Do these work?

[bjyoder]

Just like the title says, I want to know what the most critical bunch I know has to say about a few of the pictures I've been saving lately. Lighting on this show was intense, with a huge fall-off - the difference of about a foot. I don't know how these work, as I think they're great, but have had a few people raise an eyebrow. Let me know what you think.

1
http://a841.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/117/l_d0fec4ac1806668179a6f9603269d758.jpg

2
http://a590.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/67/l_e33ee1b63674b89c3563c6b4b301e425.jpg

3
http://a857.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/31/l_f888af3a6a07bbbc57bca4c2ab358ce8.jpg

4
http://a1000.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/12/l_bfd1541386c44eb533eb8578e889a757.jpg

Let me know. :)

[blackshadow]

In general I'd say no.

I quite like #2

#1 are you photographing the drummer or the kit? The drummer is OOF and hidden.

#3 Again OOF

#4 is close... nice focus but too much hand/mic covering her face... if her hand had been an inch or 2 to the left it would be a nice shot.

[londonblue007]

In general I'd say no.

I quite like #2

#1 are you photographing the drummer or the kit? The drummer is OOF and hidden.

#3 Again OOF

#4 is close... nice focus but too much hand/mic covering her face... if her hand had been an inch or 2 to the left it would be a nice shot.

I agree, #2 is pretty slick. same issues with the other 3.

[ThomasOwenM]

#1 I like the motion blur in the drum stick, but, as others have said, his face is hidden by the cymbal and is out of focus. Doesn't work.
#2. The light sunbursting over the performer's shoulder and some real emotion out of him -- good stuff. Works well.
#3. I like both their postures and emotion, also framed well, but out of focus. This one's an almost.
#4. Another almost. She's in focus, very good rule of thirds framing, and she has an intriguing look of vulnerability, but shot is spoiled by the hand in front of face. You're really close on this one. A millisecond later with her hand moved away and this could be killer.

What lens were you using? If it's the 50 mm f/1.8, I feel your focusing woes! I own that lens and have had many almosts because of its struggle to focus in low light. Do you own a flash unit like the 430 EX? I hear people gasp, "flash!" Relax. In the custom functions (#7 I think) you can set the flash to "does not fire." Then the flash unit beams only, thus assisting with the focus. Give that nifty fifty a little extra help.

Another focusing idea. In #3 did you want both performers in focus? If so, twirl that dial to A-DEP and press the shutter button half way to get a reading. A-DEP will tell you the aperture needed to get them both in focus. Then switch to aperture priority mode and use that reading. You could go ahead and take the shot in A-DEP, but that setting is sometimes too limiting.

[René Damkot]

Agree with the previous posters, except that I think #4 could work quite well if cropped *really* tight. (crop off about 3/4 of the image)

[bjyoder]

Thanks for all the feedback! Mostly what I figured, but a surprise thrown in. :)

For #1, I figured as much. For #2, that was the surprise. I didn't like that one initially, but edited it and came up with something I was hoping would work.

For #3, I like it a lot, but I guess my PP skills are lacking. I didn't want to blow out the bodies, but the focus is on the guy's hand, which I see right away (probably no one else, though, lol).

For #4, I like it, but I have heard more than once to crop tightly, so I might give that a try and see how it goes.

Thanks again for the comments!

[René Damkot]

but the focus is on the guy's hand, which I see right away

Might have worked out if the lighting was also more on the hand.
Now the focus tries to draw the viewer to the hand, while the lighting draws to the performers.

[bjyoder]

Might have worked out if the lighting was also more on the hand.
Now the focus tries to draw the viewer to the hand, while the lighting draws to the performers.

THAT is what I'm seeing. I never could quite understand why I wanted to like that one but couldn't put my full effort into it. Problem solved :-P

[johnms88]

I agree, #2 is pretty slick. same issues with the other 3.

Another for #2. How you managed to get facial features exposed somewhat correctly with a spotlight directly into the lens is beyond me.

[jmp]

2 is nice and moody
1 too blurry
3 people see the eyes first, so it seems OOF
4 hand is covering the face too much

[bjyoder]

Another for #2. How you managed to get facial features exposed somewhat correctly with a spotlight directly into the lens is beyond me.

Shooting in those conditions teaches you to somewhat ignore the light meter and shoot from the hip. I knew where they were onstage, and exposed appropriately. Thanks for the comment :)

[shannyD]

i have shot in similiar situations. and you can never seem to get a good shutter speed when doing small shows like that. even with my 50mm 1.4 i had a hard time, with some things.

2 and 4 are pretty good. i like them a lot.

but i feel you on this. but sometimes its hard to shoot from the hip when your trying to apply all your photography knowledge.

the last band i had the missfortune of shooting there were three lights on the whole time, and my fastest shutter speed was like 1/30.

lame.

anyway keep going at it, and have fun with it.

shannon