Posts Tagged ‘McLean’

Lindsey Stirling at Tysons Corner Center | Virginia Music Photographer

Like most of her fans, I was introduced to musician / performer Lindsey Stirling from her amazing videos on her YouTube channel. In fact, please go there to play one while viewing this post. To play a violin well is an amazing skill on its own. To do it as effortlessly and technically well as she can while moving her body as much as she does is amazing! She did not miss a note while throwing her whole body into her performance.

The Plaza

All of this as a visual performance was not just for show. She used movement as a way to convey the feeling of the song to the audience. The intensity with which she played the instruments was infections. Additionally, she used her facial expressions to connect with the crowd. Amazingly, she kept the energy up for the entire performance! Even a more mellow song like John Legend’s “All of Me” carried the attention of the Plaza. Concurrently, People were watching and singing with all the focus that they had for her upbeat and louder songs.

Lindsey-Stirling-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-MediaLindsey-Stirling-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media Lindsey-Stirling-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media

94.7-Fresh-Artists-Concert-Seriesr-©TimeLine-Media
94.7-Fresh-Artists-Concert-Seriesr-©TimeLine-Media

It was a great challenge to get good photos of her while performing. She is so fast in her movements, I pushed up my ISO to higher levels so that I could keep the shutter speed from blurring her movements. The organizers of the concert made a nice pit area that I could use to get closer to the performers without disrupting anyone’s view from the audience. The sound setup really blasted out the volume in the bass which really brought the intensity to a new level especially if you only listened to her songs on a computer or smartphone. This made an impact, and makes me want to see her perform again soon!

Lindsey-Stirling-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media
Lindsey-Stirling-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media
Lindsey-Stirling-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media
Performance-by-Lindsey-Stirling-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media
Lindsey-Stirling-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media
Lindsey-Stirling-at-Tysons-Corner-Center-©TimeLine-Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

HDR – Deghosting | Tech Thursday

Tysons, Virginia

I received some questions about this photo from a few post ago:

HDR-SilverLine-in-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media
HDR-SilverLine-in-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media

This was a high-dynamic range (HDR) photo from the Metro platform with an incoming train going through the frame. I really did not know if this would work at the time I took the images. For HDR, you need to make a series of exposures that differ in shutter speed. This will create a range of images that vary from underexposed to overexposed. Using the bracketing functions built into the camera, you can set this up in camera.

Using the very fast motor drive of the Nikon D4, there is very little difference in the composition of each frame. For the most part, you would not seen much differences except for the moving train cutting across the middle. This is what you need – the composition should be as similar as it can in each of the bracketed frames. With this in mind, the software can align each individual image for processing.

Post Processing

HDR-Source-images-©TimeLine-Media
HDR-Source-images-©TimeLine-Media


For this particular set, I brought the bracketed images into Photomatix Pro 5.0. After you export the images from Lightroom to Photomatix, you are presented with a Deghosting dialog box:

Photomatix-before-Deghosting-selected
Photomatix-before-Deghosting-selected


From the initial preview, you can see that the train is a mess. There are many different versions you are trying to stay, and the software is trying to put all of them into the combined image. To clean things up, you need to drag the “Deghosting” slides on the top left all the way to the right. This is the “Very Strong” setting. Then from the set of images below, select which of the bracketed photos you want to select as the master or source file that will take precedence over all the others. I chose the 1/160s one because the train was just starting to come into the frame. and you could still make out many of the numbers at the top of the train.

Photomatix-Very-Strong-Deghosting-selected
Photomatix-Very-Strong-Deghosting-selected


After selecting ‘OK’ you have a much cleaner file to tone map to your final HDR image in Photoshop. This is an extreme example, but it will work if you want to clean up moving people in an image, or anywhere that the preview HDR looks too muddy or blurry. Give it a try!

Photomatix-Pro-5.0
Photomatix-Pro-5.0

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

AJ Smith Performs at Tysons Corner Center | Music Photographer

The Fresh Artists Concert Series at Tysons Corner Center is really heating up! Although all the concerts are free, there is a limited amount of people that can be on the plaza at one time, so you need to get wristbands to assure entrance to the area. Last Friday’s concert was out of wristbands an hour after the mall opened, so you need to get there early! There were two performers on the marquee that night, AJ Smith & the Apollo as well as Lindsey Stirling.

The Plaza

94.7 Fresh Artists Concert Series At Tysons Corner Center - ©TimeLine Media
94.7 Fresh Artists Concert Series At Tysons Corner Center – ©TimeLine Media
94.7 Fresh Artists Concert Series At Tysons Corner Center - ©TimeLine Media
94.7 Fresh Artists Concert Series At Tysons Corner Center – ©TimeLine Media


AJ and his band really got the excitement level up early! He is a very talented musician providing the lead vocals for all the songs while playing the keyboards, guitar, or violin depending on the song. Singing his original compositions with so much energy really brought the crowd into the performance. His songwriting skill was on display giving us songs that are easy on the ear, but not so repetitive that they sound like they were spit out of a sequencer. There were changes in tempo, in counts, and they had nice vocal or instrumental pieces that kept your interest as the songs progressed.

AJ_Smith-performs-at-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media
AJ_Smith-performs-at-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media
Concert-at-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media
Concert-at-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media
Concert-at-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media
Performers-at-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media
Concert-at-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media
Concert-at-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media


His band also matched his effort with their energy and talent. It can be tough to really keep that level up for an entire set, but this band did it so well. The response from the crowd was amazing! The crowded plaza was clapping, dancing, and singing along by the end of their set. “Dragons in the Sky” has a singable vocal line that everyone was singing by the end! It was a great way to spend a beautiful Friday evening. There will be another concert this Friday, so check the Tysons Corner Center website for details!

AJ_Smith-performs-at-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media
AJ_Smith-performs-at-Tysons-Corner-©TimeLine-Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

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