Sleigh Bells in Grand Rapids, Michigan - 7.10.12

Was really nervous about shooting this show at first because I heard the lighting was tricky (backlit stage & random strobes). Narlus gave me some great tips though after shooting SB a couple weeks ago, so I came prepared and was really happy with how these turned out.

Killer show too. One of the best I've seen in a long time. Sleigh Bells was very tight on stage and sounded amazing. Lexie looked incredible too but that goes without saying.

From the pit I shot everything with the 24-70L. All the long shots were taken with my 70-200. Really wish I had a 16-35L though. 24mm seemed a tad too tight for a lot of the shots and I didn't want to use my fisheye.

1.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/norkusa/7552787​150/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/norkusa/7552787​416/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/norkusa/7552786​264/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/norkusa/7552788​072/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/norkusa/7552784​066/

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very good, like how you used that light

Last one is my favorite. Alexis always looks good #1 is awesome, but if I'm gonna nitpick, I wish her hair wasn't cut off at the top.

Heh, that's why I said I wish had a 16-35mm with me, elrey. I was stuck with my 24-70mm and could have used a couple extra millimeters on the wide end. Took a lot of shots from the pit that had little bits like that cropped out.

Here's another shot from the same spot. Much better crop on on this one but the colors felt "off" to me (mainly because of the magenta skintones on the guitarist). What do you guys think? Am I being too picky?:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/norkusa/7552786​902/

Nice set. Sleigh Bells is a tough shoot but fun when you nail it.

Norkusa wrote in post #14705223
Here's another shot from the same spot. Much better crop on on this one but the colors felt "off" to me (mainly because of the magenta skintones on the guitarist). What do you guys think? Am I being too picky?:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/norkusa/7552786​902/
Sleigh Bells @ The Intersection 7.10.12 by Tony Norkus, on Flickr

I like the first one better only because you can see her face. I also don't mind the slight chop of the hair. For all we know her hair ended there and you framed it perfectly

This one you could just crop to 12 x 9.5 or 8 x 10 to get rid of the guitarist since he's only partially in the frame anyway. This would get rid of your magenta worries and also get Alexis out of teh center of teh frame.

good set Tony. 4 and 6 are my faves. i love the feel of #4. like a gladiator entering the arena.

glad my advice was of some use.


you should popped the fisheye on there and tried some shots anyway (though not if you are just using one camera).

Thanks for the feedback, Cosmo. I'll play around with the crop on that one and see how it looks.

I wasn't sure about #4, Tim. Still think it could use some better editing to brighten her face & eyes. Totally agree with you about the gladiator comment though. When she first came out, she walked right down the middle of the stage and looked straight ahead with that same look. Everyone was going nuts. Alexis really knows how to work the crowd.

BTW, the best tip you gave me was the show being all about Alexis. If you didn't tell me that, I probably would have been going back and forth between her & the guitarists and missed a lot of great shots (that one guitarist pic I posted was taken during the intro before she came on). I just concentrated on Lexie and let the other guys come into the frame which worked really well for me. Thanks a lot for that one!

Great set, I really love the light in #3.

You did a great job. I was not ready when I shot them :/

CosmoKid wrote in post #14706007
Nice set. Sleigh Bells is a tough shoot but fun when you nail it.

I like the first one better only because you can see her face. I also don't mind the slight chop of the hair. For all we know her hair ended there and you framed it perfectly

This one you could just crop to 12 x 9.5 or 8 x 10 to get rid of the guitarist since he's only partially in the frame anyway. This would get rid of your magenta worries and also get Alexis out of teh center of teh frame.

Here's the only point I would make about that; there's enough space open at the bottom of the frame to have possibly gotten all the hair in. It's a nitpicky thing, I know. I agree though, just chop the guitarist out, he's not adding anything to the photo. I would personally crop it right at his elbow. You would have to cut it there or go ahead and cut the lights out between the amps entirely(I try not to crop in the middle of lights)

First and the last two for me. Nice.