The Gipsy Kings: [Large Images Warning]

[DwightMcCann]

I was very disappointed in myself on this shoot. I had reset CF4-3 on my 1DMarkII (if that doesn't mean anything to you, it changes the button that invokes autofocus) and forgotten I had done so. When I started shooting with my 70-200mm f2.8L IS, it was not autofocussing. I checked the switches on the side, but no luck. Since I had dropped that lens a month or two back and had Canon repair it, I thought that was the problem, so I switched over to my 24-70mm f2.8L, but it wouldn't autofocus either. By this time, about 1.5 songs of my first three song limit had expired. I was sweating buckets. My fingers were shaking. I tried manually focusing, which is very difficult in that venue because of the constant movement. At the start of the third song my Senior Moment® finally subsided and I remembered I had set CF4-3, hit the '*' button, and ZAP, the autofocus snapped in as it should! Of course, by that time, I was dumbflaggerlized and forgot to move to a couple of different vantage points. Suddenly, there was the end of the third song and I was DONE!

In addition to my idiocy, The Gipsy Kings fired up about four smoke machines full blast starting well before they came on stage making the lighting a murky mess. Anyway, without further whining, excuse making and other rationalizations, here are The Gipsy Kings:

I'm displaying the collage for them as I did something quite different this time with the background itself. It is an image I shot of one of the drum sets, on stage, before the concert and smoke, with a bit of "treatment". I will add here my usual disclaimer that the collage is not for advertising, it is just available for the managers, executives and tribal members who want an image from the concert to hang on a wall.

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/ChumashCollages/GKCollage-1000.jpg


While I think it is a bit soft because my hands were shaking, the smoke was truly amazing!

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/GipsyKings08112005/GK3967-1000.jpg


I know some of you guys like to see a lot of variation, so here's one of the drummers:

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/GipsyKings08112005/GK4021-1000.jpg


And again, SMOKE CITY:

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/GipsyKings08112005/GK3973-1000.jpg

This was the cleanest shot:

http://www.dwightmccann.com/Images/GipsyKings08112005/GK4117-1000.jpg

I will be shooting Al Green on Thursday night and hope to be back to my usual style.

[garbidz]

Their album "Roots" is out of this world...it is deep in theirs..."Gitano soyyyyyy"
I wish I would have been there, thanks for conveying the feeling...aven, aven...
(plus an extra thankx for letting me know that there are others goofing up with the bells and the whistles the moment when your are Not Supposed To!)

[DwightMcCann]

Well, Reunion Island is pretty "out of this world!" :-) Thanks, garbidz, and you're welcome, of course.

[scottbergerphoto]

Nice shots Dwight. I've had a few senior moments myself. Last night I was using my 550's in wireless manual using a meter. I couldn't figure out why the meter worked fine as I test fired each light independently and read EU when I used the Master. Preflash perhaps? I got it after about ten minutes of scratching my head.

[DwightMcCann]

Scott, I use flash so little yet that your problem is not obvious to me ... you saying the preflash on a master on the camera triggered one or more wireless flashes early? How's it supposed to work and what was your cure ... I am sure I will run into this at some point, sigh.

[calgaryphotographer]

Amazing shots man! Don't worry it has happened to me. Biggest aviation event of the year in Calgary, took my 75-300 out, after my friend had played with the eyepeice focus ajustment on the 300D body, shot a whole bunch of photos, which turned out to be out of focus.

[DwightMcCann]

Calgary, thanks ... I wouldn't be stressed if it was simply for pleasure, but the casino pays me reasonably well for my expertise and professionalism so I tense up a bit when these unexpected surprises happen. The last one was when my 70-200mm fell and broke just before Tom Jones and I had to pull out my 300mm f2.8 in order to get the head shots ... thankfully I had brought it, so now it always comes with me to the casino. I am actually considering converting to my next larger Pelican case so I can fit a spare body and lenses and have backup for everything.

[DwightMcCann]

Sometimes these old threads pop up unexpectedly, eh? I was just contacted by a NY outfit about licensing an image from this set for either/both a CD insert and 6 month TV spot for a compilation. I may not have anything they want but I thought some of you might be interested.

[narlus]

photos already taken, yet still producing revenue, are the best ones. :D

i was gonna say that i was surprised you weren't using Cfn 4-3 (or 4-1) full-time, then i saw it's a 2 y/o thread...

[DwightMcCann]

photos already taken, yet still producing revenue, are the best ones. :D

i was gonna say that i was surprised you weren't using Cfn 4-3 (or 4-1) full-time, then i saw it's a 2 y/o thread...
Well, I've been here before and wasn't selected so I'm not holding my breath ... OTOH I have licensed back four or five times. Oh, yes, an old thread ... ;)

[DwightMcCann]

Just got word that the NY company needs images with model releases so I'm out. I think they are going to have a very hard time. Seems odd that they have rights to release a compilation but not images but I expect these issues get complex about IP rights.

[shesgotthepic]

Are they still around? Saw them years ago. Shortly after they went massively huge.

Anyway - the clear shot is very good. I understand you feel unhappy but colorwise and composition the rest are pretty stunning.

As always - you do great. Sometimes technical glitches happen. All we can do is brush it off and move on.

Edited to add: Just noticed this is a two year old thread. Me bad.