Misawa Idol Finale

[lmilne89]

I took these at the Misawa Idol Finale where I work (kind of like American Idol). This was my first time shooting anything like this & my first time taking photos in low light & having to use high ISO. These were taken at ISO 3200, handheld, & without flash. The rest of the EXIF data is available on the Flickr photo pages for these, but not for the black & white one.
You can choose just one or critique them all as a whole or whatever you want. Please be honest but not mean, I'm sensitive & I know I need improvement but some people kind of crush my dreams because they are so harsh, lol.




a few other photos from that night:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exilill...7623929687016/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exilill...7623929687016/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exilill...7623929687016/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exilill...7623929687016/

[windrider86]

You must have your exif hidden cause I was going to post it for you

[lmilne89]

Sorry about the multiple images, I was just about to take the others down, I saw the rule about just one after I posted it. Again, sorry, this is my first time posting in here.

Yeah the exif data for my b&w images never shows up. It is there for the color ones but when I edit it with photo impact x3 & convert it to grayscale it doesn't show up anymore for some reason.

[windrider86]

If you have done a lot of processing on an image, the exif info will go away.

[lmilne89]

yeah it just does it when I convert the data type to grayscale even if that's the only thing I did to it. I don't know if it does that when I make it grayscale in photoshop elements 8 though, it might just do it when I use the other one.

[LeeR]

The EXIF data is readily available on flickr. For you gear heads, here it is:

Camera: Pentax K100D
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/6.7
Focal Length: 260 mm
ISO Speed: 3200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

Pretty impressive if you ask me. He is shooting the 35mm equivalent of a 300+mm lens at 1/60 of a second and no camera shake. He is also shooting at ISO 3200 with precious little grain...on a Pentax! Who knew!

I don't know anything about the venue where these were taken but the lighting appears to be dismal. I have often shot stage work at ISO 400 or even 200, so having to resort to 3200 means there isn't much light on that stage. As for composition, there isn't much you can do here but try to get the performers doing something interesting and that appears to have been done well.

[windrider86]

enlighten me on how you found the information? I couldn't find it on the photo that was posted.

[lmilne89]

Thank you, LeeR. It was pretty dark in there, since I had never done anything like this before, at first I was worried about not bringing my tripod so I went to see how well the photos would come out while they were still practicing. They came out very dark unless I used long shutter speeds & then they would be blurry because of all of the movement of the performers so I increased the ISO a little to see what was best. I took some at 1600 when they weren't moving too much but found that 3200 was the most reliable because if they moved their hand or something it wasn't as noticable in most of the photos I took at that ISO unless they were just being really fast or clapping or something. I had to use flash for one of them (not in the ones I posted on here) because the woman was moving like crazy.
Also, how did you get the exif data on flickr? I read that people like for that to be posted with photos on here but I couldn't for the b&w ones because the 'more properties' & camera option aren't available on those where they usually are unless they have them somewhere else where you have to go searching for them for my b&w photos.

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by LeeR

...shooting the 35mm equivalent of a 300+mm lens at 1/60 of a second and no camera shake. He is also shooting at ISO 3200 with precious little grain...on a Pentax! Who knew!

On behalf of the pentaxian community, don't say these things too loudly. we enjoy being the best kept secret ....I'm surprised coming from a k100d however!

That said, I like the B&W, nice DoF and a opportune time to hit the shutter. Quite emotive. Depending on how far you've cropped down already, I might shift her to the left in the frame, give her some 'singing room' for that evidently powerful 'wail' on the right.

[lmilne89]

I think I did crop that one some but I didn't want to do anymore because then that would mean chopping off some of the top of her head or part of her arm to keep the photo the shape I wanted. I didn't want to crop out the left because I don't usually like square crops. I know what you mean though, I wish I would have moved the camera a little before taking it