British producer phenom James Blake made his highly anticipated US live debut at Music Hall of Williamsburg. The big question was how would Blake’s glitchy, sparse songs translate live? Short answer: unbelievably well.
Photographer’s Notes
I’ve avoided shooting in Music Hall of Williamsburg because I know it’s almost always dark as a dungeon. I was willing to make an exception for James Blake because I really dig his album and was very interested to see how his songs would translate live. This was also a special occasion since it was his US live debut. It’s incredible to witness his intricate productions reproduced with only a couple of keyboards, samplers, vocal loops, drums and guitar. It was deceptively simple, very soulful and much more organic than expected.
It may not seem like it but this show pushed my camera and my own skills. Yes, there’s only three guys to cover and they barely move, but their set was DARK. My exposure was wide open and about 1/25 at ISO 6400. At shutter speeds of this length camera shake is an issue.
The general rule of thumb says that hand-held camera shake is a factor at shutter speeds longer than 1/60. But if you have steady hands and control your breathing, you can drag the shutter some more. So I focused on my breathing and carefully timed my shots. Kinda felt like a practicing sharp shooter or zen student. My new 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II lens (which I used exclusively) is also very helpful in reducing camera shake. Could I have cranked the ISO higher for more stopping power and potentially less camera shake? Sure. But I find that noise becomes unbearable past ISO 6400 on the D700. With that said, however, it’s pretty remarkable how clean these images look. I used very minimal noise reduction to help smooth things out a bit. It’s really a matter of personal preference and what exposure settings you’re comfortable shooting at. There’s always multiple ways to achieve a relatively similar exposure.
End Notes
Check out James Blakes’ excellent cover of Feist’s “Limit to Your Love.” It’s a great introduction to his style if you’re interested.
Spread The Love
Like these images? Order prints by clicking through from the slideshow below.
Related posts: