Argh

Concert photography marks one of my more frustrating endeavors. Sometimes I get it right on and other times (more often) I fail miserably with some shots. I changed tactics with a show I did a couple of weeks ago and set my camera to burst mode.

Before I used to always take my shot in one-shot mode and then wait for my next opportunity. Needless to say with AI Servo mode that it was really easy to lose a shot if the lens was focused on something other than the performer such as the microphone stand or the neck of the guitar. I found in the Since The Flood show that using burst mode would yield me at least one good picture in a given series of shutter actuations since the AI servo focus is constantly adjusting.
That leads me to the frustration of last night. The show was at Warehouse Live in the old warehouse district of downtown Houston, TX. It's a nice venue and it's the first time I've had a chance to shoot there. I did get some good shots, but here my big issue was lighting. Some of my shots that would have really kicked butt were the worst in terms of lighting. I took a little over 800 pictures last night, but the proportion of good to bad was really low in relation to the Since The Flood show.

I'm still in the process of going through the images. Hopefully soon I'll have some of them up on my Flickr page. Here is an example of one where my skill with the use of existing lighting resulted in a bad picture:


This is Nothing, vocalist for the band Mushroomhead. This dead-on shot resulted in a level of noise that was completely unacceptable. The problem for me was that he posed for me to take this shot and the moment was gone as he had a show to perform. I tried to lower the noise level in AKVIS Noise Buster and got this result:


The noise level dropped significantly, but this was the best I could do with the noise and still keep the detail of the shot. The blown highlights and color aberrations also would need extensive Photoshop work to make this a serviceable photograph. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed. But the best part is I got a great shot of Nothing earlier in the evening:


At any rate, I do need to get some more of these shots processed. As always, comments are welcome and encouraged so I can grow as a photographer.

Sunshine

A couple of days after my last post we finally got some sunshine here in Southeast Texas. It was welcomed mainly because I could now start work on some good pictures. Overcast skies are good for really even lighting, but the resulting pictures can look so boring.

I also tried some new film this time as well. I have been shooting Kodak Portra 160NC and VC. The NC stands for neutral color and the VC stands for vivid color. To be honest I really can't see a different because both films seem to be a little flat and contrasty. I suppose I should expect the contrastiness due to the fact that it's ISO160. I shot 2 rolls of Fuji 160C color film (220-size) and I must say I like those a little more than I like the Kodak Portra offerings. After doing a print of one I was rather impressed. I should look into the Superia line of films.

I read about Kodak Ultracolor film, but I cannot find that in medium format anywhere, online or in a brick-and-mortar establishment. Well, I bit the bullet and ordered some 35mm rolls of Kodak Ultracolor 100 and 400. I also ordered some paper that will hopefully add some more saturation to the photos I've already taken... we'll see.

As to the offering of photos for this entry... let's examine them, shall we?




These 2 photos are among my favorites taken from the Fuji rolls. I love the composition on the upper picture (taken at Hermann Park in Houston, TX). The lower photo is just beautiful to me. In both photos (indeed on most of the roll) the colors are very vibrant, more so than on the Kodak Portra NC and VC films. The shots are a little contrasty, but to me it works in both pictures as it helps preserve the detail.


This was taken also on the Fuji film, but this one helps illustrate a little better about my last post. The whole picture seems more dynamic when sunshine is a factor. I need to learn to use it better to my advantage as I learned that sunlight can easily washout any color you come across (more examples later as I don't have access to the machine that contains them at this point).




For those who think I may have forgotten how to use my DSLR, you're mistaken. These were taken in Galveston, TX over the weekend. We have a digital project coming up in my photography class and the picture of the cathedral dome is going toward that project. The seagull was just an opportunity that presented itself on East Beach.

As always, comments are welcome and encouraged. For those of you who haven't noticed, check out "The Sharp Carousel" listed under "Other Cool Blogs." I have seen some of Mark's work both online and off. He has much creativity and skill in him.

Learning

The past few days in Southeast Texas haven't been the prettiest. The last time we had good sunshine was on the morning of 2 February. The sky was clear in the morning and had ceilings by 1:00 pm. Since then it's been one long overcast day.

It's funny how, in course of doing something, pick up fragmented pieces of information here and there, but sometimes we can't seem to tie it all together in order to apply those pieces of information to real world problems. That's what I was like when I started photographing. I would read articles in "Popular Photography" and see terms like depth-of-field, sunny 16 rule, power position, etc. I would find out the meaning behind these foreign terms and then try to apply them only to get negligibly better results. When I first enrolled in a photography course, I learned one concept that tied everything together - that concept was the light meter.

Ok, now that you've stopped laughing, I can explain. I never knew the purpose behind the little number line at the bottom of my viewfinder (as you know, I shoot a Canon DSLR). I knew that a smaller aperture number meant there was a bigger opening and knew how shutter speeds worked... but I could find a way to tie the concept together. I was shooting in shutter-priority mode to sometimes pretty bad results, sometimes pretty good results. My teacher explained the concept of the light meter and the lightbulb in my head went to full output.

I finally understood the relationship between the aperture and shutter speed and how the light meter would help me select the correct values to take the shot. I was elated after class. I was so elated that I went to CVS, bought 2 rolls of Kodak Tri-X 400, and shot the first roll in less that 30 minutes after getting home.

The same thing is starting to happen now with light. In my previous photo class, which was all black-and-white, we concentrated on mastering light and shadow in the picture. In color, light takes on a new dimension in that it will affect how your colors look when the light hits the film. With the addition of color as a new dependent variable, new depths can be achieved with the photograph.

That's not to say I'm a master of light and shadow. I have a lot to learn in all portions of photography. If it were up to me I would add a third class to my school's photography program. I can suggest it, but ultimately I don't control how my state taxes are spent in the colleges.

To illustrate my point about light affecting color, consider the photographs below:




Both of these photos were taken from the same vantage point just a few minutes apart. The sky was heavy overcast. The clouds dispersed the light and made it very even all over the picture. The colors are still there, but not as vibrant as they could be if the sun was out. Now when the sun is out...


This was taken three days earlier in Waller County, TX, just west of the Harris County line. The clouds, which were a beautiful blend of altocumulus castellanus (which was surprising on a day like this as it indicates atmospheric instability) and cirrus clouds, are scattered letting in all kinds of light. The sunlight is letting the colors really pop and providing tonal range within the same colors. In the photos above, you can see that tonal range within the same color is absent.

I clearly have a lot to learn, but after developing these rolls and scanning them in I came out with a new appreciation of how lighting affects colors. I have 4 more rolls at the lab right now that were shot in overcast. I'm sure they will look good, but I'm really waiting for the sun to come out again.