a custom profile in camera or by using the Kelvin setting. Toy around with them a bit until you find one that works and doesn't wipe out one of the color layers.
Good job on taking on a tough shoot. Rock on Andreas.
Did they let you get on stage with them? I would have tried some shots from on stage too if so. Also I would have tried some wide angle stuff to capture more of the environment. I agree with Jerome, these dont give any insight on what it was like to be there. I think to cover a concert you need a good variety of musician and audience/atmosphere shots.
ReplyDeleteAs Jerome has drilled into us, try to shoot from 10 perspectives. I only see one perspective here.
ReplyDeleteJerome, in my post I explained that there was nothing but the band worth shooting. I took photos from on the stage and all around it but because of the lighting, they did not turn out. My wife talked me out of posting any shots with the one and only participating audience member. As a result, I looked at this whole shoot as practice. Better luck next time!
ReplyDelete:-(
Thanks for all the input folks!
Obviously this wasn't the best option for the assignment, but I think given the circumstance you just have to get very creative to capture the feel of being there.
ReplyDeleteSomething that could have worked (depending on the layout of the venue) would be to get back a ways and shoot from behind the spectators. If they're sitting down, frame the band in the distance in between silhouettes of the spectators. Maybe if someone tipped back a beer bottle or gave some sort of moment you could capture that. Maybe they have a mohawk or something that would help make for an interesting photo.
I know these things are easier said than done. I just know from past experience that the more you move around and shoot from different spots, the better chance you have of pulling of a good photo.
I did some photos a few weeks ago for a band that played at a place called Zola in Spokane. The coolest shot I got was from up in a balcony area. It was a neat venue because it had two balconies and a bunch of crazy decor. I used that to my advantage and shot from up high. I actually sat up on the railing which a lot of people wouldn't be comfortable doing, but it made the photo.
It really pays to look around and figure out any way you can get a fresh perspective on the shot. I'm not familiar with The Grail, but I bet there was a way to get a unique perspective in there. It's just a matter of finding it.
I am so in love with the top picture! i agree wish the cable wasn't there but its still a really interesting shot. Love the lighting and the close up. I also think it would've been cool to see the audience's emotion..
ReplyDelete