Refining the Craft

Still alive and kicking. House hunting has eaten up all my time. Here are a few shots from the Halestorm, Lacuna Coil, Cilver tour that came through recently.

Using the Nikon D7000. I like the auto ISO feature, the solid low light performance, but the rest of the camera is a big step down from the D2x. But it will do in the meantime until the house is bought and my funds are free for other things. 

The Man Who Sold The World

 So a friend of mine is in a David Bowie cover band. As a cancer fundraiser, they threw on a concert and asked me to shoot for them. Using my D7000 and a few wide angle lenses (35mm and 11-16mm) I managed a few good shots from a massively crowded venue.

No photo pit so I had to eel my way through the throngs of attendees and capture from there. The band was very true to the original, with the lead singer even looking like Bowie. 

Upgraded

 My beloved D2x was getting a bit long in the tooth, ISO-wise, so with a bit of Christmas money, I bought a Nikon D7000. Not as tank-like as the D2x, but about 4 stops better in the ISO range, as the following pics from Carbon Leaf, show.

The auto ISO function on the D7000 is great. I can set the Aperture and Shutter speed I want, and the camera will set the ISO for proper exposure. I found this function very helpful. One less thing I have to worry about.

Being Careful

Most of the band members could play multiple instruments, so they could switch out and take turns bashing each other around. They were respectful of the (many) photographers there, but the fans get rowdy and accidents happen.

I had to shield a little person who was trying to take pics with her cell phone, all while trying to get good shots myself.

Ultimately we both got pics we were happy with. Here you have dueling guitarists.

Just a Statement

I have a media pass to photograph all the bands in the upcoming Gwar BQ this weekend, very excited! The Meatment and Ice-T will be there, as well as (of course) Gwar, Iron Reagan and many others.

In other news, for those that know me personally, I am free now. Broke, but free.

It's a good feeling.

Advantage

One advantage of a crowded venue...crowd shots! Given the lighting from the angle I was, I had to drop the shutter speed way down to 1/40 of a second, risking motion blur but felt any blur would add to the energy of the shot

Interaction

Toxic Holocaust lead singer/guitarist here. The band consists of only three members, so getting a group shot is difficult. Add an active mosh pit and it was pretty much no chance of one. Nonetheless, I did get some dynamic shots on individuals here.

Ramming Speed

Even with the cyclical lighting the lighting was only so-so. And of course some of the most dynamic poses came when the lights were at their worst.

Case in point, great pose, terrible lighting, so off to LightRoom for conversion...

Concert Work

Haven't done a packed concert in a while but one came through my town. Local favourites Municipal Waste, along with thrashers Toxic Holocaust and punk bands In Defense (pictured here) Ramming Speed and Unsacred.

I knew the show would be packed so my best chance to get some good shots was for the opening acts. There was serious moshing and stage diving going on throughout the entire show so I had to watch where I was, lest I get sucked in and have my camera gear damaged.

I settled on ISO1000, typically with a shutter speed of 1/200 and of course, shot wide open, f/1.8 to 2.8, depending on the lens used. I fluctuated between the 50mm, 28mm and the 80-200mm. The venue was well known (to me) to have very iffy lighting, so I was pleased when I discovered they'd done some upgrades.

Furthermore, the venue was using a lighting computer with a set progression of  lights so it was very easy to time.

Local Nightlife

Went to a great punk/metal show the other night, and these guys were hanging out waiting for the show to start.

Nikon 28mm f/2.8, 1/40sec (it was dark outside) and converted to B/W

The Apocalypse is upon us

 A good friend of mine is in a metal band. A proper thrash metal band and was playing at a local club known to have good lighting. Naturally I had to be there, I've been away from concerts too long and I needed to get back into it.

The show was hampered by two things, my rustiness for one, and the lighting guy was asleep at his job. He only woke up when Hypokalypse (my friend's band) hit the stage. About that time I got my skills back, and here are some of the results.

The band knew how to interact with the audience, which always helps to make good shots, and they had a fog machine which diffused the light, making it better to shoot by.

Nikon D2x, 50mm f/1.8 at 1600ISO with a 1/100sec shutter speed. Run through PhotoShop to reduce noise.

Back to Cheating

 This weekend it was still raining cats and dogs (I know, I just stepped in a poodle) but the Alex Meixner Band was back to rock the local folk fest. Although I wanted to do more film work, I also wanted to save my remaining roles of BW400CN for other things, so out came the D2x and 80-200mm lens.

