Outtakes at Lionel Richie!

[DwightMcCann]

I am often asked if I ever take any bad pictures! I shot Lionel Richie last night at the casino. I took 1235 frames in the first three songs ... I overflowed the buffers on two 1D Mark II bodies. It was a riot! I have spectacular shots mixed in with these others that I am going to share. I don't usually do this, but the good ones, which will come later, are so good that I need to balance my karma. Anyway, these are only a small sample of the garbage I collected. I have several whole series where the AF was on the microphone and the DOF is so shallow the way I shoot that nothing of him is in focus. These are all straight from the camera with just resize and sharpen.

[DwightMcCann]

And lots more!

[DwightMcCann]

And I don't want to forget excellent exposures!

[taygull]

Gee wiz Dwight...how can so much talent and so much gear end up with so much crap?


WOW! I've always wanted to say that!:lol:

[DwightMcCann]

Gee wiz Dwight...how can so much talent and so much gear end up with so much crap?

I use the crap to fertilize the rest! ;)

[taygull]

I use the crap to fertilize the rest! ;)

I wish I had some of that fertilizer....it sure works wonders!:p

[grego]

Those are awesome Dwight. Can you give me any advice on how to achieve those wonderful compositions and exposures? :)

[PhotoJourno]

Very nice. "..Hello, Hello, is this the shot I am looking for ?"...
I found in concerts of this sort that the lighting always throws my gear -and self- for a loop. One moment you are set with the reddish light, and then the white lights spike up, overflowing the sensor with brightness. Or the opposite as well. My least favorite is the red to blue change, which in many shows is almost standard, and constant.
Nice shots nonetheless. Lionel still looks as he did in the 80s.

[DwightMcCann]

Those are awesome Dwight. Can you give me any advice on how to achieve those wonderful compositions and exposures? :)


Yes, try to track a fast moving singer who is working both sides of the stage from about ten to fifteen feet away with a 300mm lens set to f/2.8!

[DwightMcCann]

Very nice. "..Hello, Hello, is this the shot I am looking for ?"...
I found in concerts of this sort that the lighting always throws my gear -and self- for a loop. One moment you are set with the reddish light, and then the white lights spike up, overflowing the sensor with brightness. Or the opposite as well. My least favorite is the red to blue change, which in many shows is almost standard, and constant.
Nice shots nonetheless. Lionel still looks as he did in the 80s.
Oh, this really doesn't bother me at all! I have at least 20 images that are magical ... they are the ONLY ONES that count. The number of bad images you get is not an interesting statistic. Percentages mean less than nothing. It is the number of good images you get that counts, period. If it takes a million total to get twenty good ones I'm fine with that. I am converting from 4GB to 8GB CF cards next week. Think about it ... 1235 images in three songs ... it was almost 4GB of images as Large jpegs. I'll have my good images up in a week or so, maybe sooner.

[Maureen Souza]

It's nice to know you are as human as the rest of us with our bad shots, Dwight!

I have actually had much better success with my 5D than my 20D but I figure I have a little better advantage now....When I got the 20D I didn't know too much about using an SLR. Now I feel a lot more comfortable and use Manual Mode almost all the time.

[bachscuttler]

And I don't want to forget excellent exposures!

I love the high key treatment, diffuse glow and shallow depth of field on the 1st shot in this post :p

I'm living on meatloaf until October to get the MKIIN and this shot alone will keep me going, do you mind if I set it as wallpaper on my PC?
Would you care to share your settings on this shot? and which alcohol were you drinking...Jack, Wild Turkey, Jim Bean?

The nearest I've been able to get is Rebel XT/JD

----------->>>>>goes and stands outside Principals office----->>>>:lol:

[wu_wei0]

Oh my, Dwight!! Are these from impending birthday eyes?? Interesting color, exposure, compodition and focus--of course, none of them together. ;)
For some reason the first one reminds me of sesame street and gives me the willies. Nice 'pit shots, though. :D
Can't wait to see those magic ones-that voodoo, that you do, so well. LOL
Thanks for this evening's smile.

