Anvil/Flood of Fire, November 14, 2008
Anvil and Flood of Fire live at Pat's Pub, November 14, 2008.
Equipment:
Canon Rebel XTi
Sigma 30mm f/1.4
Photo Notes:
Don't believe the photos, this was one very, very dark venue. I didn't even bother thinking about using anything other than my f/1.4 lens. Anything slower would have been insanity.
Flood of Fire started the show on the floor since Anvil's large drum kit was already set up on the tiny stage. While this in itself wouldn't have been a problem, the fact that Pat's Pub has all their lights aimed at the stage and not the floor was a definite impediment for photography. I think I got more light from the TV near the bar than anything else.
This was one of the toughest shows I've ever photographed because it was so dark that the Sigma wouldn't autofocus so I had to autofocus on a brighter object of similar distance, switch the lens to manual focus and then grind it out by taking a picture, checking focus, adjusting, lather, rinse, repeat until I had the focus locked in and then hit the shutter button in burst mode and hoped for the best. Trying to photograph moving targets in the dark with manual focus and wide-open apertures with their narrow depth of field just isn't the recipe for razor-sharp pictures.
Anvil's set turned out a bit better because after clearing Flood of Fire's equipment out, they were able to perform further back which meant they were more in the path of the stage lights. For this set I was able to go back to autofocus except for the shots where the guitarist or bassist were closer to the crowd and out of reach of the stage lights.
This was one of those shoots where you take what you can get. You're not going to get award-winning shots, just get something decent if possible.
By the way, despite any lighting shortcomings, Pat's Pub has beer that is cheap, yet quite good since they brew it in-house.
Read MoreEquipment:
Canon Rebel XTi
Sigma 30mm f/1.4
Photo Notes:
Don't believe the photos, this was one very, very dark venue. I didn't even bother thinking about using anything other than my f/1.4 lens. Anything slower would have been insanity.
Flood of Fire started the show on the floor since Anvil's large drum kit was already set up on the tiny stage. While this in itself wouldn't have been a problem, the fact that Pat's Pub has all their lights aimed at the stage and not the floor was a definite impediment for photography. I think I got more light from the TV near the bar than anything else.
This was one of the toughest shows I've ever photographed because it was so dark that the Sigma wouldn't autofocus so I had to autofocus on a brighter object of similar distance, switch the lens to manual focus and then grind it out by taking a picture, checking focus, adjusting, lather, rinse, repeat until I had the focus locked in and then hit the shutter button in burst mode and hoped for the best. Trying to photograph moving targets in the dark with manual focus and wide-open apertures with their narrow depth of field just isn't the recipe for razor-sharp pictures.
Anvil's set turned out a bit better because after clearing Flood of Fire's equipment out, they were able to perform further back which meant they were more in the path of the stage lights. For this set I was able to go back to autofocus except for the shots where the guitarist or bassist were closer to the crowd and out of reach of the stage lights.
This was one of those shoots where you take what you can get. You're not going to get award-winning shots, just get something decent if possible.
By the way, despite any lighting shortcomings, Pat's Pub has beer that is cheap, yet quite good since they brew it in-house.
