Oahu Civic Orchestra Spring Concert - 4/4/2011

My friend who plays for the Oahu Civic Orchestra told me about the Spring concert and asked if I wanted to take photos. It was at Chaminade University's Eiben Hall and was free and open to the public. I couldn't pass up the great opportunity to practice and also hear great music. I had no idea what the environment would be other than no flash photography. Although I was glad they were photographer friendly, I tried to shoot when music was loud so that the beep of my camera's focusing would not be so disruptive. I had much difficulty since the only low light lens I had was the 50mm F1.4, it was hard to get a good reach to take closeups. And in using large aperture, not everything was in focus so I had to crop out a lot. Most of my photos turned out a bit soft on the edges, so I tried some B&W to see if it would hide those defects. It was a good practice and I got to hear a great orchestra perform music pieces I actually recognized. They played this piece by Strauss made famous by Bugs Bunny Cartoons. The Civic Orchestra is made up of professionals, amateurs, retirees, students, all of whom love to play music and I can tell by how beautiful they sounded.