Exploring this new camera and editing stuff.

I got my new camera like four months ago (see my last post) and have been dragging ass with it. I’ve been busy with life things and not going to as many shows, and one thing I really want to do with this camera is take live show pictures without a flash. This is my first Sony and there are SO many settings. I was taking pictures at show like a month after I got it and somehow turned on bracketing. I didn’t know how to turn it off! No harm was done, but I needed to wait until I got home to figure out what was going on and how to turn it off. It just made me realize I need to spend more time trying new things with it and learn where all the settings are.

I am able to turn up my ISO much higher on this camera than any camera I’ve had, and it still looks good. However, I realize this camera still struggles when bands play under only red or blue lights and the lighting is low. Editing is a challenge, even if I make the photo black and white, which usually looks better than color in this situation. So now I am circling back to another thing I need to upgrade if I was to navigate this issue: photo editing software. I mentioned this in my last post, but I am still using Adobe Photoshop 7.0, which is from 2002. I believe that is the year my dad gave me a copy, taught me basic skills, and I learned the rest on my own. It’s so terribly outdated. I’ve considered upgrading but unsure what program I want to try.

Another thing, I haven’t shot in RAW before. That’s pretty funny considering all the photography I’ve done. I’ve tried to open them in Adobe Photoshop 7.0 before and was unsuccessful, so I just blew it off. But I think what I have been needing to do it upgrade photo editing software, shoot in RAW, and see what editing looks like that way. I think I can produce better photos if I get out of the stone age. It might help me with the low lighting issue.

I took some pictures at a show last night and had it in RAW + jpeg setting. I confirmed I can’t open RAW in Adobe Photoshop 7.0, so I am going to look into other software. I’ll update soon!

Ordered a new camera!

I’m excited I finally did this so I would like to write about it.

I have been doing photography for about 17 years and finally invested in something that might help me level up a little bit! Nothing major, but a huge step compared to what I’ve been working with all these years. I spent a lot of years saying, “Maybe one day, but until then, this is what I have.” I often pushed this “want” to the side, but finally decided I want to be happy with what I love to do.

I’ve always had average older model Canons. They are nice cameras, but I’ve been limited. My biggest limitation has always been issues involving low light. If there isn’t much light, I have to hike up the ISO and deal with graininess. The ISO wasn’t very high on my last camera and my current camera only goes to 6400. So low lighting has been an issue for me no matter what I have tried to photograph.

I kept hearing the mirrorless cameras are really good. I have never been someone who went into camera stores and played with all the cameras to see what they do and what I like best. I guess I don’t want them to think I am buying. I’ll usually look at cameras on the internet and see what specifications I prefer. And maybe I’ll ask around. By doing this, I’ve been trying to narrow my decisions down to a couple important features.

The first thing is, of course, a camera that does good in low lighting. I would like to lean towards photographing live music without a flash, unless I really need to. Flash is great for capturing really fast shit, but if it’s not fast, I prefer to not use a flash. Plus, I have been feeling like such an introvert these days. Having a camera that keeps flashing isn’t exactly drawing attention away from myself. Not using a flash would help me feel more like a ninja.

The second thing I have been wanting in a camera is something smaller that still takes amazing photos. Something compact. I get tired of lugging around a larger camera, and I am not a fan of my clunky camera bag. Something smaller would be great. A compact camera. And I’m unsure if anyone has noticed me shaking my hand at shows, but the larger camera sometimes makes my hand ache. Arthritis. 😐

A little voice in my head has been telling me, “Get a professional camera.” But what is a professional camera? Something I don’t wanna spend money on? Am I even professional? 😂No…I am professional at work. I don’t make money doing photography. I’m just going to get something that works for me.

So, after talking to a few friends, including Carlo (thephantomnaut), I started thinking a Sony. I looked around online and decided to go with a Sony Alpha 7C. I’ve never even held one before, so I don’t have any experience with one, but it is a step up from what I have now. I am eager to get familiar with it. I haven’t been happy with my photography for a little while, even to the point that I feel discouraged. I am hoping this will change that. It’s a little more than I wanted to spend, and by spend, I mean put on credit card. But like I mentioned, I want to be happy with what I love to do.

