There are a lot of things we love about this photo. The halo of light around the singer's head, the slight graininess and soft focus, the ghostly effects of the spotlight and the flare, that particular and
otherworldly shade of green. But the detail that may have completely sold us on Flickr user
flickr-rickr's concert
capture is that guy front and center completely lost in the music. There's someone who definitely got his money's worth out of Exit Clov's
show at Iota on Monday night.
EXIF.
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I know this will not be a popular opinion among the DCist fanboys/girls, but this picture... is not good. As for the critique, there is no notable "halo of light" around the singer's head, etc. etc. And, judging from the other (better, but not tagged "DCist"... hmmm...) photos on his flickr page, the unfocused, poorly framed, off-color "style" in this one isn't a choice.
Whoever converted this photo for use on DCist needs to be kicked in the head. It's nowhere near as sharp as the original.
PS: maybe the look on that dude's face is because he's banging the monitor.
I second Eric's concern (sans violence) about the quality of the image as presented on the DCist site. The equivalent-sized original image on the flickr page is sharp as a tack. I know I'd be ticked off if this happened to any photo of mine chosen for POTD. Do the various POTD selectors follow a consistent process for taking the chosen image from flickr and posting it?
well, that'd be me there...what can i say? the monitor loved it.
Thanks, Cameron. Your bid for a universally accepted aesthetic standard has been duly noted.
As for the photo quality, I have no idea what happened there. I went through the same process I normally do, and I'm not sure how that ended up that way. I've fixed the photo, and my apologies to flickr-rickr for it being up in that blurred state for awhile.
ahh, much better. the POTD-geek world thanks you Ian from the bottom of its predictably fickle heart.
I think the first two comments goe to show that some people take this shit waaaaaay too seriously. "Kicked in the head"? really? shmuck much?
I know this will not be a popular opinion among the DCist fanboys/girls, but this band... is not good.
Where's the halo of light? I think there's not one but TWO dudes screwing monitors in the front row, with one guy about to do a little spanking (and another who may in fact be molesting a child.)
I'm just shocked there's not some dude with a pillow and a night cap sleeping upright somewhere in there.
Sorry. I guess a halo really should be circular, strictly speaking. The thin outline of light around her head is what I was referring to.
What up GEEEEEEEZY!
TRUST
Hey guys - my own comments in no particular order:
1 - thanks for posting the photo; and thanks for commenting on it, good/bad, etc.
2 - Iota has a "no flash" policy. It doesn't make much sense, particularly on a Monday night, and particularly in the case of a professional with gear that won't affect the act (like bounced or dialed back flash) ... all that and the fact that I'm not an obnoxious paparazzi AND I had the band's permission before-hand ...
In any case I never took the flash out of my bag all night ... so none of them are going to look as clear as they otherwise would have ... end of excuses :D
3 - This photo, like many of the others, was pretty dark. Especially on stage left (left when facing the crowd), there was just utter darkness. As such, I cheated a little and pushed the exposure in the Raw program. In doing so, I also added some noise though.
4 - Not loving the noise, I ran all of these photos through a noise filter.
5 - It's funny someone chose the term "smacked in the head," as I did smack someone in the head with my lense earlier that night and ended up spending most of the rest of the night over by the bar. Most of the crowd was pretty accomodating, but I just wasn't in overdrive to slip and slide my way through and then still not be able to use the flash.
6 - Complaining aside, Iota's lights look 10 times better than they used to. And they got rid of those crappy xmas lights finally :-)
7 - And as for the guy who said this band isn't good ... umm, dude ... were you there? :-) I see "not good" all the time ... these guys were the opposite of "not good" ... starting with the drummer who may have been the most talented person up there which is saying a lot since the two frontmen, err, women, were accomplished violinists in addition to the vocals, keyboards, guitars, and drums they were playing... You're entitled to your opinion, I suppose ... it's just that your opinionis wrong :-)
-Rick