Lydia, Middle East, Upstairs 04Mar09

[Compact Diss]

Checking out listings yesterday for a show to go to I came across this band signed to Universal Motown. Went to their MySpace, listened to some music, decided to go.
I was surprised to find out that the lead vocal is a man, the female in the band shares some singing duties, but this is not a female band backed by a bunch of guys. I was corrected before the show by a couple of the 110 fans packed into the venue...
This place is notorious for terrible lighting, just ask Narlus. Tonight was my first real attempt using CS4 to try and save images and come up with something better than B/W conversion which is what I usually do with shots from this place...I don't know if I succeeded, but here you go...enjoy, C&C always appreciated...the band is on tour, check them out if they hit your area.

1.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3331812265_83c7c7610d.jpg

2.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3547/3331812217_358eff9f57.jpg


3.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3334/3331812159_9514b50b0b.jpg

4.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3299/3332648486_c22a979b4e.jpg

5.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3375/3331812241_ec3f718890.jpg

[justAL]

You don't know if you succeeded?

Looks great! I really miss the look of grain and with digital everyone seems to be caught up how clear and sharp shots will be. 1,2 & 4 are my favourites.

Thanks!

[René Damkot]

#1, 2 and 4 look very nice. So yes, IMO you succeeded. What did you do? ;)

[narlus]

yeah, these look very good. 1, 3 and 4 are on my scorecard.

[Compact Diss]

Thanks so much for enjoying them. When I first post an image, I'm not quite sure about them. It takes going away from it, I am much happier with them after I see them now.
It may not be new, but with the CS4 I used the duotone mode, there are a bunch of preset tones, I tried those out to find something I liked, not necessarily the best look, but I'm not good with colors anyway so I have to go with what works.
On #3 I layered the image with a B/W, changed the blend mode on another layer, flattened them.

Just for fun, here are some of the originals, let's you see the real picture from the venue...

2a.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3652/3332800698_87ee1391c5.jpg

3a.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/3332801080_57925cfc5a.jpg

4a.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3547/3332801588_3991a36e61.jpg

5a.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3391/3331963637_b03b2d97f6.jpg

Thanks for looking!

Joe

[Coppatop85]

I tried to shoot here. The horrible lighting, which is usually RED, is very hard to shoot with.

[SNSagency]

1 and 4 are the real stand out shots here.

Good selection of shots

[narlus]

I tried to shoot here. The horrible lighting, which is usually RED, is very hard to shoot with.

it's more orange-y than red.

[iareRay]

i'm a fan of Lydia! only got to see them live once!

Love the shots of Mindy!

[DwightMcCann]

it's more orange-y than red.

Ask the expert! :-) I am forever grateful that I don't shooting in this place! :-)

[jaszypoo]

i'm a fan of Lydia! only got to see them live once!

Love the shots of Mindy!

I am one as well! Great shots. OP!