Summer Contra Dance at Glen Echo Park

The Folklife Society of Greater Washington (FSGW) hosts weekly dances at Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, Maryland. On this particular night, it was held in the old bumper car pavilion. I found out about the event because some of my friends from the band "The Hot Seats" were playing the tunes.

 

A beautiful evening with moderate temperatures brought out a nice crowd of dancers.

 

All of these images were captured with my Leica M9, mostly with my 35mm f1.4 Summilux, at iso 640. Many of them were made at f4, 1/15 of a second exposure, with fill in flash provided by my tiny Nikon SB30 strobe.

 

Sunday Night Contra Dance, by Reed A. George

 

The lighting was a real challenge, and flash was a must. I wanted to keep the iso at 640, so pushed the limit of handheld sharpness with 1/15 second exposures. The flash helped out with that as well. At f4, I had to preset my focus (usually at about 10-12 feet) and walk around the crowd until I saw the right scene develop at the right distance. Actually a pretty fun way to shoot, I think it worked out pretty well.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Watermelon Park Festival, 2013 - Shot With Nikon D700

I've been shooting a lot of live music and local musicians over the past few years. It's a wonderful project, and has helped me to meet a lot of great people, musicians and fans alike.

Every September, I look forward to the Watermelon Park Festival, held in Berryville, Virginia, about an hour from my home. It's a great time of year to be outdoors, camping, listening to great music. This year was no exception.

There will soon be a review of the festival written by Jim McWalters on the live music blog Cosmic Vibes Live. It will include photos from both Jim and myself.

(Click Here) to check out Cosmic Vibes Live.

Here are my pics from the festival.

Impromptu Music with David Van Deventer, Danny Knicely, and Jared Pool, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D Lens

iso 1600, f2, 1/125 sec.

The Plank Stompers, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-D Lens

iso 400, f4.8, 1/250 sec.

The Bumper Jacksons, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D Lens

iso 3200, f1.4, 1/250 sec.

The Green Boys, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D Lens

iso 800, f4.8, 1/125 sec. With Fill Flash

The Green Boys, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-D Lens

iso 800, f4.8, 1/125 sec. With Fill Flash

Watermelon Boat Float!, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D Lens

iso 400, f8, 1/250 sec.

 

Dwayne Brooke of The Woodshedders, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D Lens

iso 3200, f1.7, 1/125 sec.

Dwayne Brooke and Jared Pool of The Woodshedders, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D Lens

iso 3200, f1.7, 1/125 sec.

David Van Deventer of The Woodshedders, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D Lens

iso 3200, f1.7, 1/125 sec.

Dwayne Brooke and Jared Pool of The Woodshedders, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D Lens

iso 3200, f1.4, 1/125 sec.

Larry Keel, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-D Lens

iso 1600, f2, 1/180 sec.

Larry Keel, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-D Lens

iso 1600, f2, 1/180 sec.

Aimee Curl and Danny Knicely of Furnace Mountain Band, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-D Lens

iso 800, f2.8, 1/125 sec.

 

Hoopin' It Up!, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D Lens

iso 800, f2.8, 1/2 sec.

 

 

This festival presents a lot of opportunities to test my photographic skills. This year, I took the D700, 20mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4, and 85mm f1.8 autofocus lenses. I shot in daylight, dark, with and without flash. The flash came in real handy in the dance tent during the day, as in the Green Boys shots above.

 

I will admit that I was a pretty lazy photographer on this particular weekend. This festival has become a great relaxation for me. I guess that's a pretty good thing in itself.

 

I do have some film shots, taken with my Leica CL and Rokkor 40mm f2.8, but the film is off at The Darkroom for processing. I'll share those later.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

This book (below) includes some great festival photography, including some by my buddy J. Milo Farineau.

 

(Click Here) to go to Milo's site. He's a master.

 

 

Those Blasted Pop-Up Flashes

 

Shot With Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 by nonnit on mu-43.com

Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f43/portraits-using-gf3-one-popup-flash-36944/

 
Anyone who's used one knows the limitations of those little pop-up flashes that are built into your cameras. Nearly every photography seminar I've attended tells you to leave them down, rip them off, whatever, don't use them. On a few exceptions, I've been told to use them the opposite of your first thought: turn them off inside or in low light, use them outside or in bright light for fill-in flash.
 
Those little flashes have a few major problems. First, they're small. That means they have low light output, and are only good close up to your subject, if you're relying on them as the main light in picture. Second, they are built-in. That means that they're optimally placed to give you "red eyes" in your subject, as the light coming from the flash reflects directly back into your lens. Finally, they give very harsh light. This is a result of them being very small sources (nearly point sources) of light, and being directly aimed at the subject. They can really make a nice-looking person ugly.
 
So, what are they good for? If you can dial down the intensity, they're fine for fill-in flash in otherwise good lighting. For example, if you're taking outdoor pictures in strong midday light, that little flash can fill in those deep black shadows under your subject's eyes, and provide a little catch-light at the same time.
 
They can also be used to trigger other flashes wirelessly.
 
nonnit on mu-43.com demonstrated both in his recent post of images shot with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3.
 
