Week’s best, Feb. 27-March 5
Violinist Itzhak Perlman performed Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto with conductor John Nardolillo and the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra on March 5, 2011, in the Singletary Center for the Arts concert hall in Lexington, Ky.
It felt sort of like Good Saturday to me between messing around with some neglected territory and getting to photograph a real living legend.
After 20 years in arts and cultural journalism, I can sometimes be a little jaded by fame and celebrity. But getting to meet Itzhak Perlman and shoot his concert with the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra (more photos on the link) was a big thrill, as the event obviously was to the student musicians, conductor John Nardolillo and the sold-out Singletary Center crowd. There was a moment where I looked into the viewfinder and said, “That’s Itzhak freaking Perlman.”
I tried to get a variety of shots in the few minutes photographers were allotted to shoot the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. But the event continued my love affair with the sturdy ol’ Nikkor 300 mm f4 I was issued a few years ago precisely for getting in close at concerts and similar events.
Shot at the tungsten setting, and then cooled a bit more in Photoshop Elements.
Earlier in the day, I had a jones to go shoot some rain shots at Lexington Cemetery – in general, I’ve been trying to work on still lifes and similar subjects more. Timing didn’t work out for that, and at the best time for me to go, it was raining so heavily I was nervous about taking my personal gear out, even with a rain protector. But I did take some time to wander around near home and found myself concentrating on the beading of rain and contrast of the bright drops with the gloomy day.
