Battle of the Bands

[HeatherSik]

Well I stepped out of my box and took some shots at our church this weekend. There were several bands and boy was it loud but it was a lot of fun.. Here are some of my fav shots of the night. All I had available was my 85mm 1.8.. I had to shoot at 1600 iso so they are a little grainy.. A couple might be a tad soft but thats okay. I am not using these shots for anything. What I really liked was the lighting on most of these. I didn't use a flash for any of them. What are your thoughts?? Thanks for looking.

1.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/Angelmommie2005/img_0589.jpg

2.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/Angelmommie2005/img_0642.jpg

3.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/Angelmommie2005/img_0660.jpg

4.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/Angelmommie2005/img_0684.jpg

5.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/Angelmommie2005/img_0707.jpg

6.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/Angelmommie2005/img_0726.jpg

7.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i124/Angelmommie2005/img_0702-1.jpg

[livewire-photography.com]

Hey Heather, The Last two are really awesome. the expression and passion in the last is really good with great framing
What you have captured in 6 is really great too love the lighting.
Oh and they are not to grainy, as grainy is good :)

Really great effort.
Cheers.

[auroraskye]

I think you did a great job with these heather, particular using the available light. Are you going to give them to the boys in the band, I bet they'll love them!

[HeatherSik]

I am going to try to.. I am sure they would like them also even from a amature like me. :)

[photorookie]

Wow, cool series Heather! 5,6 and 7 are my favorites both for the lighting and the musical passion! But gotta love the sax player in 4 as well.

Nice work, the grain gives these kind of shots character to me.

Thanks for posting them! :D :D

[ShutterMomma]

I was just wondering... how do you meter for those? Seeing how you have backlighting...

[sevillafox]

Very nice heather. The lighting is killer. I really don't mind the grain. I think it adds to the pic. That must be some church you go to. ;)

[HeatherSik]

Very nice heather. The lighting is killer. I really don't mind the grain. I think it adds to the pic. That must be some church you go to. ;)


I love our church. It really takes great care of the youth.. We added a 2 million dollar addition with is a small sanctuary which holds about 200 kids. We added a lighting and sound system a few months ago which is what you are seeing in the pic's.. The high school kids meet often and have a band that plays.. We play contemporary Christian music but we do have some Christian rock concerts there also. We had Superchick (for anyone who knows who they are) at the church when we opened the new addition. Talk about a blast..

Thanks everyone for the comments.. They turned out much better then I thought they would. :)

[tmonatr]

They look pretty good. Did you have to up the exposure in PP in #2 and #4? I ask because I see a little banding, which is something I see if I shoot at high ISO and up the exposure in PP.

[Buckeye1]

Excellent shots, Heather. The colors are indeed vibrant, and the composition of each shot is great. My nephew is in a small band (Fault Not Taken), and they won several "battles" this past year. The one place I went to was so dark and tiny that my 85 1.8 was too long and not fast enough even at 1600:cry:...much too loud as well :p

[Nouks]

Some really nice photos! I think the composition might not be the optimal in some cases, but besides that... Well done ;)

The photos seem to be a bit oversharpened though?

[René Damkot]

#5, 6 and 7 are nice.
#2 would be best, but I mind the cropped headstock, so now I prefer #6 ;)
#1, 2 and 6 look better then the rest IMO because the lighting is less flat: In the others it's mostly on the same side as the photographer, which makes for a "flatter" image...

[narlus]

the lighting in that church is better than most of the clubs i shoot at in boston. 5 through 7 are really nice.

[Sickness]

Nice photos. I wished I could of gone, stupid work. Looks good for such a high ISO.

[Walczak Photo]

Personally, I'd try and clean up the grain/noise a little...even on the smaller size shots here it's pretty evident. If you haven't tried it already, I think something like Noise Ninja would do a spectacular job here. Beyond that, nice work. I really love that last shot...you just can't beat that "grimacing musically" look!

[DizzyV6P]

the lighting in that church is better than most of the clubs i shoot at in boston. 5 through 7 are really nice.

Ditto on the lighting. After a recent shoot this past weekend at the Black Cat, I've learned that good lighting is critical to the overall music experience.