I had the opportunity this past Friday to photograph my boyfriend’s band, orange is in, at a local music venue. Without the benefit of flash (they frown upon it at this particular venue), I was still able to get some photos that I’m pretty happy with. My limitations, however, other than the lack of my new Speedlite 580EX, included vantage point issues, vibrantly-colored spotlights, and a lot-o-movement by the band members.
This photo, Something about Musicians and Stairwells, was taken of Jeff while he waited for the first band to complete its set. I knew when I was taking the portrait that I wanted to compose the shot with a grittier feel to it. I thought that the simple choice of locale (nothing grittier than a stairwell!) would do the trick, but discovered quickly that white walls do little to add grit to an image. Photoshop became my one-stop, grit-loading solution. Basically, I added some advantageously-placed gaussian blur, greenish tinting, vignetting, and contrast. I did most of this through a pre-loaded action feature.
If you are interested in seeing some of the performace shots that I took, you can do so here.