Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Chris Birdwell






I've decided to do local photographers that I admire this week (and the ones to make up for last week). I am very interested in shooting concerts and have been asked on occasion to shoot for one band in particular and I can never seem to get the results that I would like. My problems include and are not limited to, movement in the performer, being blown out by the flash.
This is Chris Birdwell. He graduated from here a year or so ago. I had the pleasure of having a class with him while he was here. He uses a film (35mm and 120) camera to shoot concerts. I'm am a huge fan of his work and have asked him on occasion to give me his secret to shooting the the low light conditions that he does. He told me that I needed a fast lens, around f-stop 1.4, a swivel flash, and a handheld light meter. I found that my lens is not fast enough by any stretch of the imagination. He has produced many beautiful photos using this process. He also incorporates light painting to some of his work, which is something I have already written about this semester. I'm going to continue to work at getting better results and will continue to look to his work as an example.

1 comment:

  1. These have an interesting peep-hole aspect. Like we're on the outside looking in. The technique is nicely aligned with the intentions.

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