A Different Perspective

Straight on shots can be boring. Portraits, very acceptable. Family picture, A-OK. Picture of the dog, cool. BUT, I like street scene photoshoots, motion blur and trying to capture images from different perspectives (angle that the photo is shot).

Most photo articles and instructors will stress that images can be more interesting if you bend the rules of perspective. Instead of taking a landscape shot with the horizon in the middle of the photo, move it up to the top 1/3 of the image, or the bottom 1/3. Or, better yet tilt the horizon. Street shots can be done the same way. Often the effect is interesting.

I tried this the other day at a show at Moria. I shot The Sorely Trying Days and Prizzy Prizzy Please. A couple of Indie bands. Nice beat.

In the shot of Prizzy Prizzy Please I was standing on a chair shooting down (risking my health and camera since people were dancing and bumping into me...I was thinking to myself if I get knocked off the chair how do I land so I don't break my camera?). I purposely tried to get just a glimps of the band. Here we go:




One of the goals of the image was to try to draw your eye away from the center. Note, I also converted this to B&W, but more on that in a later post.

The next shot was up close and personal with the lead singer of The Sorely Trying Days. This guy really had it going on. I got down on my knees and shot straight up. It took a few minutes for my old bones to get back up, but I like the effect. Much more interesting than if I was face on with him.



BTW, I took both images with a Nikon D200, Manual setting, white balance set to flash, f8, with a Tokina SD 12-24mm F4 IF DX lens. ISO set to 200. Nikon SB-600 flash unit, camera mounted, but with a Lumiquest Ultra Soft kit.

The moral of the photography story, try something different. Shoot that flower at grown level versus from above, shoot down on your subject for a portrait. Mix it up, I'm sure it will give you an interesting image.

Bottomline, grab your camera and shoot away. I do!

Hip Guys and Gals Only

My older son runs a local club called Moria (Khazad-dûm) located in Indianapolis. It focuses on Indie bands, ska, hardcore, punk. You get the idea. Well, he invited me over this past weekend to do a photoshoot for the latest show. Come on, how could I pass up this opportunity to try out my new lenses and Lumiquest softbox. I packed up my kit and headed over.

OK, let me set the scene for you. I love all types of music and feel fairly comfortable mingling with all types of crowds, but at this gig I drew more than a few stares. Hey, who's the old guy lugging the camera equipment. I got a bit of a pass because several of the young adults recognized me through my son ... but still.

Anyway I set up my equipment and flash units and joined in. I learned very quickly the one piece of kit I brought was extremely important .... ear plugs. I really enjoy this type of music. Hey, I like Elvis, Beatles, Metallica, Aerosmith, Classical, etc., but also Tool, Gorillaz, Bolth, and now a few others. Tonights lineup included Prizzy Prizzy Please, Screaming Females, The Sorely Trying Days, and Richard Cranium. Wow. the beat was hot, and so was the club ... I was sweating like a pig after a few minutes.

I was set up when the second act started, The Sorely Trying Days, and it became obvious very quickly the young crowd was not going to part ways to allow me to get close to the band to take photos. Note to self, arrange in advance to get next to the stage. This is a basement type club so there wasn't lots of room to move or squeeze through the crowd once the beat started rolling. My first series of shots consisted mainly of photos of the crowd and a few shots while standing on a ladder.

The next set with the Screaming Females, I talked to the band early and they said it would be OK if I came up close. Unfortunately, that meant standing next to the speaker. My right ear is running at half capacity now, even though I was wearing industrial strength earplugs.

I gave one up for the team and got some nice shots, both using flash photography, and a few using motion blur. I used a manual setting on my Nikon D200, F/8, Flash WB, and speed from 1/2 second to 1/60 of a second. ISO was set at 200. Most of the time I was using my Tokina 12-24mm wide angle lens. A nice lens.

For the last group I stood off on one side standing on a chair shooting down on both the band and the crowd. I had lots of good shots of the crowd moving with the beat and the band getting into it. It was great fun, and a photo rich environment.

Possibly, the club will let me come back again and take more shots. I'll be giving them my images so they can upload a few of the good ones to their Facebook page. Overall a good night with several really excellent indie bands and a nice local club.

Here are a couple of shots of the Screaming Females from New Brunswick, NJ

Go ahead, grab your camera and shoot away ... I do!!