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Just Missed It: The Escape Directors

augiedb — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:59:19 +0000

50mm, f/1.8, ISO 3200, 1/400s

I completely missed the focus on this shot. I might have locked in the focus on a previous shot and then forgot to take my finger off the back button auto-focus to reset it. This pic and the next three or four were similarly out of focus. It’s too bad, because I like the angle and the composition. I’m shooting from the side of the stage, and about three feet behind the position of the lead singer of the Escape Directors here.

Full Escape Directors write-up coming tomorrow night! The final image selection has been locked down!

Preview: Darling Parade, 16 Feb 2012

augiedb — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:22:59 +0000

Coming up next: The Escape Directors from 10 Feb 2012. Right now, I’m buying myself an extra day with this preview. The full set from this show should be up by week’s end. This is Darling Parade:

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 2500, 1/200s

Mitchell Grey, 10 Feb 2012

augiedb — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:23:13 +0000

50mm, f/2.8, ISO 3200, 1/160s

The second band of the night was Mitchell Grey. The crowd was getting thicker now, and where there once was a thin crowd directly in front of the stage, now there was a solid line of people standing about five feet away. The video cameras and cell phones were out in full force on this one, and it seemed like the band had a loyal following there to see them. Again, it was a younger crowd, but one that definitely knew the music.

Photographically speaking, I spent the first half in the same spot as the first band, but then moved over to the other side of the stage near the end of the set for some variety, and to get the drummer’s picture. Focus was still an issue, though once it was because I had accidentally tripped the AutoFocus button on the lens over to manual focus.

Yeah, not much else to say here, so let’s look at more pictures…

LEFT: 50mm, f/2.0, ISO 3200, 1/250s // RIGHT: 85mm, f/1.8, ISO 3200, 1/200s

LEFT: 28mm, f/1.8, ISO 4000, 1/160s , RIGHT: 28mm, f/2.0, ISO 2500, 1/125s

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 4000, 1/125s

LEFT: 85mm, f/2.0, ISO 4000, 1/160s, RIGHT: 85mm, f/1.8, ISO 4000, 1/160s

Preview: Stephen Jerzak

augiedb — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 05:31:53 +0000

A full write-up with lots of pics will come next week, but here’s a quick random grab from last night’s show at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ. This is YouTube sensation Stephen Jerzak — all of 19 years old and touring the country singing his songs with only a guitar to accompany him. I’m impressed.

The blurry dots in the lower left are coming off the screen of a fan who recorded video of most of the show. Haven’t seen it up on YouTube yet. Given the number of cameras running at any time last night, I expect to see some show up there soon…

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 2500, 1/200s

Preview: Cassadee Pope

augiedb — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:42:00 +0000

Returned to Mexicali Live tonight to see four bands. A fifth performed, but too early for me to make it.

Here’s a quick preview of the headliner:

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 3200, 1/160s

Next: Back to last week’s show for more pics…

Jay Everett Band, 10 Feb 2012

augiedb — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:55:59 +0000

85mm, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 1/80s

For my first concert photo shoot of 2012, I ventured out to the Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ on February 10th to see three bands. Escape Directors were the topliners of the night, preceded by Mitchell Grey and The Jay Everett Band.

For newcomers, a little background on the venue: Mexicali is a dinner club kind of thing. They have live music most every night of the week, and they serve dinner all night, too. Depending on the act, the place can be all tables and people sitting down to eat and watch a show, or all people standing up and filling the open floor.

This was a younger crowd for younger bands, all there to hear the music and not eat so much. In other words, it was standing room only. As a photographer, of course, this means I have two options to choose from. First, take a spot right up front by the stage and shoot close up and try not to get in anyone’s way. Or, stand back a little bit, use a longer lens, and use my height (I’m 6’4”) to shoot over everyone’s heads. The stage sits up a couple of feet, so I can play that card pretty easily.

I’m naturally a little too shy, anyway, so I took the latter option to start the show, and shot the Jay Everett Band from about 15 feet away from the stage, standing up against the side wall. I used mostly the 85mm lens, which was enough to get close-ups on the band. The crowd was relatively sparse that early in the night, but it seemed very young, with many brandishing their cell phones and video cameras. There were even three or four other photographers there with DSLRs. One had her flash attached to the camera, but (thankfully) never used it. Another appeared to have a kit lens, but he wasn’t using flash either, so I guess it was something better than that.

 The band was young. Heck, I was surprised to see they had wristbands on that would get them alcohol from the bar. But, then, I’m 35 now. Anyone younger than 30 looks like a teenager to me automatically.

