That's what I did last night, listened to a band called Tip of the Top. I had no strobes, on or off camera flash, just one camera set to 6400 ISO and a 85mm lens set at f/1.4. Yep, the depth of focus was narrow, the lighting poor, so the images have flaws. But the scene was rich with opportunity and I had what I had. I was out with a party of six, Virginia and Albert of the Family Album, my web guru Chris and his room mate, and Deborah. I started the evening checking out the light with Chris as my unwilling model. Discovered right off the bat, focus was nearly impossible at f/1.4 on manual focus in the dark. But in situations like this, you can't give up.
Tried something different when Chris was working his smart phone, seeing the reflection from the phone.
Hopefully Chris will not hate me and crash my website, but if it disappears, he has struck.
Now for the scene. You have to be ready for the unexpected. Just as the evening was beginning, who sneaks in but Elvis. Yep, proof positive he is not dead, just a little older and disguised. I was star struck, began to shake which complicated my shot. Later his secret reps contacted me, forced me to give up the photos except for one that really couldn't identify him, proof positive. But I got it and I know Elvis was in the house!
He was not the only interesting person, as a photographer, interesting people are always on your radar.
But let's get back to the band and dance floor. Tip of the Top is a great band, and people have fun!
And as you can see people are dancing, the bands playing and life is good. The photography is tricky because those bright lights throw the metering completely off so I changed to spot metering which caused some areas to be blown out. Remember one camera, one lens, and no flash to help. You have to be on guard for the special moment when something happens! (which was published on Facebook, no more comments)
But as with all nights, there are the main characters, like a play. The cast is interesting, but the main characters make the night. In a blues club it is normally the band and Tip of the Top lived up to that challenge. But they had some help as this photo should tip you off, something was happening on the dance floor!
What was happening was in a red dress, she could dance, amazingly dressed with a hat, sang with many of the songs, and all with the biggest smile. She had dance floor presence, made everyone smile in a good way and fortunately danced with many people and with a male husband/boyfriend/friend that also enjoyed the fact she was having a great time. First with her man!
And fortunately for us all, Pete was in the house. Pete is a terrific dancer, I have photographed him before, and when "she" entered the dance floor, I knew it would not be long before he asked her to the dance floor. It started off pretty straight forward. I also love the man in the blue shirt who periodically danced by himself on the dance floor, spinning around with his hands in air.
While the above photo looks like she is shy, believe me she is not, nor is she intimidated. She immediately took control.
And she entertained her dance partners, her husband, and the rest of the club as the image of the man standing on a chair using the video in his smart phone.
And, she inspired Pete who as I said earlier, is a great dancer. Could he keep up?
The answer is yes, and others danced, people came and went. People talked, the band played their original songs and I spent time talking with my friends.
A dark room, a single camera, a fixed focal length lens, and lots of fun. I didn't obsess about the photography, just remained ready. It worked for me, try it.
Nikon D3, 85mm f/1/4.
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