And Me Somewhere in the Middle…

This week, Orchestra Baobab played at Moods in Zurich’s Schiffbau, and as a long-time fan I naturally had to be there. The band has been around for about 50 years, with breaks, reshuffles, and everything in between. If you want the full backstory, Wikipedia is your friend.

The last time I saw them live was in 2009. Back then everything felt a bit… well, routine. The hits were played in the familiar studio arrangements. This time, though, the line-up looked noticeably younger. They brought new material and refreshed the classics without losing the Baobab character. A good mix of energy and heritage.

As usual with live concerts, I was torn. The atmosphere? Great. The closeness to the musicians? Great. The whole vibe? Great. But the finer details of the music? Often lost in the general sonic chaos. Maybe that’s my ears showing their age; at home, the same tracks sound far more nuanced. Still, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. 🙂

On the technical side: Concert photography definitely isn’t one of my strong suits. Actually, quite the opposite. But sometimes you need a challenge, and this evening provided plenty!

First issue: the venue was absolutely packed. Trying to snake, squeeze, and fight my way through the crowd with a camera wasn’t exactly comfortable. I’m simply not assertive enough for that kind of thing… although I have to admit, the “concert photographer” badge the organizer gave me did help open a few human bottlenecks.

Second issue: the light. Classic concert lighting. Brutal contrast, colors and light intensity changing every second, musicians and audience constantly on the move. My approach was simple: shoot wide open, crank the settings up to ISO 6400 and expose for the bright outfits of the band members – desperately hoping Lightroom would take pity on me later. 😉

I used the 28mm f/4 and the 75mm f/3.4. The TTArtisan 1.25 would have been perfect in terms of light, but the electronic shutter plus a swaying crowd would have turned everything into a rolling-shutter disaster (see also my Test zum TTArtisan 1.25/90mm).

Given all that, I’m actually quite happy with the images I got. There’s always room for improvement, of course – but for this chaotic, colorful, packed evening, I’ll take it. 🙂

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