Originally posted by rawr A little while ago I went shooting two jazz and blues acts, and I was reminded how difficult it is to get good results under minimal stage and ambient lighting.
Thank you rawr - you are very kind.
This is kind of funny, I took a friend to this venue last Thursday - who recognized the scenes like the corner Russell Gunn plays off stage, and didn't realize how dark that was.
As mentioned some of the places are actually below the metering limit of the K-x (with my humble lenses - bottom line flashes in viewfinder) - and below the focusing limit - so I have pick other spots to focus on like the bell of the trumpet for that corner - or this week's off stage shot - bell of the sax to the right.
On this last shot I focused on the lit phone on the center trumpeter's lap!
My (former) Kryptonite nemesis the pianist cause me no end of difficulties -
not only is it dark - he moves his head all the time when playing -
so it is almost impossible to focus on his face/eyes/glasses -
and there is nothing more embarrassing/distracting than to hear focus hunting during a quiet piano solo......
Mostly I have to pick something else with more defined contrast and more stationary to focus.
When he used to wear a baseball cap, that put his face in shadow
(he stopped doing that for the heat of Summer, that's why he's only a "former"-
but could be also because I brought in a clip-on book-light for his cap peak..... )
I used the corner between the cap, face and hair to focus,
or his arm and T-shirt junction, or any T-shirt pattern
and even the higher contrast junction between his hand/arm and the edge of the piano keyboard.
With this week's shot I had none of those options -
so the focus was actually (correctly) on his glasses -
when his head was stationary -
hold focus and wait for the shot.
Even with stage center I have to develop different technique for example -
cap peak puts face is shadow - I used to select face area and up brightness in pp -
nowadays I focus on face or at mouthpiece and face - and set exposure compensation at +1/3 or +2/3 (my norm is -1/3)
and in pp I use enhance lighting/fill-flash to bring out the face without over exposing the rest of scene
then final fine adjustment of contrast......
Strangely enough I find it much,
much (emphasized) easier to take shots at this venue
than many venues with full stage lights.
It's not the lack of light that causes me problems -
but lights that change too quickly (or even strobe),
or overwhelming color washes.
None of that occurs here -
so it may be a challenge -
but it's actually a pleasure to shoot.