Protog Shoot Notes:  The Music Next Door featuring The Soul Proprietors performing live at Backstage 

Shooting at a small location has it’s challenges. Unlike my previous shoot with the live choir singing and the loud shutter on my A7R, the bar and loud music environment has other challenges. 

Being up front where the band was, it would be impossible to shoot without blocking the view of the audience. On the plus side, I’m able to get right close, even stick a fisheye right in the front of the lead singer for a quick couple shots. Most importantly, being up close with a wide angle helps the viewers feel like they’re there in the front of the action.  

There’s a fine balance that needs to be struck between the time I need to get up and close to the band to get the good shots … and the time I need to duck and get out of the way. Perfect photos at the cost of ruining part of the experience for the audience is something professional photographers dread.

I noticed some room for improvement in my shooting style in this crowded space. I think I’ll adjust my shooting style to wait for the more energetic songs or parts of songs and jump in, get the shot and disappear. And I have to play down my perfectionistic tendencies to overshoot to make sure I get the best shot.

Part of the experience of enjoying live music is seeing the musicians perform. So it’s a reminder to stay professional. Shoot less and then get out of the way. 

The Soul Proprietors performed live at Backstage, an iconic music venue in Central, with a set list including four originals and various covers of the Beatles, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink-182 and Green Day. They are multi skilled musicians and their performances include the musicians using a variety of instruments. One memorable moment was Adrian O’Sullivan singing in Chinese - he’s the Irish guy with the red hair. Sadly, it was the last performance with Adrian as he’s leaving Hong Kong. 

Soul Proprietors on Facebook
www.facebook.com/soulproshk

See the rest of the photos at Josh Takes Photos Facebook Album Here

I chose a seat right at the back of the auditorium where there is no one else around. It’s a good thing the auditorium wasn’t full and everyone was filling the sears from the front. Because it this isn’t the worlds loudest shutter, it certainly feels this way. 

And although I my friends said they couldn’t hear it, having the camera right next to my head makes it seem doubly loud. So to reduce the impact on the performance, I timed my shots so I only took photos during the loud parts, or when there’s applause. There are so many situations other where a silent shutter is useful. Shooting in a church, performance, street photography or general creeping. 

In my camera bag is the RX100 with it’s virtually silent shutter. With an equivalent 100mm at the long end of the lens, its useful in a pinch to get quite usable shots, sacrificing bit of resolution, quality and reach. The lens on the point and shoot doesn’t quite reach as far with my Sony 70-200mm SEL70200G lens. And the image quality can’t compare to the full frame sensor in the A7R I, with its high dynamic range, high sensitivity and low noise at high ISO and high resolution. I did shoot some frames with this at the beginning, but in the end opted for the big camera.   

Other quiet camera options include some DSLRS which have a silent mode. This is is more like a reduced noise sound. Some medium format cameras which use a leaf shutter are silent. And camera phones are silent too, with the rare exception of some with mandatory fake shutter sounds although its not quite the right tool to be used as a main camera. 

So when the A7R II was announced, I was super excited to hear it also has silent shooting mode like the A7S. On the A7S, there are small disadvantages. The silent mode on the A7S has more noise, and therefore less light sensitive. This isn’t a big issue for stage performances as they are usually well lit. Silent mode doesn’t work well with flash, but then that also defeats the purpose of “stealth” mode and firing a flash isn’t really appropriate in these live performances. Lastly, the electronic rolling shutter can distort quickly moving objects which isn’t really an issue here either.  

I’m super keen to see how well Sony does with the silent mode on the A7R as it’s a next generation sensor. It’s due out in August and this brings me to my 4 part series on this upcoming full frame mirrorless camera. On paper, it looks like it’s going to be a real game changer for digital photography. 

The performance was So Sondheim! with Kassia Women’s Choir and others at Sheung Wan Civic Center

Part 2 - Documenting the People in the Aftermath of Nepal’s Earthquake
Don’t miss Part 1 - Catastrophy Builds Character

Looking at the images by Laurel Chor in a gallery and cafe space in Sherng Wan, I found that it could bring those people in another world closer to ours. I asked Laurel how her work was helping the people in Nepal. 

“I hope that I’ve raised some more awareness at least with my immediate peers, friends and family. As with any medium you still need a platform, and my reach still isn’t that big. The photos were published on Coconuts Hong Kong, where I work, and I think the fact that I went and posted updates made a lot of my friends more aware of what was going on. 

I hope that the exhibition and the photos can contribute to keeping Nepal in people’s minds. Photos can move people to want to help, and with the exhibition I wanted to make it easy for people to go from being moved to taking action (in this case, donating or buying a piece).”

So it wasn’t just the photographs themselves, but also the process -– the trip, the videos, the updates that I hope helped to give a different perspective on the aftermath of the earthquake.” 

As photographers, we have this amazing tool that can be used to create awareness, educate, and ultimately help people and change the world. I also find it interesting that photos and make it timeless. It’s like an ability to freeze a moment and let it live forever.

