Relay for Life ---- in Manual Mode!

This past weekend I was asked to photograph my husband's band, "Northern Static," play as entertainment at a local Relay for Life event.  My two daughters were in attendance, and some friends came by to watch also.

I was very excited to get to take some fun pictures and try to really capture the moment.  Sometimes photographing a band can be difficult, because it all looks the same, so every picture is the same as the last.  At least to a later viewer.  One challenge was to get new shots that were exciting and different from the last.  Another challenge was the lighting. The band was on a stage under a canopy.  It was "dark" to the camera, relative to the surrounding light.  Metering the light on the stage from various angles was challenging as well.

It was fun to also capture the excitement of the event.  The children playing.  The walkers walking.  The tents. The workers.  While not all of these photos were "artsy" and super duper fantastic photos with lots of wow-factor (enough adjectives?), they were important in capturing the day and what the event meant to people who were walking.

My daughter (middle) and her two friends from church.  I love how they looked so captivated by the music.

This "behind the scenes" look was the only one that I really had a chance to get.  It was challenging with the light peaking through from the other side of the stage.  

I didn't realize it when I snapped this photo, but the backlighting provided a great "glow" to her already gorgeous red hair. Because she was back-lit, I kept the exposure the same for her as I did for all the shots on stage.

The walking, rounding the bend.  I was going for a "story-telling" image with this, but only had my telephoto lens with me when I went up the bleachers to capture these shots.  I think it still captures the feeling from being there, though.

Another "story-telling" image.  This one of the center of the field with the stage.  You can  see how dark the stage is  with the shade, relative to the outside.  This provided a great deal of metering challenges.

Probably my favorite photo of the bunch.  I was attempting a leading lines effect.  I like the out-of-focus people in the background. I'm not sure what story this image tells, but I know it's telling something.

Another "behind the scenes" shot of one of the musicians taping his set list to the floor.

The awesome drummer going to town. I love the slight blur on the drum stick , implying the motion that he's moving super fast.  This is a technique I'd really like to work on, and in fact have tried a few times already, but can't find the right shutter speed.

Again, you can see the drastic lighting differences.  I opted to overexpose the light areas and properly expose faces and instruments. I love the images of the musicians really jamming and rocking out and enjoying what they're doing.

 I'm not sure any of these photos jump out as real zingers, but for my first "photo shoot" in manual mode, I am very pleased with the results.  I snagged quite a few fun shots of the kids at play.