Pushing ISO at a GREAT House Concert

This weekend I took a few shots at a house concert where Peter Elkas performed with Andrea Simms-Karp opening. The show was hosted by Bob and Cathy of Bobcat house concerts, and once again they picked a winner. The show was amazing.

House concerts mean low light, and low light means blasting the musicians with flash, or using a nice wide aperture, throwing on Auto-ISO and hoping for the best. I'm not much for flash at concerts, and most times neither are the performers, so that was out. It wasn't loud enough to be able to just hold the shutter button down for the whole show, so I couldn't up the odds that way either. With some good equipment and good technique, it's usually possible to get a few winners. In this case I used the 50mm f1.8, a lens that I love and most everybody else does too. It's cheap and bright, sharp and small. What more could you ask? Well a silent-wave motor I suppose would be nice, as it can be a touch loud when focusing - especially if it's hunting. Whiiizz, Crack! Whiiizzz, Crack!

That's splitting hairs however. This lens is great on the D300, the D70, and probably any other SLR with a screw to drive it. As for technique, I've had my best luck at concerts with spot metering and a slight (-2/3 to -1 stop) underexposure reading off the performer's face. It works more often than not, and that's what I did this time.

(All photos: D300, colour-corrected, cropped and resized with bit of sharpening in Photoshop. Click for larger version)

Doug Friesen. (ISO 500, 1/30@f1.8)


Andrea Simms-Karp and Doug Friesen (ISO 800, 1/40@f2)


Peter Elkas (ISO 2000, 1/40@f2)

New Photo Exhibit: The Manx Pub, Ottawa

Good things are worth waiting for, even Yahoo Answers agrees with this (for the most part anyway). I say this today because something I've been looking forward to for a long time has just begun:

I have a photo show at the Manx Pub from Feb.4th until March 4th. (2009)

Vernissage: Sunday February 8th, 2009, 4pm - 6pm

The exhibit consists of thirteen never before displayed photos of diverse locations and subjects exploring colour and pattern. All are 11.5"x15.5" prints in 16"x20" frames and all are for sale.

While this isn't the first show I've done - it's my second, I'm so experienced! - it was the first one I booked. The Manx pub and more specifically Andy the manager there, was the first to say yes to putting my photos up on their walls. It was a real turning point for me, since up until then I hadn't really put my work before anyone unless they happened to come into my apartment. However, The Manx, as a great little pub with fantastic food, great atmosphere and an eclectic, creative clientele and staff, has a long waiting list for artists who want to display their work. For me that meant I had 11 months to prepare.

As luck would have it I couldn't spend all 11 months preparing for the Manx show, since in the meantime the Wild Oat Bakery Cafe also said yes to displaying my photos. That show was originally scheduled for July only but got held over until September. As my first show ever, this was an amazing experience for me. I was overwhelmed at how many people showed up and how supportive they all were. Thanks to everyone who came, and thanks especially to all the staff at the Wild Oat. If you haven't been there, you're missing out on great veggie/organic food and delicious fair trade coffee. (roasted in Nova Scotia!!)

The Manx show goes until March 4th. If you're in the neighbourhood this Sunday, February 8th from 2-4pm, drop in. I'll be there.