Photos Despised Icon (PP help needed)

Heya folks

Gave my new Sigma 30mm f/1.4 a workout monday seeing Despised Icon (grindcore band if you don't know, and if you don't know them you won't like them, no one does really, but I digress)

Boiled it down to the following 6 pics:

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6




#4 illustrates the situation I need help with exactly, as these places love using red lights all my pictures are overly red, I have corrected this in #1 and #2 to some extent by reducing the color temperature and tint to an appropriate level. Does anyone have any suggestions of a better way of doing this? Oh, and I slightly missed focus on a few of those, but thats entirely my fault as I was playing with setting to the center focus point only and different drive modes.

Criticism and comments welcome as ever.

Cheers,
Chris

 

I say leave the pics as they are.

 

Yeah, the red gives it more of an atmosphere than if they're over corrected. Afterall - thats what it looked like when they were playing! Absolutely love the moment you captured in #3. The DOF works perfectly there imo

RwD

 

You know, for some reason I really like #2. Sure, technically it's not perfect: The focus is on the elbow, he's not looking at the camera, there's a big light on the top of his head, etc.

I can't figure it out at the moment, but for some reason it just works for me. I like the mood it creates. He sings in a grindcore band, so his pose and the off-focus seem to fit.

I like the wacky colors, too. Again, it fits the nature of the band, and it shows what they look like in their natural environment.

-monkey

 

This won't help you with these pics but if you shoot this stuff a lot (like I do) you will want to get yourself a graycard. It's a piece of plastic/card that is 18% gray and you can shoot it before/during/after the show providing a white reference in wacky lighting and makes setting white balance later easy peasy. Another option is to pick something in the scene that you know is white/light gray and sample it to set the whitebalance but that sometimes can be more frustrating than doing it manually like you have been doing.

 

It's actually easier then you think. Find a chrome or metal object, preferably rounded (think mic stands, or tuning pegs). In the reflection, there is 99% of the time an 18% gray. When you use your white balance eyedropper, look for areas that are close to numerically the same. 1,1,1 or 225,225,225 or 115,115,115. These will never be perfect. 112.5 is 18% gray. If you can get close on 2 of the 3 ( like 115, 119,110) then that is your White Balance correction point. If one is WAY off ( like 115, 70, 115) then that is a major White Balance correction point.

The flip side is....Do you really want to? Lighting is an important part of a show. To much correction and you have perfectly exposed images, but not images of a concert. Of course, it's all subjective. Just food for thought.

And, for god's sake, spot meter and shot RAW.

BTW, concerts I shoot in Aperture Priority-Spot meter-continuous focus-RAW. Wait for the beat, as lights and action are often timed to this. Know the song, so you know the tempo and where the crescendos are. Peaks in the song=peaks in the action and lights. Oh and, Stick 'em and move. All your shots are from stage left. 5 min in a spot and move. Cover the angles. Stage left, right, center. Front, back. on stage if you can swing it, the wings. The worst is staying in one place, 4,000 images from one place. Fight the crowd? yep. bouncers? yep. managers? yep. Screw them all. You have a camera.

 

Spoken like the true photog... And this is why we love you, JJ.


BTW...Eddie?! You're alive?! I was pretty sure you'd been swallowed whole by the hills and the ground spit up a marker for you.

 

I live.

 

Thanks for the advice guys.

Eddie: I'll pick up a graycard and experiment with using it. I'm shooting another gig monday (All Shall Perish for those interested).

JJ: I was shooting RAW, but spot meter for only half of them (I'll set it permanently from now on ). I'll move and get some different angles on mondays gig, hopefully this will get a better set of pics (although it is little hard to move from one side to the other when there is a mosh pit in the way)

Cheers guys, I'll try all this out on monday and report back.
Chris

 

If you can at all get some photos with the ligths doing their thing before the show starts and run a couple of pictures by your cameras custom white balance feature until you get one that looks reasonable, the red lights are part of the show and should be included but they tend to get a bit out of hand at times.

While I can entirely recomend fighting the crowd, they always accept pushing and shoving anyway, its part of being there, dont fight the bouncers the better you get on with security, the better they will be with you at another date. Especially tour security, they taketh no crap.

#3 seems to be lacking some colour

#1 + 4 look amazing

Loving the random hand in #6, classic gesture.