Photos from Over the Rhine show
Geof lured me into driving down to the most excellent Workplay Theatre in Birmingham to see Over the Rhine perform last night. As we explained to the fans at the next table who had driven in from Florida to see the show: "He's a fan of the band. She's a fan of the venue." (Full photoset is here.)
Geof taped the show, so I'm guessing he'll post a link here when the download's available? It's like going to the show, without the annoying "get back after one a.m. when you have to be at work at 7:30" factor.
It's worth noting that we looked like reporters with all the gear we hauled in: taping equipment and two semipro cameras. (I'm still wondering how I ever managed to photograph concerts without a tripod / monopod.)
During the show, a Rather Significant Life Event happened. Those of you who got messages from me last night will agree that the RSLE deserves its own post. It's coming, never fear.
Comments
Freehand!
Hey, all my concert photos are freehand. I guess I just have steady hands. ;)
[No, no, it's more "a willingness to deal with the noise at ISO 1600" and "shooting nine exposures to get one". Heh.]
I don't!
Yep, I was noticing that last night. I tried to shoot at as low of an ISO as possible to eliminate noise (there's a filter I need to look into that John B recommended to me) but I'm aware that my hands shake more than I'd like. You also shot waaaay more than I did. I typically shoot in three-shot bursts, and yours were closer to 9-10.
I didn't ratchet the tripod head all the way down to tight, but I stiffened it up enough so that it was harder to move the camera accidentally. That made it possible to move the camera around reasonably easily, but contributed to a lot of steadiness in the shots.
I was pretty happy -- the above photo most of all.
Tripod?
Which one? Dammit, you need to tell me when you get new photo gear so I can lust after it!
/me doesn't have a tripod.
/me goes for the high ISO artsy B&W grainy look
/me secretly fears artsy is another word for hack
TrekPod
I picked up a TrekPod [lgt Amazon] at my local camera shop. It's sort of a hybrid tripod/monopod. The bottom portion of the stick can either be left velcroed together as a monopod or unvelcroed and extended into a tripod. Disassembles into four parts, comes with a little bag for it. It should work pretty well as a hiking stick, though I haven't gotten to test that yet.
My favorite part is the quick-mount feature, and that's what sold me on this particular tripod. It comes with a metal piece that fits into your standard screw mount on your camera. The metal piece, and the top of the tripod, are both magnets. (It comes with two magnets -- a lighter one for plastic-body cameras like mine and a heavier one for older metal-body cameras.) It makes it incredibly easy to pop the camera on or off the tripod, and there's a little locking mechanism if you're sure you want the camera to stay on for a while.
I paid about $120 for mine. After the great experience I had with it at the Over the Rhine show, I think back to my cathedral shots in NYC and wonder how much better my pictures would have been if I'd had this piece of equipment then.