Professional concert gig with the NX30

I shoot concerts with my NX30.

I have looked at all of your images in the link you provided.

You requested 'constructive' critique.

I have never understood how the 'student' can know what is 'constructive'.

Perhaps you meant 'polite', and 'polite' my cc in response to your request, will be.

First, the venue you had to work with would have had me pulling my hair out.

No central aisle, as best as I could determine. Piano almost at center stage.

Row lighting at stage left & right, in scene with performers.

Second, this shoot required a Monopod. I always shoot with a monopod.

Third, your images as a group are evidence of a very poor vantage point options due to the venue layout.

For this shoot I would have put my camera on my 12' light stand and used the Android App to shoot various scenes with my tablet. This raises my camera above the audience and at mid body of the performers on stage.

Fourth, I would prefer fixed 1/160 to freeze action, regardless of ISO.

Fifth, Presentation: your album has some completely Out Of Focus images. I would delete them.

It also includes selective focus shots which in my opinion, confuse the image viewer, who wants to look around the scene as captured by your images, they want to look at the other actor's facial expressions, not an out of focus head.

I was looking for some overall venue shots of the concert in progress. These type of shots make it more pleasant to view many body shots, by letting your viewer know where they would be in the scene.

Sixth, due to the venue, your poor vantage points revealed many tilted vertical lines in your images which when viewed as a group/album, the tilted lines are very distracting.

I hope I held to my promise of being polite and constructive.

Often times people respond by getting defensive, which I hope does not occur here.

You captured many shots most photogs would not have been able to capture.

Under the circumstances you did a very good job but there is room for improvement.

I hope you find some of this useful as well as constructive.

Ah, Raw Jaw, you little raincloud.

Yes, the venue was not fantastic. The layout was roughly as you describe, with the added twist that the entire area between the front row of seats and the stage, which is where I would normally be shooting from, was full of audience members sitting on the floor. I was essentially limited to three shooting positions: Front of the left aisle, front of the right aisle and extreme stage right, perpendicular to the stage facing. I also crawled underneath the piano for a few shots, but those pictures weren't good for very much except shooting up Amanda's skirts.

Your idea to use the tablet as a remote trigger and viewfinder while the camera is raised up on a monopod is an interesting one. I could see doing that in a studio setting or even for a relaxed-pace outdoor shoot. I'm not sure it would have been especially practical in this crowded concert venue, especially since I spent most of the shoot on my knees, but it's something worth considering. Certainly the lighter weight of the NX30 as compared to a DSLR makes that more practical than it would be with my Canon.

I disagree re: the selective focus as a matter of aesthetics. Also I rather like the tilted vertical lines that you describe, but again I think that's a subjective matter. I find that perfect perpendiculars have their place, but in an organic shoot like this to me they seem boring and too formally composed.

In the same spirit in which your constructive criticism was offered, let me say this to you: My uncle Wayne once told me that I was bound to meet the occasional jerk, but if everyone I met was a jerk, then actually the real jerk was me, not them. If people are "often" reacting "defensively" to you, could it be the way that you present your feedbac? That said, thank you for your post. It was helpful, constructive and polite.

Kaziklu wrote:

I won't C&C I will ask however is that Amanda Palmer in the last three images? cause yay
This isn't a normal "concert" so it is hard to give and suggestions. It is also something I do just for fun and can be hit and miss. If not for my "is that Amanda Palmer" question I wouldn't have posted at all.

Yes. I've worked her Philly shows for a few years now.

MikeVH wrote:

Ah, Raw Jaw, you little raincloud.

Yes, the venue was not fantastic. The layout was roughly as you describe, with the added twist that the entire area between the front row of seats and the stage, which is where I would normally be shooting from, was full of audience members sitting on the floor. I was essentially limited to three shooting positions: Front of the left aisle, front of the right aisle and extreme stage right, perpendicular to the stage facing. I also crawled underneath the piano for a few shots, but those pictures weren't good for very much except shooting up Amanda's skirts.

Your idea to use the tablet as a remote trigger and viewfinder while the camera is raised up on a monopod is an interesting one. I could see doing that in a studio setting or even for a relaxed-pace outdoor shoot. I'm not sure it would have been especially practical in this crowded concert venue, especially since I spent most of the shoot on my knees, but it's something worth considering. Certainly the lighter weight of the NX30 as compared to a DSLR makes that more practical than it would be with my Canon.

