Keith, I too love the energy of the shot. But if it's the energy that you wanted to highlight, it drops of a whole lot in the bottom half. The guitarist's upper body is obviously in motion, actively engaged in creative energy, while the legs are tin-soldier straight and grounded to the floor in a flat-footed stance. Also the top and bottom have vastly different average brightnesses.
To me the top and bottom halves look like two separate pictures. Frankly, I think you could cut the photo in half through the middle and end up with two super photos. I love the effects, color, and the different energies of the two halves. Steve p.s. You could even get a great third picture by using only the middle third.
Thanks Dennis, lots of energy was the whole idea, the "standard" freeze the action shots often dont convey the feeling of an event. The lead singer is local fisherman and a real character - an excellent band.
Hi Hugo, Cheers for the crit, about once a month I have to photo gigs - and i get bored doing the straight forward shots and i then just try different techniques, your right about getting the guitar player to stand out just a little bit more, i did'nt use flash as it was a recording session and I did not want to be a distraction, so the only way to get more clarity would be either as you said change the zooming technique or perhaps do a combined exposure. Cheers Keith
Hi Keith, very dynamic shot with some spectacular colours. I only wish the guitar player would've been a bit longer exposed without zoom (quicker zooming, same shutterspeed, as the exposure looks spot on) to make him stand out a bit more in the blur. Another option would've been to use a fill flash on the rear curtain to "freeze" the guy. A minor thing, though, the feel and atmosphere are just great...
Of all your band shots posted today I think this one works the best. Lots of energy created by your zoom effect, but the musicians are still clearly seen - thus we have an idea about what is creating all this energy. Nicely done - if the music was any bit as good as your picture it must have been a great show!
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{K:4817} 4/10/2006