Canon LTM Concert: John Doe w/ a Canon 35/1.8

Canon M39 M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
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wlewisiii

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I went to see John Doe (formerly of X) & opening/backing band Dead Rock West. Wonderful show. I had my Bessa, a couple of Canon lenses & some Fuji 1600 along. I'm hardly in Memphis' league, but these at least, made me pleased.

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William
 

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And also one of the drummer. I tried to see if I could get a good shot with him in focus and was happy with this one. This was taken at about f1.8 @ 1/30th.

William
 

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Thanks for the good words. It was fun working with some fast film & a fast lens while listening to really great live music. I esepecially was pleased that one with Doe holding the beer worked.

William
 
I'll ping this up one last time simply because I'm feeling vain & hope someone else will enjoy these.

Thanks,

William
 
It is interesting to see other's work. The couple times I have done stuff like this I have used a 50mm or longer lens and narrowed my view more to specific subjects rather than the show or band in whole or in general.

You were pretty close William using the 35mm, it works well and the selection of focal length to me tells what you are trying to express.
 
rover said:
You were pretty close William using the 35mm, it works well and the selection of focal length to me tells what you are trying to express.
Click to expand...

Much of the choice was driven by the fact that it was the first show like this that I _had_ a fast enough 35mm lens to try it. Still, I like the results. It's too bad that the 28/3.5 shots didn't come out (just too slow in that light) as that perspective might have been a whole lot of fun as well.

The other part of it was that we were all up by the stage like the bunch of old punkers many of us were :eek: :angel: So that right up next to them feel is the way it was with the music right there in body, mind & soul.

William
 
payasam said:
Perspective and light combine to rather bury the drummer.
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Yes, it did. I was hoping that the other players would provide a framing effect but the choice of focal length didn't allow for that to work. It's another one for my "Technical Difficulties" folder of shots that aren't quite right but I like anyway. :)

Willian
 
I had my Serenar 50/1.8 along but I just really didn't see much I wanted to try in that length that night. That's a realy nice thing about the Bessas - flipping the little lever gives instant focal line preview and you don't have to keep holding it ;)

And since I had my Elmar 90/4 in my bag rather than my Canon 85/2, well, let's just say it wasn't going to happen in that light... :eek:

William
 
Good looking shots! I also think the lower contrast of the Canon 35/1.8 worked well under harsh lighting. My Nikkors would have blown the highlights. I think you've shown that it's a Great lens for concerts.
 
Brian, I hadn't considered that, but I think you're right. I think that whole sharp but not super high contrast is a big chunk of what I like about the older Canon LTM lenses. Certainly this one is a favorite. Currently it's on the Bessa probably 75% of the time with the 50 coming in second at 20% & all my others filling it out. This surprises me as I was never too fond of the focal length in the past. OTOH, after buying this one from you, I set out to learn it and that helped tremendously.

Thanks again, Brian.

William
 
Bob Capa's rule about better pictures certainly applies with music photography.

I still like handheld flash combined with slower shutter speeds, but I should try your technique with the higher ISO sometime & see what happens. It looks like flash might have been sort of intrusive in this setting though.

35 is a good focal length if you can get close enough to make it work.

Nice shots....but I can't help thinking how much better the one of John w/ the beer would have looked framed vertically.

So is John Doe still cranking out some good rock these days?
 
Didn't even cross my mind to frame it that way at the time. I'll have to remember that for next time. And yes, it was a very rocking show. Mostly newer stuff but a couple of X tunes too (4th of July, White Girl) and even the bits with an acoustic guitar rocked pretty hard.

William
 
wlewisiii said:
I went to see John Doe (formerly of X) & opening/backing band Dead Rock West. Wonderful show. I had my Bessa, a couple of Canon lenses & some Fuji 1600 along. I'm hardly in Memphis' league, but these at least, made me pleased.

Resized only.

William
Click to expand...

Actually, X is a going concern again. :) They reformed a couple of years ago, released a great live CD & DVD and toured. I saw them last year in San Francisco. It was most excellent. They've lost very little of their magic.

Nice shots, btw!

:)
 
John Doe has always been rocking, although I do prefer the brilliance that is X. Taking live pictures is the greatest photo experience, I try it up to 5 times a week bringing whatever camera I have loaded at the moment. I was badly frustrated tonight when I got home after a concert and managed to break two films when rewinding... Gaaaah!:bang:
 
William,

These are very nice looking images. I should be using my Canon 35/1.8 more often. It used to be nearly permanently on my Canon P.

Raid
 
Thanks, Raid. I've been enjoying that lens and the look I get from it tremendously.

William
 
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