How NOT to Run a Concert

The following is a rant. No pics, just griping. Feel free to ignore if you wish.
I've been shooting the GwarBQ for 3 years now. This past one will probably be my last. I don't know who is the ultimate organizer of it, but I'm going to list several ways they managed to hose it up

(1) Send out confirmation, months in advance, that you are approved. When arrived, claim they lost the paperwork. Left me standing around looking like an idiot. Thankfully I had proof I was supposed to be there.
(2) Let anyone who can buy a media pass, into the press pit. This ensures that I merely have to deal with 50+ people with cell phones, point and shoots, and selfie sticks all vying for space that has been reduced by the presence of burly bouncers, instead of the usual 5.
(3) Rather than sorting these 50+ people into groups (pros first, amateurs next, joe random last) so we can each get good positions and pictures, shove everyone in like cattle, and let them fight it out, thus guaranteeing no one gets a good shot
(4) Ensure you have tons of burly bouncers taking up the good spots. Instruct them not to move one inch. Ensure they interfere with the photographers as much as possible. I can't tell you the number of hands that were *intentionally* placed in my shots.
(5) Reduce the size of the press pit by 30%. Couple this with (2) and (3) guarantees a crappy experience.
(6) Don't forget the 3 song rule. Expand this to include the lead singer talking to the audience for more than 30 seconds, so you get ~5 minutes to fight with (2), (3) (4) and (5) for two songs. Brilliant!

Seriously, I've been shooting concerts for many years now and this was, hands down, the worst experience I've encountered to date. If I didn't know better, I'd swear it was designed this way on purpose. I don't know what the reasoning behind this was, but damn guys, clean up your act!

Rediscovery

Since moving into my new home, I've been rediscovering lenses I don't often use anymore. This one, for example, is my Sigma 50mm dedicated macro lens.

The subject of course is my Roughneck Monitor, Argo. He was basking in the sun and kind enough to smile for me.

I had the lens set for f/8, but could have used f/11 or probably even f/16, but I was handholding it and didn't want to bump the ISO higher than it already was.

Anyway, this is straight from the camera, no adjustments.

Where I've been

The astute among you will have noticed a sharp decrease in posts in the past year or so. Part of this is finding my niche, concert photography. Where I live there just aren't all that many concerts that I want to shoot. Sure, there are plenty of little venues with cramped spaces and terrible lighting, but that's not much fun anymore to be honest. Been there, done that, so to speak. Since I'm hooked on metal concerts, I have to watch what comes around and sadly, it's not that often.

The other part, and this isn't a full excuse, is, I bought a house. It's a very nice house, on a private lake, in the countryside. Being a family man has eaten up much of my time, as has moving in, getting real furniture, etc.

I also met someone special, which takes up time as well, although in a good way.

So, for those of you still with me here, I will continue to keep this site active, but not as much as when I first started in the world of photography and everything seemed fascinating to shoot.

Well, there you have it, cheers!