Daughtry and All American Rejects at the California State Fair

I decided to attend the California State Fair in Sacramento this year to see Daughtry and the All American Rejects perform.

This shot was taken handheld from a distance of about 100 yards at 105mm zoom (163mm equivalent for a 35mm camera). To get anything useable I cranked the ISO up to 800, which let me expose at 1/13th second at f/4.0. That was just fast enough for the image stabilization to steady the shot, but I had to try quite a few times before Daughtry stood still for that long!

I didn’t have a seat, so I had to shoot from the side through trees and stage supports. I was behind a tall, unstable fence that a lot of people were leaning against (not a good resting spot for the lens), so I had to shoot standing on my toes! It turned out to be great physical therapy for the ankle I sprained a couple of days earlier.

The following week I returned and the All American Rejects showed amazing energy and stamina in the 100+ degree heat! Like the Daughtry shot this was handheld, but this one was from about 200 yards away.

After the concerts I roamed the Fair and took a few photos of the rides.