srika

I had the 50mm on....

synth19

Unless the girls arent wearing gobs of makeup. lol!

srika

BT @ Sound-bar

Dan Martin

Nice series!

stogie1020

Srika, how are you employing the flash in the club? Are you bouncing off the ceiling or directing it at the subject, or something different? They all look great, and I would love to be able to use my flash that well!

Mizouse

at least you have the 1.4 ive got the 1.8, now talk about a small lens

EuRTSX

I applaud you on your mistake sir.

Mizouse

man looking at the other pictures of her shes is fantastic

srika

well all of these are at f/1.6 (50mm) - this lens hasn't left my cam since I put it on.. I'm in with it and addicted to it. So when there's light, the flash is operating more as a fill - not a primary source of light. But normally I do point it up or at an angle, with the diffuser.

ps. rest of the pics from BT here if you wanna see. That's the link I PM'ed to ppl in the other thread.

stogie1020

Thanks for the info, and the link. I am still working out proper use of the flash (I have the 430) and your work is always so great despite changing lighting I thought I would ask. Thanks again.

srika

Well you can't control the lighting obviously (well I guess occasionally I tell the lighting person to do something specific lol but not often) - but for moving lights no. So you can either wait for the right moment to take the pic, or just take a succession of pics and use the best ones. Guess which method is easier Seems like you have the impression that all my pics come out like this - they don't. I do have a high keeper rate now but still there are plenty of duds - and that is unavoidable because the lighting is unpredictable. When I'm going for the "whole room lit-up with strobes" shots, I'm just firing off successions of shots and one or two will come out. The rest will be very very dark.

And oh yeah - no flash on a few of those above... #1, 6, 9, and the last one.

Mizouse

thats what i love about my 50 1.8 so many shots i can get off w/o flash

srika

ps. none of those are cropped (except for the squarish one.)

stogie1020

Point taken regarding the keepers versus the dumpers!

srika

well since nobody seems to like me anymore after those pages of Photo banter in that "Pretty Girl" thread (that were started by 'zouse but of course I got the bad rap) I guess I'll post a few more from that shoot in here instead of starting a new thread..

Mizouse

nice shot btw.

srika

srika

a few candids i liked from the past year.

srika

Rihanna played a private show at Vision tonight.. for a children's charity event. I only knew like 2 songs by her before but as of tonight, I'm a fan. It was a pretty damn amazing show - they transformed Vision into a full-blown concert venue. They brought in all their own stuff obviously - lighting, sound, the whole nine yards. Unforgettable experience. Here's one pic for now, I will have more later. She did a "meet and greet" after the show, that was fun too. Unfortunately it was too packed too move around and nobody was allowed on stage. I was confined to the DJ booth on the 2nd level and had to do my best with the 24-70. There were a couple other photogs there sporting white Canon zooms - I felt so ill-equipped. :<

Mizouse

nice!

did you get to meet her at all?

srika

I was right in the vicinity of her and taking pics of her with contest winners but I didn't actually meet her - I mean I'm just a photographer. :< Oh well. It was quite an event, the major primetime news channels were there - they showed a segment on the show on ABC news tonight for instance - and they were also taping an interview with her for Extra. Overall security was very manageable tho - one of her security peeps was hilarious in fact, real dry sarcasm, I didn't know whether to take him seriously - his mannerisms honestly kinda reminded me of Simon Cowell; quite sure he was a brit. One of the photogs was from Getty.

stogie1020

Wow. Cool!

srika

ps. the 24-70 performed VERY well tonight. Was really happy with it - didn't use the 50 at all. Maybe I just know how to use it better now...

srika

srika

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

Rihanna is the secks. She's one of the few black women that I find highly attractive. nice shots Rubin, even without the beautiful subject lol.

