When is bad shot a good shot?
Feb. 4th, 2020 03:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
olivermoss posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
photographyonI've been thinking a lot about concert photography recently. I got all my Kane pictures together and up on Neocities, and also my favorite band just booked a show in my city. It's not until May, but I can't stop thinking about making sure my pictures are better than last time.
One key thing about concert photography is realizing when a shot that you didn't intend or is 'bad' from a technical standpoint is a good shot artistically.
In this shot, my camera failed to focus on his face:
But it's still a good shot. He's tuning his guitar. His action is in focus. His face being out of focus emphasizes this moment when he's turned inward during a show instead of outward.
This is one of my most commented on shots:
My camera messed up big time here. That wasn't even close to what I was trying to take a picture of. I nearly deleted it, but I took a risk and posted it. It shows the crowd energy and the experience instead of the band, which makes it interesting. The band's name is embossed on the leather bracelet and the motion of the hand show a lot of energy.
Sometimes 'bad' shots show motion or mood and can be great. Those pictures are all very old and were taken with my Pen 1. My other ancient photos of Kane concerts.
More recently I shot a Steam Powered Giraffe show. I'll be shooting them again in May. I initially hated all my shots from the last show because shooting them turned out to be a technical nightmare. Most of the band used face paint that is actually reflective. It's not just metallic-looking, it actually reflects light. My camera sensor did not do well with this, neither did the tracking AF.
I wanted clear shots of their faces but those faces mostly looked like a reflective mess to my camera. I had to loosen up my expectations and not let the pressure I put on myself get in the way of seeing worthwhile shots.
I spent ages editing the shots trying to deal make weird blobs of light become clear faces.
The faces aren't clear on this, but it's still a good shot:
The body language is subtlety mirrored. They both have their eyes closed. This shows a connection, like they are grooving on playing together.
My most popular picture from the whole damn show was this:
People didn't dig this picture for the girl on the right, they loved the blurry, out of focus background robot having a reaction moment. I didn't even bother putting this shot on my website! Maybe I should fix that. The pictures I did post are here
My favorite shot of the night was this:
And it's mostly for technical reasons. I like it based on my expectations for my own concert photography. But what really is my best shot, this or Blurry Background Robot Reacts?
One key thing about concert photography is realizing when a shot that you didn't intend or is 'bad' from a technical standpoint is a good shot artistically.
In this shot, my camera failed to focus on his face:
But it's still a good shot. He's tuning his guitar. His action is in focus. His face being out of focus emphasizes this moment when he's turned inward during a show instead of outward.
This is one of my most commented on shots:
My camera messed up big time here. That wasn't even close to what I was trying to take a picture of. I nearly deleted it, but I took a risk and posted it. It shows the crowd energy and the experience instead of the band, which makes it interesting. The band's name is embossed on the leather bracelet and the motion of the hand show a lot of energy.
Sometimes 'bad' shots show motion or mood and can be great. Those pictures are all very old and were taken with my Pen 1. My other ancient photos of Kane concerts.
More recently I shot a Steam Powered Giraffe show. I'll be shooting them again in May. I initially hated all my shots from the last show because shooting them turned out to be a technical nightmare. Most of the band used face paint that is actually reflective. It's not just metallic-looking, it actually reflects light. My camera sensor did not do well with this, neither did the tracking AF.
I wanted clear shots of their faces but those faces mostly looked like a reflective mess to my camera. I had to loosen up my expectations and not let the pressure I put on myself get in the way of seeing worthwhile shots.
I spent ages editing the shots trying to deal make weird blobs of light become clear faces.
The faces aren't clear on this, but it's still a good shot:
The body language is subtlety mirrored. They both have their eyes closed. This shows a connection, like they are grooving on playing together.
My most popular picture from the whole damn show was this:
People didn't dig this picture for the girl on the right, they loved the blurry, out of focus background robot having a reaction moment. I didn't even bother putting this shot on my website! Maybe I should fix that. The pictures I did post are here
My favorite shot of the night was this:
And it's mostly for technical reasons. I like it based on my expectations for my own concert photography. But what really is my best shot, this or Blurry Background Robot Reacts?
