First "band" shots...comments please!

Hey Ya'll,
Well, this last Saturday seemed to be "Festival Day" here in the Lorain County area and I spent most of the day hopping back and forth between the Lorain International Festival and the True North Arts Fest in Avon Lake. I'll spare you the details on the festivals themselves as both organizations have websites, but needless to say there were a number of musical activities going on at both festivals.

Now as with my "Parade on the Circle" post, this is a bit of a departure from my normal work which is usually critters and nature. While I have shot a few other musical groups before, those pictures were lost in a harddrive crash last year and I never got a chance to post any of them anywhere for comments and review. Also please know that I'm still working with (err...fighting with) this new Canon 40D.

Also please note that these shots were taken at various times throughout the day under various lighting situations...we had the full gaumet of Ohio weather on Saturday ranging from heavy thunderstorms to very harsh sun...all of which I'll go into in more detail with on the pictures themselves.

With that in mind, I'd like to know how I did here...what's good about the shots and what could have been better.


This first set is of solo performer Ms. Robin Stone. These shots along with the shots of the fusion group were taken at the True North Art Fest (albeit at two different times of the day). The shots of Ms. Stone here were taken just as the storms were moving in and in fact, Ms. Stone's set got cut short as they ended up bringing the top of the stage down due to the high winds. At this point the sky was -very- overcast and it was rather dark outside (even though it was the middle of the afternoon) and shortly after Ms. Stone left the stage, a bolt of lightening hit the electrical power plant right next to the park where this event was held...at which point I left for a couple of hours.

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All of the images are great with the exception of the drummer. For some reason, the combination of all the chrome and the direct light is giving the appearance of washed out highlights. Either the image is over-exposed or is just rendered too bright, but the image quality just doesn't compare with the other shots.

In fact, I think there is so much specular reflection from the bright-metal hardware that it may be causing veiling and lens flare. Perhaps a Polarizing Filter would have reduced that effect.

I feel like the focus points are a tad off

Robert_Lay wrote in post #5831742
In fact, I think there is so much specular reflection from the bright-metal hardware that it may be causing veiling and lens flare. Perhaps a Polarizing Filter would have reduced that effect.

Bob,,,a polarising filter will have no effect on metalic surfaces..

Robert_Lay wrote in post #5831742
All of the images are great with the exception of the drummer. For some reason, the combination of all the chrome and the direct light is giving the appearance of washed out highlights. Either the image is over-exposed or is just rendered too bright, but the image quality just doesn't compare with the other shots.

In fact, I think there is so much specular reflection from the bright-metal hardware that it may be causing veiling and lens flare. Perhaps a Polarizing Filter would have reduced that effect.

Thanks Bob,
I'm not really sure what happened with the shots of the drummer. I had taken a number of shots from various angles (and even a little variation in exposure) and I just wasn't really thrilled with any of them. There was a pretty serious lack on contrast on all of those shots as well. The shots of the bass player came out pretty decent so I'm not sure if it was because the drummer was back in the shadows or if it was simply all the flashy chrome on the drum kit. I had thought about using a polarizer at the time but the drummer was kind of far back on the stage in the shadow of the canopy and I was already at ISO 640 and with all the movement, I really didn't want to loose too much more shutter speed. Next time I shoot a day time, outdoor band event I'll give my CP a try and see what kind of difference it makes.

Reign wrote in post #5832188
I feel like the focus points are a tad off

Well, as I said in my original post, the focus is a tad soft on many of these (particularly the last 4 shots). I was dealing with less than ideal light to begin with all afternoon/evening as well as my slow Tamron lens, but more than anything I'm still wrestling with this new 40D. I've gotten -very- used to my Rebel XT over the last year and I find that I'm fighting with this 40D a great deal. I really like the 7 AF points of the Rebel over the 9 AF points on the 40D and I have to recompose my shots a great deal because of it...and when you're shooting moving performers in poor lighting to begin with...you get the idea. I'm also still not comfortable with the physical size of the camera itself. I've been the odd man out on this issue for quite a while...I actually -LIKE- the smaller size of my Rebel and the 40D still feels very awkward and clunky in my hands. It's a little hard to get sharp images as you're fumbling with this big gob of metal in your hands! LOL!!! I will get used to these things.....eventually.​....but it's going to take some time.

