Bear Hands at The Observatory; photo Lauren Ratkowski
As I arrived at The Observatory’s box office, I saw a huge line of people queuing up to get into the venue, which was only hosting one show that night. I was excited that it was going to be a full house. I slapped my credential onto my chest and headed inside. Everything seemed pretty typical at that point. But the difference was that I had my new camera with me – a Nikon D810. I was dying to use it to shoot a show.
I had heard mixed reviews on setting the ISO to auto and shooting manual for everything else. I’ve always shot full manual but my old camera was outdated and I no longer trusted its auto ISO setting. I knew my new camera had a much better ability to function at higher ISO with little “noise” so I gave the auto ISO a whirl.
The Moth & The Flame were the first band of the night. Their lighting was pretty even, which allowed me not to worry about waiting for the right instant to capture a moment. Both the bassist and singer were very expressive, too! As I shot, I kept my eye on the ISO number my camera was choosing for itself. Three songs went by quick and I returned to my spot in the audience.
I peeked at my shots to see how things went so I could adjust accordingly for Bear Hands. I zoomed on a few images to see some noise from the high ISO, but it didn’t look too bad.
Bear Hands hit the stage bathed in blue and magenta light. I have always disliked this lighting color combination as it never worked well for my shots in the past. But before getting too discouraged, I remembered that maybe things would be different with my new buddy. I snapped a few photos and then looked back at them while still in the photo pit. I rarely do that so I don’t miss anything, but I had to be sure things were working! I could see more detail than the blue, flat images I used to get. I knew I could work with what I was getting and carried on. Soon the blue and magenta light was replaced by white and red. This was good!
Bear Hands at The Observatory; photo Lauren Ratkowski
Bear Hands put on a great performance. Interestingly enough, my favorite image of the night came after I was out of the photo pit. Vocalist Dylan Rau was on his knees at the edge of the stage, facing me as he sang. I leaned over the security guard I was standing above and hoped the image would come out ok – and it did!
After shooting the headliners, Atlas Genius, I headed home to get a good look at my photos. While processing my images, I was amazed at the difference between my old camera and my new one. I was able to make great things happen with the images I shot in blue light. I was comforted in knowing that I had conquered one more difficulty in shooting concerts!
Oh, and as for the auto ISO, I didn’t hate the results, but I think I’ll be sticking to full manual. Maybe I just like being in total control.