The Royal Concept and American Authors at Brighton Music Hall 11.22.13

This show was a bit of an adventure. My day job had a crazy schedule leading up to Thanksgiving where we combined three days of work into one. I high tailed it up to Boston and still made it in time for the show. I'm always excited when I get to shoot in a different venue and get to think on the fly. There was no photo pit at Brighton and since I arrived about 20 minutes before The Royal Concept took the stage, I couldn't get a spot in the front. I tried to shoot through the crowd about four people back for the first couple of songs, then moved on to different angles. What was great about The Royal Concept is that they move around the stage. Lead singer David Larson moved back to the drum kit several times during the show and I found an interesting view from the side of the stage. Both Larson and bassist Robert Magnus took advantage of the platforms on the front of the stage to the cheers of the crowd. I really enjoyed being able to capture the energy of the auidence in a few of the shots.

The Royal Concept

American Authors

The lights came up a bit more for the headliners, American Authors. I breathed a sigh of relief because I was able to take my camera off my highest ISO setting. Even thought I wasn't a particular fan of the music, I was able to get some sweet shots. Above is my favorite of lead singer Zachary Barnett. I also love the intensity coming from bassist Dave Rublin. There's a trend in music to overuse banjo and mandolin, thanks to the popularity of Mumford and Sons and The Avett Brothers. I'm more of a fan of bands that excel at the use of these instruments, like the Punch Brothers do. Plinking away on a mandolin or banjo just to vary your instrumentation doesn't quite do it for me, but at least guitarist/banjo/mandolinist James Shelley has fun while doing it. For these shots, I found a clear line of sight to the stage about 20 people back with my telephoto lens. While it isn't great for band shots, I got some nice individual portraits.

I'd compare Brighton Music Hall to Arch Street Tavern in Hartford, with slightly better line of sight to the stage. The lighting was decent to work with, not ideal, but I've definitely dealt with worse. I was amused by The Royal Concept; near the end of their set, they complained that the lights were too low and that they couldn't see the audience. Thanks, guys, I just wish you had asked for that earlier!

Caturday: Holiday Edition

This is Addy's first Christmas tree! So far, she's been behaving herself. There was a little investigation and sniffing, but she's content with sitting under the tree as opposed to climbing it. Time will tell. I didn't get around to sending out cards this year, so consider this your Christmas card. Yes, I love you so much, I sent you this card. I saved a ton on stamps this year!

fr EYE day

happy fr EYE day the thirteenth!

I was starting to get concerned that I wouldn't have a photo for this week. I'm getting dangerously low on friends and family whose eye I have not photographed. Then I realized there were about 8 coworkers that I hadn't attacked yet, so I'm restocked for a couple of months. And some of them have some interesting eyes!

Kindred Queer & Plants and Animals at Bar 11.13.13

To be honest, I had hoped to be shooting another show this particular night. The press pass fell through at the last minute, so I ended up at my back up show, Plants and Animals at Bar in New Haven. I was contacted by their PR person to cover them, which is pretty incredible, when at the beginning of this year, I was trying to figure out how to cover more concerts. I'm not fond of the lighting at Bar; I tend to have to shoot around the light as opposed to shooting the moments I want. You pretty much have to wait for the colors to be usable or for their to be enough light on the faces of the musicians. If you're patient enough, you can get usable images, granted, a lot of them have to be converted to black and white.

The opening band was Kindred Queer, a local band that is working on their first album. I thought the lead singer sounded like Andrew Bird and with a female harmonizing, it reminded me of Damien Rice, but with a much more upbeat subject matter. I liked their sound and they had a ton of fans come out to support them.

Kindred Queer

Plants and Animals

I got to Bar early enough to catch their sound check, which was fortunate because it was the only time there was enough light to get a full band shot. Plants and Animals hail from Montreal and are more of a shoe gazing band. Still, there were a few moments that I captured that I like.

fr EYE day

I'm a little late in posting today, but it's still fr EYE day!

Polaroid Flash Testing

I thought it would be helpful to the Polaroid shooters out there to see a comparison of the flashes available. All images were shot with a Sonar SX-70, all on the Impossible Project's PX70 Color Protection film (the old edition) with the wheel set 1 click dark. This is the setting I've found works best with the light meter in my camera. There was white butcher paper behind and under the object, a creepy Jack in the Box toy from my childhood because there just aren't enough shots of creepy Jack in the Boxes on film. There were no lights turned on in the room, but there was a little window light and they were shot around 2 in the afternoon.

I recently picked up an ITT Magic Flash off of eBay, along with another Sonar SX-70 for $75.00. It was a steal. The Magic Flash runs off of 4 AA batteries. The camera clips into the base once it is unfolded and you pop the flash head in just like you would a flash bar. The cord does not disconnect from the base, so be careful. It's obviously the largest and bulkiest of the options. I'd say the flash is about 3 flash bulbs big when compared to the flash bar. The unit charges quickly and recycles fast. I was using Energizer Lithium batteries.

The Mint Flash, which is sold by the Impossible Project runs off of 2 AAA batteries. This is my second Mint Flash. The first one I purchased was not syncing properly with the shutter of my camera. It would fire as the shot was ejecting from the camera. I wrote the Impossible Project and without question, they sent me a new Mint Flash and I sent them the malfunctioning one back. The second Mint Flash fires perfectly. I have noticed that it eats up batteries and it takes longer to fire up and recycle. It is about the same size as a flash bar.

The old reliable GE Flash Bar. This is my trusted flash, but as you know, they won't be around forever. Every now and then, you get a dead bulb that won't fire and they are hot as all heck after you shoot them.

The shots:

 ITT Magic Flash

The ITT flash was a little blown out at this setting. I'm still getting to know how this flash reacts with my camera. I think another click dark would have given it just enough contrast.

 MINT Flash

The Mint Flash was slightly underexposed. I would have left the wheel at neutral to get the proper exposure, but this was a test at the same levels. You will notice that the Mint Flash is much cooler than the ITT Magic Flash and the GE Flash Bar. I'd say that the colors are more true to what I was seeing.

GE Flash Bar

The GE flash bar is dead on in my opinion. Again, the colors are a bit warmer in this shot.

Honestly, you can go with any of these flashes. Personally, I'm leaning towards the ITT Magic Flash. I have plenty of rechargeable AA batteries and once I get the levels down, I think it will be just as good as the flash bar. I just don't like the recycle time of the Mint Flash and that I have to bust out a new set of AAA batteries every time I want to use it. I also don't tend to have AAAs on hand. If you're looking to pack light, the Mint and flash bar are space savers.

Note: the pack of film I was using was a bit older and all the shots from the pack have that dark patch on the right hand side.