Absolute Total Chaos

 This band needs no introductions. But on the outside chance you don't know who they are, it's Gwar, with their new lead singer, Blothar. It was Gwar's 30th anniversary and as always, they put on an incredible show. While Oderus, their original singer, had to go back to his home planet, Blothar seems to be an acceptable substitute. 

Gwar's shows are always a mass of chaos, and everyone in the audience gets sprayed liberally with fake blood and other fluids. Photographers are especially vulnerable and many of them will cover their cameras in plastic bags. Personally I think that being exposed, lends an element of danger to the whole thing, knowing that at any time, one could get a face full of goo. 

I used, for this event, my new Olympus OM-D E-M5 and it performed flawlessly. It was certainly much much lighter and at the of the ten hour concert (there were 20 bands in play) I didn't feel worn out.  It also helps the camera is listed as "splashproof" so I was not worried. I'd given my assistant my D2x to use and she took a full on blast from one of the many stage props. But the D2x is also built to take it, so no worries there either. 

The Heresy Continues

 As you are well aware, I'm no stranger to Black and White photography. If I could find a dedicated dSLR that shot in monochrome exclusively (and that I could afford...I'm looking at you Leica) I'd dump everything and use that for everything.

Well, I got close, these shots are not from my Nikons, but rather a new camera I picked up with some birthday money (thanks!) It's an Olympus OM-D E-M5, certainly a mouthful, and an interesting camera. It's tiny, like too-small-for-my-hands level of tiny, but with the battery grip, it fits, barely. It's micro four thirds format, and has a host of "art" filters built in, one of which is "grainy B/W", of which you see here.

There is a learning curve to using a new camera, and I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do but so far, I'm impressed with it.

Reworking some images

 It's easy to take a million shots at a concert, even more so when the band is as dynamic as the lighting. It's also easy to get overwhelmed when you get home and realize you took over 1000 pics, and as you do a quick once over, realize you got way too many that could be usable. So you grab the top 10, and skip the rest, figuring you'll get around to them one day.

Well this is that one day, and here they are. While my Nikon D2x is getting long in the tooth, it can still get the job done when the chips are down (and the light is right.)