~wu

[Steve Parr]

Dude, you're shattering the myth...

:lol:

[Nidz]

Makes me feel better that even the pros take some bad pics. It's good to see were not all getting that perfect shot off first time. I have a question. You can obviously hear the camera going off. Does this ever annoy the people you are taking photos of? I mean you have to get fairly close to get the photos that you take and I guess the crowds would often be quiet while the songs are going on.

[Carzee]

Lets start a chant for the "money shots".

C'mon Dwight... this is just a tease!

[Dragonfli Spirit]

Takes a great man to admit that he too makes mistakes :)
Thank you Dwight.
I live next door to a pro photographer who would have all and sundry believe he never makes them. Sadly, as a member of our local camera club, he doesn't offer constructive critisim either, just critisim. :(
It's nice to know you guys are as 'human' as the rest of us :)

Now... tell me really - where did you get those shots?! ;)

Ooo... Happy Birthday for yesterday too :)

[René Damkot]

Think about it ... 1235 images in three songs
Just thought about it: 3 songs, about 4 minutes each (?)....
That's over 100 shots a minute!!! :lol:
I must say, I am a bit different; I might manage to get of about a 100 shots in 3 songs. I really wouldn't know what to shoot more. Then again, I don't bracket, and I do have to wait for the light to get right and the people to be not in front of each other on the smaller stage.
Nice post. Puts things in perspective a bit ;)

[woman4life]

I think I was the one that asked (at least most recently) so I soooooo appreciate this. BTW, I am a fan of the armpit shot. ;) I think it's pretty cool to post those, too.

I agree... if you can get a few really outstanding shots, no one will care too much about the others. Thanks a lot. I do feel a bit better.

BTW, I signed up for a class on my camera for Aug. 1. I think that will help. I know some about photography and exposures but all geared to film cameras, and I need to learn all the features my camera has. I think that will help a LOT.

--Melanie

[DwightMcCann]

It's nice to know you are as human as the rest of us with our bad shots, Dwight!

I have actually had much better success with my 5D than my 20D but I figure I have a little better advantage now....When I got the 20D I didn't know too much about using an SLR. Now I feel a lot more comfortable and use Manual Mode almost all the time.

Mo', what you have is, I believe, simply called "Talent!" :-) Thanks!

[DwightMcCann]

I love the high key treatment, diffuse glow and shallow depth of field on the 1st shot in this post :p

I'm living on meatloaf until October to get the MKIIN and this shot alone will keep me going, do you mind if I set it as wallpaper on my PC?
Would you care to share your settings on this shot? and which alcohol were you drinking...Jack, Wild Turkey, Jim Bean?

The nearest I've been able to get is Rebel XT/JD

----------->>>>>goes and stands outside Principals office----->>>>:lol:

First, I thank you for pointing out that these are high-key and low-key shots ... I now see how truly excellent they are!

One of my bodies is a IIN and it is slightly better in a few ways that may not affect the images directly. Worth every penny.

Yes, you can use these as wallpaper but I would suggest waiting for the intakes ... they will be bigger! :rolleyes:

The casino does not allow alcohol where there is gambling ... the only alcohol is in the very expensive restaurant upstairs. I, however, do drink and have a limit of two of whatever ... I am a cheap drunk.

[DwightMcCann]

Oh my, Dwight!! Are these from impending birthday eyes?? Interesting color, exposure, compodition and focus--of course, none of them together. ;)
For some reason the first one reminds me of sesame street and gives me the willies. Nice 'pit shots, though. :D
Can't wait to see those magic ones-that voodoo, that you do, so well. LOL
Thanks for this evening's smile.

