For the Knee-Hi's last show I finally got to do two things I've always wanted to do with them: shoot outside during the day, and shoot film during the set. The day cooperated on both counts, overcast skies and no harsh shadows made for even lighting, and that same soft light turned out to be perfect for my first real film shoot. For part of the set anyway. I'd watched YouTube videos on how to use this vintage mechanical SLR from the '70s, and once it was actually in my hands it felt good, competent. It had decades of photos from it I'd never see. Wiser than I'll ever be, probably, but that didn't stop me.
My distant experience shooting film years ago, paired with years of digital work since, gave me just enough confidence to bring it out mid-set.
The light was gray, soft but not flat, bright enough to manually pin down focus in the viewfinder. A new roll of film sat snug in its compartment, waiting for a band that's always belonged to an earlier era of rock. ASA/ISO matched to the 400-rated film for more light and a workable shutter speed. A 50mm 1.8 prime for depth of field, for that bokeh a lot of folks are after. Good lord, why all the jargon? Because I love this stuff, I just never write about it, since it's a bit boring to read.
But I did the research and walked in feeling prepared.
Sure, I wasn't certain how the photos would turn out. Maybe some aged mechanical issue would rear its head. Or maybe the 6V battery would fail the second it realized it was only 6 volts. It did actually, though I caught it early and swapped it before the show. Still, none of it mattered. The exposure trifecta was intact: aperture, ISO/ASA, shutter speed.
Thee shutter speed.
This is a rock show, and none of that prep matters when your shutter speed is at 1/8th of a second. Or what I call the blurry setting. Every exposure came out that way because I never. Adjusted. The dial.
I'd like to say these blurry photos were a choice of artistic merit. They weren't. Luckily the KH's look great in any light, and it only took 33 and a half frames to find the one thing all that prep couldn't save me from, myself.