More Bluegrass Concert Shots Made with Lumix DMC-G3

 

Danny Knicely's Big Winter Concert, February 17, 2012

Franklin Park Performing Arts Center, Purcellville, Virginia

By Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, 25mm Pana-Leica Summilux f1.4

iso3200, f4, 1/125 sec

 

I had the distinct pleasure of shooting at a local concert last Friday night. This one was Danny Knicely's Big Winter Concert at the Franklin Park Performing Arts Center in Purcellville, Virginia. Jeff Stern of Franklin Park was nice enough to invite me to shoot backstage for this show. In the image above, left to right, the performers are James Leva on guitar, David Knicely on bass, Danny Knicely mandolin, Tim O'Brien fiddle, and David Via on guitar.

 

While I was shooting, I got the chance to meet Jim Mcwalters, who writes for the live music blog "Cosmic Vibes Live."

 

(Click Here) to go to Cosmic Vibes Live

 

Jim and I are looking forward to working together on future shows. Jim is planning to post a write-up of this show, so I'll leave the musical aspects of the story to him, and focus on the photographic aspects here.

 

I shot with a kit of two DMC-G3s, 14mm f2.5, 25mm f1.4 Summilux, 45mm f2.8 Macro-Elmarit, and 100-300 f4-5.6. I also used a Nikon SB800 for a few flash shots.

 

 

Danny and David

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6 at 108mm

iso3200, f4.1, 1/200 sec

by Reed A. George

 

 

Danny and James

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica 45mm f2.8 Macro-Elmarit

iso3200, f4.5, 1/320 sec

by Reed A. George

 

Tim O'Brien

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica 45mm f2.8 Macro-Elmarit

iso3200, f4, 1/125 sec

by Reed A. George

 

 

Tim O'Brien

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6 at 258mm

iso3200, f5.4, 1/100 sec

by Reed A. George

 

 

Final Song

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5

iso1600, f2.8, 1/100 sec

by Reed A. George

Franklin Park has truly excellent stage lighting. The audience seating area is completely dark, however. Since I wanted to include the audience in some of the images, I mounted my Nikon SB800 flash on the G3 hot shoe, set it to full manual power, and pointed at the rather dark, high ceiling. I didn't have much hope of spreading enough light through bouncing off a dark surface, over such a large area. But, it actually worked at some level! I am happy to have caught the clapping hands of the audience during the final song.

I am not quite yet comfortable shooting backstage, but plan to work on getting closer to the artists as I continue to build experience, and get to know them better at the same time. Here's one example from backstage:

David Via, Backstage

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica 25mm f1.4 Summilux

iso800, f2, 1/125 sec

by Reed A. George

 

Let me be clear - my lack of comfort up close was entirely self-inflicted. These guys and their friends and family backstage were very welcoming. Danny's Dad was really engaging, and told me about how he learned to repair and restore string instruments, as well as sharing a story or two about his musical pursuits. Gaining confidence backstage is the area I need to focus on most.

 

 

Franklin Park Performing Arts Center

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5

iso1600, f2.5, 1/60 sec

by Reed A. George

 

Franklin Park is a wonderful place to get out and hear some great music. I look forward to more outstanding shows like this one in the future!

 

 

Danny Knicely's Big Winter Concert, February 17, 2012

Franklin Park Performing Arts Center, Purcellville, Virginia

By Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, 25mm Pana-Leica Summilux f1.4

iso1600, f2.8, 1/60 sec

I found that the two G3 kit, along with 14mm, 25mm, 45mm primes and 100-300 zoom served me very well during the show. I would enjoy a (very) fast zoom to cover the primes' focal lengths, but probably would not leave them at home for a slower zoom. I hear that Panasonic is planning for f2.8 zooms in this range; I'm not sure that's fast enough. Maybe in combination with the Summilux, I could reduce my lens count by two? That would be worthwhile. But, this 2-body, 4-lens kit was pretty darned easy to haul around.

 

As I mentioned, where I need to concentrate is in getting more comfortable close up with the artists. Jodi Cobb, a long-time National Geographic and live music photographer is a great role model for me in this. I posted on her work here on DMC-365 in the past. She has some wonderful candid images of many of the greats. I will review her work more often.

 

(Click Here) to see Jodi's images of musicians and concerts.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Support this blog: