I was really looking forward to shooting Portugal. The Man at the VM Corona Theatre tonight. And man, I was so not expecting the psychedelic lights. A giant projector was in the back of the room projecting random images and lights on the artist. And when that wasn’t on, giant spots in the back of the stage were shining right into my lens. And because things weren’t fun enough, a smoke machine was right beside me. haha.
Well, at least it wasn’t low light or only red light! We are sometimes (often) faced with challenges shooting a show. And in conditions like these, you do the best you can with the lights you have and try to work the lights into your images. I’m reporting on a show and my images have to match what my reviewer might say. Not every shot needs to have perfect lighting if the show didn’t always have that perfect lighting. I always say that a show is for the fans, not the photographers. And having such interesting lights and visuals is always a plus for any fan of the artist who pays money to go to a show. I mean, they don’t want to simply see a guy on stage… they want to see MORE! And they got it tonight.
When I had the spotlight in my face, my camera wouldn’t focus as it was too bright. But i kept trying to keep a decent composition even though I could barely see anything. “Well, why didn’t you just move?!” you might say? The place was sold out, no photo pit, and moving to the center would of taken too much time…. and I still wouldn’t be guaranteed good light from there.
For the photo enthusiasts, my shutter speed bounced around from 1/80 up to 1/640 depending on the lights, at an ISO between 3200 and 6400. Lots of finger movement tonight (get your mind out of the gutter now). Started with a 24-70 lens as I was up close to the stage, but changed to a 70-200 for most of the show as I was walking around the back of the venue.
So yeah… there ya have it! Mini break down of the show tonight. More images will be posted up, along with a full review, on Cornershop Studios!
First image below is what happens when you have coloured spotlights pointed right at ya.
