Rodeo Houston Concert Shots (Alan Jackson and Keith Urban)

[LoungeLizard]

OK...all the concert shots got me to finish processing my photos from Rodeo Houston earlier this month.

If you've never been, it's at Reliant Stadium and the stage is set up in the middle of the field - so you're at least 40 yards or so from it!

The first couple are a few of Alan Jackson (my wife's favorite.) I went back another night with a company event (man, those private suites are nice!) Those shots are of Keith Urban. I was supposed to go back again on another company event and see Brad Paisley, but I got sick and had to skip it.

All were taken with a DRebel, 75-300IS lens, ISO1600, f5.6, shutter usually about 1/60 or under - handheld! NeatImage was applied. Next year, I'll take my 70-200f/2.8 or I'll rent a 100-400f/4IS.

So, here's Alan Jackson (who was kind enough to provide a white towel for white balance!):







And here's Keith Urban - who really played a mean guitar!

[mramos]

Nice shot, and colors. Hopefully next year you'll be like those lucky bums in your pictures taking shots from the front of the stage.

[LoungeLizard]

Originally Posted by mramos

Nice shot, and colors. Hopefully next year you'll be like those lucky bums in your pictures taking shots from the front of the stage.

Thanks. I was pleased with the colors (like I said, Mr. Jackson conveniently placed a white towel on stage for WB!), but I wish I had better glass for better detail. This was my first real use of this lens and, overall, I was pleased with the results.

The Keith Urban shots were a bit more challenging. That night was a company event - in a private suite with an open bar. Let's just say that the IS came in VERY handy! :lol:

[chloew]

Nice pictures. Did you do any image resizing on these? Or could you just use a crop and have more detail than you show here? Can you post one of them in original size?

I also use Neat Image at times, though on my Terri Clark pictures I only used a multistep resize to remove the noise. Some of them could have benefitted from some NeatImage though.

Have you done any comparisons in picture quality of the 75-300 IS and 70-200 IS L? Can you post some if you have them.

In most of my concerts shots I do not do any WB in postprocessing (other than what the camera does in AWB), to keep the color effects from the lights. In the rodeo pictures I did try to color balance based on my screen.

[LoungeLizard]

Originally Posted by chloew

Nice pictures. Did you do any image resizing on these? Or could you just use a crop and have more detail than you show here? Can you post one of them in original size?

No, no resizing. Just posted the small version that smugmug produces. Here's one in original size (remember, this is a Digital Rebel at ISO1600 - not the best of noise profiles!). I wouldn't print this any larger than 5x7 or so.

Originally Posted by chloew

Have you done any comparisons in picture quality of the 75-300 IS and 70-200 IS L? Can you post some if you have them.

Believe it or not, I haven't used the 70-200 IS L yet! I've been meaning to, just haven't shot anything in over a week (I'm getting withdrawal symptoms)

Originally Posted by chloew

In most of my concerts shots I do not do any WB in postprocessing (other than what the camera does in AWB), to keep the color effects from the lights. In the rodeo pictures I did try to color balance based on my screen.

Well, I was shooting RAW and the theory goes that if you get the white balance correctly, the rest of it falls into place. It did in this case. I have really become a fan of RAW and of doing as much adjustment as I can in the RAW converter.

One of the things I do when shooting concerts (mind you, I don't do it often, though I wish I did) is always under expose by at least 2/3 stops. Even with spot metering, the lighting is so harsh that you'd blow everything if you relied on your meter.

Do you have any "rules" you follow such as that?

Remember, I do this for fun though I'd like to do it and get paid for it (though not at the expense of my "real" job!)[/img]

[chloew]

Originally Posted by LoungeLizard

No, no resizing. Just posted the small version that smugmug produces. Here's one in original size (remember, this is a Digital Rebel at ISO1600 - not the best of noise profiles!).

Thanks for posting this. The quality is not as good as I expect but the image has been resaved once (PS CS) or even twice (smugbug). Most of the noise in the posted image is compression noise (jpg), not amplifier noise (ISO1600). What do you use to convert the RAW files? Any chance you would send me one of the RAW files? (I'll PM you my e-mail address.)

The noise on the DRebel should be the same as my 10D (same sensor and internals).

Well, I was shooting RAW and the theory goes that if you get the white balance correctly, the rest of it falls into place. It did in this case.

This is true for white light. But if you have a stage lit in red and you custom WB to a white towel, everything will be Cyan. A white towel under red light should be red, not white.

One of the things I do when shooting concerts is always underexpose by at least 2/3 stops. Even with spot metering, the lighting is so harsh that you'd blow everything if you relied on your meter. Do you have any "rules" you follow such as that?

Sounds about right. I don't have any rules, but in a dark environment you do need to underexpose for the image to look right. Remember that the camera exposes everything to 18% gray (~daylight) , which is too light in a concert.

Remember, I do this for fun though I'd like to do it and get paid for it (though not at the expense of my "real" job!)

I'm in the same shoes as you. My daytime job (SW engineering) pays for my obsession. Some extra money would be nice, but relying on photography as a full time job is too much pressure for me.