Grinspoon at HiFi in West End

[SakeMan]

So I popped my live music cherry oficially on Saturday night, after sending some of my shots that I took from the frontrow in the crowd to the venue manager I got put on their photog list and had a few acts to pick from this month. The first I was amazed to get, as a long time fan of grinspoon, being allowed to shoot them in a somewhat official capacity was a dream come true (even if it was just for 2 free tix and drinks in return)

I found this challenging as well though, having to get social shots of punters is something I haven't really done so I had a crash course in using a flash via youtube last week and can definitely improve on that side. Also only having 3 songs in the photog pit is not something that I am used to, being front row with your camera you get the whole gig but only one angle so it's a bit of a trade off either way.

After the first 3 songs I hung back a bit with my 70-200 f/2.8IS, it gave me some good results but I missed the focus on those shots a number of times.

Enough talk, here are some shots, would love some c&c from the pros so I can improve.

1.
http://www.coolpc.com.au/images/grinspoon03.jpg

2.
http://www.coolpc.com.au/images/grinspoon04.jpg

3.
http://www.coolpc.com.au/images/grinspoon05.jpg

4.
http://www.coolpc.com.au/images/grinspoon06.jpg

5.
http://www.coolpc.com.au/images/grinspoon08.jpg

6.
http://www.coolpc.com.au/images/grinspoon09.jpg

7.
http://www.coolpc.com.au/images/grinspoon10.jpg

8.
http://www.coolpc.com.au/images/grinspoon12.jpg

[trt-reece]

Set list looked pretty awesome, lot of older hits on there ;) It's also my favourite shot of the set

IMO, lighting in 3 could have been brighter on his face, 5 is a nice crowd shot (i don't like taking punter shots at all :p ). 6 was great timing.

All in all, solid effort.. I've never had to experience the three shot rule (touch wood), but I don't think I would like it much...

[BJWOK]

you did well for your first time champ! some great action in all those shots :)

you're only going to go upwards from here i'd say :)

[SakeMan]

Ah thanks guys, good to hear, I guess it's like with anything in photography, the more you shoot that particular genre the better you will get at it eventually.

- I shot at the same venue again last night, I actually double booked myself stupidly and only my girlfriend reminding me yesterday around lunch time that I have to shoot Jamie T saved my arse. Otherwise I would have been happily clicking away at Paul Dempsey's gig with the venue manager sending me an email going 'where the f*** were you last night!?'

So Dempsey was out, my Triple J connection looking less good than it was but at least I got more practise in at my regular venue and got some interesting stuff of Jamie T so all is good.

[trt-reece]

oh , so no Dempsey? That sucks man!

[René Damkot]

#4 and 5 for me.
I'd try to pull back exposure on #4... It's very overexposed.

[SakeMan]

Thanks for the comments, Rene, when you do your PP what's the main things you look out for with this sort of stuff? I have my PP worked out for the motorsport stuff but with PA I just simply don't have enough experience yet. I try to make sure to look at the histogram and make sure none of the highlights are clipping, likewise for the blacks, obviously with some descretion due to lighting etc as well. Any other tips that might make things easier and improve my work?

[René Damkot]

Well, the histogram should tell you the highlights are clipping big time in #4 ;)

If you're using Lightroom, have a look here (http://www.getcolormanaged.com/color-management/clipwarninglr/). Might explain why the histogram is lying to you.

When I do PP, I usually try to edit a bit "like the music": Harder PP for a harder band.

For the rest, I prefer a more or less 'natural' look (most of the time)

Some of my recent shots here (http://www.damkot.com/Recentworkonline.html).

[SakeMan]

^Thanks for that, very helpful :-) I guess my main problem is getting shots that are over and underexposed at the actual gig and then trying to correct in PP. What mode do you shoot in? I still haven't got much of an idea, tend to shoot in shutter priority and have the ISO set at the highest setting I know I won't have much noise, i.e. ISO2000... aperature is usually at 2.8 and underexposing the shot a bit but of course due to lighting it jumps around a bit and might overexpose the shot.... guess it would be best to shoot these things full manual?

[BJWOK]

i know you were asking rene, but i'll add my thoughts:

i personally shoot M at 1600 the entire time. i change aperture very rarely and more often than not it's set at f/2.8. i'm constantly varying the shutter depending on the stage lights.

this technique works for me in the venues i shoot in regularly :) rene may have a different technique? rene?

[René Damkot]

Manual mostly.
ISO 1600 to 3200, ISO 6400 occasionally.
Aperture: Close to wide open.

If lighting is changing a lot (which isn't as often as you might think; front light tends to be pretty constant even if backlights are changing), I might switch to Av. In that case I'll mostly be spot metering of the chosen AF point (1D series feature).

Least used option is Av with Evaluative metering and EC depending on light / smoke situation.