Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers played two nights at The Marquee Theater in Tempe over the weekend. As usual it was two nights of fun and great music with some very good friends. The band brought their “A Game” for the hometown crowd. They debuted a new song “Empty Highway” as well as played some of the most energetic versions of the favorites. (Video of “Interstate”)
I have photographed RCPM about seven times. Just as I think I have things figured out and have some baseline settings to work from things change. These shows in Tempe had a distinctly different lighting set up. There were more red lights (the photographer’s nemesis) and orange lights than any other time I have photographed them in the past.
With the way new cameras are designed if you can get the light right you have a shot of getting a great photograph. If the light is wrong there is no chance of a good photograph. Period.
One of the main theories I talk to everyone about with photography is my theory of “know your equipment, know your settings & trust your instincts.” These shows were a perfect example of that. (Link to previous post re: theory.)
I knew my equipment – I use a 24-70 f2.8 lens. I knew my settings – I started at ISO 800 at 1/125. I threw it all out the window and trusted my instincts that normal settings would not get the job done. (Mind you I only have three songs to make something happen.)
After all was said and done I have some photographs that are completely different than any other RCPM photos I’ve taken. (More photos can be viewed on my Flickr site: www.flickr.com/grtaylor2) Because I trusted myself and I was confident that I was making the right decisions for the lighting. The greatest this is trust and confidence only require patience and practice to develop.
My rough two weeks of shooting music is complete and I loved every minute of it. I have two weeks off to photograph whatever I want until the next two weeks of shows – which include MUSE, Elvis Costello, Bad Brains, Willie Nelson & Kid Rock.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please drop me a line or leave a comment if there are any topics that you would like to see discussed here.
Article by Greg Taylor
Founder, Markerting Press. Vegetarian. Hopelessly addicted to music. Blogger, Collaborator, Phoenix Suns fan. NJ Native living in AZ
Greg has contributed 159 articles to this site.
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