Category Archives: Photography

50mm and focus issues

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During the summer I bought a Sigma 50mm/1.4. While initially I reported that it didn’t have any focusing issues I was slightly mistaken.

It’s true that the 50mm at 1.4 has an extremely shallow DOF and thus most focusing errors will be user errors but there some cases in which the fact that the camera was front focusing became very clear. So I finally took some time earlier this week to set up a tripod and the focus test chart from Jeffrey Friedl (I used the 15% version) and took some test shots while changing the micro adjustment. And writing down which steps I took.

The setup shot

First, let’s look at the result with no adjustment. The images link to full-size pictures for pixel peeping. And warning, they linked images are about 10MB each…

100% crop before micro adjustment

Here you can clearly see that it front focuses a bit. Not too badly, but just a bit. After five different shots with varying micro adjustments I finally settled on +13 which to me is quite good.

100% crop of test after micro adjustment

Of course, I immediately tested the changed setting by shooting a couple of snaps of our dogs that were hanging around. Focusing on Topi’s eye, the image was dead on as you can see:

Amorphis @ Sotkamon Syke 2011

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As the final installment of the Sotkamon Syke 2011 photographs we get the final artist of the evening – Amorphis (previously The Man-Eating Tree, Tarot). Initially I was hoping we’d be getting some pyros during the show, but unfortunately none were set up and I found out from the crew that the stage was too small for them to use pyros. I was also fairly certain that the gig would be challenging lighting wise – as Amorphis practically always is. Especially during the first three songs.

Early on into the set it became apparent that during the first three, Tomi wouldn’t be getting any significant amount of light in his face so I concentrated on getting good silhouettes of him and trying to get good shots of the rest of the band. Continuing from the audience after the first three with a longer lens then let me get some good shots of Tomi that were lit a bit better.

And I also got the chance to get some shots that showed the rain that had been plaguing us all evening.

Since we’ve seen the play quite a few times and I have a good amount of solid and typical concert photography shots of the band I really decided to explore the possibilities that the strong backlight and raindrops on the lens would give me. This is one of my favorites:

The Amorphis set was as solid as they usually are and contained most of the typical songs they play in a festival setting. Majestic Beast was a great exception to the typical set.

As always, more pictures in our gallery.

Tarot @ Sotkamon Syke 2011

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So, just when I though I’d get my pictures from Sotkamon Syke edited and published quickly, we start planning a trip to the US in late September throwing all of my internal scheduling ideas out of the window. And we did also spend several days cutting down trees in a forest. Firewood…

Anyway, on to the topic at hand, Tarot who were on the bill immediately after The Man-Eating Tree. This definitely isn’t the first time I’ve photographed Tarot and doing it this time didn’t offer any surprises.

As always, they performed a solid set and while the performance isn’t filled with huge special effects and dancing around the stage, they have good chemistry with each other and the audience.

Since they were on when daylight (even despite the rain/drizzle) was still strong enough, the light show didn’t really stand out in any of the images – except during the Pecu’s drum solo.

As always, more pictures are available in our gallery.

The Man-Eating Tree @ Sotkamon Syke

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I’m starting of my posts of the Sotkamon Syke festival with The Man-Eating Tree, which is the first band we caught. I first noticed the band when they initially announced their existence a couple of years ago. After all, I’ve been following where the members of Sentenced land and this was where the drummer Ville Ranta landed…

I’m always terrible in describing what niche of metal any given band belongs to, but comparisons to Sweden’s Opeth do come to mind. And Tuomas Tuominen’s vocals remind me of Rush. But what generally works for me is metal with doom, gloom, clean vocals and good melodies – all of which can be found in The Man-Eating Tree’s music.

They were on fairly early in the evening and the rainy day certainly didn’t help the turn out so I didn’t get any of my typical shots with lots of crowd in the foreground. When the stage front is two people deep and most of the folks are in the beer tents there isn’t much of a crowd to shoot. Luckily the lackluster audience didn’t limit the band’s playing and I was especially surprised by the energetic performance of the session (?) guitarist Antti Karhu.

As always, more pictures in our gallery.

Reckless Love @ Kerubi 12.7.2011

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As a prelude to this weekends rock festival in our area, the 40 year old Ilosaarirock we had three free evening dances that were organized at a local club. The first evening featured three bands and we only went to see the headliners, Reckless Love.

When the stage is set with a neon yellow (desert yellow was the official name IIRC) Ibanez RG in front of two Marshall half-stacks, you get a very good idea of what the music will be like. As soon as the playing starts and spandex-clad artists hit the stage, you’re taken back to 80s glam era. And not in a bad way. Reckless Love hits the same nerve as Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Mötley Crüe and the rest by offering light and fun hard rock and a great stage show.

Tuesday’s show didn’t disappoint at all and I finally got to see Pepe play his Ibanezes (sp?). And yes, we saw Olli perform more than one jump kick, alas I only caught one well enough.

If I’d been smart I would have requested a photopass to have access to the pit for the first three songs, but we got a good enough spot in front of Pepe.

Honestly, if you’ve ever liked even a bit of 80s era glam rock and find Reckless Love playing near you go see them. You won’t be disappointed I can guarantee a smile on your face when you leave the show. And most females will probably appreciate Olli’s sixpack as well :)

As always, more images in our photogallery.