sfBIG Trailer

Last week I had the pleasure of watching my coworker and his band perform. Every year sfBIG has a battle of the bands. A large crowd of marketing folks looking for fun headed to the Great American Music Hall here in San Francisco. Last year my coworker’s band, Rainbow Brite and the Flaming Cobra Death Skulls, came in second. They were out for blood this year.

My first concert shoot, I came armed with my 60D and 5D. I worked a 50mm 1.8 on the 60D and a 28mm 2.8 on the 5D. I didn’t have a loupe for the 5D so focus was tough at times. I pushed myself front and center before each band, and tried to get back for wide shots as their sets progressed. I had a Zoom H1 in my audio bag at my hip, collecting sound for at least one song per set. Next time I’d love to be able to just drop a mic in front of a speaker so I can collect more. Between diving, bobbing, kneeling, and trying to get the shots, I was battling along with the bands. It was hard work, but well worth the payoff.

Watch the trailer above to see what went down. Stay tuned for a longer length video of all the bands, as well as a special showcase for the winners.

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San Francisco DSLR Meetup!

I’ve been terribly busy with work and getting ready for a move. So the planning on this was pretty non-existent. But you know some drinks with fellow shooters can’t be beat, so let’s all get together this Friday, January 14th at the Irish Bank. Rod Guajardo will be here from San Antonio, and we’ll be hanging out and talking shop. This will be pretty low key, we’ll have some gear and I encourage you to bring yours, but it’s mainly a chance to just hang out. Chances are I won’t make it out after for any shooting, I do love my Boddingtons. But hopefully if enough people come out at the very least we’ll have a good time networking.

The Irish Bank is just past Kearny on Bush, a nice big alley to hang out in. It’s been pretty chilly and we will be outside, so remember to bundle up. I’ll be tweeting the whole time, so be sure to follow me for all up to date info.

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Beth’s Birthday Blast

Great friends, a surprisingly warm day, and a shit ton of cameras. That’s how I spent my Sunday afternoon. Celebrating my friend Beth’s birthday, we brunched and boozed and headed into the streets for a photowalk. I had my brand new 60D in hand and got a chance to test it out. This video has been heavily color corrected, I punched up the saturation for a quirky look. I plan on using some other footage I shot that day to give more of an idea of what it looks like straight out of the camera.

Hands down the first thing I noticed was the weight and girth of the 60D vs. the T2i. I felt like I was getting smoother shots because the weight kept my hand more steady. Battery life seemed ok. A almost fully charged battery lasted me the entire 4 hours we were out. I wasn’t shooting the entire time, a lot of stop and go, but by the end of the day I had only lost one battery bar. Note to any other T2i/550D users looking to upgrade: the batteries of the 60D are the same as the 7D and 5D, they are not the blocks we use with the T2i. I will be ordering some backup batteries soon.

This was also the first thing I’ve shot with my new Zeiss Planar 50mm 1.7 lens. LOVE the lens. I’m still getting used to focusing, but it’s 100% better than with the Canon 50mm I have been using. I’d like to shoot a better lens test to show what the thing can really do. For under $200, it was a very wise purchase I think.

There are plenty of other things I don’t even know about yet on this camera, I hope to get testing soon. I still need to set my white balance and will TRY to create a video for it. New job/holidays/life in general have been getting in the way of my HDSLR life.

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Flights of Fancy

After over a month, I finally dug out the photos from Fleet Week. My first time trying to shoot these bad boys, and with a lens that didn’t quite get me close enough. I still like them. When viewing the photos in original size you can still see a lot of detail. My first plane spotting excursion went decently well I think! Next year I’ll be renting a larger lens. Hopefully I won’t need to wait that long though. I’d love to find a nice spotting area near SFO. Any suggestions?

See the rest of the album on Flickr.

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Torture No More

So the San Francisco Giants finally won the World Series. 56 years in the making. First time since being in San Francisco. They’ve done it. And partly because of the whirlwind of the series, I’ve been absent. I’ve got some fun stuff coming up, especially now that I’ve started storyboarding for my film. Good times ahead, but for now I’m basking in the glory.

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