*Obsolete* E330 does Metal Core concert

My future son-in-law is the singer for a metal core band. For the past several weeks they've been getting a regular gig at a seedy club. I've wanted to shot some photos for them but most places they play are very small and to try and get concert photos. iI those small places, the E330 and I might get clobbered by someone in the audience body surfing or moshing. Last week's venue was a great place to safely take photos. I've been doing concert photography for about 6 months. This kind of music/performance is not really my cup of tea.Some of my favorites in the next 3 replies.
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Charlene Ahrens

the old 14-45 kit lens and a knock off Fl 36









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Charlene Ahrens

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Charlene Ahrens

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Charlene Ahrens

Great band pics! The E330 might be obsolete, but in the right hands, it's still quite capable.

I'll also add that I envy the one guitarist's white, v-shaped Jackson. That's a pretty sweet axe!

Thanks for your comment. I must say that although I don't like that kind of music they were great. Name of the band is The Dead Rise First. They have a My Space page with a sample of their music.
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Charlene Ahrens

I love taking shots at concerts too, can be tricky but very rewarding if you get it right. What lens were you using and at what ISO?
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667....Neighbour of the beast....Form is temporary, glass is permanent.

My favourite shot of yours is the very first and the last of the first series.

I generally like the vividness and saturation of your colours.

Mostly, flash is not really allowed for concert photography. That makes it harder.

I also enjoy shooting concerts with a combination of E-3 with long lens + E-330 with wider lens. I often use the ZD50mm on the E-330 and intend to start using the PL25mm for even more speed (in the sense of aperture of course).

I wrote about the E-330 as a concert camera a while ago :

Look for some examples (of concert shooting) and text about what I use it for most often now (paired with the E-3):

concert phtography with the E-330 (paired with E-3 for telephoto):
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=29130134

E-330 for streetshooting (primes and B&W; a rangefinder-style experience):
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=29330209

close-up portraits in B&W with the E-330 and prime lenses:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1008&message=29333201

comparison of use E-3/E-330:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=30257634

Lots of comments and insights by others also in those same threads.
Feel free to leave your input or a link to this thread.

Feel free to also go looking at my concert shots on http://www.roelh.zenfolio.com .

As a rule of thumb, in most galleries, the colour shots are with E-3 and the B&W with E-330.

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Roel Hendrickx
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UK (+abroad) Olympus Photo Safari Group ( http://www.ukphotosafari.org/ )

E-3 user field report from Tunisian Sahara: http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html

WOW, nice shots and I enjoy seeing their Jacksog gears.
Unfortunately in my country we are banned to play live :-(

By the way thanks for the shots.
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ISO 400 with noise reduction on.
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Charlene Ahrens

The establishment couldn't care less if I used flash - they just want to sell booze to those of legal drinking age. The concert promoter knew I was with the band and that band wanted some concert shots so the use of flash had been cleared with them.
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Charlene Ahrens

sorry for the performance prohibition and glad you enjoyed seeing the pics.
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Charlene Ahrens

I'm going to be honest here - since flash scenarios are one of my specialties - but I have to say that these aren't that great. Now I say this because the lighting isn't balanced - and I realize that you probably had no other choice. And I realize that in certain situations, some flash lighting is better than nothing at all.

I tend to try and use lighting that balances more - whether it be bounce lighting, using a more powerful flash unit (if the ceiling is low enough and space permits you to do so), or attaching 3rd party flash diffusion or dispersion items like the Gary Fong's Lightsphere, or the Demb Flip-it, etc.

Here is what I'm talking about. I'm guessing you didn't have a lower ceiling in your situation and thus you had to rely on direct forward flash - which in these particular cases look harsh. But then again, you may have been shooting for this effect - I don't know.

The following images were taken in a very large hall where the use of bounce flash was impossible. I had to attach Gary Fong's Lightsphere to my flash. In this case the images were shot at ISO 800 using the Nikon D50 and the Nikon SB-600 flash in bounce mode with the Lightsphere attached. Please excuse the color tones because this hall was very dimly lit and the lighting was a strange yellowish and the balls were all beige - getting the correct WB in this case was almost impossible. I'm just trying to highlight the more balanced (natural?) lighting here - that is possible with just one flash unit. These were taken at an eagle scout ceremony:









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As always, make it a great day!

Charlene_S said:

ISO 400 with noise reduction on.
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Charlene Ahrens

Click to expand...

Thanks.
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667....Neighbour of the beast....Form is temporary, glass is permanent.

Ben, that's some good advice for general flash situations, but I believe that for shooting a metal band, this harsh, direct flash lighting actually worked quite well. You acknowledged that she might have been doing it for effect, but I think if you take a good look at the photos, there's no need to ask that question. As I said, in this situation, harsh sharp lighting is exactly appropriate.

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'There's nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept' Ansel Adams
(Equipment in Profile)

Nobody doubts your flash expertise, but on this one I am going to have to agree with trisweb.
The lighting is just great for this subject.
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Roel Hendrickx
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UK (+abroad) Olympus Photo Safari Group ( http://www.ukphotosafari.org/ )

E-3 user field report from Tunisian Sahara: http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html

My favorite is the second photo in the second set.

I also think the flash is fine. Maybe not technically correct but the results are appealing, to me at least.

What flash mode did you use? (did your turn on the slow synchronization? or when should it be turned on?)

Flash photography is one of my weaknesses. I never truly understand how to use bouncing flash properly... Will one have enough time to adjust the angle of the reflector if moving forwards & backwards is needed? And what flash power should be chosen since the it can't be calculated like in TTL auto mode? etc etc

Anyway, nice photos! Ben's photos are excellent too. Thanks for sharing them!

Best Regards,
Tony

I tried bouncing flash but that didn't give enough light. I statrted off with flash output in camera menu set at 2+ but when I peeped at the photos they were totally blown. Ikep adjusting the flash output for several shots and decided to leave the output at 0. The band members are happy with images and I think for tough shooting situation they are OK. Thanks for the advice Ben!
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Charlene Ahrens

These are great I love metal, yeah the flash really suits these pics, normally one would use stage lights but the flash has managed to catch the dynamics of the band. Love the jackson sharkfin Alexi laiho out of children of bodom plays one like it, originally made famous by Rhandy Rhodes of ozzy osbourne, what a cool band, if they were here i would go see them, I love the girl on keyboards too, sheis so cool and pretty. thanks for sharing these gr8 gig photos, hehe obsolete e330 that is my main dslr hehe. best wishes to you and may your son and his band prosper and enjoy their music......peace ....paul
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