Stu Larsen and Paper Aeroplanes

After shooting at the Lemon Grove for the last couple of gigs it was nice to be back at the Exeter Phoenix for a more relaxed night of music.

As always on The Unplugged Blog I like to give you a couple of images from the night, hot from the editing desk.  First up from Queensland, Australia was the very talented and funny Stu Larsen.

Stu Larsen

Stu Larsen

Expect to hear more about Stu over on MusicMuso very soon.

The headline act of the night was the very popular Paper Aeroplanes.

Paper Aeroplanes

Paper Aeroplanes

Technical Challenges

Shooting in low light is one of the biggest challenges in concert photography.  It's difficult to focus the camera and you have to balance your shutter speed against your ISO settings.  Upgrading from the Nikon D610 to the D750 has definitely improved the situation for me.  Focusing is much more accurate and easier (thanks to group point focusing) and low light performance has been greatly improved.

I have also noticed that the lighting used in different venues varies greatly.  I like to see lots of dynamic lighting as this offers a great range of shooting opportunities.  A well lit artist is a lot easier to shoot!  However, the lighting used is often arranged to suit the type of artist.  For example, Paper Aeroplanes were lit most with a constant blue and red light.  Great for the mood, but it adds an extra challenge for the photographer.  But hey, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it and I love the challenge!

I'm also pleased to say that Adobe have finally updated my primary image editing tool, Lightroom, to version 5.7 which includes full support for the Nikon D750.  This greatly streamlines my image workflow.

See you again really soon on The Unplugged Blog!