Entry 08: Art Show and '80s-Music Party

Back on November 4th, 2010, I went to an Art Show and ‘80s Music Party in the Arts District in Los Angeles. I had a lot of fun and took a lot of photographs. I even did an article about it on examiner.com (the place where I try to write using the AP style). What I did not do was blog about it. Nor did I put up any other photos anywhere else – I took over 40 shots and only used 16 on the examiner story. I still had more than half to share. So, since I am so behind on my blog I thought I catch up with a four of those shots.

In this shot, we have some of Sam Prendergast handmade paper. I saved this photo so that I might lust of the visual imagery without letting the public at large know how much of a dirty middle aged man I am. Oops. Anyway, I shot this entire event with my Canon EOS Rebel XS DSLR camera. Well, that is the official name of the camera. I am hoping Canon will pick me up to be the official trumpeter of the XS model. No, it is not the 7D but it can take some incredible photos. I digress – this photo was shot without the flash and set in my own user-defined setting. That setting as follows: Sharpness set high (4); Contrast medium (1); Saturation medium (1); and Color Tone was high too (4). The Bordello Bar is a very red place so I was trying to counter that somewhat. This setting did not counter much. I was digging that Sam Prendergast paper though.

Now with this shot of the Bordello Bar, I used the standard setting. Do you see how red the place is? I love it though – I just have to adjust better. I used my Speedlite 430EX external flash for this shot synced with the first curtain of the shutter. Man! That sounded so professionally snooty! Ok, first curtain sync is the normal setting for a flash but and I love sounding like a geek. “Clearly you are aware that you can sync you flash with the second curtain to render unexpected trailing light effects when shooting moving images at night aren’t you? Stick with me young lady, I can teach you a lot…” Ok, it did not sound that cool. The Bordello Bar – lots of antique stuff sprinkled with modern things. The old analog phone next to the credit card swiping device; the old style candelabra with its electric lights; the old cash register, the gipsy woman painting (she’s nice), the calculator – a really eclectic scene. I love the place.

Later in the night at the Bordello Bar party, I shot this seen. No flash and no tripod so no great focus – lots of virtual volume though. Also women that are not scrawny – I could not help myself, it’s how I like ‘em. The camera settings were: Sharpness set high (4); Contrast low (-3); Saturation low (-3); and Color Tone was a little low (-2). Not as ‘red’ red but that’s a hard color to work against with photography – you have to work with it.

The last shot I did in black and white. Actually, I shot it in ‘monochrome’ – coolness again. Whatever name you use, you still get the same results. You naturally want to believe the photo is from the turn of the century just because it is black and white and the virtual volume effect with people moving about in the background. Again, shot without a flash. The ISO for all of the shots was 1600. I like doing this type of shooting without the flash because you can generally capture people naturally as you continually shoot because there is no flash distraction. As soon as I get my hands on that Canon EOS 7D I will be able to shoot with an ISO at 12800 – watch out. Ok, I need to get to work and get some gigs for that price tag.