Mixing Digital and Film - Melissa Wright's Tribute to Patsy Cline

Some of my good friends, Melissa Wright, Danny Zezeski, Rudy B., Dwayne Brooke, and Evan (a new acquaintance) put on an amazing tribute to Patsy Cline a couple of weeks back. I shot my Nikon Df (digital) and FM (film). I had my AIS 50mm f1.2 lens on the FM, and loaded it up with Ilford Delta 3200 film. I also processed the digital images with settings to emulate the Delta 3200 look.

 

Here's a film shot:

 

That's what an f1.2 lens is for...

 

And here's an example of a digital example:

 

(Click Here) to see the whole set.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

That's Old Time

Banjo Player with Pokey LaFarge, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 180mm f2.8 AF Lens

iso 1100, f2.8, 1/250 sec.

 

This guy has a very classic look. Easy to photograph.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Watching the Lanterns Lift Off

 

At the Watermelon Park Festival this last weekend, I got to spend some time with friends I haven't seen in a while. In this scene, as we sat around the campfire, my friend Rudy B and his lovely girlfriend Sarah watched as a group of people constructed, lit, and set free some Chinese Lanterns. They flew up and up, finally disappearing into the clouds of the night sky.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

A Blast From the Past

Dwayne of The Woodshedders, by Reed A. George

 

It's been a while since Dwayne had his hair short like this - 2009 as far as I know.

 

Just going through some old pictures, getting in the mood for my favorite music festival - Watermelon Park Fest.

 

I am pretty sure I shot this with a Pentax Spotmatic and Vivitar 200mm f3.5 lens. I like the look.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

More From Jammin' Java - Jamie Lin Wilson

Yesterday, I posted some pictures of Scott Miller's show at Jammin' Java. Here are some additional images from the same night, of Jamie Lin Wilson, who opened the show.

 

I really enjoyed Jamie's music, especially a song from her new album "Holidays and Wedding Rings." It's called "You Left My Chair," and is about an abandoned house, with only an old chair left on the porch. The house really exists, and Jamie said that she photographed it, which inspired the song. I'd love to see that photograph.

 

(Click Here) to check out Jamie Lin Wilson's website.

 

All of these shots were made with the Nikon Df.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Live Music Concert- Scott Miller at Jammin' Java - Shot With the Nikon Df

Last Sunday (July 19, 2015), I went to a live music show at one of my favorite venues, Jammin' Java, in Vienna. (Click Here) to check out Jammin' Java. They have a very full schedule of interesting shows. Most importantly for this evening, Jammin' Java is indoors. It was still in the 90s and very humid outside, even after sunset.

 

 

Scott is a very interesting guy - professional musician and Virginia cattle farmer. (Click Here) to check out his website.

 

Once again, my Nikon Df is the master of darkness. Shooting with my favorite prime lenses (28mm f1.8 AF-S, 50mm f1.4 AF-D, and 85mm f1.8 AF-D), I was able to shoot at either 1/125 or 1/250 of a second and still have enough depth of field to be useful. This meant iso values of 3200 or even 6400 - no problem at all for the Df. I love this camera.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

River and Roots Festival - Great for Kids of All Ages!

I love music festivals. But, size matters. The huge ones can be a bit much. My two favorite festivals, ever, are held every year at the same place - Watermelon Park in Berryville, VA.

 

River and Roots Fun, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 28mm f1.8 AF-S G Lens

iso 1000, f2, 1/125 sec.

 

The Watermelon Park Fest, held every September, is the larger of the two. (Click Here) to read more about it.

 

I made the photo above at the River and Roots Festival in June, also held at Watermelon Park. This one's smaller, but so much fun. Large enough to attract major acts (the headliner this year was David "Dawg" Grisman), R&R is small enough that there's no stress or hurry to be anywhere. Wonderful. This year, I only made it out for the first day of the festival, going home in time to miss the deluge of rain, yet also missing Dawg and many other great musical performances.

I shot with my Nikon Df, and enjoyed trying out my new 28mm f1.8 AF-S lens. In the shot above, it allowed me to capture enough of the scene to share how it felt, but still shows the emotion and wonder on the little girl's face. I had to get pretty close to pull this off, but not uncomfortably so.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Ice Cream, Anyone?

