Barqoue on Beaver has come to a close and the island was eerily quiet today. Being the (volunteer) official photographer, in hindsight, was well worth the time, effort, exhaustion. Not only was it a joy to work with the musicians, but it was a perfect challenge for me (given my preference for non-people type of photography!). Challenges were both photographic (images plus processing in such a range of conditions and lighting) and social (photographers who want to be behind the lens tend to be shy, and I'm no exception). But in the end, I'm glad to have pushed myself and really enjoyed meeting so many accomplished artists and their friends and family.
Here's a YouTube about the event from the perspective of the solo pianist whose image I've posted earlier this week. She used several of my images -- some I forgot to watermark, but you may be able to tell which ones were mine. It gives a great feel for the island, the festival, and the music she played:
https://youtu.be/eBeluzFA40c
For those interested in lessons learned...some obvious things to think about but worth emphasizing:
1. Check out the setting under the lighting conditions you'll face so you can plan ahead.
2. Think outside the box of where to stand so you aren't noticeable by either the crowd or the musicians, but still can get useful images.
3. ALWAYS check to see if the camera has its memory card in place, the battery charged, and that you not only have an extra battery but that it is handy (i.e., not zipped in a gear back zipped into your camera bag -- which makes it useless during a performance).
4. For soloists or small groups, talk with the artist(s) to see what they hope to have as images, and also any concerns they may have about being photographed.
5. Go to rehearsals so you can see both the background to the performance and also know when the louder movements/moments will be so you can switch lenses then.
6. Have camera easily reached (e.g., on the floor) as well as any lens you might want to switch to during the event.
7. Even though you're tired and want to just wait til the next day, download the photos and save them -- both for peace of mind and to avoid falling behind.
8. Use 'burst' as musicians are always in motion and only 1 of about 8-10 images are useful, given changing facial expressions, body positions, eyes open vs closed, etc. I found I deleted about 75%.
9. After downloading, cull by deleting all obviously unusable shots - blurry, weird body positions, unworkable compositions, etc. Then, about 2 days later, do it again. Star the 3 - 5 images from the event you want to process first rather than going through each of them in order. I suspect there are hundreds I won't ever get to so better to start with only those at the top of those worth keeping. (Note...this might not apply if only a single event, but when capturing up to 15 including rehearsals in less than 8 days, it's easy to be overwhelmed with sheer volume).
10. Gear: Camera that can be put on silent (not 'quiet') is absolutely critical. Lenses that can work in low-light and camera that can handle high ISO. I ended up using mostly my Nikon Z6 with the adaptor to use my f-mount 50mm and 105mm primes. For outdoors, and in the brightly lit gym, I did use the 24-70mm kit lens for wider shots. A superwide lens creates too much distortion and I found did not lead to any interesting scenes.
11. Have a way to give the musicians you've photographed (or their family) a card if they ask about sending them a photo, so they have your email address. I learned early on that I could not keep track of which musician wanted which photos and even confused names. Better to have the one photographed email you with a link to their website so you can see who they are and a short description (e.g., an email with a link and "I'm the tuba player" was very helpful).
12. Try to relax and enjoy the performance -- it makes the whole experience special!
Congrats on your experience and all you have learned. Delighted you found it worth all the effort.
Super shot of the moon too, by the way! We are a bit Astronomy obsessed in our house, so it's always lovely to see a good shot of her up there :)
Thanks for that list of tips - they make sense when you read them, but it takes experience to really figure that stuff out.
Pictures on the video proved I'm right!