July in Janetville - Tips for Taking Concert Photos

I am by NO means an expert in photography but after taking several thousand concert pictures over the last few years, I have come up with some of my personal ideas on the subject.  I should also say that these ideas/tips are with the intention of scrapbooking the pictures, not for trying to get them published in a magazine or anything (unless of course someone sees them and thinks they are fabulous and wants to buy them from me - LOL).

Tip #1 - GET GOOD SEATS!  It is much easier to take good photos if you have good seats.  If I can't get close seats, I try to get in a section where I can see the big screens clearly.

Tip #2 - Have a good camera.  When I first started taking pictures my camera did not have a very powerful zoom lens.  I find that makes a big difference, especially if you can't accomplish Tip #1!  Most venues will allow simple point and shoot cameras.  Mine fits in a pocket of my purse so I rarely (never so far) have had an issue with it.  It is a Canon Power Shot SX 700 with a 30 x zoom.  I would not be able to take pictures if I had to manually focus, so having an easy camera to use is important for me.  It also has a good setting for taking pictures without a flash, which is generally not allowed.

Tip #3 - Take LOTS of pictures.  The artists generally move back and forth across the stage so there are many times I can't get anything more than a blur.  If I have a lot of pictures, I can pick and choose the best ones for my pages.  Sometimes I'll have a lot of mediocre and then one or two good ones.  This spread I did with Tina Turner is a good example.  It was before I got my Canon and the zoom was terrible but by putting together some not so great pictures with some okay ones, I am pleased with the way this came out.

This is one of my favorite layouts from the Adele concert.  She didn't have a lot of costume changes, our seats were up in the second level and she does not do a lot of moving around when she sings but I think I was able to capture her here.

Same with Stevie Nicks.  When she sings "Gold Dust Woman" it's almost like she goes into a trance and even though the pictures are not that clear, I can see her getting into her song. 

 

Tip #4 - Take pictures of the venue itself.  Shots of the building or the marquee help to document dates and times.  Some of my favorites are:

I took the above two pictures and combined them to make the bottom one for the album.  They almost match up perfectly.

Tip #5 - Take pictures of backgrounds.  A lot of times the performers use the screens behind them to add "embellishments" to their show.  Those shots can also be "embellishments" on my pages.  They also serve as titles sometimes. 

Behind Blue Eyes - the Who

Scorpions

Neil Diamond

Lights on the vine wall at the Mountain Winery, Heart concert

Tip #6 - Don't forget the shadows.  At first I waited until the lights went on so I could get clear pictures of the performers but then I noticed that sometimes the shadows were the best shots.  I am SO glad I got the ones of Prince!

Prince

Sade

Cher

Backstreet Boys

Tip #7 - The crowd.  While I don't necessarily want pictures of a bunch of random strangers in my album, still there are times when the crowd is definitely part of the show.

Journey singing "Lights" and a shot of the AT&T Park crowd showing their "lights" made for a pretty magical moment.

Lights at the Adele concert.  She is the tiny figure on stage at the bottom left of the picture.

Tip #8 - Expect the unexpected.  We were watching Heart at Shoreline singing "Reign O're Me" and it started raining.  Middle of summer.  Heart didn't realize what was happening until they went backstage according to the article I read about it.  Fortunately we were under the overhang so we didn't get wet.

Rod Stewart kicks signed soccer balls from the stage!  We didn't actually get any but one went really close to us and on the BART trip home, two people near us had gotten them so they let my husband hold them while I took this picture.

Tip #9 - Stay until the end of the show.  After all, you paid your money, may as well get all you can for it.  I know it is tempting to leave to get ahead of the crowd and out of the parking lot but really, what's the rush?  Savor the moments!

We got some of the confetti from the Who show.

Mick Jones handed out some picks!

It's a good way to get a picture of the whole band when they take their final bow.

Adele's confetti had special messages written on them!

Tip #10 - Don't forget YOU!  You were at the show too!  I try to make it a point to get a shot of my husband and I and whoever we are with.  

At Huey Lewis & the News

Us at Tina Turner

My daughters and I at Backstreet Boys

Thanks to Karen Siegel Fitting of Photos Kept Alive for giving me the idea to write this blog post.  I'm always looking for new things to talk about!  

What do you think?  Good tips?  Any other suggestions or questions?  Love to hear from you!

In Tune With June - 2017 - Elementary My Dear Watson

Earlier this year I wrote about getting the Sherlock Holmes Tarot cards.

