The great Sonny Landreth was in town today. I was excited. I learned about him from Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival DVD. I really love electric blues guitar. The man's technique is astonishing.
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Here's a little photography tip. When shooting this type of thing I really love the high-speed continuous shooting on the D300. When I see a shot coming up, I hold the shutter release down for 5 to 10 shots (less than a 2 seconds). It's amazing the difference a fraction of a second makes. A fleeting expression or hand position makes all the difference. I know I'm always saying "it's not about the camera", but of course, good equipment makes it easier.
By a rather astonishing coincidence, yesterday I took this picture with my Canon EOS D30 (six years old!) using basically the same technique. As soon as the owl was flying, I punched the shutter and the camera took a rapid sequence of pictures, of which this one was by far the best.
I thought you might appreciate that this tip works even with the outdated DSLR I currently have.
I still plan to buy a D300; it would have done much better. But it's good to know that owners of lesser cameras are not totally out in the cold, and should consider using this technique.
D
I'm glad you made that comment David... which just goes to show you, it's really not SO MUCH about the camera. A few years ago a Canon D30 was a hot commodity and people were doing professional work with it. Just because there are better cameras out now, does that mean the D30 is bad? No, it's still a great camera and you can pick one up used for less than 300 dollars! Great digital SLR photography is within reach of just about anybody these days.
BTW... back in the dark ages when we were shooting film, only guys who had big deep pockets backing them up (like National Geographic) could afford to shoot like this. In the happy digital present, bits are free! We can all be the crazy shooter, shooting with free abandon.
I worked out a shot in the same way...
http://tinyurl.com/3s4woy
The photo in the middle of the triptych was "shot handheld at a focal length equivalent of 270mm, 1000 ISO, f2.8 and at 1/25 shutter speed! Vibration reduction was enabled".
I used a D2Hs on the "continuous high" setting and rattled away. As I was dragging the shutter some of the shots were blurred, but this one and a few others were perfect.
And yes, I know there's a person standing in the way, but it was the shot I had, and the subject, "C", was delighted.
A relevant quote:
The camera's only job is to get out of the way of making photographs.
Ken Rockwell, Your Camera Does Not Matter, 2005
Rick,
You caught the essence of the party for sure! The Blues, Brews, and BBQs is one of the best events in the summer. It was good to see you there "working". It's never work when you're hearing amazing blues like Sonny. I've got both Crossroads DVDS - 06 & 07; that is also where I learned of SL from the great Eric!
Todd
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