Creative ramblings from a creative mind...
// August 17th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Music, Photography
I can’t say I know too much about Toronto’s beloved Maniac – except that they absolutely ruled. Opening for Cauldron, they went out with a blast. Pure thrash fun.
// July 14th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Music, Photography, Writings
Last Thursday, thanks to Hellbound.ca, I got my first big concert shoot assignment – none other than the legendary Judas Priest. Still being a relative photo rookie, I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. I mean, it’s Judas Priest – one of the bands that really began heavy metal. And to have the opportunity at such an early point in my photo “career” to shoot them? Yeah, I felt a bit of pressure (although Sean, who runs Hellbound seemed to have complete confidence in me – always giving me positive encouragement).
With only having one lens in hand (the Canon 50mm f/1.8), I felt it was time to expand my arsenal. With my upcoming trip to California, and hopes of taking some landscape photos of the oceanic coast, I felt a wide angle lens was the way to go. So, after looking around, I ended up picking up this bad boy – the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L USM – from B&H Photo. With a delay at customs, the lens didn’t end up in Ontario until Thursday, the day of the show. With a sprint up to the warehouse to pick it up after work, I really didn’t have a chance to test it out at all before the show. A bit more nervousness. Great.
Arrived at the show towards the end of the Whitesnake set… can’t say I was at all disappointed in missing them… got my ticket and photo pass without any problems. Met up with a couple other people who were there to shoot the show (I wasn’t the only newbie there, which made me feel a bit better). Shortly afterwards, after discussing the last Priest show with one of the security guards, we made our way to the photo pit. 3 songs went quick…. and here’s what I came up with…
The new lens kicked some serious ass, and am proud to say that this was by FAR, my best concert shoot. Sure, it helps shooting such a great band, and the venue (the Molson Amphitheatre) helped… but I think I had a bit of a hand in the results.
After ditching my camera back in the car, I headed back in to enjoy the rest of the set, and had a blast in doing so.
I think I may just like this photography thing….
Links:
Review on Hellbound.ca
Full set on Flickr
Slideshow on Flickr
Judas Priest.com
// July 5th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Music, Photography, Writings
A little late posting this, as the event happened in May, but in light of my review being featured on hellbound.ca, I figured now was as good of a time as any.
Was such a great weekend – perfect weather, great people, and crushing metal. Although a couple bands had visa issues and couldn’t end up playing, the other bands more than made up for it.
Word is that the organizers are ready to announce some of the bands for next year’s festival already – now THAT is organization! I’m assuming I’ll be making the trip again next year – definitely the premiere festival in North America at the moment.
Anyways, on to the pictures… this was a pre-SLR shoot – shot with my trusty Canon S5 – a handy camera that really packs a punch and can take some really great pictures. Perfect for those places you can’t take a ton of gear.
