My Gwar concert photos from 5/7... comments and critique welcome

[TROLL]

I posted a few earlier but here is a more complete set... shooting high ISO on some of this stuff and the D700 did great, but without any noise reduction software installed you can see it in some shots, although I don't feel like it detracts noticeably from the photos.
Some of these I like a lot, some are so-so, but I wanted to post them all to see what everyone else thought.

1


2


3


4


5


6


7


8


9


10


11


my tshirt after the show

[TROLL]

Taken from the other thread, here were some of my thoughts and experiences...

The show was great visually... the lighting was pretty crappy for the first 2 bands, but it was great for Gwar... I gotta give it up to them.

Shooting conditions were very challenging but I walked away with some good shots so it was a success. Beyond trying to shoot the action while keeping the front of the camera lens out of the stream of blood spraying everywhere, it was very sweaty/humid which had the front of my lenses fog up whenever I tried to get into the pit to shoot from there. The only time they would unfog is when I would move to a less crowded area with a little more airflow.

I shot the first 3 songs from in front of the barricade, then tried to shoot from the pit after that which didnt work as I just mentioned, and then I ended up moving toward the back and shooting long for the second half of the show which worked out decently well.

Oh and I had my camera in a plastic rain sleeve when I was up front to keep it clean and it worked out great. I got some pretty interested looks from fans in the crowd about the camera, bag, and the fact that I was even doing what I was, but people were mostly cool considering I was moving in and out of a pit at a metal show. At one point a cute girl saw me trying to work my way in with my clunky ass backpack in one hand and camera in the other, and she asked if I needed some help getting into the center of the pit, where she used her female persuasion to lead the way effortlessly through the crowd for me... thanks mystery girl.
Luckily I've spent plenty of time at (mostly punk) shows both as a fan and a photographer so I was in my element, even if the music was a little different than what I'm used to.

Honestly this stuff isn't my scene, but I'm always interested in new experiences and this was a great one. There were one or two kids under the age of ten there sporting little mohawks, etc. and even one very young kid who was probably 2 or 3 right up front, and one of the Gwar band members threw him a high five before they walked on stage.

The opening band was called Cattle Decapitation I think? I dunno but I wasn't into it... then Priestess played which was pretty decent actually. Then Gwar headlined....

[jspek]

1 3 and 6 are pretty ****ing sweet haha. i wouldnt mind shooting a show. a less bloody one tho haha. nice shots bryan.

[CHAOS]

i dont think you captured good shots of them actually rocking out. The shots of them doing theatrics are cool but the ones of them playing are just kinda boring... but im going to assume you havent done alot of band stuff so try to capture more action next time.

a couple examples of what im referring to
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3067/...b77b3a.jpg?v=0
http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blog...v-2-757617.JPG
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/itsab...page-image.jpg


it may be hard to capture that with them in their stage gear but yea thats what i thought.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by CHAOS

i dont think you captured good shots of them actually rocking out. The shots of them doing theatrics are cool but the ones of them playing are just kinda boring... but im going to assume you havent done alot of band stuff so try to capture more action next time.

a couple examples of what im referring to
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3067/...b77b3a.jpg?v=0
http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blog...v-2-757617.JPG
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/itsab...page-image.jpg


it may be hard to capture that with them in their stage gear but yea thats what i thought.

something tells me they don't play like emo fags

nice shots bryan, i think 11 is my favorite due to the lighting followed by 3

looks like a hell of a time too... may have to consider going to a show sometime

[CHAOS]

awesome comment ken.

hey, when you become a musician and have a valid musicians objective opinion.. let me know.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by CHAOS

awesome comment ken.

hey, when you become a musician and have a valid musicians objective opinion.. let me know.

why you mad?

again, i don't see gwar jumping around and doing sweet kicks in the air... especially not with all that stuff on them

[CHAOS]

i understand that they dont really do that, but i do know they dont stand stationary the whole time. who knows.. maybe they are just a boring band beyond the theatrics.

[grimm]

i've only been to one gwar show and this was many years ago, but they didn't move around like most metal bands do. their costumes are quite bulky. theatrics is their thing. but #7 is them rocking out.
i think some wide angle shots would have been nice. some of the crops leave me wanting to see more.

[doug]

awesome pics Bryan.. :metalhorns:

[Nick Merrone]

thats really awesome brian..Those are like the most amazingest pictures i've ever seen of a show.

[TROLL]

I can see why you'd think that the rocking out photos are missing, but there wasn't any in the sense that you're thinking. Looking back over them it does seem pretty static, but I'm pretty confident I captured everything that was there. Photography is about emotion... movement, facial expression, etc... but then you put some dudes on a tiny stage in big ass costumes with masks so that you cant see their faces, the game changes.

Although its been a while, I've photographed a ton of bands in the past and this one was a different war zone for sure. Some wide shots for variety are a good idea... I only had the first 3 songs up front and I wasn't about to do a lens change... I had my 24-70 on for that which was baaaarely wide enough to fit the 3 front men in the picture, but I didn't shoot Gwar that way because they had some stage props they set up at the front of the stage that would have gotten all up in my photos and just wouldn't have worked.

Anyway, thanks for the comments so far... its all appreciated, so keep it coming.

[CHAOS]

where was this show? i think you said crocrock right? that place does have a tiny ass stage for a band as big as gwar... having done shows there i know first hand.

[TROLL]

Yeah it was at Croc Rock and thats something I was concerned about going in... I tried to get a pass to the Meadowlands but I wasn't able to.
To be honest the lighting and stage, my two biggest concerns, were better than I expected. The lighting was actually really good... pretty challenging to shoot in but its that kind of greater risk / greater reward type of thing and it worked out, and the stage... the band members pretty much stayed in place with their little slave dudes doing the running around.

[grimm]

haha yea a lens change in that environment... could have been catastrophic. you have 2 bodies right? J/K... they are great photos!!!

[Vr-4-Life]

Ok... so a couple weeks ago Fred told me that they literally spray real blood and seamen and other crap into the crowd. Is this true or is it just crap with food coloring? I dont see how they could pass health inspections otherwise lol

Anyone this is pretty crazy stuff. I remember hearing about these guys on beavis and butthead but I never saw or heard them.

Cant say its my scene... I'll stick with OAR and Phish concerts lol

[WKderF]

Originally Posted by Vr-4-Life

Ok... so a couple weeks ago Fred told me that they literally spray real blood and seamen and other crap into the crowd. Is this true or is it just crap with food coloring? I dont see how they could pass health inspections otherwise lol

Anyone this is pretty crazy stuff. I remember hearing about these guys on beavis and butthead but I never saw or heard them.

Cant say its my scene... I'll stick with OAR and Phish concerts lol

i NEVER said real. its all fake stuff - just ALOT of it.

[enohand]

wow....nice pics man....


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[4DR_DB7]

wow.... GWAR huh? lol.

[djb5118]

GWAR is badass for sure!