Izdihar - Magic Kingdom Escapology

This guitar, a Yamaha SA2200, is now my most viewed picture over at flickr. Oddly though, it has very few comments on it and even fewer favourites on it - just 1 as I write. It would seem that most of the views originate from search engines such as Google images as opposed to views originating within flickr itself. I don't mind people looking, but it would be nice if they could at least acknowledge that they like what they see.

...or maybe they don't :(

Nah! I don't believe that... :crazy:

It's now almost a full week since I did the shoot at Salwa Rocks II and I think perhaps time to reflect on what went right and more importantly, what I could do better next time. It's probably fair to say that Salwa Rocks II wasn't quite Knebworth, but then again Knebworth isn't set less than 0.5 Km from my front door either. Considering that it was mostly put together by a volunteer staff of compound residents with little to no experience of setting up a sizeable live music event, it was bloody marvellous. There were too many good things about this to start nit picking on the way the day was organised and run. It's also worth remembering that the musicians were (I think) all of amateur status - this is not their real job.

The point of this post really is to look at what I as a photographer (also amateur) could have done better to ensure I had the best chance of grabbing some top notch shots from the day. With that I'll make a little list of things I can think of that would help.

1. Firstly, at a maximum ISO of 1600, the Canon 350D really isn't up to doing the nights shots. The only way I got away with what I did was because the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM does such a good job of image stabilisation. So long as the performers didn't move at all, I could get away with some ridiculously slow shutters speeds - at one point as low as 1/8s. I do though need that shorter focal length, so perhaps another 5DII or 5D body might be in order, with the non-IS (boo) 24-70mm f/2.8 L might be better - more moolah!
2. There were times when I needed a better view of things and found myself climbing on things I perhaps shouldn't have been, particularly so at the sides of the stage. Next year I think taking the household step-ladders would be a good thing. Easy fix - no cost either.
3. What next? I know there's something, but seem to forget what... Oh yes, memory cards. The 5DII eats them for breakfast and spits out their wirey entrails. Even with 4Gb cards, I was getting wary of running out of space and taking less shots than I might have done, because I didn't want to run out of options for 'the next band'. I even used up two 2Gb cards and with that body they only hold around 57 images as I was shooting in RAW. This is an easy sort, before the year is out, I reckon I'll have at least two 8Gb cards and perhaps a couple more 4Gb ones too.
4. The next thing I think I need to do is not to zoom in too close at times. There are quite a few images, where for the want of a few more millimetres of zooming out, I'd have got 'the whole guitar' or 'the whole performer' on the image. With the 350D and its 8MP sensor, you tend to want to squeeze every last pixel out of the shot and really fill the the frame - with the 5DII, there perhaps a little more latitude there and you have the option to crop without throwing too much away in the process
5. Next, I need to concentrate more on avoiding the stage furniture; music stands, mic stands, dangling cables and so on. Towards the end of the day, I did get better at predicting where a performer was going to move, but before that I collected any number of fantastic shots of singers and guitarists with mics, cymbals and assorted other sundries just at a point where the shot became pretty much unusable
6. The last couple are things that I think the organisers could look at: Firstly the lighting - from a photographers perspective they just weren't bright enough to work with reliably. There were times when the row of lights over the front edge of the stage weren't being used - not sure why. Whilst there were lights either side of the stage, they were just a bit too far back from the plane the performers tended to be standing in, which meant faces were often in shadow. Those side lights were a bit too far away as well, which left the light rather weak at the centre of the stage. All easy fixes, they just need a little thought.
7. The stage itself could have been placed around 12-18" further back from the front barrier. This would have given me a working space in front of the audience and would have helped with getting jostled at times - not what you want when you're stretching the limits of the camera equipment anyway
8. Finally, next year I'll just pick up a guitar and perform, it's over so much quicker...

"We're having a rock festival" they said, "Do you need a photographer?" I said, "Sure" they said. 1,142 images later and the "Salwa Rocks II Festival" was in the can (Compact Flash card strictly speaking), and I faced the editing job from hell. Never has Photoshop been a less inviting place than today - where do you start? For those viewing, you can start here...

For those brave souls who want more you can go over to the "Salwa Rocks II - 2009" set over at flickr HQ. There will be many more to join this select few - try the Slideshow, it makes viewing much easier.

Based on a photograph by Michael Collopy of John Lee Hooker taken in Vallejo, California - 1997. The photograph was recently seen in B&W, Issue 67, June 2009.

My model on this occasion was Abdul (Ludbah). Check out his work here at flickr, it's worth the effort, trust me.

Looks good On Black