Rock N Roll for Fun

For the last few years I have been struggling to get my passion back. I am talking about the love of shooting just to shoot. I am my own worst critic and always see the flaws in my work. I over strive for perfection and that keeps me from enjoying my own work. So I am tying to let that go and just enjoy what I do.

The other day a friend of mine asked me if I would shoot a live band performing at The Hall. The Hall is a non profit organization and is the home of the Arizona Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.

It was so cool just to go shoot for free with none of the pressure I feel to thrill everyone of my clients. It went like this: The band I shot was the headliner and third act. I could not get there until fifteen minutes before they went on, so what, There was no good place for me to place my tripod mounted safety cam. It ended up with a bad angle from the side of the small stage, so what. Everything else was from my handheld cam. The audience would not let me in to the front edge of the stage. I pushed my way in there but it was women that kept giving me the elbows! So I bailed out of there and did my best working from the side of the stage with bad angles, oh well, so what. The point is I had fun at this gig. The result is far from perfect but I don't care, it is good enough for a quick and dirty shoot. They weren't paying me to show up before the show and rig multiple cameras all over the place and produce a real music video.

I am even going to let go of my ego and show it to you guys. I had fun shooting it and the venue is very happy with it. That is all that matters. It is just a clip for their Facebook page. I put all of about 40 minutes into the post. It was refreshing to shoot for free and not have to be stellar. Sometimes, "Good is good enough"'. I think I am going to look for more low stress voluntier things I can do with my cameras to get the passion back.

Steve

This is an original tune (I think, that is what I was told) so I can post it.

Cant Sleep at Night, The Black Moods, at The Hall on Vimeo

[Josh Bass]

That is cool. I'm in a band/have shot a few bands so I understand how tough these things can be.

Most curious is: was it just you? if so, how did you get different angles from the same song to cut together (or did you cheat and use footage from other songs where only an expert could tell he wasn't playing in sync with the audio)?

[Steven Digges]

Just me. One camera on that obvious side shot I had to cut to whenever I was moving around or was not on point with my handheld/semi shoulder cam. I also grabbed a few audience/musician shots when you could not tell it was not real time.

Steve

[Josh Bass]

I'm sorry. When I said "just you" I meant "just one camera". So you had two?

[Steven Digges]

Hey Josh,

Yes two cameras. One fixed on a tripod at stage right and one handheld. I do that a lot. The fixed camera is always wide because I like to shoot tight handheld.

Here is another song. The Youtube compression really crushed this one big time. I can't believe how bad it looks.

Steve

BlackMoods - YouTube