More Experiments with Light




Josh Weaver Band was in studio putting down some ideas. Josh is a singer/songwriter from IL who writes fantastic songs and he's got over 100 of them and still writing. We actually recorded 17 of them in one weekend which we don't normally do, but it was really valuable for the band to get to hear how they sound together as a group. When you're playing, you tend to focus on what you're playing so the studio is great for hearing the big picture and also figuring out if what you're playing is actually serving the song, versus just something you figured out you could play.

It's always tough to take pics in the studio because the low lighting that musicians favor is very vibey and good for honeymoons, but terrible for pictures. To recreate the vibe I lit these pictures with a gridded softbox. In the first picture there's actually two, one softbox on the drummer and one on andy. I really like gridded softboxes because the light is soft, but you can control where it goes. If I'd used umbrellas for this, the light would have spilled everywhere. Also good for studio shooting is a very wide angle lens because there's rarely enough room to back up. These were shot with the canon 10-22mm. Almost no post work has been done to these, just a tiny contrast boost. That's pretty much how they came out of the camera. Gotta love that light.

I also made an old school composite which you can see here:

http://homepage.mac.com/maxwax11/PhotoAlbum42.html
If you keep clicking on it, eventually it will take you to a version with decent res.
If you can't be bothered to click on the link, here's a wee version. 11 shots 50mm, f1.4



UPDATE: Brian asks, if I have the 17-70mm already, why would I want the 50mm lens?

Well Brian, I'm glad you asked:
While you will have 50mm in your zoom range and you will be able to frame the picture identically, you won't get quite the same results, here's why:

the 50mm lens has a maximum aperture of f1.8 or f1.4 depending on which 50mm it is.  (they even make a 50mm f.1.0 if you feel like spending $3000) It allows you to shoot in very low light enviroments and the very wide maximum aperture gives you a shallow depth of field that's good for portraiture.  The 50 is also popular for a couple other reasons, 1. it approxmates the focal length of the human eye and 2. It's very compact and lightweight.

The 50mm lens is also a prime.  (single focal length) Typically, you can get excellent lenses in primes at less cost than you can a good zoom because primes are simpler and cheaper to make.  If you're starting on a budget many people recommend getting primes first.  They force you to zoom with your feet which is how you're supposed to do it.  Using the zoom should be an intentional decision to pick a focal length.  It should never be because you didn't feel like walking.  Remember the focal length of a zoom or prime changes the way the picture looks.  We should probably have a tutorial on this later...

The 50mm is also very popular because in the f1.8 version it's under $100 and I recommend this to people as their first lens they buy after they get the camera.  You can shoot in low light without flash with this setup and it's a good point to start learning. However, if all you do is landscapes outside at high noon, you don't need this lens. I personally love my 50mm 1.4 for low light unobtrusive shooting.

Posted: Thu - September 21, 2006 at 08:52 PM          

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