Event - Attempt #1, Concert at The Grail

Mike, you are right, Todd Owyoung is a badass!  I tried to do something similar to the great examples on his website and follow what Jerome said about getting audience shots.  The audience consisted of about a dozen people sitting away from the stage.  A band member's girlfriend did some free form dancing in front of the stage but the outcome is just too dark to use.  So I am left with only band shots, which is what I was determined not to do.

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.

If you're shooting a concert for the next assignment, check this guy out!

Basically, this guy is super badass at shooting concerts. His name is Todd Owyoung and he pretty much has my dream job.

What's cool is that with each set of photos, at the bottom he gives his notes on what cameras and lenses he used, along with general notes on what the lighting was like and what techniques and tricks he used to get his results, which is way cool of him to do. He also opens his photos up for comments and questions which he responds to, which is equally awesome of him to do. I learned a lot about concert photography just by browsing through the comments and notes.

Check out the site!

http://ishootshows.com/

Wow, additionally I just saw that he has a bunch of tutorials and advice on his site too. Here's the link to his advice for any music concert photographers. Pretty useful stuff here.

http://ishootshows.com/2010/12/15/6-tips-new-music-photographer/

 Joe Welk, 33, is repairing a guitar at his in-home workshop. Welk is a certified Luthier and has been building and repairing instruments for 10 years.

Sighting down the neck of a guitar, Welk checks for straightness.

Screwdrivers, files and pliers routinely used to repair and build instruments.

Person at work assignment final photos

Overall:
















Jake Tipton, 27, tattoo artist of six years, prepares ink before doing a stencil for a color tattoo on Steven Jones, 21, at Inked Envy, Feb. 22. The stencil is the first step in doing a tattoo, Tipton explained, as it is the outline of the work to be done. After the stencil, Tipton will fill it in with color and shading.
(exif: 17mm, 1/60, f3.2, ISO 500)

Medium:
















Tipton works on a color tattoo on his client's back. Tipton has been working on the piece for about a month so far, which will fill the client's entire back once completed.
(exif: 50mm, 1/80, f2.0, ISO 500)

Detail:
















Tipton tattoos a bar code for Evan Williams whiskey on a client with the same name as the liquor. Tipton has become renown for his precision with his work, particularly with lettering. After completing the barcode, Tipton scanned it with his phone's barcode scanner which indeed recognized it as the Evan Williams' barcode.

(exif: 128mm, 1/60, f2.8, ISO 1000)

Person At Work

Overall:

DJ Cruz uses energetic music to get the crowd moving at The Shore Lounge late Saturday night. The Shore was full of UFC fans Saturday, as the UFC championship was being played on the many TV's from 7-9 pm, and many stayed after to dance and enjoy the night.

Medium:

The Shore Lounge's own, DJ Cruz livens the room with his dynamic mixes on Saturday night. He translates his high energy personality into his music choices for others to enjoy, and sometimes even dances with people in the crowd to ensure they are having a good time.

Detail:

At The Shore Lounge on Saturday night, DJ Cruz utilizes his talents to create original, intriguing mixes for everyone to enjoy. He's at The Shore almost every night, providing the crowd with great music to ensure they have a fun-filled night.

Person at Work

EnvironmentalMediumDetailFor the person at work assignment I visited Bauer Haus, a small bakery located in Sandpoint, ID. I watched on as owner and operator Anne Bauer, and her husband Ernie Bauer, created dough for her special chocolate cherry scone's. Each pastry is hand crafted and baked to perfection using Anne's own personal recipes she has developed over 18 years. Anne has worked at numerous restaurants including Coeur d' Alene Resort, Black Rock Country Club, and many others in the Sandpoint, Priest River area. She has also attended the Inland Northwest Culinary Academy and graduated in 2003. Bauer Haus distributes all kinds of pastry's including scones, muffins, cookies, and her locally popular Bauer Haus brownie. You can find these delicious treats at local coffee shops in Sandpoint, Priest River, Hayden lake, Athol, Spirit lake, and Newport Washington.

Person at Work

HEY EVERYONE! I have been trying to comment for a while and blogger wouldn't let me so I will try again. Really like all the photos! 

 Could I get some thoughts on my medium and detail shots? I wasn't sure which one was the best. 

Environmental

 Medium

 Detail

       Bob Ployhar, breakfast chef and morning supervisor at Beverlys in the Coeur d' Alene Resort, cooks up eggs bacon and hash browns for guests who ordered room service. Ployhar, who started cooking at age 15 with his mother, has been a chef at Beverlys for almost 30 years. He commented, "To make it in this profession you gotta love food." 

              ---------------------------------------------------- EDIT----------------------------------------------

I was looking again at these and this detail shot might work......I am just not sure about the motion of the spoon. I should have used a faster shutter speed. 

