A Taste of Chaos

Went last night to another metal fest for photography. Napalm Death had kindly given their permission to photograph them. Along with them was a local band, Municipal Waste, Exhumed and Speedwolf. 

The venue was packed to bursting and some serious moshing was going on, which made it difficult to photograph things cleanly, but I enjoyed the challenge. 

This is a taste of things to come, the crowd in full on chaos mode.

Thanksgiving Wishes

No picture here today, I have a concert upcoming after Thanksgiving and I'll post some pics then.

Instead, I want to use this time to give thanks to the following people that I know, and have known.

To my Father: Although the distances separate us, I am always thankful for your advice and guidance. It has served me well over the years.

To Lloyd: Best friend. Kind, patient, understanding, loyal. Thanks for everything you and Elizabeth have done for me.

To my Gaming Group: You are a great stress reliever, and I enjoy every minute of it. Thanks for the great  memories.

To Linda: I forgive you, and know there was only love for you. I hope you can find happiness and peace. Thank you for the time we shared.

To Mike: We see eye to eye on so many things, thanks for being my friend and keeping me sane during my dark times.

To my Readers: You are the reason I post here, thank you for coming by with your comments and insights. All my best.

To Angela: Thank you for being my friend and re-connecting with me. I love the way you think.

To Katia: Thank you for giving me a great son. And thank you for all the interesting times we shared.

To Lia: The English language lacks enough words to tell you what you mean to me. Suffice to say, I am eternally thankful you are back in my life, it's as if a great weight has been lifted off of me now that we are in contact again.

To Phyllis: Thank you for putting up with me, for keeping me sane, and secure, and giving me peace in my soul.

To all those not mentioned: You know who you are, don't change. Thanks go out to you for everything you do.

Conversion

Sometimes band members would go shirtless while on stage, doubtless it's hot as heck under so many lights, and that red quickly blows out details. So Black and White conversion to the rescue! Details, such as the intricate ink on his chest, are retained, while still giving the sense of emotion that the red lights brought.

Using PhotoShop Here

When shooting a concert, some details are lost while caught up in the moment. The lead singer for Doom Syndicate (awesome name by the way) pictured here, for example, has a rather large hole in his pants in a rather revealing place. I didn't notice it until working with the pics in post. Couldn't show that without some adjustment, so parts of his pants are blurred out. Hopefully he won't mind.

Up Close and In Person

As the night went on, the place got more and more crowded, but everyone there was very kind to let me sneak in, get an up close shot, and then move on. 

There were a few mosh pits going on, but those involved kindly didn't include me which I was shooting the band members.

In Tightly

The main band, Six Feet Under, already had their gear set up, and the bands had to work around that, so some bands, like Dark Shores here, were squished in pretty tightly on an already small stage. Did give me the ability to get more full band shots than I normally would have been able to get, so that's a plus, for me anyway.

Expanding the View

In addition to the open floor plan, the lighting was good enough to bring my wide angle into the show. I lost a stop and a third of light, going from 1.8 to 2.8, but there was still enough for some full band shots. The lights over the musician on the left side of the picture were burnt out however, so some of the bands I shot didn't include all the band members. Hopefully the venue has fixed that for tonight.

Second Story

Unlike the last club, this one has an open floor plan, allowing me to shoot from a higher vantage point. Most of the shots from up there are not worth posting, but some, like this one of the singer and drummer for Cattle Decapitation, so something a little different.

The few non-red lights were aimed at the drummer, some weak blues and greens, so of all the people, the drummer has the most even skin tones (well, even for this show anyway)

Mars, Bringer of War

So another great concert swept through my town, and headlining the show was the famous Floridian Death Metal band, Six Feet Under.

New venue, that had a large number of concert light rigs, which unfortunately were all gel'd in reds and orange. Which meant the show, for all 8 bands, looked like Hell's concert hall.

It was impossible to get proper flesh tones, no matter what I did, pre- or post production, so I'm only going to attach a few here for your viewing pleasure, as the red quickly overwhelms me.

Thanks to all the bands who played that night and gave it their all. Cheers!