I will admit that I am by no means an expert in the Tarot, but I am intrigued by it and so I have done a "reading" or two using the deck and the results (or the way I have interpreted them) have been pretty interesting.  I even did one for my daughter that turned out to be a bit prophetic. 

For the last month I've pulled a card at the beginning of the week to use as a "guide" for the week, keeping in mind my vision cards and the things I want to accomplish over this year.  I've had some questions in my mind about getting more into the crafting world and adding more things to my Etsy site, as well as stepping up the weight loss.

The first week I pulled The Ace of Observation.

The book notes on this card say:  "You possess clarity and power and from this new ideas arise.  Truth and ethics keeps you focused...."  The "keys" keys of this card are Strength and Power.  Given that we had just returned from our trip to Reno where we did the Big City Hunt and that I had an idea to make mini-scrapbook albums based on those adventures, this seemed very fitting.  I even thought about trying to collaborate with the Big City Hunt people to offer my scrapbooking services to other people who went on the hunts.  Strength and power speak to the weight loss efforts and being more focused on what I'm eating since we came back from vacation.

The next week I pulled the Peeler card from the Suit of Deduction.  This card talks about seeing things through to the end, taking pride, being patient and determined, trustworthy and methodical.  Okay, that fits with where I am wanting to go.  So far I am being methodical and finishing up some other projects and making lists of things that still need to be done.  I'm a great list maker!  I have lost a few of the pounds I gained on our trip and I am being patient and not expecting results overnight. 

Last week I pulled the Hansom Cab.  It's legend says "Purpose and determination to move ahead in the case.  Mastery of skill or ability brings a successful outcome.  Self-confidence and self-discipline.  Navigate with a clear sense of direction.  Determination and courage.  Leap forward with your hands on the reins.  Success and fame are the rewards.  Victory.  Well, I'm not so sure about the fame part but success would be nice.  Self-confidence and self-discipline are things that I am pretty familiar with so again I'm thinking I'm on the right track.   I'm doing some research and taking some online classes to learn new techniques. 

This week I pulled the Five of Observation.  This was a strange card and talked about theft of identity, slander or loss, thwarted plans, abuse or assault.  A sense of defeat.  Cowardice.  At first I was a little apprehensive.  I checked all our bank accounts and told myself to be really careful when I was using a credit card.  I tried to make sense of this in relation to my goals.  Identity theft is all we need right now!














I've started to take daily walks around the neighborhood to help with getting in some exercise and I find it a great way to do some thinking.  On my walk it hit me...the card was talking about ME, not an outside force!  Words like fraud and phony started swirling around in my brain.  Cowardice!  A sense of defeat!  The card was telling me that I need to stop my "list making" and "learning new things" and actually DO some of the things on the list!  Stop talking about the plans and actually start with some action!  Stop being a coward and take the plunge!  Thinking back to last week's card about taking the reins in my hands and leaping forward made me realize that I've been procrastinating on some things.  What am I afraid of?    

So, action steps this week were to add a few blocks to the walk I have been doing.  I walk a bit faster during some of it so it only takes me a little while longer.  I started making some more cards to add to the Etsy site and I am working on a travel mini-album.  That immediately made me feel more in control of the situation.

I'm still going to keep my eye on our bank account and be careful when using credit cards, etc., but I really believe that the card was telling me to stop talking and take action.  How about you?  Ever use a tarot deck?  What do you think of my interpretations?  

In Tune With June - 2017 - Vision Card Update

Every year for the last few years I've been making Vision Cards, as introduced by the wonderful Jamie Ridler.    Half the year is gone so it's time for me to check in and see how I'm doing.  Here are the ones I made for this year:

The first has to do with self-care.  I have done pretty well with my Hungry Girl eating program and have lost about 18 pounds since January (44 total since last year).  Not a huge amount but at the same time I don't feel like I am depriving myself or starving.  We eat out occasionally and I certainly don't kill myself exercising but for the most part, I am happy with the way things are going.  In the last month I have really stepped up my walking, taking a walk around the neighborhood almost every day.  I have set myself some weight loss goals and so for the next six months I am going to make a more focused effort in that regard. 

Next has to do with my creative life.  My goal is to be able to increase my income by either selling the cards and mini-albums I make and/or earn some money through affiliate programs.  I haven't really worked very hard in this area yet, although I am now an affiliate for both Blitsy (an online craft store) and Creative Live, an online education resource.  You can see both of those on the right side of this blog (if you are seeing it on Blogspot - I haven't added them to the WordPress site yet).  I have been taking some of the free courses offered on Creative Live about how to utilize my Etsy site better and be found in search engines.  In the second half of the year I hope to put all the research I've been doing into practice.  I do have one craft fair scheduled in November.   