 

Ice Cream, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 28mm f1.8 AF-S G Lens

iso 500, f2, 1/125 sec.

 

I shot this at a recent live music festival. My new, latest-technology Nikkor 28mm lens is pretty nice. At f2, focused on the ice cream cone, and this close to my subject, the nice lady serving me is slightly out of focus. Honestly, my attention was fully on the ice cream, and that's where the emphasis is in the picture.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Songwriter's Tribute to Bob Dylan's 74th Birthday

Whatever you may think of Bob Dylan, you have to admit the man's a creative genius. Possibly not the most polished vocal tones in history, his songs will be with us for a long time, maybe as long as humans listen to music.

 

I attended a celebration of Dylan's 74th birthday, led by three songwriters (left to right) Todd Wright, Luke Brindley, and Anthony Fiacco.

The event was held at Jammin' Java, a really nice live music venue in Vienna, Virginia. (Click Here) to check out Jammin' Java. They have a full schedule of live music, and the place is well set up for listening.

 

I shot with the Nikon Df, new 28mm f1.8 AF-S, 50mm f1.4 D, and 85mm f1.8 D lenses. Here are some more shots from the show.

 

 

These images are pretty much straight from the camera.

 

I am hoping that the 28mm will be a useful lens for my live music shooting. I am pretty pleased with the results from this first trial.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Some Old Friends Play Purcellville

Some of my friends in bands got together for somewhat of a reunion last night in Purcellville, Virginia. I knew most of the people in the audience, as well as in the bands.

 

First, Jake and the Burtones opened the show.

Jake and the Burtones, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AF-D Lens

iso 3200, f3.5, 1/125 sec.

with SB-600 flash and Gary Fong diffuser

 

Then, Timmy (Tmoney) Griffin and his band SpaceCanoe took over. Tmoney has moved to North Carolina for college, so we don't get to see him so often. A true creative, Timmy has been busy writing new songs.

 

TMoney, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikon Series E 100mm f2.8 Lens

iso 3200, f2.8, 1/60 sec.

with SB-600 flash and Gary Fong diffuser

In addition to his original tunes, Timmy and SpaceCanoe played some carefully-selected covers, including one of my favorite Grateful Dead tunes, "Brokedown Palace." I actually requested that song years ago, and Timmy worked it out for me! Awesome.

 

SpaceCanoe, by Reed A. George

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

iso 3200, f4, 1/60 sec.

with SB-600 flash and Gary Fong diffuser

This was a very tough show to shoot, even with my shoot-in-the-dark Nikon Df and 50mm f1.4 lens. Using the Nikon SB-600 and Gary Fong light diffuser saved the day (night). I was quite pleased with the results, given that the stage lighting was so poor (non-existent).

 

I'm especially pleased with the second image, which I made with my recently purchased, inexpensive, Nikon Series E 100mm f2.8 lens. Manual focus, in the dark. That's right. I'm proud of it. This lens will be in my travel bag in Japan; it's very sharp and oh so light compared to the also amazing 105mm f2.5 AIS Nikkor.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

An Evening with Travis Book of The Infamous Stringdusters

A couple of weeks back, I got the opportunity to spend a Sunday night at my friends (Morgan Morrison and Fiddlin' Dave VanDeventer)'s house, listening to Travis Book, a member of the "newgrass" band The Infamous Stringdusters, play solo acoustic guitar and sing for us.

 

I photographed the Stringdusters a couple of years back, in Alexandria, Virginia. (Click Here) to see those pics.

 

Here are a few images from the Sunday night house concert, all made with my Nikon Df.

 

 

 

 

Travis was on his way to Colorado for a recording session. We were very lucky to have him come up to Northern Virginia a day early, spend the night at Morgan and Dave's, and play for us. I also got a copy of his new solo CD, "Alice." You should get yourself one.

 

What a great way to spend a cold Sunday evening.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

My Favorite Concert Shot From Last Weekend

I got out to see one of my favorite bands ever, The Woodshedders, last weekend. Here's my favorite shot from the show.

Dwayne Brooke of the Woodshedders, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 180mm f2.8 Lens

iso 250, f2.8, 1/250 sec.

