Well, it's a band formerly called Jackanapes. This is a shot of 3/7 of the members entertaining a robust crowd at The Iron Post, Urbana, late on 12 September. Just between us girls, I like to refer to this band as Skunk And The JuggLice. They play peppy tunes that might be categorized as gypsy-ska-punk. Pictured is an electric embodiment of the group. The acoustic version entertained guests at my place last New Year's Eve, and I think they were less cramped in my fireplace pit than on this dinky bandstand at the Post.
I shot the photo with my "see-in-the-dark" Nikon D700 set to ISO 6400, no flash. Interestingly, to me, I had to increase the shutter speed by the equivalent of about 2 stops (less light) compared with the exposure recommended by the meter. Was really nice to review each shot and find the correct exposure manually with little trouble or guesswork. The most amazing thing about this camera is how little noise (pixels of random color and brightness) there is in the image as shot in such low light at such high sensitivity. Right now you pay a big premium for this kind of tech; within 5 years (assuming the world doesn't end when the Aztec calendar does) we might see this kind of sensor quality in modestly priced snapshooters.
Side note: the band playing before IAT! was a five-man pickup jazz combo that also featured Big Rock Head (silver tenor sax) and Mike Eye (bari), plus local pal Aaron (not pictured, playing 40s and Dickie Dale-style guitar) and two others. They hadn't played together until earlier in the day (even if then --- don't know).
so what is the shutter speed you had to use on this? Head's fingers don't even seem to be moving.
ReplyDeleteAnon: used 1/160 sec at f2.8. A skilled photographer who is in practice can hold reasonably steady up to about 1/60 sec, but the wider the aperture the more camera motion will show up. For me, the faster shutter I can sneak in a situation like this, the better. I wasn't thinking; shoulda tried some at 1/60 sec with a smaller aperture just for field-testing purposes. By the way, the lens's sonar focusing aid was really useful in the dark. I was using an older lens; a new one with vibration reduction tech might have let me roll back the ISO setting to as low as 1600 (much less noise) or crank down the diaphragm tighter (less critical focus).
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