I should probably also add that I wasn't really worrying too much about getting "tack sharp" on these shots either as much as trying to get some good stage expressions ("grimacing musically" as it were). As I've said in other posts, I'd rather have a really interesting shot that's perhaps a tad soft rather than a tack sharp image that's really boring...for me composition always comes first. I know there's folks here on this board that seem to believe a really sharp image, regardless of content is a "good" image...I'm simply not one of them.

Alrighty, thanks to both of you for the comments! I definitely still have a few issues to work on here.

Peace,
Jim

The first two shots I find odd, only because taking a picture of someone in front of a microphone with their mouth completely closed makes the event seem really boring. In fact, all but number 5 (which is an absolutely fantastic capture by the way) lack any real energy. The lack of energy isn't your fault, and things look very nice from an exposure standpoint, and they look very natural. I guess I have a hard time saying anything good or bad about them.

yogestee wrote in post #5834669
Bob,,,a polarising filter will have no effect on metalic surfaces..

You are undoubtedly correct, and I should have known that.

I haven't yet found anyplace where it is explained why this is the case, but I guess metallic surfaces reflect without polarizing the reflected light - thus giving the polarizer nothing to work on.

griptape wrote in post #5835276
The first two shots I find odd, only because taking a picture of someone in front of a microphone with their mouth completely closed makes the event seem really boring. In fact, all but number 5 (which is an absolutely fantastic capture by the way) lack any real energy. The lack of energy isn't your fault, and things look very nice from an exposure standpoint, and they look very natural. I guess I have a hard time saying anything good or bad about them.

I have to agree..but #5 is fabulous!!!! The blur and soft focus make this photo stand out. It would be sweet with a black or dark brown BG to rid the shoulder of the piano player..

Reign wrote in post #5832188
I feel like the focus points are a tad off

+1, otherwise nice shots.

Other than the so-called focus problem, I think the pictures are nice, only the photo of the singer has any real emotion.
The others look like they were "tuning-up"
Still photography is particularly hard to show music, the only thing we have to work with is the emotion of the musicians.
Looks like you have a good start.

Robert_Lay wrote in post #5836069
You are undoubtedly correct, and I should have known that.

I haven't yet found anyplace where it is explained why this is the case, but I guess metallic surfaces reflect without polarizing the reflected light - thus giving the polarizer nothing to work on.

Light is transmitted in both horizontal and vertical rays..Polarising filters act like a Venitian blind allowing light in on one plane and blocking light in the plane that is at 90deg..Eg depending on how light is transmitted a polarising filter would allow only the horizontal rays to pass while blocking the vertical..

Bob,,,my theory and only a theory is that reflected light off metallic surfaces is scattered through many planes including horizontal and vertical.. I dunno,,your call mate..

First off, thanks to everyone for the comments! I'm grateful! I will certainly keep the comments about "showing emotion" in mind for similar situations. Special thanks to Flo...I had missed the shoulder of the keyboard player in #5 completely. I'll have to go back and clone that out before I take it to the printers (this is what I love about critique forums...thank you, thank you, thank you!).

Now on the polarizer convo here...I have a question...
I thought I remember that if your shooting pictures of cars for example that you should use a polarizer to cut down on reflections. Is this because the surface is painted and not bare metallic such as chrome? Am I remembering this wrong? Thoughts?

Thanks and thanks!
Jim

You can completely remove the reflections of the GLASS on the car (windshield etc.) which is often desirable, but the metal of the car isn't affected in the same way. It sometimes changes the reflections on the metal, but it doesn't eliminate it the way it does with glass.

Walczak Photo wrote in post #5842150
Now on the polarizer convo here...I have a question...
I thought I remember that if your shooting pictures of cars for example that you should use a polarizer to cut down on reflections. Is this because the surface is painted and not bare metallic such as chrome? Am I remembering this wrong? Thoughts?

Thanks and thanks!
Jim

Jim,,you are correct.. Reflections won't be removed off bare metal surfaces..As Robert I still haven't found or been explained why..