Having grown up in the late 60s, I was excited to learn that one of my contemporaries – James Taylor – was going to be performing in Grand Rapids on March 8th. I anxiously waited for tickets to go on sale, but they were quickly sold out in less than an hour. Fortunately, I found two available last minute tickets through StubHub so I was still in luck.

Through the years, I’ve done my fair share of event photography. But nowadays when I go to a concert or show, I’m usually attending as a spectator and not as a working photographer with a press pass. Since one of my hobbies is to collecting pictures of celebrities, I continue to take a small camera with me – just in case.

Typically, show venues are a mixture of dark backgrounds with strong spotlights. For effect, the performers are often “creatively lit” (read dimly). This stage lighting makes for a very contrasty scene.

So the challenge is to be able to use the theater’s available light to capture the performers. Flash is a no-no.

 

Wait for the right moment
Although my camera is set for dim lighting (ISO is set to 1600), the dim lighting forces a slow shutter speed – in this case about 1/25 second. Here the performer is moving slightly so I end up with a blurred image. Performer: Arnold McCuller	The solution to the blurred image is to carefully watch the performer and snap when he/she is in a more or less stationary position. With a little practice, you’ll be able to anticipate the times when the performer is positioned like a statue.
Adjust the exposure
Most cameras determine the exposure by averaging the amount of light in a scene. On a dark stage with bright spotlights, the camera is usually “fooled” by the darkness. This overexposure causes the brightly lit faces to be washed out. Performer: James Taylor	To prevent the his face from being washed out, I set the camera to reduce the exposure. For this shot, I used the camera’s exposure compensation to make a -2 (f/stop) adjustment. Although his guitar is darker, his face is now properly exposed.

 

For stage performances, you can use relatively inexpensive equipment. On this occasion I used a Canon SX210 IS point-and-shoot which has a 14X optical lens. Our seats were fairly close – the seventh row – but the lens allowed me to zoom in to grab a decent shot.

Just a quick note about courtesy: The auditorium was filled to the brim. Everyone paid for tickets with their hard-earned money so I go out of my way to keep as unobtrusive as possible when taking photos. I’m careful not to put my camera in front of another spectator and to be silent as I snap (usually a menu selection for “silent mode”). They are there for the performance, not to be disturbed by a rude and noisy picturetaker.

And since my real reason for being at the concert was to hear the performance, I make sure that I get to enjoy the music without being overly preoccupied with my camera. And by the way, the performance was great!

You can see more celebrity photos from my hobby celebrity collection here.

 

Written by Arnie Lee

 

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The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show

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You might think that after more than twenty-five years of attending the Consumer Electronics Show, I’d grow weary of the annual (CES used to take place twice a year) trek. Showhow, there’s always lots of excitement in getting your hands on some of the new gadgets that will soon be making their way to the market.

For me, Gordon Lightfoot’s music tells interesting stories while his soothing melodies and talented guitar-playing have kept my attention for more than 40 years. With camera in hand, we went to hear him perform again in concert at the lovely DeVos Hall here in Grand Rapids.

Concerts and Stage Productions
Concerts and stage productions are most often set against very dark backgrounds such as this one. Since the camera sets the exposure by averaging the amount of light in a scene, a brightly lighted face is often overexposed.	The easiest way to prevent the performer’s face from being washed out is to reduce the exposure. For this shot, I used the camera’s exposure compensation to make a -2 (f/stop) adjustment. The face is now clearly visible.

Wedding? Birthdays? Anniversaries? Reunions? It’s the natural place to snap photos to record your memories. We have a few hints that we’ve used to improve our snaps.

Beware of the Light
To capture the special day, we chose a quiet, scenic area. The wedding couple are relaxed and cheerful. While we have a nice pose, if you look closely, you’ll see that we haven’t done justice to the bride’s expensive wedding dress – the detail is lost.	To avoid turning the wedding dress into a blanket of snow, for this photo we’ve reduced the exposure so that the fine and delicate features of the gown are clearly visible. We’ve adjusted the exposure compensation to about -1 stop.