Mutaytor logo by AJPN
If you visit my site on a regular basis you already know that I add galleries from current events as soon as time permits.
In the past I have had problems with several versions of photo gallery software. Some versions were inconvenient to use and required countless adjustments to the code each time a new gallery was added. Another required such heavy compression that the pictures looked like blurry facades of the original files.
Then there was the occasion where, while upgrading, the software crashed and I ended up losing more than a dozen galleries. Talk about frustrating! To make a long story short I found the software I am now using. Appropriately enough it is called Gallery. The version I am using is 2.2.3.
If you are relatively proficient with html you can add this to almost any website without much headache. Just click the link at the bottom of any page in my gallery and you can download the software for yourself. It’s open source and it’s free and there are countless tutorials and forums to help you with its installation as well as its utilization.
I highly recommend Gallery for photographers and casual users alike. The software has proven itself and I have gained enough confidence that I have begun adding galleries from past events. Which leads me to the actual purpose of this post.
My latest gallery is a set of images from my first Mutaytor show back on February 11th, 2005. I had been hearing their praises since the year before during my first visit to Burning Man. Unfortunately; I missed their show out on the playa.
My friend Sharon invited me down to Los Angeles and we went to the show together. It was a rainy night and I was just getting over the last vestiges of a serious cold, but I was determined to go. She was a great host and we had a blast.
This was without doubt, the best show I had seen in years. I had my trusty Canon 10D with a 50mm f/1.4 lens mounted. It turned out to be the perfect focal length as I ended up doing most of my shooting from the wings at each side of the stage. Most of the show was shot at ISO 800 or higher.
In recent times I have continually tried to shoot concerts and live shows with more elaborate equipment and ideas, such as using an off camera flash. Try as I may, there is no substitute for a fast prime lens on a decent camera. When shooting concerts, even f/2.8 is often too slow, so zoom lenses are best utilized when stage lights are at their brightest.
I recommend using the faster prime lenses. A 35mm or a 50mm if you can get close or a 50mm or an 85mm if you can’t. If you can afford something as fast as an f/1.2 get it. If not get the f/1.4.
Check out the Mutaytor gallery and see what you can do with a simple 50mm.
В нынешней ситуации большинство тем отходят на второй план. Интересно, как мы будем жить, если доллар рухнет?
Rough Translation by ajpn:
In a present situation the majority that fade into the background. It is interesting, how we shall live, if the dollar will fail?