I’ll have to write an update when I get familiar with the new camera. My next goal is to upgrade the program I use to edit my photos. What do I use now? Oh, just Adobe Photoshop 7.0 from 2002. 😂 Oh, I need glasses, too.

Slacking off.

My live music photography has taken quite a dive. I haven’t been going to many shows these days, and although I know I’ve been missing out, I’ve been prioritizing other life things. My job has also been leaving me mentally drained these days. I haven’t been feeling motivated to take pictures at all. This has happened to me before. I just wasn’t feeling happy with my photography and went on hiatus. I mean why do something if you’re not feeling it? I have other fulfilling hobbies I can focus on.

One of my main reasons I haven’t been happy with my photography is I feel I need to get an upgrade camera. I don’t even know what kind I want. I’d like a smaller, lighter camera, but I don’t know what kind to get that will still produce quality pictures. I definitely want the option to not use flash. That’s going to be an important next move. I have a vision for the kind of photos I want to take, and I am just not seeing what I have in mind when I look at my pictures. I need to figure out what gear I want and get familiar with it so I can take the kinds of pictures I can feel proud of. I am not trying to spend a million dollars, either. I have other things I want to spend money on.

There is some photography I could be motivated to do. For example, I recently did a shoot with a couple of musician homies at a nice location with natural light. I enjoyed doing the shoot and the style of pics we took. I’ll be eager to share some of the photos when the musicians are ready to share them.

I could be motivated to photograph if it gives me an artistic outlet. I’ve had a few ideas in my back pocket for a while so maybe I should do those things. Or try out some of my other hobbies. Time will tell. I’m not gonna stress.

Zesta Grande on Lady Grey B&W film

I’m very late on posting this, but I developed the second roll of film I took at Zesta Grande. My post about the first roll I took can be read HERE. I guess I took so long to write about this because I am a little disappointed with how they turned out. I mentioned an issue I discovered with that camera in my original post about Zesta:

“Another issue was some of the subjects closer to me turned out blurry but everything in the background came out sharp! That was a bummer because I missed the chance to take some really neat pictures. But now I am aware this camera does that and can be mindful in the future. Maybe there is a way to prevent this from happening and I need to explore the features of this camera a little more, but the camera is pretty simple, and I don’t know what adjustments could be made.“

The same issue happed with this roll. There were a few that turned out decent, like these of ACxDC and HKFY:

The other pictures from this roll that turned out okay are in my gallery now; I added them to my Zesta Grande folder. You can see them HERE.

The Lady Grey film was expired, by the way. I let the rolls sit there for a little too long!

There is one photo, in particular, that sums up the camera issue:

It would have been great if this had turned out well! Tongue out and rubbing the strings on the mic stand, but it’s blurry and the background it sharp! Boo!

There is a third roll of film that I took to Zesta Grande, but I didn’t finish the roll there. I recently finished it off at another show. I am concerned many of the photos may be blurry.

I had a little conversation with another person who enjoys film cameras, and he happened to bring up having a similar film camera that sometimes produces blurry subjects and sharp backgrounds! It really sucks because film and developing isn’t cheap and missing good shots isn’t fun; it would be nice to find a way to use the film cameras and avoid this issue. Maybe I can find more info online. If not, I may avoid using this film camera.

Oh, by the way, the camera is a OLYMPUS Stylus Epic DLX.

I really like the freedom of a small, lightweight camera that I can fit in my Fanny pack.

Anyways, this is all for now. Thanks for reading! If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to my website and get updates via email when I post.

Banners!

After years of lazily neglecting my home page, I’ve finally made some banners that link to a few different categories of my photography!

Instead of having a bunch of text that simply says, “CLICK HERE to visit my gallery, etc.”, I have made banners to click on.

The first one is for shows; my Flickr gallery. I used a photo I took of Funeral Chant from THIS show. I like how the photo turned out.