I disagree re: the selective focus as a matter of aesthetics. Also I rather like the tilted vertical lines that you describe, but again I think that's a subjective matter. I find that perfect perpendiculars have their place, but in an organic shoot like this to me they seem boring and too formally composed.

In the same spirit in which your constructive criticism was offered, let me say this to you: My uncle Wayne once told me that I was bound to meet the occasional jerk, but if everyone I met was a jerk, then actually the real jerk was me, not them. If people are "often" reacting "defensively" to you, could it be the way that you present your feedbac?

"Little raincloud"?

Sorry to rain on your parade.

No.

They are reacting to the reality of truthful feedback, which I would not want to diminish by adding a sugar coating. The truth hurts but is the best way to respond to a CC request.

By your calling me a name, you are a most ungrateful student.

My words and thoughts are based on my experiences in photography.

When shooting overhead I always have my camera tied to my monopod or light stand, as common sense would dictate.

When looking at a group of images having tilting verticals of the same event, tilting verticals are very distracting.

It is very rare to find a play, or concert image captured with one of the actors out of focus. This is not good at all and again very distracting to your viewers.

Shooting on one's knees also becomes very, very distracting to members of the audience.

My First rule as a photographer is Never, Ever become part of the event. Whether a concert or News Coverage, I keep the lowest profile possible.

Next time you need a clear aisle to shoot from remind the producer that fire regulations in almost every jurisdiction prohibit blocking the aisles with sitting audience members.

A Professional photographer must know how to adapt to the shooting conditions.

That said, thank you for your post. It was helpful, constructive and polite.

Now you have an additional dose of my 'wisdom'.

Take it or leave it but don't bite the hand that is trying to reach out to you in response to your request for help via CC.

You are welcome.

Raw Jaw wrote:

You requested 'constructive' critique.

I have never understood how the 'student' can know what is 'constructive'.

Perhaps you meant 'polite', and 'polite' my cc in response to your request, will be.

Constructive criticism is criticism that gives reasons as to why something is not good, ways to improve what was done etc. That you do not understand this is not surprising from the rest of what you wrote.

First, the venue you had to work with would have had me pulling my hair out.

Interesting. The venue is a given, so being to critical of this, which nothing can be done about by a photographer or anyone in the audience, tells only something about you.

Fifth, Presentation: your album has some completely Out Of Focus images. I would delete them.

I would not if they are not dupes of better ones. Something is better than nothing.

I hope I held to my promise of being polite and constructive.

I'd say: You probably think so, or hope so, but you did not because you don't understand people. Saying "I hope" is very telling...

Often times people respond by getting defensive, which I hope does not occur here.

People almost always get defensive, but MikeVH was courteous and funny with the raincloud, and yet you slam him with another autistic-style response. Time to add you to my ignore list.

MikeVH wrote:

I don't know if anyone out there is using their NX30 for professional gigs, but I shot the Amanda Palmer show here in Philadelphia with my NX30.

Nice pics, and I am not critical of the venue, it looks very atmospheric...

OrdinarilyInordinate wrote:

I liked these. In my amateur opinion, all but the first photograph have an atmospheric vintage feel to them of old black and white film. I like that mood. Criticism-wise, I think the first photograph is just too busy and lacks a cetral point of interest or figurative focus: it's got a strange perspective that makes it look very distorted and perhaps the framing could have been done differently, as there are so many random things all in pretty good focus, and [my] eye is not sure what to rest on. That's my only concern for the album Everything else is personal taste.

That first one is a polarizing image, I think. I like it because of the strong geometry -- the horizontal bisecting line that draws you to Kyle's face, the asymmetry with Kyle standing 1/3 of the way from the left edge of the screen with no corresponding line on the right side that gives a sense of dynamic tension, the slightly offset pattern of squares in the top third that keeps the top third of the image from being too stark -- but I can completely see why someone might think that it's busy. Because it is busy. I saw it as an exercise in using the lines already present in a scene to direct the viewer's attention, but I may have been too ambitious.

And thank you.