Kisschasy, Metropolis Fremantle

After a couple of attempts with film, I was looking to experiment a little bit, to try some different films & different situations, and to see how it all turned out. First show was Kav Temperley & Friends at the Rocket Room on the 31st of May, using Fuji Superia ISO1600 colour film. The next night was Kisschasy at Metropolis Fremantle, using Kodak T-Max ISO3200 black and white.

Ben Witt, Rocket Room

I hadn’t been to the Rocket Room in years and years, and while I remembered the lighting setup being really good back in the day, there was no guarantee that it was still going to be around. The setting ended up being not quite as bright as it used to be, but very atmospheric, and the colours turned out great. Just a point to note, that I did post-process all these photos a little, burning them in to make the blacks really black, and to tone down some of the grain. I know it’s what film’s SUPPOSED to look like, but I personally like a bit more contrast in the shots. Also, I think it’s more obvious on some monitors than others, but there’s a green-y sort of…cast I guess it would be called, running from the right hand side on the horizontal photos, and from just inside the right bottom corner on the vertical photos. It’s not visible on the prints, so I can only assume it was a dodgy scan of the negs. Will get them re-scanned sometime to check.

Ben Witt, Rocket Room

Ben Witt, Rocket Room

I just love the look of the red velvet behind, and have locked it away in the memory banks for a future promo shoot location. The shoot itself was relatively straightforward, despite the fact it was a challenge to capture a variety of compositions when all three acts were just guys standing at a microphone with a guitar. Musically speaking, it was a great night. Ben Witt is one of Perth’s most exciting new talents, and it’s a bit unsettling for most people to discover he’s only 19. He’s fearless, experimental, a ridiculously good guitarist, and has a voice Jeff Buckley would be envious of. While most of what he did may have gone over the heads of the regular Eskimo Joe fans who were there to see Kav, he certainly left a lot of people’s jaws on the floor.

Steve Parkin & Hugh Jennings, Rocket Room

Steve Parkin is a much-loved fixture of the local scene, and you’d be hard pressed to find a man who can write a better pop melody. Incedentally, his old band Autopilot was the first local band I ever saw. This particular night saw a whole bunch of new tracks being rolled out, with accompanyment from ex-Autopilot bandmate Hugh Jennings on keys.

Kav Temperley, Rocket Room

By the time Kav started, I was about a third of the way through my roll of 36, which was right on target for what I’d planned. I finished the roll about two or three songs in, and had to then decide if I should load another roll, or just leave it. It was probably a bad idea packing a second roll, if I hadn’t give myself the option I probably would have taken more time with the initial few photos. I sort of rushed through the second roll a little, because I felt I needed to finish the whole thing, as I wanted to use a different film for the show the next night. Ironically, 95% of the photos I liked were from the initial 10 or so shots from the first roll. It felt quite unsatisfying, knowing I was just rattling off shots to get the film finished. In the end, I still a few shots left on the end of the roll.

Kav Temperley, Rocket Room

The next night was The Getaway Plan and Kisschasy at Metropolis Fremantle. I still had a few photos left on the colour roll, so decided to use them on The Getaway Plan, and get some practice in shooting a fast moving singer.

The Getaway Plan, Metro Freo

The colour of the lights were revolting, but I think they came out a little bit nicer and definitely much less flat than they would have been on digital. I was stuck off to the side of the stage, right at 300mm on my Canon 70-300 4-5.6, so I was limited in my compositions. I still played it pretty safe in regards to the ‘moving objects’, I waited til the singer was relatively stationary before shooting (though ‘relatively stationary’ is a very relative term when it comes to the Getaway Plan!).

The Getaway Plan, Metro Freo

When the roll finished, I went to put in my ISO3200 B&W film, to get a few shots without the horrible yellow and purple lighting. ‘Click click click….*flash flash flash*’ The end of film just wouldn’t catch on to the winder. I tried everything I could think of, and struggled with it for about 20 minutes before admitting defeat. Went upstairs to the balcony to watch Kisschasy’s set with my friends, just as a fan. Halfway through their set I thought ‘I’ll try it just one more time…’ Success!

Kisschasy, Metro Freo

Unfortunately, in my excitement, I forgot to turn the camera off ‘P’ mode. It didn’t make any noticeable difference, I was still using it the same as I would in Av, and it was responding similarly, so no great loss. I’d gone through about half the roll before I noticed.

Kisschasy, Metro Freo

Almost all of the photos look like the one above. I wasn’t sure if my ‘P’ mistake had ruined the first half of the roll, so I set about re-doing the shots I’d previously taken, the result being a roll full of practically identical shots! Again, I was limited in my compositions, given I wasn’t really able to move, and being that I was so far away I wasn’t able to capture expressions, which I quite enjoy doing.

Kisschasy, Metro Freo

I enjoyed the alternative viewpoint for this show, I didn’t get anything overly outstanding or groundbreaking, but I was just looking to stretch myself a little and try something a bit different, and I did that. At the end of the show, Darren invited all their road crew and support bands, and everyone involved in the tour up on stage. Was an unexpected chance to shoot without thinking. I’m usually very over-cautious when it comes to metering with film, but for the last handful of frames I shot to capture, not to produce a fantastic technical photo. Most turned out ok, though quite a few were underexposed. The one below is my favourite, with the girl taking a photo of Darren.

Kisschasy, Metro Freo

When I got the film & prints back, I was a little bit disappointed as all the black and white ones were very overexposed. They don’t look too bad in these scans, but in the prints they’re quite blown out. I’d deliberately over-exposed by half a stop, and I couldn’t think of anything else I’d done wrong, so I had to put it down to that. A couple of days later I remembered: not only did I initially forget to turn the camera off ‘P’, I also forgot to switch the ISO setting from 1600 to 3200, causing the camera’s meter to be off, and resulting in over exposed photos! Taking that into account, the photos aren’t as bad as they COULD have been, and I was glad I’d figured out the real reason, instead of blaming it on the camera or the film.

In conclusion, I’m still really enjoying my film exercises, but I think as I get more and more comfortable with my exposures, I’m going to get a bit bored with static, safe compositions. So I’ll have to choose my shows more carefully in the future, to continue to challenge myself. I’ll also have to remember to not shoot three rolls in one weekend, or at least to not get them all developed at once. Three rolls, processing, prints and scan to CD cost me $86 at a pro lab. The lab do a great job, and are worth the money, but phew!