Warding off the cold, Quietdrive laid down a tight, half-hour set that had the 2200 bodies in the Pageant bouncing to the band’s bright pop punk melodies in the perfect warm-up to A Very Ludo Christmas 2007.
Lead by Kevin Truckenmiller, The Minneapolis-based five-piece drove into their set with a strong selection from their 2006 debut on Epic Records, When All That’s Left Is You.
Truckenmiller’s seemingly boundless energy and motion on stage perfectly reflected the band’s all-out approach, and they had the crowd moving bars into the opening song.
Shooting Notes:
Between the low light and the band’s constant motion, this was a tough gig. And let’s not forget shooting over and around the plastic candy canes and other holiday cheer at the front of the stage.
Lighting:
Unlike the set before with Nothing Still, Quietdrive’s set was dim by comparison and utilized more atmospheric lighting, which was dominated by deep oranges and bluish purples from the back of the stage. White light was relatively sparse other than weak front lighting that took on an orange cast due to the intensity and a few blasts from the back during the high climaxes.
Lenses:
I used the Nikon 24-70mmm f/2.8 exclusively for this set and focused more on chasing Kevin Truckenmiller around on stage than on switching lenses. The mid range zoom proved perfectly adequate for this task and never swayed me enough to switch.
Exposure:
I shot between ISO 6400 and ISO 12800 for this set, which was just enough to keep me at my comfort level of 1/160 and f/2.8. With the D2x, this would have been one of those unshootable performances that would have found me scrambling to mount f/1.4 primes.
With the Nikon D3, the camera made shooting possible – for better or for worse. Just as with the Hush Sound’s performance that followed, I quickly came to the conclusion that just because one can shoot in darkness doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
Even with the D3’s exceptional performance, there’s only so much technology can do; when the quality of lighting isn’t there, there’s really nothing that can change the fact.
End Notes:
This shoot really reminded me of Anberlin’s set a few weeks prior, who received a similarly dim treatment at the Pageant, and whose frontman Stephen displayed the same moving-target challenge as Truckenmiller.
7 Comments Add your own
1. Andi | January 24th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I really like pic #5. Those two boxes in the front gives the picture kind of a symmetry. What I’d like to now: Especially when you shoot a hyperactive frontman, do you use all od the 51 AF-points, mayebe together with AF-C and the 3D focus tracking ? Or do you stick to AF-S and the 15 cross sensors ?
2. Todd | January 24th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Hey Andi, thanks for you thoughts on #5, I’m always trying to find ways to play with the monitors.
I am using the 51 AF points in AF-C, though I haven’t experimented too much with focus tracking. I must say, though, that the D3 does seem to do well with low light target acquisition.
So far, I find the AF much better than that of the Nikon D2x.
3. Chris | January 29th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Andi,
For clarification, Todd is using the rear AF-ON or “back-button” to initiate focus. Which is how he can use AF-C and still properly compose the shot.
Todd, correct me if I’m wrong.
4. Todd | January 29th, 2008 at 10:27 am
That’s right, I’m using the AF-ON with shutter priority.
5. Andi | January 29th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Yeah, I supposed he uses the AF-ON. The only other alternative would be to use the AE/AF-Button to save the focus and then rearrange the composition. Hold on button or stop to hold one button, there isn’t too much difference between those to methods, I think.
But do you really need one of those together with the 3D Tracking ? I mean, if you suppose that this thing is working properly, you should just have to choose the best AF-Point for the first measurement (for example the artists face). After you trigger the focus, shouldn’t it follow the subject from point to point when you make your composition ?
6. Chris | January 29th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Yes, you need one of those with the 3D tracking. The DOF is too thin to be messing around with tracking. On the D3 I don’t think you could move the active AF point fast enough or accurately enough with all 51 enabled to ensure you would maintain focus in AF-C and still have total control over your composition.
7. Andi | January 29th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Okay. So the new tracking engine is not sufficient enough to make the personal control of the 51 AF-Point system obsolete.
To sum it up: You choose the AF-Point yourself and switch it manual if possible. AF-activation via AF-ON to ensure composition will not lead to change of focus area.
Yup, that sounds useful. I’m only asking because I might move up from my two D70 workhorses to one D70 and one D300 which finally uses the D3-AF system. On my D70s I’m using AF-C plus AE/AF-Button most of the time, although the 5 AF-points are not very luxury, compared to a D3
Thanks guys, always nice to have a little technical discussion
speak up
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