bellyrock

Those of you who know me, know that I spend a bit of time at Your Inner Vagabond in Lawrenceville. AJ and Andrew have created, I don't know, some kind of nexus of awesomeness there, and I'm glad to count them among my friends.

Last night's show was an evening of bellyROCK, featuring Ishtar and a couple of great dancers, Berna and Nesheli.

But enough about them -- this is a photography blog. While YIV is a wonderful venue for music, dance, and food, the lighting is, shall we say, challenging. There are 4 mini cans of some sort on the stage, but the floor is lit by hanging fixtures that look lovely and throw enough light so you can see what you're eating and not trip over your fellow patrons. Good for atmosphere, awkward for photographers.

What to do?

1) Fast lens. Here I was using the much-loved 50mm 1.8, which has a light-to-price ratio that can't be beat.

2) Modern camera. The current generation of sensors, even without going to a full-35mm-frame body like a 5D or D700, give acceptable results, especially at web resolutions, at ISO 3200. This let me use a 1/60 shutter and no strobe. Crazy money spent on a pro full-frame body like a D3 just eliminates the need for light altogether, or so I'm told.

3) Compose. Personally, I'd rather take a soft interesting picture than a sharp boring one. This should have been step 1, but people who read about photography on the internet want the technical details, statistically speaking.