Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Beach Ball Mania: 2011 Pitchfork Music Fest Photos

Due to a surpising lack of snow this winter, I've decided to start off the new year by revisiting some photographs from last summer's Pitchfork Music Festival. In particular, I really wanted to work on a set of photos from day two of the fest, taken during an impromptu game of "hey, let's hit the beach ball in the air".

I'm not sure how this started-- how really, do things like this start? Someone is waiting in between bands, gets bored, and then before you know it, 20 to 30 people are all scrambling around trying to keep three giant beach balls in the air. What I can tell you is that it was intense, and also a boat load of fun to photograph.

BeachFork
Nikon D7000 w/ 105mm Nikkor Micro lens, 1/2500sec at f4, ISO160. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

Point of Impact
Nikon D7000 w/ 105mm Nikkor Micro lens, 1/2500sec at f4, ISO160. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

I titled this one "Objects in Space" and it's my personal favorite of set:

Objects in Space
Nikon D7000 w/ 105mm Nikkor Micro lens, 1/2500sec at f4, ISO160. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

Beach Ball Conjurer
Nikon D7000 w/ 55-200mm Nikkor lens, 1/640sec at f8, ISO160. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

From a technical standpoint, my strategy behind these photos was pretty simple. I used 3D Tracking Focus to lock focus on one of the beach balls as it flew through the air. I then followed its flight path and waited for something interesting to happen-- either other beach balls crossing past it, or a moment of impact:

Punch!
Nikon D7000 w/ 105mm Nikkor Micro lens, 1/2500sec at f4, ISO160. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

Up and Down
Nikon D7000 w/ 105mm Nikkor Micro lens, 1/5000sec at f2.8, ISO160. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

Low Orbit
Nikon D7000 w/ 105mm Nikkor Micro lens, 1/5000sec at f2.8, ISO160. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

This last photo was taken after the game had pretty much died down. This kid had been watching from the sidelines and finally saw his moment to strike:

What would Brian Wilson do?
Nikon D7000 w/ 105mm Nikkor Micro lens, 1/2500sec at f4, ISO160. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

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