Ryan Adams & The Cardinals Town Hall, NYC

I've been playing around with these photos for a long time now. I learn a little, I try again. I learn a little more, I try again. First of all, this was my second concert shot and I had not learned about RAW yet. I'm sure that would have helped a lot. Second, Ryan does not use any frontal lighting at all. The stage was very colorful, but dark. I would be interested in any critique or ideas on what you might do to make these better remembering that my only sources are .jpg files.

1.

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What lens were you using, 70-200 IS? Those shutter speeds seem pretty low given the focal lengths you were using. Exposure-wise it looks like you were doing what you could with the lighting.

1 and 4-7 all have the subject near the center of the frame, and could maybe be improved a little with some cropping (7 looks about right actually, just cropped at dif ratio). Also, if possible try to find a shooting angle (or moment) that gives you a shot where the performers face isn't blocked by the mic. The B&Ws look like they could use more midtone contrast, but I'm not expert on B&W conversion. I won't go into RAW/color balancing.... Not a bad job though, since it was your second gig and you were shooting from a distance...definitely tougher than shooting from the pit imho.

bacchanal wrote in post #3333224
What lens were you using, 70-200 IS? Those shutter speeds seem pretty low given the focal lengths you were using. Exposure-wise it looks like you were doing what you could with the lighting.

1 and 4-7 all have the subject near the center of the frame, and could maybe be improved a little with some cropping (7 looks about right actually, just cropped at dif ratio). Also, if possible try to find a shooting angle (or moment) that gives you a shot where the performers face isn't blocked by the mic. The B&Ws look like they could use more midtone contrast, but I'm not expert on B&W conversion. I won't go into RAW/color balancing.... Not a bad job though, since it was your second gig and you were shooting from a distance...definitely tougher than shooting from the pit imho.

Yes. I was using the 70-200 f/2.8 IS. At the time these pictures were taken, it was the only fast lens I had. There was no photo pit and I was moving around quite a bit trying to get angles, they just weren't there for the most part. Everytime Ryan moved away from the mic he lowered his head and the lanes all seemed to have the mic in his face. I shot from my seat, the orchestra aisles, the balcony aisle, the back of the hall...missed a good shot from the balcony bar.

He doesn't make it easy as evidenced by this credential for a past tour.

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Haha, love the pass. At least they come out and say it. Some artists are more subtle about it....giving you 3 songs or less and crap lighting (then they turn on the lights after they kick the photogs out. When I shot the Twilight Singers (about my second real photo gig by the way) all photo passes were for the first of two nights, and they let us shoot the whole show the first night. Interestingly enough, there was way more light the second night.

Ryan Adams is a genius, a great writer and i am jealous you got to shoot his show. #7 is the best of the lot i think.

Apart from the banding, #1 is very nice...
Looks like a tough to photograph show... You did quite well IMO.

moemoe6434 wrote in post #3335513
Ryan Adams is a genius, a great writer and i am jealous you got to shoot his show. #7 is the best of the lot i think.

Agreed about his musical genius. He is probably my favorite pure songwriter of the past decade.

Thanks. I like # 7 a lot also. What is it that you like about it? I am curious.

René Damkot wrote in post #3335724
Apart from the banding, #1 is very nice...
Looks like a tough to photograph show... You did quite well IMO.

Yes, that did band in PP. I keep playing with it for the magic combination, but I realize my source is not optimal for that. What do you like about # 1? To me it has a real "country crooner" feel.