Low light band photography

So, the question today is how many bands can you shoot in a month? Well the answer is quite a lot, I'm currently running at over 30!

Of course we are not talking about following U2 on tour, these are real, hard working bands. The guys (and girls) who do a full day at work in a 9 to 5 then still find the energy to get up there and kick it.

There are two big challenges on these kind of jobs... first off the time constraints. Any photographer knows that for each hour of shooting you have double that to do in editing when you get home. Do the maths, 30 bands... half an hour each... 50-100 photos of each band... that's a lot of editing!

I have to be honest and say it is the part I hate the most and I have to do it in two stages. The first edit is usually pretty easy, I get rid of anything where I was out of focus (more on that later) and anything where there is an obstruction of some sort in the picture (usually a microphone or the head of a guitar). Then I leave it for a day before going back to do the second edit. I try hard not to change much, perhaps a tiny tweak on the levels and a little bit of cropping but not much more, I like to "keep it real" on these sort of gigs.

The second challenge is the light, or rather the lack of it. Most of the venues you will find bands like this playing in are by their very nature dark and dingy. This means that the kit lens that came with your £1000 digital camera is useless! Even if you can afford to buy a large aperture auto focus lens the chances are it is not going to do you any good. AF has a nasty habit of not working in low light and of course tends to focus on whatever is closest to you (which is usually a microphone stand!) and at wide apertures there just isn't enough depth of field for this to be a success. Go manual focus, it really is the only way.

So, how do you do it?
1) Practice
2) Get hold of a fast (f1.4 or f1.8) manual focus lens for your camera - I quite often list them on Ebay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m1roe2)
3) Accept the fact that you are going to push the cameras ISO settings to the limit (at least 1600)
4) Practice more...
5) Get out there and do it, most small bands will be happy to let you in to the gig for free if you give them some photographs to use for promotional material



Gear Used
Canon 50d - full manual ISO 1600 exposure times around 1/30 to 1/100
Manual focus f1.4 50mm prime
Manual focus f2.8 135mm prime

Red Carpet Shoot at Grimmfest and Preview of Sinister & American Mary

It is sometimes of great amusement to me where work comes from. I replied to an innocuous sort of ad asking for photographers to volunteer to take some shots a film preview. So, I wasn't doing anything, it was a quiet Wednesday night... That "what the hell" thought entered my head.

So I turned up at the allotted time, at Stockport Plaza which is just an amazing theatre! If you are local you MUST go and see the tea room at least.

Within just a few minutes of getting there the flash was already popping away. With a mixture of special guests, competition winners and paying customers the red carpet was an almost constant stream of guests. As a special little note, I would just like to say a big thank you to all those who posed beautifully for me.

If you are there please take a look in our photo gallery and see if you can spot yourself!

As for the films, well, I'm no movie buff so I'm not going to attempt a review. I enjoyed Sinister, it's a great film but the plot seemed a bit obvious to me. Having said that, there are a few serious "jumps" and a couple of scenes where I did almost have to turn away.

American Mary on the other hand was right up my street. A nice dark horror with a fabulously twisted subject matter. I'm not going to give the ending away but the film is a fantastic portrayal of what can happen when a smart med student becomes more desperate for cash than she would like to be!

Big thanks to everyone at Grimmfest for putting this preview night together and I look forward to working with them again soon.

Gear Used

Canon 20d - used in manual mode of course 1/125 - ISO 200 - f5.6

Canon 35-80 - an unusual choice but I wanted something small that I didn't mind getting wet!

Canon 430ez flash - used in manual mode at 1/8th power

Ormskirk Motor Festival

If you love cars then this is certainly the event for you.

A great fun day out for all the family. With an amazing array of cars and motorbikes of all ages

I got there nice and early just after it had rained and managed to get some lovely shots of rain drops on bonnets before the motor enthusiasts started to lovingly dry their "babies".

As is often the case with these events getting there before the crowds is the key. The car owners are usually very knowledgeable and happy to talk about their hobby. They are also often quite happy to pose with their cars and if you ask nicely they may even open the bonnet to allow you to get some shots of the "guts".

I love doing these sorts of events, the atmosphere is much more relaxed than you might expect.

The paddock shows allow you to spend as much time as you need composing the perfect shot and the parades just add that extra sparkle as there is nothing quite like seeing these beautiful vehicles running.

Gear Used

Canon 20d - used mostly in AV

Canon 35-80

Tamron 28-300

Manual focus f1.8 50mm prime