 

I took this from backstage. I spot metered Dwayne's face, letting everything else go very dark. Dwayne's a very thoughtful, creative guy, and I think this picture represents him well.

 

I will likely share more from this show, and my pics are going to be featured on the concert blog Cosmic Vibes Live in the coming days.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Dancing to Woody Pines on a Tuesday Night

Yesterday's post was about my friends in the band Mink, playing at Jammin' Java on a Tuesday night.

 

After Mink, Woody Pines hit the stage. I had to leave early, but did capture these shots of people having a good ol' time dancing to their music.

Dancing to Woody Pines, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AF-D Lens

iso 1600, f3.2, 1/60 sec.

Bounced flash (Nikon SB800) on manual, ~1/32 power

 

I was about to walk out the door as the band started, but the music was pretty infectious. Noticing that people had started to dance, I shot several images of them silhouetted against the stage lights, without flash, and with my 50mm f1.4 lens. None of those images really came out very well.

 

Then, I decided to move in closer with the 24mm, and add just enough flash to illuminate the dancers in front of the stage. I reduced the expose I'd already set for the previous shots by decreasing my iso from 3200 to 1600, and set the flash on a lower power manual setting. I was quite pleased with this result.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Mink at Jammin Java

I haven't been able to make it to a lot of live music events recently. I did get out on a Tuesday night (!) to see my friends Melissa, Danny, and Rudy of the band Mink play at a local venue, Jammin Java, in Vienna, Virginia.

 

I brought out my new Nikon Df and three prime lenses - 24mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4, and 85mm f1.8.

 

Mink, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AF-D

iso 5600, f2.8, 1/125 sec.

 

Keeping the camera in Auto-ISO mode, was able to set a relatively fast shutter speed (1/125 sec.) and shoot wide open with any of the three lenses. As you can see, iso 5600 is just no problem at all for the Df. Actually, 12,800 isn't too bad.

 

Melissa and Danny, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-D

iso 2800, f2, 1/125 sec.

 

It felt good to get out and see my old friends, even for a quick set on a weeknight.

 

(Click Here) to find out more about Mink.

 

(Click Here) to find out about Jammin Java.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Shooting in Recording Sessions

I've been developing my live music photography for several years now. I have also done a little studio promo shooting, mostly for friends. I've shot a couple of recording sessions, and definitely would like to do more of that. There's something about the atmosphere during recording. The musicians are not dressed and ready to perform in front of a bunch of people, but they're still focused, working hard to get the tracks down. Of course, the moments in between can be loose, funny, interesting visually.

Robert Mabe of Dry Mill Road, by Reed A. George

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

iso 1600, f2, 1/60 sec.

 

Always interested in how others do it, I was happy to read when the Leica Camera Blog interviewed Andrew Stuart, who's photographed extensively in the recording studio. He's worked with the Foo Fighters, Mick Fleetwood, and others.

 

(Click Here) to read the interview on the Leica Camera Blog.

 

Since it was the Leica blog, Stuart highlighted that he uses the Leica M240 rangefinder and M6 film cameras. He says that 90% of his work with those cameras uses either the 35mm Summilux (f1.4) FLE or the 50mm Summilux Aspheric. Makes sense. Stuart also uses other cameras, including SLRs and his iPhone.

 

Stuart mentions that he uses a street-style approach to shooting in the studio, and alternates between being a fly on the wall, and actively interacting with his photographic subjects.

 

He mixes black and white and color in his work, his film (Fuji Neopan or Tri-X, usually pushed to iso 800 or 1600) work nearly always being in black and white.

 

Stuart has done some very nice work. It's always good to learn how others achieve their photographic goals.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

My Favorite Shot From the Weekend

I'm been laying low lately, not going to very many live music shows. This past weekend, I got to go see one of my favorite bands, The Woodshedders, at one of my favorite venues, Barns of Rose Hill in Berryville, Virginia.

 

This was my first concert shoot with the Nikon Df. Here's my favorite shot from the evening:

 

Jesse Shultzaberger, Drummer for The Woodshedders, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-D

iso 4000, f2, 1/125 sec.

 

 

Pretty amazing performance at iso 4000. The Df is going to be a great concert camera for me.

