Derek Trucks Band - 10-24-08 Roanoke, Virginia

[BucketMan]

Jefferson Center Downtown, an amazing night.

Still learning with my XSi. Leanred the hard way to know your controls in the dark, lol. A few came out ok, comments/critique welcome.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/dabel/IMG_1210.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/dabel/IMG_1181.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/dabel/IMG_1282.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/dabel/IMG_1245.jpg

[skifurthur]

Some shots would have been good if you had gotten better exposures. ISO 400 should have been bumped to ISO 1600 or even 3200 and you you shutter speeds would have been much better. On the plus side, not too bad for 1/10 sec shutter.

[BucketMan]

Thank you very much for the advice!

I briefly played with the ISO, but left the camera in P for the most part and just messed with the exposure time.

This is how I am going to learn, thanks for the tips!

[johnstoy]

Hey BucketGuy...Nice set and welcome the the tough world of show photography... we mostly shoot without flash, in real low light and usually in the higher ISO ranges... (I'm kind of idling with my show posts lately) our experiences are pretty good to learn from... Enjoy.

[BucketMan]

Thanks for the welcome.

I have a quick question. Shooting in low light with higher ISO's, how are you able to hold the camera still to lessen or eliminate camera shake?

My lens has IS as well as in camera noise reduction (both were on) and I still have issues getting a sharp image. Obviously I am not going to drag my tripod to a show and in this particular case I was one person back from the stage and had nothing to steady my shot with (stage, speaker, etc).

Any hints, tricks or tips would be appreciated!

[blackshadow]

Welcome aboard and pretty good first effort. The composition is pretty good but the shots look a little soft.

From what you have said above I have a few suggestions about improving your technique for the future.

1 - forget about P mode! Use either M, Av or Tv - they all have their uses at different times and give you far more creative control than P will ever allow.

2 - bump up your ISO - I rarely shoot under 800 ISO and more often than not it's 1600 or higher.

3 - Shoot in RAW - RAW gives you far more options in post processing than jpg does.

4 - With your lens it is going to be difficult to get great results under most concert circumstances. It is too slow. If you are serious about shooting concerts you should look into some fast primes or some f2.8 zooms.

Good luck with it!

[BucketMan]

Lots of great information everyone.

I hear on the the other creative zones of the camera, I am really trying to learn this thing, but reading the manual does nothing for me, I am just playing with it and learning as I go, hence this experience.

I do need to shoot RAW, I should have switched that prior to the show for sure.

I hear ya about the lens. But for now, its all I can afford and does a good job in normal light or on my tripod in low light. Cash flow is limited at this point (just bought a house) but a new lens is in the future for me.

I am not specifically looking to shoot shows all the time. I just wanted to try out the new camera and we had good seats and Derek is a big fav. of mine, so why not?

I am sure I will shoot more shows in the future and will take all of this int mind when setting up my camera. Again, thanks for all the info.!

[René Damkot]

If the light is low enough, P will do the same as you'd do on Av: Open up the aperture at far as it will go ;)

I agree with the others on the ISO.

Here 's a site that might be helpful, about the basics of a DSLR: Click (http://www.canon.co.jp/imaging/enjoydslr/index.html)

[moemoe6434]

Welcome aboard and pretty good first effort. The composition is pretty good but the shots look a little soft.

From what you have said above I have a few suggestions about improving your technique for the future.

1 - forget about P mode! Use either M, Av or Tv - they all have their uses at different times and give you far more creative control than P will ever allow.

2 - bump up your ISO - I rarely shoot under 800 ISO and more often than not it's 1600 or higher.

3 - Shoot in RAW - RAW gives you far more options in post processing than jpg does.

4 - With your lens it is going to be difficult to get great results under most concert circumstances. It is too slow. If you are serious about shooting concerts you should look into some fast primes or some f2.8 zooms.

Good luck with it!

I agree with everything here but I only recommend using AV and TV until you learn to do it yourself...... Manual (M) is the only way to go with this type of photography. Av and Tv always give me shots that I was not intending.... I forget which was which but one always under exposed for my liking and the other over exposed for my liking.

[René Damkot]

Depends very much on what metering mode you're using, your understanding of the camera's metering, and the EC you set.

Both Av and M have advantages and disadvantages.

[skifurthur]

I agree with everything here but I only recommend using AV and TV until you learn to do it yourself...... Manual (M) is the only way to go with this type of photography. Av and Tv always give me shots that I was not intending.... I forget which was which but one always under exposed for my liking and the other over exposed for my liking.

There is never "only one way to go" with anything in this world. I almost exclusively use the AV setting. While I'm sure many feel that my photos aren't up to snuff, they seem to work for my clients and myself.

Learn you camera. Try things out...even stuff that isn't supposed to the "right" way and fill your brain with as many techniques as possible because you will need to call on that experience at some point of time if you are going to be a performance photographer.

BucketMan~I recently shot DTB and you can see what I did and the Exif info at http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=590874

[moemoe6434]

Skifurther, I guess I can agree that it is up to you to have the knowledge of how your camera acts to decide which mode to use.... I decide to have ultimate freedom, have you used Manual? I personally can say I started getting MUCH better images once I switched but again, that is me.... YMMV as they say :)

[Milner]

I'd echo what the others have said. Don't be afraid to bump the ISO as needed.
For me I shoot shows with only 2.8 or faster lenses. I generally try to shoot at 1/180 or higher, depending on the lens....

As for Derek, I have shot him a few times. He can be difficult to get a good shot of. He is pretty shy and tends to stay out of the light and he rarely comes forward on the stage.

[bndgrl]

Lots of good info here so nothing really for me to add, but I really just wanted to say hey from your neighborhood!