(Click Here) to see nonnit's post on mu-43.com
 
So, don't literally rip that little flash off of your camera; just use it very carefully.
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 
 

The Stove Eye Lifters Rock the Barns at Rose Hill in Berryville, Virginia

April 28, 2012 was the first public showing of the new band Stove Eye Lifters, made up of some of the members of two other great local bands, the Acoustic Burgoo (Melissa Wright, Rudy Bzdyk, Ben "Benjo" Walters), and Dwayne Brook and Jesse Shultzaberger of the Woodshedders. They were joined on-stage for a couple of songs by Erik Burnham, also of Burgoo fame.



By the way:


(Click Here) to get info on Acoustic Burgoo's new album, "Word." Support this local band, get a great CD in the process! I bought my copy yesterday.

The Stove Eye Lifters, by Reed A. George
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5
iso1600, f2.8, 1/30 sec
Nissin Di466 flash, manual fill setting


The show opened with an acoustic mandolin and guitar set by the Spruce Brothers, Marty and Stuart, who work together at Fairbuilt Guitars in Neersville, Virginia. In addition to being wonderful musicians, these guys build some beautiful stringed instruments! The highlight of their set (for me) was “Pastures of Plenty,” by Arlo Guthrie.

The Spruce Brothers, by Reed A. George
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica 45mm f2.8 Macro-Elmarit
iso1600, f2.8, 1/30 sec
Nissin Di466 flash, manual fill setting


The Stove Eye Lifters played a wide range of tunes, most memorable for me being “Maybellene” by Chuck Berry, “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Don’t Come Home Drinkin’” by Loretta Lynn, and the topper for this child of the sixties through eighties was “Honky Tonk Women” by the Rolling Stones!

The Stove Eye Lifters, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica 45mm f2.8 Macro-Elmarit
iso1600, f2.8, 1/30 sec
Nissin Di466 flash, manual fill setting

The Stove Eye Lifters, by Reed A. George
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica 45mm f2.8 Macro-Elmarit
iso1600, f2.8, 1/30 sec
Nissin Di466 flash, manual fill setting

The Stove Eye Lifters, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica 45mm f2.8 Macro-Elmarit
iso1600, f2.8, 1/30 sec
Nissin Di466 flash, manual fill setting

The Stove Eye Lifters, by Reed A. George
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Pana-Leica Summilux 25mm f1.4
iso1600, f2, 1/30 sec
Nissin Di466 flash, manual fill setting



Keep your (stove) eyes open for this band. See ‘em if you get the chance!



Thanks to Cheryl Ash and The Barns at Rose Hill for another great show.

Shades on the Piano, by Reed A. George
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5
iso1600, f2.5, 1/30 sec


Now for some photography-related notes. I have written before about the challenges of photographing in venues with the new style high intensity LED lights. The Barns at Rose Hill has them as their main lighting source. LED lights emit a very narrow wavelength of light, which plays hell with my cameras' white balance. I have tried many white balance settings, to no avail. The first tip for shooting in LED light is ALWAYS shoot raw images. You will definitely want to adjust them later. 
You can see in the image of the Spruce Brothers the effect of mixed tungsten and LED lighting. It's not too bad, and gives a pretty reasonable mix of colors. When the Lifters came on stage, Dwayne asked for the house lights to be turned off - he wanted it real dark. I have figured out that shooting at iso1600, f2.8 (or thereabouts), 1/30 sec, with fill-flash (manually controlled, which is impossible with the G3's built-in flash, but easy with the Nissin Di466 add-on flash) does a pretty good job of compensating and filling in some of the other wavelengths of light. I hope this is helpful to others faced with this significant lighting challenge.

DMC-365.blogspot.com
 

 

External Flash For Panasonic Micro 4/3 - I Bought the Nissin Di466

 

Image Source: www.amazon.com

Nissin Di466 External Flash for Micro 4/3

Well, I have once again come back to the subject of external flash for my Lumix DMC-G3s. I really dislike the fact that the Lumix cameras do not allow you to control flash in any type of manual way. Yes, you can compensate up or down by up to two stops on the G3, but only based on the camera's ttl exposure system. I have been largely unable to use the in-camera flash for daylight fill.

I did find that I can use my (huge) Nikon flashes (SB600 or SB800) with the Nikon remote cable in manual mode with the G3. But, in that case, only manual mode. Also, as I understand it, wireless triggering from the Lumix cameras does not work with the Nikon flashes, because the Lumix uses a preflash that prematurely triggers the Nikons. Now, that is based on what I have read; I have not tried that myself.

I read a post on dpreview on this subject, which reviews several options, including the Olympus FL360, as well as products from Cactus, Metz, and Nissin. From what I can surmise, the Nissin offers the best combination of features, including bounce capability (tilt but not swivel, which means bounce flash in landscape only), ttl and manual, and wireless triggering.

(Click Here) to read the post on dpreview. It is worth clicking through all of the replies, each with additional information.

A month or two ago, I decided to buy the Nissin Di466, which goes for about $130 on Amazon, but it was out of stock. It is now in stock, so I clicked that dangerous little "Add to Cart" button and bought it. Since I have Amazon Prime, I got free shipping, and will receive it in two days.

I usually like to have a new little something to test out (but not rely on) when I go on a trip. This will be the gadget for my upcoming trip to Japan. I'll let you know how it works. Hopefully,I'll have some nice sample pics to share.

DMC-365.blogspot.com