Band Practice C&C

[Jose Cuervo]

Hey guys! After much more practice, I've got a couple more for C&C. Another thing I'd like to hear for you guys is what would YOU do in PP to make these shots better?

1.

2.

3.

 

[Jose Cuervo]

Let me be the first to C&C my work.

#1. I think I like this shot the best. In terms of focus, it's spot on. I'm also happy with the composition, with the way I used the drum kit to frame the drummer. I also used the channel mixer to create the B&W image, which is a new method for me, and I'm happy with the way it turned out.

#2. I feel like the subject is a bit out of focus. The composition is ok. I wish the wires on the mic stand was a bit neater and maybe if I zoomed out to get more of the subject instead of cutting out part of her back. Then again, I can't remember if there was junk behind her or not that might've made it's way into the shot.

#3. Looks like the focus is more on the collar of the shirt than the subject's face. What a shame. I like the composition though. Taking the C&C from my first post a month or so back, I closed in on the subject, and got enough of the guitar to tell the story of what was going on.

 

[Jose Cuervo]

TTT

 

[wgp1987]

well not to say anything bad about your camera .... but you have a nikon d40. great camera, but lacks one feature that cameras of a higher financial burdon give you ... more points of autofocus! your camera has only tree! i mean three ... lol ... for best results when using the d40 ... if autofocus fails, pop that little dx lens into mf and take creative control over your photo!

 

[Jose Cuervo]

bump

 

[bigtwinky]

1- I agree this is the best of the three shots you posted. Nice composition, nice framing. I like seeing the Zidjan logo from the drums.
I like the use of depth of field, but I find that the drummer himself is a bit out of focus, which is mainly seen in his hair / eyebrows. I thinking this is motion blur, maybe from having a shutter speed too slow. Do you remember the settings you used? Or as you said for the third picture, the shirt collar seems more in focus than he is

2- Same as above where nothing seems to be in focus. I'm thinking its a too slow shutter speed / camera shake. The composition is off, which you pointed out, as she is cut. There is alot of "dead" space in the middle of the frame and on top of the frame. Maybe wait for a more action moment where she is closer to the mic and singing in it. She seems more at rest than in action.

Watch the backgrounds as well, as you can see a bag (her purse?) If she was singing and you moved in closer, that would solve the background bag issue

3- Nice composition on this one. I like the somewhat downlow angle. Again the picture is suffering from lack of focus / motion blur, which is obvious in his hand.
Seems like you are doing good with getting the pictures together, focus on the tehnical aspects of getting proper focus with the light that you have. Increase your ISO, open the aperture, get more light...all in order to get a faster shutter speed to freeze the motion more.

As for the focus issues, I personally don't use the autofocus as much as I use the single point focus. I set it to single, aim the camera at what I want to be 100% in focus, hold the button half way, recompose and shoot.

 

[Jose Cuervo]

thanks for the comments, they're very helpful.

i use single point autofocus as well so it could be that i'm either moving forward or backward just a tad while recomposing... i'm not sure. that is something i'll pay more attention to next time.