Travel and Adventure is the next card.  I think we really covered that well with the Big City Hunt that we went on last month in Reno.  We have the voucher for one in San Francisco that I want us to do now that the weather is getting nicer.  I'd still like to hit Carmel and Monterey but I'm not sure that will happen this year.  












Finances is something that is a never ending battle it seems.  Just when I think we are getting ahead, something happens to stall us.  I'm not giving up though and will continue to work toward making our retirement less stressful.

Finally, we have our home.  The makeover it got last year did wonders and I wanted to continue the trend.  We used up our financial resources for the most part so the things we do now need to be at minimal cost.  We have made a great start in the last month in two areas.  The backyard, where I have started to detangle the jungle that has grown there and the garage where my husband has really made huge improvements on cleaning out and organizing.  It is a tricky area because I can only offer my opinion when asked as the things in the garage are mostly his.  I wouldn't want him to come and organize my craft room though, so I totally understand. 

Not too bad for half a year.  I really find making these cards more helpful than just making New Year's resolutions.  I know I am not going to get everything accomplished in every area, but having the cards and checking in with them periodically keeps me focused.  

How about you?  Make any vision cards?  New Year's Resolutions?  Have plans for the next half of the year?  Love to hear about it.    

In Tune With June - 2017 - Backyard Blues

We have lived in our house for 21 years now as of Flag Day (June 14).  The house was built in 1955 by the original owner and he used redwood to build it so we have been told that it is very well constructed.  We are the second owners.  About a year after we moved in we were able to participate in the Airport Noise Abatement program and got all new double paned windows, sturdy doors throughout the house and insulation in the attic for free.  Living smack dab between the airport and the train, those improvements helped a lot.

Over the course of the last 21 years we admittedly did very little ourselves to the house, inside or out.  We did paint both bathrooms and all three bedrooms (the kids rooms we did a couple of times) but that was years ago.  We had a leak in the kitchen so we patched the roof over that area but other than putting new sheet rock over the bad spot on the ceiling we haven't done anything there.

In January of 2015 we had to replace the back fence.  You can read about that here.  Last May we took the plunge and gave the outside a face lift.  You can read about that here and here.   Then in November we tackled another major hot spot, the front bathroom and went from this:

To this:

The next big inside project will probably be the kitchen but that is going to be HUGE so we have to build up our savings again (or win the lottery) before we can tackle that.  

Less expensive and maybe even more irritating to me is our back yard.  We have never really utilized our back yard to its fullest potential, especially now that the kids are grown and don't "play" out there anymore.  (Heck, they don't even LIVE here anymore - LOL).

When we did the siding and roof we were able to clear off the back porch and turn it into a nicer place to sit: 

This is what the backyard looked like then.  You can still see the top of the back fence.

This is the corner of the porch now.  You can see the blackberry vine starting to come over the edge.

It looks like a wheat field and the top of the fence is disappearing.

There is massive overgrowth of I don't know what all.  It was getting so bad that I could hardly go down the back steps to the garage without getting attacked.  (What was that horror film called?  Children of the Corn???)

Finally I decided to take measures in my own hands and spent a day at least clearing the area by the steps so that I could walk out there without fear.  As with most things I do, I threw myself into the project with determination.  Four big garbage bags and a very full green refuge bin later...

This is all I was able to clear before I stopped.  I was out there for about four or five hours.  The area is maybe six feet around.  

I was not very smart because it was a hot day so I was wearing shorts and a tank top and got scratched pretty good from the thorns on the blackberry vines.  Also, I could barely move for two days because I was not used to all that pushing and pulling and bending.  Ibuprofen was my best friend.   

However, it's been a few days now and Bill just took all the garbage bags to the dumps so I think I'll have another go at it.  This time I'll wear better protective clothing and take a couple of breaks.  Our goal is to get it all uprooted and down to dirt.  Then we're going to do something so nothing will grow back again (? cement? rocks?).  I am definitely not a gardener but I do have visions of some chairs and maybe a fire pit.  It is a huge backyard and has lots of potential.  

We would hire a company to come and do it (and actually have had it done twice already although not to the bare bones) but after spending so much money last year, we are looking for more inexpensive ways to go for some of this stuff.  Ibuprofen is much less expensive than a gardener :)

I'll keep you updated as to the progress.  How about you? Any big home improvement projects planned?  Got a fire pit?