Where There Is Music, and Singing, and Dancing, and Joy

Fujifilm XT-1Fujifilm XT2XF50-140mmF2Concert Photography

22 Oct

Written By Helen

Selfie with the stars - Fujifilm XT2, XF50-140mmF2

Well, it has been a while hasn’t it? I am a bad, bad blogger. In my defence I was working rather than lazing about the place.

On Saturday night I had the privilege to photograph the fantastic Champagne at the Blitz. They are the lovely Sarah, Jenny and Caroline, who sing 1940s and 50s music, as well as modern day tracks in perfect harmony. Go over to their website and listen to some extracts, then buy their CD. It’s brilliant.

Anyway, back to Saturday night. The trio were performing at a charity event for Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care. It was packed full with 200 people, many dressed in vintage clothing.

As the girls got started, I realised I had a major problem with the light. There wasn’t any. Or at least, there wasn’t any actually on the stage. The venue was a local church, which had great lighting over the audience, and a few spot lights pointed at the celling behind the singers, but no actual light on them at all. When the lights over the audience were turned down, the audience could see, but my XT-2 was ramping the ISO up to 12800. To make it worse I was shooting on a telephoto lens to get the reach I needed. The result is much more documentary than I would have liked, high ISO, a touch too much noise, but I did capture some nice moments.

The audience had a brilliant time, clearing tables out of the way so they could dance and sing.

Champagne at the Blitz are performing again in December, so if you are in the area, get a ticket, they are brilliant.