April 23, 2009 – Opening for Jennifer Hudson, Robin Thicke set the mood with a soulful R&B throw-down in the big hall of the Fabulous Fox.
Photographer's Notes:
As concert photography goes, this was a pretty straight forward gig. For Robin Thicke's set, we were alloted two songs to shoot from the orchestra pit, which was filled with seating.
Thanks to spotlights during most of the shooting time, shutter speeds were kept at a very comfy 1/400 or so, shooting at f/3.2 and ISO 1250. I find the Nikon D3 clean enough that anything at ISO 1600 or below is pretty much gravy, so when lights are bright, I'd rather stop down a hair and keep shutter speeds up than use a lower sensitivity.
Aside from the nice spots used, the tour featured a good amount of accent lighting at the sides and back of the stage.
The shooting for this set was split pretty evenly between the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 on the Nikon D700 and the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 on the D3. While I bought the D700 as a back up to the D3, I have no reservations about its ability to deliver for shows like this, and love swapping between the two bodies that, for all practical purposes, deliver identical image quality.
End Notes:
As always, thanks to Lisa and Angie at the Fox for setting me up and making me feel at home in their gorgeous venue. Stay tuned for the full set from headliner Jennifer Hudson.
