Photographing the Steve Hayes with a “Hitch” show with the Nikon Z6

A few years ago, I had the chance to photograph and interview the amazing actor and comedian, Steve Hayes, for A&U: America’s AIDS Magazine. Recently I reconnected with Hayes to take a few shots of him as he was preparing for his new show, Steve Hayes: With a “Hitch.” Yesterday I attended the show at Pangea, in NYC…and brought my Nikon Z6 along for the adventure, to take a few shots.

First, I have the say, the show was phenomenal! Steve Hayes brought to life the famous Alfred Hitchcock in an amazing way. It felt like we (the audience) had a candid conversation with the legend, but we got to learn more about Hitchcock’s life and career, and about the stories behind some of his famous and most well-known movies–Psycho, The Birds, and many others. Btw, to see and hear Steve Hayes talk about each of these movies and many more, check out his YouTube channel, Steve Hayes: Tired Old Queen at the Movies. Definitely a must-see!

But I digress…. I mentioned that I took a handful of pictures with my Z6 last night, before and during the show. Here are a few of them:

I have to say, again, that I was amazed by the Z6’s performance in low and very low light (much, much better than my Nikon D750), and by the vivid, beautiful color rendition, especially when photographing before the start of the show.

In terms of camera settings, I traveled light:

Nikon Z6 and its 24-70mm f/4 mirrorless lens. All images were shot at f/4. ISO values: ISO 6400 (also ISO 8000 at times) for photographing the performer, on stage; higher (or tried different ISO values) for capturing the entire room.

Thank you, Steve Hayes and Pangea for a wonderful performance and night! And, as always, thank you all for stopping by and reading my blog.

Appreciate it!

Alina Oswald