The second link is for my other project Altera Vitæ, which is for my photo shoots. I separated that from my concert photography due to the fact that some of the shoots may show a bit more skin. My concert photography has a small youth following and I don’t want boudoir style photos mixed in with pictures from the shows they went to and want to look at.

The photo I used for that banner is from my shoot with Carma. Her and her gracefully positioned hands.

The third banner links to information on band shoots, which is something I don’t do much. It’s not my gig or my specialty, and I am only inspired to do it under certain conditions. READ to find out more.

The picture I used for this banner is from a shoot I did in 2011 of Nunfuck. Yes, it’s an old photoshoot, but I chose it because Joseph put a lot of thought and effort into it. There was a set up, weapons, nuns…it looked great. I like that standard for band shoots. I like a theme or a general care for aesthetics.

Anyways, those are my banners for now! I may change them up every so often.

I also added icon buttons to my Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! I don’t use YouTube too often, but have been trying to remember to upload video clips I take from shows.

Hope you all enjoy!

“Photographers ruining shows”

I’m going to write about a topic that I have been mulling over for a while now and has recently come to a peak. Within the last couple years, I have noticed I’ve occasionally started seeing things on social media where people have complained about photographers at shows for various reasons. I’ve read things like photographers being in the way and their flashes being distracting. Nothing directed towards me; mainly screenshots shared by others. It always gets me thinking when I read these things, wondering if anything I do disturbs anyone.

And, yes, I do use my flash in dark venues. If I don’t, I’m probably getting images that look like this:

I don’t have the kind of gear that can handle the minimal lighting in the venues I tend to go to. Sometimes I get lucky if someone is standing under a light, but that pretty much excludes drummers, and I like to photograph drummers, too. I get so happy when there’s good lighting, or better yet, an early show outdoors!

Anyways, just recently, I saw another photographer share some thoughts about live music photography getting out of hand and expressing a couple ways photographers might ruin shows. I think those thoughts were either coming from feedback they may have heard, or it might be their opinions on the growing number of photographers in the music scene, I don’t know.

It made me start thinking about this issue again, and honestly, it makes me feel discouraged. I decided to express myself via a story on IG, basically saying I feel like focusing my passions elsewhere due to the amount of whining about photographers at shows. And then I got a response that didn’t make me feel any better.

I am not familiar with the person who messaged me, but they (kindly) said the following about flashes at shows, coming from a perspective as a person who goes in the pit:

“Really frustrating…legitimately dangerous…seriously disorienting…can make you lose balance/fall…really annoying.“

Wow. And they stated they weren’t speaking just for themselves, but others, who express they “enjoyed the show, but the camera flash was obnoxious“.

While I am not going to dismiss their feelings and opinions…how different are we, really?

Moshing, hardcore dancing, stagediving, crowd killing…those are ALL dangerous to yourself and everyone in and out of the pit. But that’s what we all sign up for when we go to those kinds of shows, don’t we? I would still be in the pit, too, if I wasn’t old and already dealing with aches and pains, and this is why I try stay out of harm’s way. But I do love the pit. It’s a part of whole experience, which is why I sometimes photograph what goes on there.

Being in the pit, or being a casualty of the pit, can be all of those things you claim a camera flash is, if not more. But you won’t catch me complaining. So can we not coexist? Does that make photographers unfair? Can we just write this off as “elements of an extreme music show in a dark venue” without feeling experiences were ruined?

Being aware of this issue also has had me wondering what the musicians think of flashes. The majority seem to love the pictures, but I am an overthinker and will continue to be concerned.

I’ve had a few really awesome people reach out to me; a musician, a couple friends who do go in the pit, and an amazing photographer. All have inspired me to keep doing what I’m doing; what I love doing. I appreciate you all for that, for real.

At this moment, I am going to chill and ruminate over everything. I’m not feeling motivation or passion at the moment. I’ve taken a break before; maybe I need another. Maybe I will look into getting a flash diffuser. Maybe I’ll stop taking pictures of the pit, although there will be others who will still do it. I don’t know.

I still have my photoshoots I can focus on, as well as many other things I enjoy doing with my free time.