Korean Job Discussion Forums

[twg]

Now, I know a lot of you are film-only types, and I'm using a DSLR, but...

Here in this set, I was asked to take some shots of a recent gig our own Harpeau was playing. If you've been to Phillies Bar you know that space is in pretty short supply so I wound up taking hundreds of blurry, off kilter shots in order to get what you see there.

I think a lot of these pics are fine for what they are, but I was wondering if anyone of you experts out there had some advice to make them even better next time around. I've been cranking the ISO to get them in focus, but that leaves me with a lot of noise... which works in some shots... But what I really want is some advice on taking low-light shots in situations where the use of a tripod isn't possible.

And I can provide the EXIF info on some images if you need it.

Thanks.

[indytrucks]

[Atavistic]

Yep. Faster lens. What's the lowest f/stop you can get with your lens?

Another option when you can't use a tripod is to use a beanbag or photo pod. Google it, you'll see what I mean. I've used beanbags (jackets, rocks, books, my boyfriend's fist) in the past and gotten good results.

Also, a string tripod, which I plan on making for myself, shortly. http://lifehacker.com/software/photography/diy-string-tripod-257008.php

[twg]

All in the lens, eh?

I only have this cheapo lens:

http://photo.net/equipment/canon/efs18-55/ Any suggestions on a better one that wont break the bank? I need something with some versatility.

[indytrucks]

[twg]

[RACETRAITOR]

Whoa, I was just in there last night with my wife and she remarked it would be a good place for some kind of event. I told her she was crazy because it was way too small.

I like your black and white photos a lot more than the colour shots. Nothing uglier than pure red lighting, pure blue lighting, or just the two colours mixed.

[Atavistic]

[twg]

[Santiago]

One of the ideas that Ansel Adams developed was that there should be 5 stops between the darkest and lightest areas in your photograph. I realize you don' t necessarily have that option but as means of skirting it, you could stop up once or twice.

I like this shot a lot http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewilliamg/1775735822/in/set-72157602738231714/

but his face is burning white hot and it makes the composition look bad. A good way to solve that is with spot metering

http://www.vad1.com/photo/spotmeter.html

if you're camera has settings for it. If your camera meters the whole frame, there's no way to do it unless you have a seperate light meter, called an incident meter

http://www.sekonic.com/products/products.asp?ID=130

But on mine I can set the meter to "spot" which means I can get a reading from the "circle" in the middle of the lens. I meter from the darkest and brightest part of the image to see what the difference is, then make a decision.

What I mean by stopping up once or twice is that if there are 7 or 9 stops between widest and most narrow aperture, I'd go towards the narrow side to prevent burning on the main subject, if that is the brightest as it is in your image above. Your background will end up darker, maybe even just shadow but the subject will look better.

Edit: after reading your latest post, I realize what I've written here is probably more information than you wanted. Oh well, maybe you can find some of it useful.

[Atavistic]

[indytrucks]

Completely off topic, but with the theme of photography ...

For all the film shooters out there (I think one or two might actually still exist) there are two superb pro labs in Chungmuro that stock an impressive range of film, both slides and print, and for most formats (35mm, 120, 220, 8x10) and also stock an impressive range of darkroom stuff. I was there on Saturday and nearly had a heart attack I was that overcome with the selection. Some film types I hadn't seen in years, and at reasonable prices. PM me if you want specific directions.

[The Lemon]

[twg]

[Atavistic]