xricox

I'm not such a stickler that I don't like motion blur, it's handshake I don't like. That particular photo has a combination of both. Motion blur can be great in some cases, but I like to have some sort of "anchor" in the photo - whether it's someone's face, the pickups on the guitar, etc. It just depends. Basically, anyone can make a blurry concert photo - that's what most of them look like. The clarity and color richness in my photos is what sets them apart from the average fare, so I go for clarity when I can get it.

Good luck with the RollerGirls - it's a really tough gig. I've heard that the lighting for some of the events can be really horrendous. I think I'm lucky that there's so much light at the events I've shot - a lot of teams will shut off the overheads altogether, which with my available light setup would mean I go home. I don't have an external Flash and am unfortunately ignorant of their use at this point.

Yeah, Steve and I are in regular contact through the day on AIM, so we've rapped about Flash stuff here and there. At one point I bought a Flash and started using it, but I just can't get into it. Part of it is because I just find flash photography to be annoying. It's irritating as a performer to have someone with some mongo flash like a 550 going off in your face while playing - been there, done that - so I like avoiding them out of empathy for the performers. But at the same time, for some types of music it's the only thing that really works. I look at some of Steve's shit and think "there's no way I could do that with available light". So I'm limiting myself in a place where I really shouldn't. Oh well, some day I'll get over it.

Canon's got some killer 85's. That Nikon is supposed to be incredible, but the Canon 85mm f/1.8 is a damn fine lens, especially for the price. Unfortunately their f/1.2 is a little pokey in the focus speed department, so it's of questionable usefullness to a sports photographer. A lot of the stuff in my Rollergirl galleries was done with the 85, but the 135L is the ticket if you've got the space and shutterspeeds - it's so ridiculously sharp wide-open.