Kenny Rogers@Chumash Casino Resort, March 20, 2014: 800mm lens

The title is a tad misleading. I shot Mr. Rogers on Thursday night at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California, from the light board (elbow to elbow with the Lighting Director), but it was with a 400mm f/2.8L IS USM I lens with a 2.0TC rather than a true 800mm lens on a 1DX body (which is full frame.) I shot wide open at f/5.6 using ISO 3200 and 1.7 stop 3-exposure bracketing (all in the EXIF.) I used my Wimberley head on my big Gitzo tripod (see Gear List in .sig.) And I also had a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II on a second 1DX.

We were allowed the first two songs and were restricted to the light board. I had shot Mr. Rogers twice before, in 2006 (http://dwightmccann.co​m …/KennyRogers092​72006.html) and 2008 (http://dwightmccann.co​m …/KennyRogers042​42008.html.) I don't recall such drastic restrictions at those concerts.

This was an experiment. I have shot several concerts at which I knew that I would be restricted to the light board with the 400mm and 1.4TC but wanted to see how the 2.0TC arrangement would work. There was some loss of image quality but most of the softness was either subject or camera movement due to slow shutter speeds (see EXIF.) On the few where everything came together capture-wise I was quite happy although they weren't always the best "moments." 800mm gets about a 3/4 body. With only two songs to shoot I decided not to switch to the 1.4TC although I had it on the light board table in front of me.

#1 The Collage

They look nice and sharp. May i ask, why do you use 1.7 stop 3-exposure bracketing ? Thanks.
When it comes to concert photography, mostly have problems with red and yellow channels (used on people faces, speacially artists).
BTW gear list looks impressive.

D.A. wrote in post #16777600
They look nice and sharp. May i ask, why do you use 1.7 stop 3-exposure bracketing ? Thanks.
When it comes to concert photography, mostly have problems with red and yellow channels (used on people faces, speacially artists).
BTW gear list looks impressive.

I bracket because the lighting changes so fast and is so contrasty that I just found it to be very, very useful. I chose 1.7 stops because generally the adjustment range available is about 2 stops and I like a little overlap. In these images, in several of the brackets, the underexposed (faster shutter speed) image was the only one sharp due to subject movement, but it was still within range to adjust without much IQ loss. When I shot jpegs I used to use five brackets, but with RAW three has proven to be enough. With the 1DX shooting 12 frames a second, the three exposures are very quick although not .25 seconds as some of the exposure times add to that.

I completely understand about the red and yellow 'skin tones' turning orange and often clipping out detail. When that's the case you might want to consider setting your white balance to tungsten which could help a bit to see better what's there. Of course, if you shoot RAW you can always adjust the white balance when you do the conversion but still, having the 'as shot' a little easier to see is nice. There are other options such as profiles in Lightroom that you can try to reduce the deleterious effects of hot lighting. I shoot AWB as the follow spots are supposed to be daylight balanced ... the video guys white balance for the spots before each event ... but of course that makes anything not in a spotlight quite unbalanced.

There are a lot of things I shoot full manual, such as in my studio, so it is not that I am "against" manual, but I have enough to think about when shooting a time restricted concert. Also I am not a 'purist' of any sort. I was shooting jpegs for several years after RAW was all the rage. I made my first $100,000 dollars in photography shooting only jpegs. But I am not inflexible and have changed a lot of things over time.

Nice pics and nice tip that I will have to consider using!

I like the shots. Looks like you were up on stage with him while he was performing.

I haven't been to Santa Ynez in a long time. I worked at the Chumash Casino before they built the casino. It was just inside the bingo hall and were constantly fighting with Cali over having the casino and the state getting their cut. How times have changed.

crimsonblack wrote in post #16813765
I like the shots. Looks like you were up on stage with him while he was performing.

I haven't been to Santa Ynez in a long time. I worked at the Chumash Casino before they built the casino. It was just inside the bingo hall and were constantly fighting with Cali over having the casino and the state getting their cut. How times have changed.

Yup, coming back to these here I'm happy with what I got.

Yes, the rich locals are still in a frenzy that they can't control the casino. They totally can't accept that the tribe is an independent government and that there are treaties in place so these native Americans are entitled to some rights that they are not and cannot control. But beyond that they are also clearly racists, totally OK with a lot of things unless it is the tribe doing them and then it's an atrocity! And, of course, these rich own the local politicians ... those who at one time supported the tribe have learned the error of their ways!

Nice work Dwight. And nice of you to explain your method too

Now.... to get me a 400mm f/2.8 one day...

You'll want the Wimberley head, too, Benon!

Nice shots! Have been reading some of your posts from as far back as 2005 & want to thank you for sharing! KUTGW!