Bison in Edinburgh (band photography)

[jhob]

I did my first live band shoot last month and have just got around to getting all of the photos edited and up online.

Bison are my friends' 10 piece ska band from Sheffield, they are really, really amazing and even more so live - loads of fun to photograph. They came up to Edinburgh to play at the festival and also did a little bit of busking on grassmarket as the 'Buskateers'. If you're interested in finding out more about Bison (and I suggest you do cos if you like ska, you'll love Bison) then take a look at: http://allhailthebison.com/

The busking was really tricky to photograph due to the almost total absence of available light, even my f1.8 was struggling. Still I think I captured the mood and spirit of it well.

As for the gig, I'm well happy with the results, especially considering this was the first time I have properly photographed a band. I did a bit of snapping and then a bit of dancing like a loon, and then back to the photography again. repeat. Great fun!

Here are some of my favourites from the busking and gig:

#1
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-1.jpg


#2
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-2.jpg


#3
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-3.jpg


#4
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-4.jpg


#5
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-5.jpg


#6
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-6.jpg


#7
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-7.jpg


#8
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-8.jpg


#9
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-9.jpg


#10
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-10.jpg

The complete album with over 100 photos can be found here:
http://johnhobsonphotography.com/albums/bands/20070817_Bison_Edinburgh/

C&C welcome.

[moomike]

Very nice set of images there John :thumbs:

[jhob]

I've post up the highlights from the set now so you don't have to look through 100 odd of them! The first lot are in my post at the top and there's a few more here:

#11
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-11.jpg


#12
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-12.jpg


#13
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-13.jpg


#14
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-14.jpg


#15
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-15.jpg


#16
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-16.jpg


#17
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-17.jpg


#18
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-18.jpg


#19
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Bison_sml-19.jpg

[photostar_1]

Looks like a fun gig and I like your approach....Lighting looks like it was a nightmare to meter for. :clap:

[jhob]

It was certainly good practice for metering in tricky conditions. I used spot metering alongside selective focus area and exposure lock. At times I also had my D200 permanently set to underexpose between 1/3 and 2/3 of a stop ato achieve the correct exposure. It also meant I could use a faster shutter speed. I was shooting at ISO1600 and either f1.8 or f2.8 depending on the lens.

[photostar_1]

How did you get those effects in #3, 7 & 11??

[jhob]

#3 I zoomed out (or in, can't remember which) at the same time as pressing the shutter. Start with the zoom at 50mm and then at the same time or slightly before you click the shutter zoom out quite quickly so that you finish at 17mm by the end of the exposure. That's for my 17-50 anyway. Shutter speed for that one was 1/5 second.

#7 is pretty much how it came off the camera, that's just how the lighting was. In lightroom I upped the contrast a fair bit and added a bit of vibrance, saturation and clarity which made the tonal graduations on the skin a lot more stark.

#11 Same as 7 but without the saturation boost. It was shot at 1/2 second shutter speed hence the extreme movement. Came out quite nicely but wasn't intended at the time of shooting!