Trying the bassist at a bit of an angle - 85mm, f/1.8, ISO 4000, 1/160s

Back to the photography: I had problems with my camera, and I’m still not sure what was going on. The focus was playing games with me. Perhaps I was standing too far away to get enough line for the contrast detection autofocus to work its best? Maybe there’s something wrong with my camera? Maybe I was just asking too much of my camera? While there were spotlights in front of the stage, it was a relatively dark stage. I pushed the camera to ISO 4000, hoping to buy myself a faster shutter speed. At 85mm, I wanted to go with 1/160s for starters. It was never enough. The focus was all over the place and the lighting was so bad that the shutter speed never seemed to be enough.

It was both frustrating and worrying.

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 4000, 1/160s

The worst part of the night was probably my own fault. I didn’t move from my spot. I wanted to concentrate on figuring out what was wrong with the focus (yeah, I know, I should use Nikon) and fixing what I had before I moved around. So I wound up with 400 pictures with little variety and lots of awful lighting and focusing.

But, there were a few decent shots in there, so I’ll share them here and hope to learn from the experience to move around more. That might have fixed my issues, too. The light is always better closer up, right?

Next: Mitchell Grey

More pics after the break:

Don't forget the drummer! - 85mm, f/1.8, ISO 4000, 1/100s

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 4000, 1/200s

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 3200, 1/200s

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 4000, 1/200s

Preview: Jay Everett Band

augiedb — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:35:53 +0000

Tomorrow starts the official write-up. Should be a three parter, I’m guessing. For now, one last preview, from the other band on last Friday’s bill, the Jay Everett Band.

Canon 60D, 85mm, f/1.8, ISO 4000, 1/160 sec

Preview: Mitchell Grey

augiedb — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:17:06 +0000

Still working my way through the pictures from last week’s show. Here’s another quick preview from the second band of the night, Mitchell Grey:

Shooting from the side of the stage between two guitars to get the bassist

Preview: Escape Directors

augiedb — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:59:35 +0000

Shot the Escape Directors’ show on Friday night at the Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ. I’m still working on a proper write-up and editing all the pictures, but here’s a sneak preview at an early favorite:

I love a good backlit shot...

And as much as I love the shot, I keep playing with it in Lightroom, wondering if there’s a better crop to it somehow. Haven’t figured it out yet, but we’ll see…

Ana Popovic, Mexicali Live, Part 2/2

augiedb — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:18:36 +0000

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 3200 for 1/100th second

Taking lots of pics at the climax of a great song, or in the hottest heat of a solo, is not the same as taking the best picture. Sometimes, the strongest part of the solo is often visually the dullest. The performer is concentrating so hard on getting everything right that they wind up looking constipated. Your ear is hearing an awful lot of excitement, and that overwhelms your eye into thinking that the intricate string plucking of the guitar is going to be as exciting as the back-bending bassist from earlier in the song, during a more repetitive part.

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 2500, 1/160s

I’m starting to reconsider burst mode shooting. It’s great for certain things. For example, if I have a shot lined up that requires a slower shutter speed, than taking five shots in a row in the hopes that one catches a sharp still image is probably a good idea. Taking a wide shot of a large band and hoping that one of 20 shots in a row will contain something interesting is a losing gambit. It’s a nice safety valve while at the show, but a bitch to post-edit, as you microscopically weed through minor variations looking for Just The Right Shot.

That’s a lesson I didn’t learn, as I took 2000+ pictures at the Rick Springfield concert two months later. Ah, well. I like the concept, though.

More pics after the break:

28mm, f/1.8, ISO 2500, 1/50th second

I converted a lot more files than usual to black and white. The lighting situation wasn’t so great. Combined with the purple dress, the saturated yellow and red lights were killing me. I got some interesting lighting effects here and there, but their colors overwhelmed pictures. When that happens, the saving grace you have is a black and white conversion.

Hurricane Irene killed any chance that a local paper would run any of these images, as they all went wall-to-wall water coverage, understandably. Ah, well. It’s all grist for the portfolio and this blog, at least.

85mm, f/2.2, ISO 3200, 1/80th second

The music was great. The bassist was visually the most interesting part of the night, but everyone had a chance to shine. The guy on keyboards had a great solo, the bassist had an amazing one wherein he quoted other songs seemingly randomly in the middle of his riffs, and Popovic, herself, can make a guitar do anything she wants. While wearing heels.

It was a fun show.

85mm, f/1.8, ISO 3200, 1/100th second