The lighting at the show was a mix of ambient light from the side of the tent, and white lamps mounted near the ceiling. The pictures I took in colour were uninspiring. The colours were muted and the overall feel lacked punch.

So, out came the B/W conversion tools built into Lightroom. After conversion of a few I felt they were much better, so I converted all of them to Black and White. Here are two of my favourite shots.

By the way, if you look up Alex on youtube, his live shows are much better than his CDs. He really interacts with the audience and gets them going.

An Assortment of Oddities

Around June of this year, my system finally gave up the ghost. Admittedly it was an ancient rig and while I had all my data backed up nine ways from Sunday, re-installing all my software onto a new PC was tedious. Setting things back up the way I was used to (preferences in Lightoom, Chrome, etc.) was a real pain.

Just prior to my PC taking a nosedive I'd shot a large gathering of bands and never really finished processing them after the new PC was up and running. By that point I'd moved on to the Belize shots, Colour Runs and taking care of the new house. So given a rainy three-day weekend (let's hear it for State work) I managed to force myself through them and pick the best.

Here is a selection of them. ISO 1600, 50mm f/1.8 and around 1/125sec shutter speed. The concert was crowded, given Nile were headlining but the lighting was flat, mostly white which made for dull shots. 

Part of the Fun

One of the band members, doing a little Burlesque routine. Very well done and one of the few times I had too much reach with my lens (needed the 50mm on my camera) but didn't want to lose any shots by trying to switch lenses in the dark.

Prelude

The girl on the left, with the green wrist band, was part of the audience, pulled on stage to help play out a scene. Not sure if this was rehearsed or not, but she played the part rather well. It's always nice to see bands interact with their fans, far too many bands that I shoot, don't do that, and it really lends something to the concert when they do.

Helper

I missed what this scene was about, but it was clear that Death was behind her, picking her up and lifting her away from all her earthly troubles. Little too much red for my tastes, but not much I could do about that, the scene required it.

Brave

According to Wikipedia, Emilie has had a very rough life, and uses her music to excise the demons. She's a very brave girl for putting her personal problems out there in front of strangers, for all to see and hear. You can see the emotions play across her face in this shot, she was singing about her time in a mental ward, and the difficulties of getting out of there intact.

Audience

I have to give a special thanks to the venue, for letting me in areas normally off limits. Unlike the metal shows I've been to, where the crowd will shift position and allow me in for some shots, Emilie's fans were firmly rooted in one spot, and I couldn't get anywhere near the stage for love nor money.

Fortunately I had my 80-200mm with me and it could do a pretty good job of getting in close. Still had some tall audience members to deal with, but all part of the charm(?) of shooting live.

Spoooooooon!

Her show consisted of 3 performers, Ms. Autumn, and two helpers, done in several parts with lots of costume changes in between. Spoons are very popular in the latter half of the show, and there are reasons for their use, but being exposed to Ms. Autumn's stage show for the first time, I'm not certain what their significance is. 

The music is pre-recorded, and Emilie sings along with it, the only instrument on stage was a keyboard, used for the encores. Emilie is hell on wheels with an electric violin, but for whatever reason, didn't use it this time around. 

Emilie Autumn

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Emilie Autumn. She came to my town and was kind enough to let me photograph her in concert. I was nervous about it for a few reasons:

(one) It was at the local metal venue, which meant all red lighting.

and

(two) I didn't know her music.

Let me explain these two issues:

With (one) All red is great (ish) for death metal and long haired wild eyed thrashers, if push comes to shove I could convert to B/W and call it "artistic." But with the lovely Ms. Autumn, B/W will wipe out some of her elaborate outfits,and the red will kill her beauty.

And with (two) I didn't know what kind of stage show I'd be in for. Youtube wasn't giving me much to go on.

So I researched using flash at a concert (a great big no-no) and some other options (all equally out for various reasons) and having no luck, resigned myself to doing the best I can. When I got to the event, I found out the show was going to use their own personal lighting guy, and some of the horrible red filters had been removed. 

I grew hopeful, and when the show started and white lights appeared, I knew I was in for some special pictures. As it turned out, the show was fantastic, and I urge you, my dear readers, if you have any love for concert going at all, to catch her live. Her show is best described as a cross between a Cabaret and Rocky Horror Picture Show. Full of laughter and tears, stage antics and audience participation.

I got so many wonderful shots, that I'm having a hard time chucking any. Regardless, I'm posting some of my favourite ones here for you.