Mat Zen, F88

Mat Zen, lead singer of local band F88, singing his heart out to take his band to the finals of a regional pop,rock and soul battle of the bands competition. There were a number of bands competing that night, but when F88 came on, and Mat Zen starting singing Dido’s ‘White Flag‘, I had a hunch they might triumph that night. In my opinion, having a good voice is one key aspect of making it as a successful and entertaining singer; the other critical aspect, I believe, is stage presence and showmanship, a certain panache, and Mat Zen certainly had heaps of it that night, see if you agree…

Waving The White Flag, Those Arresting Yet Vulnerable Eyes Reminds Me Of Michael Jackson’s

‘I’m In Love And Always Will Be’

‘And I Won’t Put My Hands Up And Surrender’

A Poignant End … ‘There Will Be No White Flag Above My Door’

It was a lot of fun attempting this set. You may have noted that all the shots are from the same angle, reason is, I had no license to move around as the stage was (badly) located in a corner of the hall and the judges were seated right in front. So, next best thing to do was to stay put and try to catch Mat Zen in various moods and poses in the course of the band’s performance. Obtaining focus in the low light was a struggle at times when you are zoomed in at the long end with the XF 55-200mm while keeping the aperture as wide as possible to have sufficient shutter speed to freeze Mat Zen’s actions.

All photos: Fujifilm X-E1 with XF 55-200mm