For this show, I was horribly sick, so we only stayed for Last Fast Action’s set. I know, I was a party pooper, but my bed was just too enticing. Mark Rose (of Spitalfield fame), and State and Madison also played.
Last Fast Action’s set was a mixture of keyboards, acoustic and electric guitar, and vocals. For two performers, they manage to produce a great mix of sounds onstage. And, if they didn’t have enough to concentrate on, they also managed to get the Thursday night crowd clapping along.
This show was memorable for me because I realized that since my 5D allows me to produce usable photos at 3200ISO, I could actually shoot the show. For years, Subterranean has competed with Beat Kitchen as one the most impossible venues to shoot in, but this show was a breakthrough!
Shooting Notes
Despite my excitement at being able to actually capture the performance, Subterranean is still extremely dark. The majority of my shots were taken at 3200ISO, f/1.6, 1/80, which I could just get away with since the set was acoustic in style (and thus, not fast moving). The lighting was a mix of yellow and red, so white balance correction was definitely a must. Without a pit, it’s also difficult to move around for creative angles, so I stayed to the left side of the stage most of the time.
Subterranean is not the ideal location to shoot a concert, but thanks to the advances in digital photography and fast lenses, it is possible.
