Building Empires In The Doghouse

I spoke to The Doghouse a few weeks back, but Saturday was the first opportunity I'd found to get to a gig there.  This was another new venue for me, even though it's only five minutes drive away.  This was a free gig with three very different acts, and, along with the audience, gave this the feel of a group of friends getting together to play and listen to some music.

The lighting rig consists of the LED spotlights that I'm coming to expect at these small venues.  Used intelligently, they can work reasonably well from a photography point of view, and that was the case here.

After my previous experiences in low-light auto-focus hell, I'm now shooting with a Canon EOS 5D MkIII.  It's a significant step up cost-wise from the EOS 70D, but worth it for the improvement in image quality at higher ISO settings, and an auto-focus that operates in lower light conditions.

Sean, Empire 35
85mm f/1.8 @ ISO 6400, f1.8, 1/160s

It meant that I could push the ISO higher (at 6400), and use a slightly faster shutter speed, freezing the action just that little bit more.  The auto-focus still couldn't cope when the lights went into flash mode though...

After a slight delay whilst a few audience stragglers were rounded up, Ed Medhurst took to the stage, playing bluesy slide guitar on a 12-string.  I had the 50mm lens on the camera, but swiftly abandoned that for the 85mm lens once I realised that everyone was going to remain sat down.  On one hand, it meant that I could shoot from different distances more easily than with people pressed up close to the stage.  On the other hand, of course, I had to make sure I wasn't getting in the way too much...

Next up were Empire 35, playing their brand of alt-rock/grunge.  Loads of energy, and plenty to keep me interested behind the lens.  The biggest challenge was to get the auto-focus to lock onto Sean, on guitar/vocals - it didn't like it when his hair was over his face (which was most of the gig!).

Finally, we had The Invaders, playing 70s-influenced rock (for example, Led Zeppelin).  A different style of music, and a different kind of energy.  Daryl, the bass player, in particular seemed to be enjoying himself.  A great night of varied music, and I look forward to getting up there again soon - results here.