New photographer, new band

Hi all,

One of the guys I work with has formed a band called fear of falling and asked me to take some pictures of their first gig. C+C welcome.

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Well, with 145 posts you can't be too new a photographer and your 30D ain't a P&S. Small, cramped, poorly lighted venues are the norm. In the first image (well two I guess) I would crop off the guy on the right ... half a person, particularly a face is ruinous. And you managed to get the head of the guitar to exactly obliterate the drummer's face. Your last image looks a little soft and is tilted a bit CCW and you cut off the headstock of the guitar. Nobody said this was easy! At least the first image is fairly sharp.

Most of the concert/band shooters here have put in a lot of time in the trenches to learn to pay attention to all these details, watch the shutter speed and white balance and background and headstocks and microphones and stands, etc., etc. There is much more to getting good images in this genre than almost anyone imagines until they try it.

Dwight,

As always your input is welcomed and spot on the mark. It's strange how I don't see these things until they're pointed out..DOH!

Up until now I've concentrated on portrait shots as that's where I seem to have most control. Am trying to branch out a bit. I keep forgetting that part of PP is cropping, silly me.

Thanks once again, I love learning this craft.

Alistair

Well, after you master bands then you can try sport where there is less time yet, crappy conditions (I never shoot in crappy conditions but I am unimaginably lucky) and just can't get in the right spot! I am going through boxing images at this instant, sigh and may have two good ones from 1500+.

I really like the shot of the singer in the first photo.

Dwight has hit the nail on the head as far as composition etc. I'd love to see a crop of just the singer, I reckon it will come out rather nicely.

Composition is the key to not having to crop. Easily said, hard to do in some of these tight venues. If you hadn't said this was a pub, I would have thought it was someone's house!

I have to laugh at Dwight's later post as I did sports first!