Punky Brewsters @ Bank Shots 7-7-7

[GCRollo]

Shoot was pretty fun and went w/o any major hitch & turned out to be a nice shoot. I'm pretty happy w/ the results.

Would like to get a Critique Please as this was my first time shooting this subject matter (But not new to photography)

I took 2 bodies to the shoot: One fitted with 50 1.4, One with 24-70 2.8L
I Set the 50mm Prime on AV Mode, 1600ISO, f1.4, -1-1/3 EC
I Shot the 24-70mm On 'M', 800-1600ISO, f2.8

The 50mm Set Up did really, really well and took some outstanding shots.
The 24-70mm was a little more hit and miss. Partially because of lower shutter speeds and partially because I had to "think" more w/ Manuel Settings, but overall got some really nice shots.

All Images shot in RAW with very limited PP for final product.

Here are a few of the results:

1)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e56/GCR22/Photography/Band%20Photos/Punky%20Brewsters%207-7-7/PB_7-7-07013.jpg

2)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e56/GCR22/Photography/Band%20Photos/Punky%20Brewsters%207-7-7/PB_7-7-07008.jpg

3)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e56/GCR22/Photography/Band%20Photos/Punky%20Brewsters%207-7-7/PB_7-7-7_078.jpg

4)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e56/GCR22/Photography/Band%20Photos/Punky%20Brewsters%207-7-7/PB_7-7-7_065.jpg

5)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e56/GCR22/Photography/Band%20Photos/Punky%20Brewsters%207-7-7/PB_7-7-7_055.jpg

6)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e56/GCR22/Photography/Band%20Photos/Punky%20Brewsters%207-7-7/PB_7-7-7_051.jpg

7)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e56/GCR22/Photography/Band%20Photos/Punky%20Brewsters%207-7-7/PB_7-7-7_050.jpg

8 )
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e56/GCR22/Photography/Band%20Photos/Punky%20Brewsters%207-7-7/PB_7-7-7_054.jpg

Full Shoot Here (http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=210124431&albumId=519965)

C&C Always Welcome.. Thanks for looking

[GCRollo]

Hmmm.. No C&C Yet? :?

C&C Welcome... I don't mind. ;)

Thanks!

[Suicidenote]

Are you planning on some PP? Nice shots, #3 is my fav, but all could use some additional PP to fix the colors.

[simonSE15]

my preference is for images like #3 where the stuff in the background is blurred out. for this reaon I dont like images like #7, because of where you're shooting from (head on) it makes them look like they against the wall. I know other people like this kind of shot though. despite being front on #6 is my 2nd favourite for the good framing.

[GCRollo]

Thank you both for taking the time to comment... I really appreciate it.

Are you planning on some PP?

Mmmm... not really. I figured thats what "The eye saw" and was better to represent it as such. So if a red gel was on, everything was red. What type of color correction do you feel it needs?

As I don't usually shoot this subject matter, I'm not sure of the general school of thought on that subject.. but for me, I guess I would rather have a more "honest" representation of what the audience would actually see.

I kept PP pretty minimal. Some EC if needed, maybe a small adjustment in WB, a few I cropped. Then in PS, I resized and ran a sharpener.

...it makes them look like they against the wall.

In this case, they literally were... when I showed up, I was like "What the He11?"... they were on a deck that was about 30'x30', no stage, and one set of portable gel lights w/ about 5 lights. Pretty low-key gig. I just tried to make it look "bigger" than it actually was.

[simonSE15]

look forward to seeing the next set :-)

[GCRollo]

look forward to seeing the next set :-)

Thank You Simon...

I Have the whole set posted on My Photography MySpace Page... (http://www.myspace.com/gcrimages) (click)

And select ones in My FlickR portfolio. I did 4 B/W conversions on the FlickR site, juts for fun... (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gcr22/)(click)

If you have a chance, take a look... If you like (or even hate) a particualr image more than the ones I posted here, I'd love to know about it...

[Steve Parr]

Wow... looks like some tough lighting to contend with.

Overall, given what was likely horrendous lighting, I think they came out okay. Sometimes, we have to do what we can.

I'm not normally a big fan of PP on concert shots (I rarely do too much), but these could probably benefit from it, just to "bring them out" a bit more...

[GCRollo]

Wow... looks like some tough lighting to contend with.

Overall, given what was likely horrendous lighting, I think they came out okay. Sometimes, we have to do what we can.

I'm not normally a big fan of PP on concert shots (I rarely do too much), but these could probably benefit from it, just to "bring them out" a bit more...

Thanks for the comments Steve.. what type of PP do you feel it needs?

[GCRollo]

Here was a shot I really liked, although it had nothing to do w/ the band.

9 )
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1386/758713210_cfd55bcbb9_o.jpg




I normally do a lot a B/W conversions for the typical genre's I shoot, So I just had to do a couple in this series too.

10 )
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1356/762658011_45e574fd41_o.jpg

[Steve Parr]

Thanks for the comments Steve.. what type of PP do you feel it needs?

I'm an absolute idiot when it comes to Photoshop, so I can't help there, but maybe just some adjustments to balance out the colors and birighten them a bit.

Someone posted an absolutely horrible picture here a few months ago, and then posted the same photo after PP, and it was amazing (wish I could find it). That convinced me that there's room for PP in concert photography, despite my always leaning towards "less is more"...

[René Damkot]

#9 is very nice.
On the entire set, I'ld say you did well in tough circumstances...
Some could use a bt of lightening locally, or toning down of the reds...

Example here (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=2130524&postcount=5)
Some theory here (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/restore-clipped.shtml) ;)

[GCRollo]

Thanks Steve & Rene'

Thanks for the links as well... I'm always up for learning new PS techniques.

[narlus]

for #10, on my monitor it looks like there is too much grey, not enough white.

overall, as others said not a bad job given the difficult lighting. was surprised that you used ISO 800 w/ the f/2.8 zoom while shooting the f/1.4 wide open and at 1600. that's 3 full stops right there.

1 and 3 are probably my favorites; i'd clone out the mic on the left in 1, and watch for mic shadows (like in 3 and 6).

[GCRollo]

for #10, on my monitor it looks like there is too much grey, not enough white.

overall, as others said not a bad job given the difficult lighting. was surprised that you used ISO 800 w/ the f/2.8 zoom while shooting the f/1.4 wide open and at 1600. that's 3 full stops right there.

1 and 3 are probably my favorites; i'd clone out the mic on the left in 1, and watch for mic shadows (like in 3 and 6).

Thanks so much for the positive advice... as for the ISO 800

I Shot the 24-70mm On 'M', 800-1600ISO, f2.8

I started out w/ 800, but quickly realized that it wasn't working for me overall, so I switched to 1600... Just wanted to note that a few were taken @ 800.

You're right though on the 1.4... It never even crossed my mind. I just set that one up for a more automatic rig for quick shots without having to think about changing settings.

Thanks again.