~wu

Wu_gelina, you just like me! :-)

[DwightMcCann]

Makes me feel better that even the pros take some bad pics. It's good to see were not all getting that perfect shot off first time. I have a question. You can obviously hear the camera going off. Does this ever annoy the people you are taking photos of? I mean you have to get fairly close to get the photos that you take and I guess the crowds would often be quiet while the songs are going on.
To be honest, I don't know. The only complaint about my shooting I have ever had from the audience was at a small club when I was shooting flash and someone complained about the flash ... probably just to make themselves feel powerful. In general the talent is so much louder than the camera that it is imperceptible I think. Plus the talent usually had on earphones for their monitors and can't hear anything else anyway. As for those audiences, I usually don't stay in one place very long and they are normally so awed by that huge white lens that they don't notice the sound.

[DwightMcCann]

Lets start a chant for the "money shots".

C'mon Dwight... this is just a tease!

As the talent often says, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

[DwightMcCann]

Now... tell me really - where did you get those shots?!

Steve Parr found them on the floor of the ladies facilities in Surrey-on-Rhime and knew I needed some images to aspire to. :-)

Thanks for the birthday wishes ... we had a grand time last night with cake and ice cream ... all those under five (of which there were three) went ballistic afterwards with al the sugar!

[DwightMcCann]

Just thought about it: 3 songs, about 4 minutes each (?)....
That's over 100 shots a minute!!! :lol:
I must say, I am a bit different; I might manage to get of about a 100 shots in 3 songs. I really wouldn't know what to shoot more. Then again, I don't bracket, and I do have to wait for the light to get right and the people to be not in front of each other on the smaller stage.
Nice post. Puts things in perspective a bit ;)

Thank you, Rene. Please note that there are no "from a distance" shots in this lot. You are very correct (as usual) ... there is a whole different style of shooting in this closeup range. I keep to f/2.8 for isolation ... that's what gets those really wonderful gradient backgrounds that I like ... and simply track the target waiting for the right look and then I pull the trigger. Sometimes the artist will stand still, look at the audience and sing with the microphone out of the way ... that's where I overflow the buffer and switch cameras. At 8.5 fps and five shot brackets I grind up a lot of CF quickly. But some of the better shots are where I am tracking, waiting for the AF to pick up that close eye (which it doesn't always do) and fire. As you can see, tracking is a hit or miss proposition ... sometimes I lose them completely and have to take the camera from my eye to locate them. Unlike sports I tend keep one eye closed to force my attention to composition and focus in the viewfinder. I also switch portrait and landscape mode frequently and switching AF focus points, too. I use spot metering so when they walk out of the frame my exposures becoming "interesting"!

[DwightMcCann]

I think I was the one that asked (at least most recently) so I soooooo appreciate this. BTW, I am a fan of the armpit shot. ;) I think it's pretty cool to post those, too.

I agree... if you can get a few really outstanding shots, no one will care too much about the others. Thanks a lot. I do feel a bit better.

BTW, I signed up for a class on my camera for Aug. 1. I think that will help. I know some about photography and exposures but all geared to film cameras, and I need to learn all the features my camera has. I think that will help a LOT.

--Melanie

Thanks! Yes, more of us should take classes. I am searching for some in my area. I need workflow, color management, PS, printing, matting, mounting, etc. I am comfortable with running the camera.

[basroil]

so what is this now, 6 mistakes out of >1k pictures? 99% sounds nice to me... sure wish i had two 1d bodies to max out ;)

[wu_wei0]

Wu_gelina, you just like me! :-)

Who spilled my secret? ;)

~Wu_gelina

[DwightMcCann]

so what is this now, 6 mistakes out of >1k pictures? 99% sounds nice to me... sure wish i had two 1d bodies to max out ;)

Well, you know I didn't put all the outtakes here ... there are guidelines you know! I figure 20 of 1235 ... so less than 2%. :-)

[jgbeam]

Ain't digital great? Those bad shots didn't cost a thing.

Thanks for sharing the junk shots - makes us all feel a lot better knowing we're not the only ones.

Jim

[DwightMcCann]

I have reduced the keepers to about 230 ... which includes a fair number of almost duplicates. I hope to get the final 20 or so selected and a collage created in the next couple of days and then I'll put up my normal exhibit. I did pay more attention than usual to the ones I discarded ... boy, I got a lot of magnificent stuff with only 1/2 of Lionel's head ... couldn't figure out how to make two left halves look like a whole though!

