Bec Reid Photography

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Saturday, April 26, 2014

Been a while...

Yeah.. wow. Last post August 2012. Ha. Can't be fucked typing out everything I've done since then so visit my photography FB page if you're interested; https://www.facebook.com/becreidphotography or the site I shoot for a lot http://musicfeeds.com.au/photos/

I felt the need to GRR about a few things in the world of music photography so here goes;

[Disclaimer; I remember being a newbie at this shiz. I made mistakes. I still do! Generally not etiquette-wise though. How did I learn? I googled a lot, and I read. The most important thing I did was LISTEN to those around me. Shit I still do! Always learning... Fuck something up once, fine. Do it again and again KNOWING there is a better way? That's retarded. Just photograph flowers or something, I'm not going to blow smoke up your ass when your photos suck]

These are the things that irk me in music photography

Constantly blaming bad lighting. 
 I know there are circumstances where anything BUT full-frame and wide aperture lenses just don't cut it. If it's that bad, and you're not willing/able to shell out for new gear, don't shoot there. If other people are getting decent photos in the same circumstances with similar level gear,, then it's not your gear, it's you. Learn to use your freaking camera or GTFO.





Stop. Photoshopping. The. Fuck. Out. Of. Your. PHOTOS!!!
Seriously, WE CAN TELL. If it's shit to begin with, it's going to stay that way even after an hour of fiddling in Camera RAW. I see the burn marks, I see the blur from extreme noise reduction. I see that you clipped your highlights and thus lost detail...
Edit less, work on technique more. Don't be lazy (says the laziest photographer ever...) but still. If you edit it that much that it's no longer a photo, say so. Don't go OMG look at this awesome shot I took!

Speaking of RAW...

Shoot or in RAW or GTFO
Unless you're that good that your shots need zero editing and you're not as anal as I am about storing the originals... or think you'll ever need the Raws for anything, ever. I'm a girl scout when it comes to files. I MIGHT NEED THIS. That's how I have a bazillions hard drives and cf cards and blah. No wondr I'm poor.
 JPEGS are not simply SMALLER files, they're LOSSY. If you don't know the difference, Google it.

AF-Assist Beam. Turn it OFF. NAO. 
Are you for real? You know the 'no flash' rule, but think that laser-like beam into the artist's eye is fine? Lul. Go home, you're drunk. Regardless if you shoot next to me in a pit with yours on, expect me to say something. If you don't listen, expect me to make sure you leave said pit fairly shortly after that.

White Balance. Am I speaking Chinese here?
Seriously. Do you know what this is? If not, please learn it. If you do and still don't bother to use it correctly (or at all) WHY?? I KNOW that artist's shirt was green, not grey. I know because I balanced my colours correctly in post. That's the other thing about shooting in Raw... but... ugh. Why bother if you're not...

Happy shooting.