GoneFission
5th of July 2005 (Tue), 22:34
I went to the Independence Day celebration in downtown San Jose hoping to try my hand at some fireworks shots. After a great fireworks display, I followed the crowd back to the light rail station (as if I had a choice...). Upon getting there, however, I decided that I needed to find something else to do for a half hour or so:
http://www.gonefission.us/photos/albums/america_festival/1662-crowd_small.jpg
So, I wandered back to the park, where Double Funk Crunch (http://www.doublefunkcrunch.com) was finishing up the last set of the night. I had some space left on my CF card, so I thought I'd give live event photography a try. The lighting was atrocious, but the band was fantastic. I quickly discovered the limitations of the 70-200 f/4 (say it isn't so!)... I just cranked the aperture open, turned up the ISO as high as it would go (1600 on my un-hacked 300D), added -2/3 ex. bias, and hoped for the best (shutter speeds were still only in the 1/60-1/100 range).
The shots weren't spectacular, but I thought they came out decent. Here's a couple of my favorites:
1.
http://www.gonefission.us/photos/albums/america_festival/1684-dfc_small.jpg
2.
http://www.gonefission.us/photos/albums/america_festival/1699-dfc_small.jpg
3.
http://www.gonefission.us/photos/albums/userpics/10001/1696-dfc_small.jpg
4.
http://www.gonefission.us/photos/albums/america_festival/1686-dfc_small.jpg
Other than crop and resize, the only adjustment was levels on #3.
Needless to say, I'm glad I went back to the park instead of trying to elbow some old lady out of the train. An enjoyable experience, and definitely a learning one as well. Dwight McCann, I bow to you!
http://www.gonefission.us/photos/albums/america_festival/1662-crowd_small.jpg
So, I wandered back to the park, where Double Funk Crunch (http://www.doublefunkcrunch.com) was finishing up the last set of the night. I had some space left on my CF card, so I thought I'd give live event photography a try. The lighting was atrocious, but the band was fantastic. I quickly discovered the limitations of the 70-200 f/4 (say it isn't so!)... I just cranked the aperture open, turned up the ISO as high as it would go (1600 on my un-hacked 300D), added -2/3 ex. bias, and hoped for the best (shutter speeds were still only in the 1/60-1/100 range).
The shots weren't spectacular, but I thought they came out decent. Here's a couple of my favorites:
1.
http://www.gonefission.us/photos/albums/america_festival/1684-dfc_small.jpg
2.
http://www.gonefission.us/photos/albums/america_festival/1699-dfc_small.jpg
3.
http://www.gonefission.us/photos/albums/userpics/10001/1696-dfc_small.jpg
4.
http://www.gonefission.us/photos/albums/america_festival/1686-dfc_small.jpg
Other than crop and resize, the only adjustment was levels on #3.
Needless to say, I'm glad I went back to the park instead of trying to elbow some old lady out of the train. An enjoyable experience, and definitely a learning one as well. Dwight McCann, I bow to you!