La Cacahouette, All Nite Skate @ The Brass Rail - Fort Wayne - 10/27/07

Tried some wireless flash this weekend at venue that I typically have some trouble with...a venue that just so happens to be my favorite in town. I haven't and probably never will master direct flash and shutter dragging...so I'm trying to come up with something a little different.

1-4: La Cacahouette (Buffalo, NY)

I used my 580ex fired via Ebay (Cactus) flash trigger. I set the flash on top of one of the PA speakers and went to town. Reliability wasn't the best, I probably had at least 30% misfires. If I get to the point where I like using off camera flash, I think I'll have to spring for some Pocket Wizards. I think the pictures look pretty okay for a first attempt, but next time I'll bring some bungee cords, so I have better flash placement options.

5-8: All Nite Skate - in Star Wars costumes (Fort Wayne, IN)

They dimmed the lights a little for All Nite Skate, so I had to resort to sticking the flash on the camera in order to take advantage of the AF assist...I just used bare flash and bounced it off the ceiling.

full gallery here: http://www.photos.fahr​enheit128.com/p3022171​03/

Critiques, suggestions welcome and appreciated...

1.

Nice shots, La Cachouette is a great time, i see them a lot as they are from Buffalo

putnut77 wrote in post #4212767
Nice shots, La Cachouette is a great time, i see them a lot as they are from Buffalo

Thanks, and yeah we love the peanut. We try to see them every time they come through. They usually try to play with a band called Otis and the Rufies, and Otis was supposed to play at this show too, but unfortunately they seem to have broken up (temporarily we hope). The Otis and the Rufies / La Cacahouette shows are practically legendary 'round these parts.

I like #1 and 3.

The place looks like a high school auditorium and I see no brass rail ... are you teasing? An unusual set for you, Drew.

Thanks for the comments. It's a crappy little bar (and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible) with a very small stage area where a pool table used to be. I don't think there is a "brass rail" anymore, but there is an actual bar that divides the main room. The place just changed owners, so there isn't much personality to it right now. There used to be animal heads and things like that all over the walls! Definitely not a Steve Parr kind of place ...like I said it was dark enough in 5-8 that I needed AF assist.

I've seen Joel (jtfdzn) do pretty well here with a 580ex and OCSCII...and of course with his fisheye, but I never seem to have much luck. I was just trying something new, and I kind of like the results of 1-4. TBH, I much prefer shooting ambient light, but if these are the people and places that I want to shoot, I'm going to have to learn to use the flash. I think I could improve them with better flash placement and possibly a gel or something, though I think the flash placement worked out pretty well for #3. I was also trying to get in close and use the wide end of the 17-55 (shot #2), as I really don't take advantage of that perspective enough.

Here's some of Joel's stuff at the same venue for comparison: http://jtfdzn.zenfolio​.com/f922600737

Good work, Nice clarity and sharpness.

LOL @ photo #8 and #1