Now I Know Why Gig Photographers Hate Red Lights!

Eirebear

Hey all, had my first attempt at shooting a gig last night, in a small venue called the 13th Note in Glasgow.
As the title suggests, the only lighting used was two red spots....what fun! It was like shooting in a darkroom (as opposed to a dark room )

Anyway seeing as its my first attempt id like some of you guys to have a wee look and let me know whats good/bad/awful about them!

iamnothim

Very nice! Did you desaturate in photoshop?

I *hate* red lights. I always shoot high contrast B&W at red light gigs

Eirebear

iamnothim wrote: »

Very nice! Did you desaturate in photoshop?

I *hate* red lights. I always shoot high contrast B&W at red light gigs

Shots RAW@ ISO 1250 (possibly 1600 for some). Desaturated and changed the hue a little to combat the red along with a little curves work in PS

Fajitas!

More contrast!

trishw78

That first one definately needs more contrast

Eirebear

Fajitas! wrote: »

More contrast!

trishw78 wrote: »

That first one definately needs more contrast

Hmmm...contrast you say.
Im on the case.

RCNPhotos

Yeah what the others adi about contrast, possibly going B&W with em. But compositionally I like the first two yeah.

Eirebear

Cheers RCN...ill have a play with them later on and see what i can do.
Not sure if i want to go BW with them...dont really know why, just dont want to!

TelePaul

Eirebear wrote: »

Cheers RCN...ill have a play with them later on and see what i can do.
Not sure if i want to go BW with them...dont really know why, just dont want to!

It'll go some way to curing the red light woes

Borderfox

What metering did you use? looks like some banding in the guitar close up...

sineadw

I had a gig a while back sounds the same. Big feckoff red light and nothing else. I ended up with this lot. Did some serious bumping in PS to get some contrast. I'd vote for B&W too. I know its a bit meh but sometimes its yer only man.

Eirebear

hmmm more contrast, ands BW..ill give it a shot see what happens. (probably tommorrow now, ill post them when im done)

I was on Evaluative metering...i tend to leave it there all too often and forget about it ...what should i have been using?

Some nice shots in there sinead BTW

tnkrbell

trishw78 wrote: »

That first one definately needs more contrast

I don't know I like the first picture the way it is, there's just something about it the way it is

congo_90

RCNPhotos wrote: »

Yeah what the others adi about contrast, possibly going B&W with em. But compositionally I like the first two yeah.

Shoot in B/W or change to B/W using ps?
Also what difference would higher contrast make?
finally, What harm does red light cause? could someone show me a pic of the effect of red light?
- I'm a beginner to all this so i often float around this forum learning the tricks and tips...

sineadw

Change to B&W in PS (that way you have the option!)

Contrast would make the blacks more black and the whites more white - it gives a shot more oomph. I'd never mess with the contrast sliders in PS though - I do it with the black, highlights and lights in RAW and maybe some curves or levels layers in PS.

Not sure why red in particular knocks everything. It just seems to suck the life out of shot. Something to do with the tonal range maybe. It being at one end of the light range I'd imagine...

Borderfox

In some of the shots I see spot metering would suit better and keep the atmosphere in the gig

mikeanywhere

What was the WB setting??

Eirebear

Better or worse?
Mike, I had the WB set to auto...simply because i had never dealt with this kind of light before and was more worried about getting exposures and composition correctly.

Borderfox, i dare say your right, as i said before im terrible for forgetting about metering modes, especially when i go into a new situation.

:rolleyes: Isnt this showing up my technical ability (or lack of! :rolleyes:)

sineadw

Definitely better, but I think you should go more! Did you shoot in raw?

I'd burn a lot of the background glare out too. That spot above his shoulder is drawing my eye away from him completely...

Eirebear

sineadw wrote: »

Definitely better, but I think you should go more! Did you shoot in raw?

I'd burn a lot of the background glare out too. That spot above his shoulder is drawing my eye away from him completely...

yep shot raw. Still trying to find a RAW editor im comfortable with (a free one as i cant afford lightroom etc at the minute) as im not really keen on the canon utility one.
As for the glare, your definetly right...i think that was my reason for going with the lower contrast at the time.