[jgbeam]

When I shoot dress rehearsals for a stage musical I end up with about 2500 shots. I pick a half dozen to process for the theatre's PR department and they might pick one or two of those for the newspapers and a couple for the website. I do no processing on the leftovers, but I resize them all to under 100k, put them on a CD with a nice label and sell them to the cast members for seven bucks each. They love having them and I don't care what they do with them. It would be a shame for them not to be shared and I'm not trying to make any money on the photos.

[DwightMcCann]

jg, I do want to make a profit, but the people I shoot generally take exception to me selling their images without their expressed written permission and usually want a HUGE flat fee plus BIG percentage of the take if I sell to anyone other than them. I don't bother. I usually only post process about 8 to 24 images from a concert but tend to save all "keepers", maybe 50-250 images. I currently keep about 170,000 images on disk.

[saturnin]

yo dwight, post a good one from this session... :D

[DwightMcCann]

yo dwight, post a good one from this session... :D

I will be posting a selection here in Performing Arts in the next couple of days in my usual style. Hey, wait a minute, aren't all of these good? :-):confused:

[DwightMcCann]

I apologize for not getting Lionel up yet! I just finished post processing him last night and tonight I am shooting Intocable, a Latin Grammy winning group. What little time I might have had tonight has been filled by single parenting my daughter so Mom can attend a business dinner, sigh ... she doesn't even bring home any good eats!

[taygull]

I apologize for not getting Lionel up yet! I just finished post processing him last night and tonight I am shooting Intocable, a Latin Grammy winning group. What little time I might have had tonight has been filled by single parenting my daughter so Mom can attend a business dinner, sigh ... she doesn't even bring home any good eats!

You sure do have that "Latin Connection" going as of late!

Do you really need the good eats anyway.....:rolleyes:

[DwightMcCann]

You sure do have that "Latin Connection" going as of late!
Yes, the Chumash Casino Resort is purposely doing outreach to the Latin community as they are a very underrepresented community of performers in the other large venues in the area. Also, the Latins seem to spend more of their disposable income on entertainment ... and there is a fair amount of money in these communities due to the successes generated by the hard work ethic ingrained in most of the members.

Do you really need the good eats anyway.....:rolleyes:
No, in fact that is a major problem for me these days, sigh. Hey, anybody know if the "hoodia" stuff I keep getting SPAMMED about really works? :p

[gmen]

:lol: Good thread Dwight...

I have been tempted to post an entire football shoot by way of an example of what/how I shoot... but I've not been brave enough/got round to it yet :lol: Maybe sometime soon! Although it might have some serious bandwidth issues!

---- Gavin

[muscleflex]

we want good pics?!!! :D

[DwightMcCann]

we want good pics?!!! :D

OK, by the weekend. ;)

[DwightMcCann]

:lol: Good thread Dwight...

I have been tempted to post an entire football shoot by way of an example of what/how I shoot... but I've not been brave enough/got round to it yet :lol: Maybe sometime soon! Although it might have some serious bandwidth issues!

---- Gavin

But then you would need pictures of yourself shooting the game ... and we all know you are camera-shy!

[DwightMcCann]

Lionel has been posted: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1727467#post1727467

[gmen]

...and we all know you are camera-shy!Whatever gave you that idea? ;)

---- Gavin

[DwightMcCann]

That no one here knows what you look like! Well, maybe Spencer! :-)

[gmen]

That no one here knows what you look like! Well, maybe Spencer! :-):lol: Maybe he has a pic... I might, at the very least, be in the background of one of his football shots :lol:

---- Gavin

[DwightMcCann]

:lol: Maybe he has a pic... I might, at the very least, be in the background of one of his football shots :lol:

---- Gavin

Well, let's get straight to it ... you have a camera, tripod and remote shutter release ... if you wanted use to see you it would be a done deal! I am not holding my breath to see your mud splattered physiognomy. :rolleyes: