Mammal @ Bizzo's - C&C Please!

[niqqunos]

Hi all,

Had the second outing with my new Sigma glass tonight to see Melbourne hard rockers, Mammal @ Caringbah Bizzo's. The lighting was much better than my first gig with the Sigma gear (which can be seen here (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=610915)).

I used the 70-200 for the most part, and stuck to about halfway down the medium sized room (holds about 350) and from behind the sound desk. I've read that the Sigma lenses are quite soft wide open so I aimed for f4 or f3.5 at a minimum and 1/160. Fortunately I was able to set the ISO to 800 which has noticeably less noise than 1600 on the 350D.

Personally, I am very proud of #3 (which I suspect is the compression and resizing causing the softness, its much sharper in Aperture) and I quite like the one of the guitarist.

C&C both welcome and encouraged! :)

Anyway, enough rambling, here's the pics:

1.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/3104035757_e0f68b04fb.jpg

2.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3242/3104035595_3c39ce4f44.jpg

3.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/3104035705_2eb93ef71e_o.jpg

4.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/3104035821_936a781c82.jpg

5.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/3104867088_78415183f4_o.jpg

[René Damkot]

I like the first.

Mind your exposure! (or fix it in the raw converter)

[johnstoy]

These are pretty dark for me...

I'm surprised at your framing and composition.... The faces are in dark shadows, a mike is in the face, and hands are cut off...

I still think this kind of work is about faces...
When you can't see them in most of the pics, than it's a tough call...

[niqqunos]

These are pretty dark for me...

I'm surprised at your framing and composition.... The faces are in dark shadows, a mike is in the face, and hands are cut off...

I still think this kind of work is about faces...
When you can't see them in most of the pics, than it's a tough call...

Thanks for your critique John.

I know what you mean about things like mic placement and shadows detracting from a photo, but I think those things are exactly what makes live music photography exciting and interesting - working with the subject matter to capture the essence of the performers. In this case, the singer was a ball of energy, bouncing around the stage and pulling faces to the crowd so I think the first shot of him really captures that vibe, and for someone who hadn't seen the show but saw the photo would have no doubt as to what being there was like.

I guess my style at the moment is more of a fly-on-the-wall or candid form of live music photography... I see guys like Dwight's shots and they're technically perfect and I think that until I'm at a stage where I can do that, I'll let the performance dictate the shot a bit more and work within the boundaries of my abilities and equipment.

In regard to darkness, I'm still getting used to metering and trading off aperture and shutter speed to find the right mix - this time I was spending more time on getting a focused and sharp image but I appreciate your thoughts and will concentrate on that aspect of it next time!

[Compact Diss]

#2 is very nice.

[niqqunos]

Here's a couple more...

6.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/3105407661_9af5176b63.jpg

7.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/3105407557_af45680a47.jpg

[londonblue007]

#2 is the best of the bunch. #1 is ok, I don't mind the mic and shadow that much. #3 and 5 are both OoF. #5 looks like the focus is on the crowd in front of the band. #3, I think is focused on the end of the mic, but not really either.

as far as framing goes, 1, 2, 5, & 7 are pretty good. 6 could be a little wider, get all of his mic and hands and arm in frame. 3, I don't like the angle, the framing, crop, anything. You cut off the back of his head, everything is way to the lower right. Sometimes that can work, but it didn't here, IMO.

7, while ok framing, isn't a very good moment.

4 is too dark, and the framing isn't very good either. For a bass player, I'd rather see the whole guitar, without the ends being cut off. If you are going to frame it "portrait", then get wide enough to fit everything. It just doesn't work otherwise.

I'd take the ISO all the way to 1600. I'd rather a bit of noise, then dark shots. I think most would agree. I've used the Sigma lenses, and they aren't that soft at f2.8. I think it sometimes depends on the lens itself. So, I would have taken it all the way to 2.8. Also, the 50mm kicks ass in venues like this. Sometimes it's all I'll use.

[johnstoy]

niqqunos... It would be great, if you could visit this forum more often... I recall some of your posts from two years ago...
We don't see much of you around here, and without feedback from you, it's tough to try and give constructive comments... I hope you can spend more time here now, and in the future.


These two ( #6, #7) most recent pics posted are pretty good... Have you had a chance to possibly adjust the yellow light? Maybe adjusting the white balance would help reduce the overwhelming yellow influence...

Keep posting, and we'll try to give you feedback.

[TByrne]

While all of these images capture a dynamic immediacy, it's the yellow color cast that creates a graffiti grit. And grit is an elemental component of the R-N-R concert experience. Plus the powerful compositions which show us pieces works. As we comb memories of concerts, it's the pieces and bits that come burbling back. You've assembled those particles well. Yeah... these rock!

[niqqunos]

niqqunos... It would be great, if you could visit this forum more often... I recall some of your posts from two years ago...
We don't see much of you around here, and without feedback from you, it's tough to try and give constructive comments... I hope you can spend more time here now, and in the future.


These two ( #6, #7) most recent pics posted are pretty good... Have you had a chance to possibly adjust the yellow light? Maybe adjusting the white balance would help reduce the overwhelming yellow influence...

Keep posting, and we'll try to give you feedback.

Yeah, its been a while since I was doing a lot of live music work, and now that I've got the new glass I'm keen to get to a lot more shows, and with that, be posting here much more often.

For me, its very much an exercise in taking in as much as I can from all of you guys and trying to apply it myself, whether its finding the right compromise of light and dark, sharpness, framing and balance.

Its early days and I really appreciate you all giving the time and effort to assist with your critique - its been very helpful and useful!

Now I just need some more decent shows to shoot! :P

A few more with some white balance, sharpness and exposure work done on them:

8.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3228/3109381645_080788dfec.jpg

9.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/3109381589_d176b0ece8.jpg

10.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3220/3109381535_61ea33a31e.jpg

11.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/3109381451_9b6fdecd65.jpg

[blackshadow]

Nice work - #10 starts to give some idea of the stage presence of Mammal.

[londonblue007]

last set is much much better then the first round

[johnstoy]

I really like #8 and
#9...
A considerable difference from the first ones...
Good job.

[niqqunos]

Thanks guys...!

Based on your critique I have saved a few adjustment presets in Aperture from this set that will hopefully give me a bit of a benchmark for future PP adjustment workflow.

Appreciate all your time and help!