Sweet work photo I came across

I follow a few photography resources on twitter and came across this picture story of san francisco. though the whole collection is pretty awesome, I especially dig the picture of the construction workers. The photographer is a construction photographer which seriously sounds like it would be such a cool job, of course, if you weren't afraid if heights. Seriously though, what an awesome picture for an overall workplace shot!

Here's the link:
http://www.pictorymag.com/showcases/san-francisco/#pictory-335

Here's the actual picture. I couldn't attach it earlier because I was posting this from my phone.

Additional choices for my overall shot...

Jerome: thank you for the comments on my last post. After viewing all the photos from my take once more, I've chosen a couple more for "overall" choices that have some more emphasis on the crowd to show how his work affects the atmosphere of the club...
I think this one demonstrates the way the crowd was affected by the DJ while sort of framing him in the background... but I'm wondering if there is not enough attention drawn to the DJ and too much on the people dancing in the foreground...

This one is very dark, but at the top of the frame you can see people laughing which I think also demonstrates how he affected the crowd...

I think I like the first one but I'm terrible at making decisions...

What do you guys think? Should I go with one of these or one of the shots I posted originally for overall?

Thanks for your help!

Person @ Work

Well, I had some trouble deciding which photos I wanted to put on the blog so, If you all don't mind terribly, I'm just posting my favorites of each section. My apologies for the indecision. Hopefully I'll get some good feedback to help me make my decision.

Over All-

This photo isn't really a technically good one, I just liked their expressions. It's more just for fun

Medium-

Detail-

On Thursday February 24th, owner of the Great Harvest Bakery on Government Way, Teresa Cipicchio allowed me to come take photos during their afternoon baking time. To my surprise, unlike most bakeries, Great Harvest makes their baked goods in the afternoon around 2:30pm rather than in the early morning. Teresa informed me that this is because they normally have businesses come in and do large meetings in the bakery restaurant early in the morning so they must have items on hand before the meetings begin. Unfortunately, due to weather, few customers had showed up all week. Baker Devin Shuck and Assistant Baker Ellen Gatchell worked diligently none the less to create the delicious and nutritious breads, cookies, and pastries that so many Coeur d'Alene residents have come to love.

Person at work... Take 2

This is my detailed... I haven't done captions yet


This is my medium... I haven't done captions yet



This is my overall... I haven't done captions yet


I'd love any feedback anybody has to offer... very nervous about this project

Person at Work (3rd Attempt) - Trigger Point Release Therapist

Brian Sanders, a self-described "body mechanic" uses trigger therapy to release his client tight and painful psoas (groin) muscle at his Coeur d'Alene office on Friday February 26. The psoas is a posture stabilizing muscle that when tense can cause knee, lower back and tightness in the hips. This muscle is located deep in the core of the body and runs from the 12th thoracic vertebra along through the pelvis.



Brian Sanders has been practicing trigger therapy since 1979. Sanders is releasing muscles on the bottom of his client foot using a combination of therapies. When treating clients, he also combines his knowledge of muscle energy, strain/counter strain, trigger point release, regular massage therapy as well as energy work.



Brian Sanders is stretching and releasing a stubborn and deep myofascial trigger point on his client's rhomboids. Sanders' tools are simple, yet effectively therapeutic. His tool box is comprised of his knowledge, his hands, and on occasion his elbows.

I need some opinions...

I had a really hard time with the lighting for this assignment because there was...barely any light. I had my 50mm f1.4 lens, wide open the whole time and I was shooting at ISO 3200 for every shot. When I did get the focus to lock, my lens didn't want to focus on my subject, but on the small bits of lighting instead. Also, I was very limited as to the shots I could get because the DJ booth was not out in the open and it was up against a wall...luckily it was a mirrored wall so I could get some different shots that way. The booth he was standing in was also pretty tall so I had to stand on a wobbly barstool to get some shots of him and his equipment. His area was basically in the dark (the only lighting being from his equipment and some of the crazy lights to the side that were lighting the dancefloor. There were only a few areas I could stand to get good shots and I feel that I did the best I could do under the circumstances. Most of my photos were extremely dark, but here are a few that worked out and I need some help choosing...

(captions are still in progress)

Overall

I like this one because it shows the environment he's working in, and shows some of the people dancing in the reflection of the mirror

What I like about this shot is that it more of an artistic appeal than the first one. It shows a perspective of his work area that nobody else sees. I'm thinking about using this one for my overall shot...

Close-up

This was one of the few shots that I used a flash with. I like it because it's sharper than the others I have with his face in it, and I like the blue-ness of it. (He ripped off a piece of a blue plastic light filter for me to tape over the flash)

The next two are very similar, but I still don't know if I'll choose the previous shot or one of the next for my close-up...

Detail This was the only photo that turned out of a close-up, hand on equipment type shot. It's a bit dark, but the again, the lighting was really difficult to work with, and my exposure compensation is still locked :/. I'd appreciate some opinions on these photos. Thanks! :)