First Concert Shoot

[mkmo]

I was covering the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (http://www.nffty.org) this weekend and got a chance to shoot the after party concerts. This was my first experience shooting a live concert. Here's one of my favorites. This is Jessie Hill from The Nextdoor Neighbors (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=164581262).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/2379013149_63ef00db88_o.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/2379013149_63ef00db88_o.jpg)

They played some incredible music... it was so good I was having trouble holding my camera still.

Anyways, CC is welcome.

[Nouks]

First concert shoot? Well done!
Really nice photo. Guess you should do this more often (will you?) ;)

[msurdin]

Nice shot ...

[mkmo]

Thanks for the comments guys. I certainly hope to do this again. It was lots of fun. Any tips on how to land more gigs like this? I already made contact with the band and organizers of the festival. I will also contact the venue.

[Nouks]

Have a read over here for some "insiders info", might be very helpful:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=226809

[René Damkot]

Nice balance between flash and ambient (okay, maybe a *bit* much flash ;))
Was any noise reduction used, or is her skin (and the 30D at ISO 800) so smooth?
It could be natural, but somehow it looks a bit processed to me.

However: Nice timing & nice shot.

[mkmo]

Nice balance between flash and ambient (okay, maybe a *bit* much flash ;))
Was any noise reduction used, or is her skin (and the 30D at ISO 800) so smooth?
It could be natural, but somehow it looks a bit processed to me.

However: Nice timing & nice shot.

I'm just glad they didn't mind me using flash! I don't use any noise reduction software (e.g., Noise Ninja). However, the lack of apparent noise most likely comes from

a beautiful subject
a 25% crop
a tiny bit of skin smoothing


I've posted this in several forums and you're the first to think it looked processed. I'm a big stickler when it comes to skin smoothing (I hate it when it's overdone) and try to keep it to a minimum in my photos, so I'm surprised you picked up on it. Maybe you have a really good eye... or maybe you're an even bigger stickler than I am ;). I'll try toning it down a bit more and see if there is a noticeable difference.

Thanks for the feedback!

[René Damkot]

Maybe you have a really good eye... or maybe you're an even bigger stickler than I am ;). I'll try toning it down a bit more and see if there is a noticeable difference.

Hahaha. Probably a bit of both... I'm pretty allergic to skin smoothing / NR...

I'm curious to the version without it :)