Critique My Photos - My First Live Gig

[TriggerHappyDude]

Ok, I've created this thread so you all can critique my first set of pictures of a small local live band.

They had rotating lights; red, blue, green, purple, orange, white etc...

 

Here is the entire 180+ set of pictures, some good some bad.

Warren Peace at Dan O'Brians Public House

 

Here are a few pictures I pulled out that are some of my favorites:

 

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)

Aperture: f/2.8

Focal Length: 62 mm

ISO Speed: 1600

Exposure Bias: 0 EV

Flash: Off, Did not fire

 

1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

4.

 

5.

 

6.

 

7.

 

8.

 

9.

 

10.

[andykee]

first shot is money

 

 

my only other suggestion is this: it looks like you were shooting most of these wide open. while i realize this is needed for the light-gathering, most of the shots don't have your subjects entirely in focus. i.e. your depth of field was too great. this really kills the shots with people in them for me. don't be afraid to jack that ISO up to 3200 and shoot down in the 1/60 range, just so you can stop that lens down a bit to increase your DOF.

[TriggerHappyDude]

first shot is money

 

 

my only other suggestion is this: it looks like you were shooting most of these wide open. while i realize this is needed for the light-gathering, most of the shots don't have your subjects entirely in focus. i.e. your depth of field was too great. this really kills the shots with people in them for me. don't be afraid to jack that ISO up to 3200 and shoot down in the 1/60 range, just so you can stop that lens down a bit to increase your DOF.

 

Ok, so you mean bump the ISO up to 3200, so I can open up from f/2.8 to say f/4 and higher, and then bring the shutter speed down to 1/60 range? (what would be the f stop range I could shoot in those conditions? Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate your suggestions

[andykee]

Ok, so you mean bump the ISO up to 3200, so I can open up from f/2.8 to say f/4 and higher, and then bring the shutter speed down to 1/60 range? (what would be the f stop range I could shoot in those conditions? Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate your suggestions

yeah, 3200 is more than usable on that body. in terms of ideal apertures, you need something that will give you a couple of feet worth of DOF. this varies with your focal length, but at 70mm, 10 feet from your subject, even shooting at f/4 gives you a foot and a half worth of focus to work with. f/5.6 is even better at 2 feet.

 

 

see: http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

[Withers]

#1 = best in show for me

 

andy, that website rocks!

[latazyo]

see: http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

 

 

#1 = best in show for me

 

andy, that website rocks!

 

there's an "ap" for that

http://www.dofmaster.com/iphone.html

[TriggerHappyDude]

Any thoughts on the photos latazyo? Anyone else?

[Lalani]

Oh yeah, what I mentioned on the other thread. A few of the shots have the subject placed right in the center of the frame... with nothing of interest on either sides. Sometimes this works, but not in this case. Take for instance, the third pic. It makes the eye kinda bounce from side to side, without any type of flow to it. The first shot is composed very nicely though.

 

Next time, try different angles... And by angles, I mean tilt the camera in different directions so the shots aren't all exactly vertical or horizontal. *Not to be overused, but some interesting shots could come from it.

[latazyo]

pretty clean

 

I like the left hand blur in #6 which is suggestive of fast movement

[wfournier]

When asking for critiques it helps to number the photos so it is easier to differentiate which photo is being talked about.

 

The following critique reflects my OPINION and is meant to show what I feel can be improved in the future.

 

1. I like this one, as others have said as a photo probably the best of the set.

 

2. Doesn't do anything for me, either needs to be cropped to focus on the bass (not really possible from the current crop as the headstock is cutoff) or wider to show the musician's head.

 

3. I like the idea here, but the guitarist is out of focus (the camera focused on the back wall rather than musician, what AF mode are you using, try using a single point if you are not). Also just a little nit, try to find an angle that avoids the mic stand unless the subject is interacting with it.

 

4. not bad, maybe a little blurry. I think I would have tried pushing the ISO a bit further to 3200 but I don't know exactly how the MkII handles that. I do find the space behind the bassist distracting so I would crop some of that.

 

5. same as 4.

 

6. I find the guitarist swapping guitars in this one slightly distraction as to me it takes away form the mood of the photo.

 

7. a bit more dof would be nice to get the face in focus, speaking of the face it is, um, interesting.

 

8. nice, good skin tones, I would just have moved the bassist so that he is centered on the left third and it would be great.

 

9. No good for me, having forgroud objects out of focus and focusing on something in the backgrund can work, but in this case the bass is too distracting.

 

10. Same as 8, but this one is better.

[TriggerHappyDude]

Thanks for the feed back, those were just some samples of the 182, there are a lot more that are bad and some that are good, I just haven't taken a lot of time to critique them myself. I appreciate your inputs. All valid points. I've numbered them now so it helps.

 

Being my first live band shoot, I was also a bit timid in going right up to the stage to take some shots, and get in front of the small crowd of on lookers. I will grow out of that over time I hope. I guess I was shy?