AIDS Awareness is one example I’ve used photography to help a cause. It is a series of images of portraits with people holding a message showing their anti discrimination support. We then trained artists to draw a giant red AIDS ribbon around the supporters using the photographic technique of light painting and a big red LED light wand. The uniqueness of the image helps it stand out and change peoples attitudes to those suffering from HIV and AIDS.

Another use of creative photography is this anti whaling image I helped create back in the day while working at Electric Art. Using a combination of stock photography of a whale, photography cow intestines and Photoshop a poster was created which was then stuck on to the street along with real (cow) guys and my special mixture of fake blood. The final image shot by Adrian Lander shows the execution of this campaign used to shock people that walked by. This is a great example of photography to “create” a fictional image used to change people’s minds and hopefully help save an endangered species. Disgusting isn’t it?

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/ifaw_guts

So whether the camera is being used to “capture” scenes of real life like Chor’s Nepal photojournalistic images or “creating” images such as setting up portraits or photo composite images, the camera is a powerful tool that can help a worthy cause. For the photographers out there, perhaps you would like to to start thinking of ways you can use your camera to help others.

See:
The Aftermath

Photography Charity Exhibit by Laurel Chor (June 18-30) 

At OpenDoor Cafe (G/F) and Platform (1/F)
120 Connaught Rd West, Sai Ying Pun
Mon - Thurs 8am-8pm, Fri 8am - 5pm, Sat - Sun 9am - 5pm

Videos:
Laurel Chors short videos

How Nepal’s Displaced Families Live Post Earthquake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz6a-yzlO1M

Aftershocks and Damaged Structures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adpGf1Dz3ag

Donate:

• Hong Kong Red Cross - https://donation3.redcross.org.hk/onlined…/user_donation.asp

• International Medical Corps - https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/nepal-earthquake

• Oxfam - https://www.oxfam.org/en/emergencies/nepal-earthquake

• Unicef - https://www.unicef.org 

Part 1 - Documenting the People in the Aftermath of Nepal’s Earthquake

My main style of portrait photography is often likened to creation through my inquisitive quests for creative lighting, effects and scenery. 

But one role of portrait photography and photography in general is that as a ‘record’ or the ‘documentation’ of the world. Capturing the essence of what is in front of the lens as a kind of “truth”. Depicting the way things are in reality, not as how you wanted others to see it. 

Recently, I attended TEDxWanChai and had the pleasure to meet one of the speakers Laurel Chor. She’s a photographer and journalist at Hong Kong Coconuts and has just opened a one month gallery exhibition of images she took of the aftermath of the earthquake in Nepal.

As a portrait photographer, I love looking at ways in which other photographers capture people. I noticed that the portraits in Chor’s work seem to portray people many of the people affected by the earthquake with a sense of calmness and resilience, despite being through a traumatic disaster.

There’s the image of a boy in a makeshift market, laughing together with his mother and friends as he’s pretending to be embarrassed while changing clothes. Families relaxing and smiling in their tents and a brother feeding his little sister donated food or enjoying some ice-cream in the heat. There’s also an image of a girl getting clean water and a shot of a young boy with a broken arm. In these images, I see a sense of determination and will to survive though the difficult times.

When I asked Chor about the images, she responded that this is what she saw and it wasn’t an angle she intended to take. “So for me, as a photographer, the camera has always been a tool to show others what I see, and how I interpret things”. She had to “think about how different images work together to tell the story” and to show the whole picture, even if the photos are “not necessarily great or perfect as single images”.

With documentary style of portrait photography, I find that it’s similar to “street photography”. You don’t have a lot of time to build up a connection or rapport with the subjects. I asked Chor about how she went about photographing the Nepalese people. 

“I met some local people who were friends of friends and who were kind enough to take me around to see the damage around Kathmandu. I’d walk around, wander each town or village, and pop my head in where things looked interesting. I tried to be as respectful as possible of course, and greetedpeople at the threshold of households and tents and asked for permission to come in before.”

“As long as you said “namaste” people would let you in to their homes, some even serving her food. Chor found these people very warm and welcoming. “Imagine that, these people are living in tents after a devastating earthquake and they’re still taking care of unannounced guests! If people declined to be photographed, I respected their wishes. I also smile a lot. That helps.” 

Continued in Part 2: Photography For Good

Just wanted to share a few shots I took for fun at the Sun Life Stanley International Dragon Boat Championships, in Hong Kong. Despite the hot humid Hong Kong summer heat and the packed crowds, I wish I could have stayed longer to capture more of the great moments in this huge event though I only had time to shoot a few races.

Shooting from the beach near the finish line is a great position as it allows you to capture the finish line as well as the strain and energy on the faces and bodies of the competitors. Using the Sony 70-200 f/4 “white” telephoto zoom lens (SEL70200G) on the A7R Mark I body, I found the lens didn’t quite have enough reach.

The A7R has plenty of usable resolution so cropping in does help. But being unable to get closer to the action, these situations are where big and expensive telephotos shine. Alternatively superzoom point and shoots such as Canon PowerShot SX60 HS with its 1365mm equivalent lens or the Nikon P900 review with an equivalent 2000mm lens would work will in environments like this, given that there’s plenty of light to offset the small sensor and slower lens (smaller apertures).