Mizouse

btw i am still amazed at the iso shutter speeds and fstops you use in your photos.

i shot at hot import nights at iso400 f2.8 shutter around 1/8-1/25 and didnt get such hot pictures as you

srika

hey thx

ps. you won't get 'hot' pics at 2.8, unless the environmental lighting is PERFECT (along with your cam and flash settings). Pics at 2.8 (or wider) will look washed out and lifeless compared to the same shot at 4.0, generally speaking. For decent lighting conditions at night, 4.0 is amazing. 5.0 is a little too much, colors will be too vivid and you will most likely want to turn them down. However, this does not mean there is no advantage to having a 2.8 lens for night photography - pics at 4.0 with a 2.8 will look better than on a 4.0 lens, because you can shoot faster and still get vivid pics.

Another huge factor is the flash. If you use a flash at 2.8 or wider, you are leaving the shutter open for a much shorter time - thusly, the bulk of the light you are capturing is the light of the flash - which is white. So pics will take on a "white" look. Which is like, the opposite of "hot", if I'm understanding you correctly. 2.8 and wider shots look best without flash - which requires optimal environmental light. If the scene you are trying to capture has necessary lighting, you can technically capture EXACTLY what you see, using 2.8 or wider. It's pretty incredible when that happens. This is easier to do the wider you go. At say 1.6, as long as you have the shutter and ISO set right, it's pretty easy to capture exactly what you see.

If you are shooting closeup people pics indoors or at night with a 2.8 and flash, you should set it to 4.0 with curtain flash (rear). This really brings out all the skin tones and ambient lighting and colors.

About this Rihanna show - the lights were VERY bright so that made it rather easy to get the pics. And that's why I'm at 1/160 etc. For a regular DJ show there is no way in hell I would be able to get good shots at that speed. I didn't do any NR on these - the cam performed quite well. Did not do too much PP on these. Just a little unsharp mask and sharpening - a tad of brightening. Think I cooked the lights on the 3rd shot a bit.

Mizouse

Mizouse

do you shoot with a stofen diffuser? and do you compensate for the about 2/3 stop less light going thru by adjusting the fec +.67?

and do you shoot straight on or angle it?

wish i had more opportunity to practice this

srika

I think I just explained to myself what the benefit of using a gel on the flash is.. I kinda never understood it, I just figured you could do that effect with PP if you want. If you use a warm gel you would be able to use 2.8 and wider and get a nice warm look that makes skin tones look like skin tones, along with the speed that lets you totally freeze everything. I haven't seen anyone using a gel at the Chicago clubs thus far..

Dan has been saying this for like 2 yrs now lol. dang think I'll try some gels

srika

I did have a Stofen diffuser on from the moment I started shooting at clubs... and it never ever left my camera.. until..... this past Saturday.. when I lost mine at the club. When I noticed it was gone I was kinda freaked out - like, what was I gonna do without it??? It was almost like a damn security blanket.. or a pacifier. but I digress..

It turned out to be kind of an eye-opening experience. I got some shots without the diffuser that I would never get with. I also got some crazy unbalanced shots - but with the 580's built-in white bounce card thing I managed to kind of get a handle on it - and the important thing is, I got more light. It made me think twice about the diffuser. Hmm. The only reason I got it in the first place is because all the other photogs at the clubs used it. :<

I did not adjust for it by using fec. Instead I adjusted shutter.

I never shoot straight on - for the comfort of the subjects (nobody wants a blinding flash in their eye) and for the interest of the shots. I adjust the angle of the flash many times over the course of the night - usually it's straight up but when I go vertical I have to adjust it obviously - and then sometimes I will fire it almost backwards when I am shooting wider and just want a tad of fill light.

srika

of course one more advantage of 4.0 over 2.8 for people shots (esp groups) is the greater DOF. But, obviously this depends on the look you are going for.

srika

smaller versions cuz I'm gonna try to sell these..

stogie1020

Seriously, I learn so much reading on these forums. Srika, thanks for writing up that explanation. Really good info. Thanks.

srika

want to make a note here - DOF is a big challenge at 1.6 - thusly I don't think it's quite as "easy" as I made it seem. Just something to keep in mind.

srika

just to clarify - this is while using the flash.

srika

Mizouse

just noticed the pictures..

synth19

nice updates!~ And wtf??? Is that a keytar!?!?!