Bec Reid Photography

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Sunday, February 26, 2012

A Very Switchfoot -ey Few Days

Have I mentioned that Switchfoot are one of my favourite bands? I probably have. If not, well now you all know.

I've also probably mentioned that they were at Easterfest 2011. Amidst a LOT of rain. So I only managed a few snaps of them from my precarious position to the side of the stage (under cover...) and that not being able to get the kind of shots I wanted of them was a huge regret of mine...

So I was a little excited upon hearing of their proposed return to our shores. A bit less when I heard it was with Soundwave - as I wasn't going to be photographing that. I crossed my fingers that a Sidewave would be announced - and it was! Not only that, but also a free acoustic gig at the City Beach in Brisbane CBD. I photographed and reviewed that for FasterLouder.com.au (and there was the beginning and end of my reviewing career...) see here.


 I could have stuck with the pack of photographers there that day, but I attempted to combine my desire to be there as a fan (IE: not in the band member's faces...) and the requirements of FasterLouder and get some decent shots. I liked my position and I'm glad I stayed put.

I had sort of planned for that to be my chance to just be a fan - not a photographer...but in the end I was happy with how it turned out. Plus it made me even more excited for the Friday night gig!

I don't blame the band for the torrential rain...not really. It's just a strange coincidence that both times they've been in the country the last two years has resulted in some serious wet stuff falling from the sky. It was really coming down from the second I got off the train, until I legged it to the station (no cabs available) several hours later. Nevertheless, I made it to the Tivoli (only slightly saturated)

Pics pics! (a more complete photographic documentation of the night in the gallery I posted to FasterLouder here)











A small selection a very large set. Seriously, gotta stop using burst mode so much. Takes me too long to sift through afterwards!

So happy I got to do this. I really do love Switchfoot. I was excited to see they had a spot performing live on Sunrise this morning (breakfast TV show) it's like; 'Australia MEET SWITCHFOOT!' which I am happy to see happen. God knows we need more decent music on the radio. If I hear Gotye one more freaking time.... *insert picture of head exploding* :P

So that's me for now. I have another gig to photograph this week (A Day to Remember / The Used / You Me At Six) then Future Music Festival next weekend. Psyched! Easterfest's a comin' too...

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Damn you, Nikon.

I have been a fan of Nikon (over other brands of DSLRs) for basically my entire photo-taking lif. 

Recently, however, I am questioning their smarts.

The D700 is the go-to camera for Nikon-using sports and music shooters (at least, for those of us who don't have the dosh for a D3s!) it has amazing low-light capabilities (#1 reason for me)

So when Nikon announced the successor (D800)  yesterday, I was excited. It could only get better, right? Was hoping for increased fps, perhaps a nice new (larger) sensor, maybe a very slight jump in megapixel count. No way could they stuff this up.

WRONG!

36 megapixels = too many. A lot of people are under the impression that more megapixels = better photos. *ahem* not quite. Of course, a higher count would allow for printing larger sizes and some serous cropping (if needed) without image degradation. However - there is such a thing as TOO MANY MEGAPIXELS! Gizmodo has a good article written on just that subject.

There are other points also, that make it unsuitable/wasteful for my kind of photography, but they'd be better explained by a more technically proficient person than myself. 

Regardless, it's just a waste. For the kind of shooting I do, anyway. Also the video function. I don't see the point in my having to cart around the extra weight and pay the extra $ for the HD video capabilities which I will rarely/never use. I just don't do video.

In my mind, the successor of my faithful D700 is a studio camera. Not one you grab on your way out the door to shoot a live band.

The D4, however (successor to the D3/D3s - my wet dream camera) seems a smart choice. A more expensive choice. Therefore, Nikon is forcing us poor concert photographers to pay the extra if we want to upgrade to a better camera than our D700s (which have been discontinued now) 

At just 16.2 megapixels, it's just about perfect. The only thing that would make it better is the option of purchasing one without video capabilities. The other thing that worries me is the battery life... but other have posed the question of whether or not the Nikon press release (probably written in Engrish, as Nikon is a Japanese company) was wrongly quoted. If it wasn't, we're looking at about 40% less shots-per-charge than it's predecessor, the D3.

*sigh*

I now know what the older photogs were talking about when they mentioned Nikon and Canon 'leapfrogging' one another over the generations of DSLRs. This must be Canon's turn to shine.