Flash or not to flash

Nikon D4, 70-200mm,  ISO 10000, ƒ/2.8, 1/800 with Nikon SB900 on camera flash fired at slow sync

While at first glance this photo is quite acceptable the main light is now my flash and not the stage lighting.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, ISO 2500, ƒ/2.8, 1/100

The second shot is available light and shot only 1 minute prior to the flash shot. This is around 9 pm and on one of the longest days of the year, so there is still some sunlight as the sun sets.

There is not as much "Stage Light" as there will be after the sun sets.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, ISO 2200, ƒ/2.8, 1/320 with fill flash from SB900.

Here I went to the other side of the stage and shot a similar comparison of the flash and no flash.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm ISO 12,800, ƒ/2.8, 1/400

The one reason I was using the flash to begin with is the singer Marc Broussard's hat is casting a nasty shadow and most of the time his eyes are hard to see.  You can see the shadow in the second available light shot.

While the flash fixed this issue as long as it was on my camera it just ruined the mood of the stage lighting.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/2.8,  1/100

While I now decided to shoot the rest of the performance with available light I now had another problem the light on the lead singer's face only looked good occasionally   Most all the time the light looked like this when he sang.  You see a bright spot on his chin and his eyes are in a shadow.

Nikon D4, 70-200mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/2.8,  1/80

Now to get the best photos of the lead singer Marc Broussard I had to pick the best moments where the light and the emotion came together. I think I have this here when Marc looked up into the light and also the emotion in his face worked really well.

Now you know why so often a spot light is used to follow the main character on a stage with stage lighting. You also can see why many theaters have foot lights. These are lights on the floor of the stage at the front aimed up at the actors to get rid of the shadows under hats and those with deep set eyes.

When there is still not enough light at ISO 12800

I have been in the darkest places like Swayze's Venue in Marietta.  Here the punk band moved around so much that I needed flash.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 4000, ƒ/5.6, 1/60

Here is an earlier post in case you want to see when I do use flash and how I used it off camera: http://blog.stanleyleary.com/2012/08/nikon-d4-iso-12800-still-not-enough.html.