 

At this show, the lights were quite low, except for those damned blue LEDs, the worst for digital photography ever. The problem with colored LEDs is that you get very high intensity in whatever color channel they match, and NOTHING in any other color. So, I usually end up converting them to black and white. Not really a problem, since I love B&W anyway. The only other thing I've found to neutralize this problem is to add a little fill flash. I didn't bring a flash to this show.

 

Anyway, I'm quite pleased with the Df's performance.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

New Nikon 20mm f1.8 - Samples Posted on SoundImagePlus

By and By, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor AF-D 20mm f2.8 Lens

 

I have grown to love my older Nikon 20mm f2.8 lens over the past few years. At first, it just seemed too wide for me to use much. As I've shot more live music, especially in small venues or where I can get very close to the stage, I love to use it. It's pretty cool to be so close and still get the whole band in a single shot.

 

At a maximum aperture of f2.8, I sometimes feel I need something faster. Of course, that must be balanced with the need for depth of field (which diminishes at wider apertures), but at 20mm focal length, that's not really too much of an issue.

 

And, the advent of better and better sensors, makes it less urgent as well. I don't mind shooting at f2.8 or even f4 at all, if my sensor can handle the iso settings that are necessary in a dark club. The Nikon Df sure seems to do that for me.

 

Anyway, the new Nikkor 20mm f1.8 G lens looks very interesting to me. Reasonably priced at around $800, my only (typical) complaint is about the lack of an aperture ring. Fine on my D700 or Df, it does mean that I can't effectively use the lens on older film bodies.

 

The blog SoundImagePlus has recently posted some very nice image samples with this new lens.

 

(Click Here) to read the post and view the samples on SoundImagePlus.

 

Ready to buy this lens? Please support my blog by ordering yours through the Amazon link below. It costs you nothing, and helps me a lot!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Lumix DMC-GX7 for Live Music

I've been focused on other cameras lately. So many great cameras out there, so little time to shoot them.

 

I read an interesting piece on Steve Huff's blog about using the Lumix GX7 for live music.

(Click Here) to read it, and see some nice GX7 images from bars in Amsterdam.

 

Here are a couple of shots of my friends Jake and the Burtones, shot with my GX7.

 

Jake and the Burtones, Plus Melissa, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Bower 7.5mm Fisheye Lens

iso 3200, f4 (or so), 1/50 sec.

 

 

Burtones, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Lumix 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 Aspheric Series II Zoom

iso 6400, f3.5, 1/100 sec.

 

The GX7 does pretty well in low light, even at iso6400. Not like a full frame Nikon, of course, but respectable. And so much easier to lug around.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Some Camping Area Shots from Watermelon Park Festival 2014

I've shared my Watermelon Park Festival writeup on Cosmic Vibes Live, along with my digital photographs, largely taken on or around the stage.

 

Now, I'll share a few more casual shots, taken in the Camping area with my Nikon FM2, 200 speed drugstore color negative film, and 50mm f1.4 Nikkor AF-D lens. Of course on the FM2, I had to manually focus.

 

Deep Morning Thoughts with Erik Burnham, by Reed A. George

 

Chester and Milo, by Reed A. George

 

These two guys are my music photography heroes - Chester Simpson and G. Milo Farineau. Both are mad-skilled, friendly, and generally great to hang out with.

 

Rudy B., by Reed A. George

 

Speaking of fun to hang out with, here's Rudy B. of the Plank Stompers.

 

I really love carrying around the compact FM2 and normal lens while I'm tooling around the festival, especially during the day. Yes, I'll carry the D700 for the lowlight stuff. But, the FM2 just fits my hands so well.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

My Watermelon Park Festival Report on Cosmic Vibes Live

I've been collaborating with Jeff and Jim over at Cosmic Vibes Live for a few years now. I've recently posted a report from the 2014 Watermelon Park Festival, held in Berryville, Virginia with them.

 

(Click Here) to read the report. The lineup this year was amazing, with Keller Williams, The Keels, Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon, and so many others.

 

Watermelon Park Fans, by Reed A. George

 

I shot the entire show with my Nikon D700 and prime lenses. The D700 still rocks, even though it's getting a bit on the mature side. This experience does make me want the awesome retro-styled, D4 sensor-equipped Nikon DF even more.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com