Recent stuff from Fort Wayne (Brass Rail / C2G)

More pictures of non-famous people playing instruments (as well as a tribute to the landscape orientation). 1-5 are all with off camera flash.

1. Mean Mother @ The Brass Rail - 3/6/10

I'm pretty happy with this image...I don't have the fastest reflexes, so I find it pretty difficult to get good drummer shots, esp close ups.

Solid set & good use of flash.

I like #2.

René Damkot wrote in post #9758155
Solid set & good use of flash.

I like #2.

And it makes my first images not seem totally, completely, utterly awful! Non-famous people are much more difficult that famous ones! LOL.

yeah, this sort of flash use looks really good..nice and smooth, even, no hot spots but not brightly lit. well done. does the venue have a white ceiling? and how are you setting up the flash, in ETTL or manual?

i shot a show monday night and one of the shooters had stuck a speedlite in a ceiling pipe/crevice spot...i should experiment w/ that. one thing he could do (shooting nikon) is to remotely set the power on the flash manually, via the commander flash. am i missing something, or is the only way you can do that w/ canon if you use ratios?

Thanks for the comments...looking back, I'm really not so fond of #2. I like the dof and arrangement of performers, but it isn't exactly a peak action shot.

Here are a couple alternatives that are a little more "rock" maybe:
http://www.photos.fahr​enheit128.com/_meanmot​her_030610/e288475ab
http://www.photos.fahr​enheit128.com/_meanmot​her_030610/e3d4ae8e1

narlus wrote in post #9774179
yeah, this sort of flash use looks really good..nice and smooth, even, no hot spots but not brightly lit. well done. does the venue have a white ceiling? and how are you setting up the flash, in ETTL or manual?

i shot a show monday night and one of the shooters had stuck a speedlite in a ceiling pipe/crevice spot...i should experiment w/ that. one thing he could do (shooting nikon) is to remotely set the power on the flash manually, via the commander flash. am i missing something, or is the only way you can do that w/ canon if you use ratios?

Yeah, the ceiling was once white, it's more like a nasty yellow color...but sufficient for bouncing. I use ETTL mainly because I try to keep the flash output pretty low, but the amount of flash output that I want depends on where I am in the room. It works well in some cases and not so well and others...like when one of the speedlights is in the frame. This is one reason why I've considered putting my flashes on separate channels.

I think manual control can only be done via ratios as far as I know. Actually, I think Radiopopper Jrx's have a way of controlling manual output via the transmitter, but I'm not sure.

That particular venue is actually pretty challenging, because the ambient light is very low, but the stage (or parts of it) are lit up more than the surrounding areas, so it's a constant battle to prevent ghosting/blur and at the same time preserve some ambient light and not overdo the flash output. I really like the look of the last image, but it was only possible because ghosting was not an issue, since he stepped in front of the "stage lighting".

Take my word for it. What he says is true. It's hard to believe how dingy this place is by looking at Drew's images. His use of flash really brings this place alive. I'm always impressed with his work.