Lasse Karlsson wrote:
>
> John Francis wrote:
> > PAUL STENQUIST wrote:
> > > Nice shots, John. I missed the earlier part of this thread. Are these
> > > Delta 3200 or TMZ? In any case, I like them. Midtone gradation is very
> > > nice for what is apparently fast film.
> >
> > Thanks - I thought nobody had noticed!
> > That was Delta 3200, shot and processed at 3200.
> > The lack of sharpness is probably because I was down at 1/60th (@f2.8),
> > and even with a monopod that's pushing it a bit for a 300m focal length.
> > (That explains the nonexistent depth of field, too).
> >
> > There's a little more grain than I was hoping for, but the density
> > variation is excellent - the noise in the dark areas is mostly due
> > to quantization caused by the scanner.
>
> Thanks for showing your pictures John.
> They are nice. It seems you have carefully selected the moments when to shoot.
Yes and no :-) The shot of Martin Carthy playing the guitar, with
Norma Waterson singing, was planned - I waited until he moved close
enough to her for them to appear as a couple, rather than as two
individuals. But the second shot was rather more luck - I was just
listening to the music, not looking through the camera, when this
moment occurred. I hastily framed and grabbed the shot - half a
second later the moment had passed. I hoped it would turn out
this well.
> Since you asked, and not very importantly: I found them more pleasing to my eye, when
> 1) I reduced contrast. The grainy-ness of the background wall is subdued, the faces
>still wouldn't lose their expressions and the bearing atmosphere would still be
>maintained.
I'll try that. I'm not a darkroom junkie (and I don't do much B&W), so
I tend not to think of a final medium that has variable contrast. But
I can tweak the curves digitally to get almost the same effects.
> 2) cropped both of them close to the shoulders at the far left of both pictures.
>This, in my opinion, would emphasize the interaction/relation between the performers.
That's what I did with the 8x10 proofs - I think that both look better
at the 4:5 ratio, rather than 2:3. But the original scans are (almost)
full frame - 3600 x 2400 scans at 2700dpi is around 94% of the negative.
> (3) Depending on the purpose I would even have considered digitally erasing the
>woman in the background of the second picture.)
Here I disagree. I feel that the way Eliza is standing there, head
bowed, simply listening to the music, makes a very strong statement.
> 4) resized the guitarplayer/singer picture to a smaller version where the
>out-of-focus quality of the woman singer is less obvious.
I'd have liked a little more depth of field, but what can you do?
> (I do not mean to say that my suggestions really would make a change for the better,
>maybe they would take away something important to somebody else's eye. Just reporting
>on what I intuitively(?) went on to do with them.)
>
> Were you stuck and forced to use that 300mm or did you simply choose not to disturb
>by going closer to the stage?
The latter. I've got some shots taken at shorter focal lengths
using my 80-200, but they have different flaws (some of which are
due to the fact that I'm shooting from the side aisles). There's
no way to get centre stage and use shorter focal lengths (unless
I happen to get a seat there, and then that's where I'll be).
At least with the 300mm I can get to the back of the room, which
lets me move a little side-to-side to get the mike stands out of
the way - I hate shots of performers peering round microphones.
These shots were taken at a small club, where I'm just another
member of the audience. I'm not officially shooting for anyone,
so I don't want to interfere with the audience or the group.
It only takes one complaint for my permission to take photographs
to be rescinded, so I try and keep a low profile. That's a good
thing to do in any case, but for some performers it's essential;
you'd be amazed how many folk singers have really bad stage fright
if they notice a camera being pointed at them!
(Yes, I *do* get permission from the performers first)
--
John Francis [EMAIL PROTECTED] Silicon Graphics, Inc.
(650)933-8295 2011 N. Shoreline Blvd. MS 43U-991
(650)932-0828 (Fax) Mountain View, CA 94043-1389
Hello. My name is Darth Vader. I am your father. Prepare to die.
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