Under the light of a heavy full moon (70-300mm AF-D on tripod with spot metering, ISO 400, 1/125, f8.0, cropped) I joined Amy and Nissa at the annual Brisbane Ekka for 2006, more than anything to watch Little Birdy play and get a chance to try my hand at firework photos.
The ladies were less than impressed when the camera was pointed at them.
BOB EVANS
For a support act, Bob Evans (pseudonym for Kevin Mitchell - front man for Jebediah) went on for an hour! I'm sure he's a great person, I love Jebediah and enjoy a few of his new songs, but he does get grating after 3 or more songs let alone for a whole hour!
I think he was just covering for Little Birdy being a little late so kudos for keeping us entertained, I just wished he would have played acoustic versions of some Jebediah hits. I think Niss was thinking the same, coz when he came back on stage for an encore after his hour long support act and asked for any requests, both Niss and I yelled "HARPOON!!" from the bleachers! Poor Bob.
Little Birdy
By the time Little Birdy made their appearance it was time for the fireworks (photos in a different post) which they delayed their act for. Despite making us sit through the support act they did not disappoint, in fact I think they sounded fuller and warmer on stage then they do on their album.
Now Katy Steele (vocal/guitar) is a foxy chik, and it's spine tingling when she appears to pick you out in the audience (thanks to my vibrant and lucid imagination), but the only reason why there are so many pictures of her is because she is quite simply the best lit member of the band.
I think Claire would agree that after going to see Aliveminded, that drummers and other members don't get as much lighting as they deserve. I wish that the entire band was more appropriately lit for more concerts.
Little Birdy are playing at The Zoo (My fave venue coz it's so small!) on the 5th of September if any Brisvegas residents are interested. Email me.
At least the photos aren't as grainy as they were for Clare Bowditch and Aliveminded. There was more ambient stage light and the artists themselves were better lit with spots. So the poor D200 didn't have to be driven so hard for exposures (I'm finding that bad noise can crop up even with 400 ISO if there isn't enough light for the camera to expose for).
For me, even the 90mm didn't have enough reach for big stage concert photography. I was using Claire's 70-300mm a lot more (thanks Clairebear!) and compensating for it's smaller max aperture with slower shutter and higher ISO, so maybe a 70-200mm f2.8 would be handy for this sort of work, or a 85mm f1.4 with teleconvertor if that doesn't rob it of f-stops. Any suggestions for composition or critique on my work?
Rest of the photos here...
2 comments:
Nice work!
All looks very professional, hell even better than a lot of pro band shots I've seen.
Do security give you any problems getting that gear in and using it?
Thanks! I wonder what the event photographers were getting, coz being in the crowd does let you get a different perspective.
I haven't had any problems with security so long as I don't use too much flash. I try and call the venue before, and most of them say photos with flash is fine for the 1st 3 songs, then no flash for the rest.
Which is pretty cool for DSLRs but shitty if you only have a P&S. One thing I'm very aware of is turning off the AF-assist, which I must have forgotten to do for the Little Birdy pix, hence why the signer is staring at my camera coz that light is pretty bright!
Ah well... shit eh?
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