Shot in the Dark
July 31, 2009 by David Bergman
It’s cliché for photographers to say that we don’t need the latest and greatest photo gear to make good photos. It’s true that most pro photographers can make quality images with basic camera equipment.
However, good gear certainly does help. Sometimes a lot.
I recently covered The Dead Weather show at Terminal 5 in New York City. The new “super group” is made up of Jack White (of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs), Alison Mosshart (of The Kills and Discount), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (of The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes).
There was almost no light on the stage for this show except for the occasional nuclear blast from a strobe light. Most of the time, it was all deep, dark blue with just a tiny hint of pink/orange/red light from the front. Not ideal for photos at all.
So I cranked my Nikon D3 cameras up to 4000 ISO and dropped my shutter down – sometimes as low as a 60th of a second. It was only a couple of years ago that shooting 4000 ISO was impossible and I wouldn’t have been able to make a single usable frame.
But thanks to the latest and greatest gear, I have a few images that I can be proud of.
(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, 4000 ISO, 1/125 sec, f/2.8)
(Nikon D3, 70-200 lens, 4000 ISO, 1/60 sec, f/2.8)
(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, 4000 ISO, 1/250 sec, f/2.8)
Nice job. And i’m still shocked with possibilites we have now. Forget ISO 800 max, and hey, breathing is allowed unless the light is really low
Fantastic!
Love the second shot.
4000 ISO IT STILL SOUNDS CRAZY TO ME. Great shot with the cigarette in hand (filthy habit but looks cool)
I don’t suppose you’re ever looking for assistants around Pittsburgh, eh?
Nice effort in those conditions.
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So would you say that maybe the dark lighting in a way helped with these amazing shots? Just a thought that maybe the lighting helped in its own way.
Well Mike, the colors definitely helped make the images look the way they do. I didn’t mind the quality of the light but I would have liked a bit more quantity.