Seabound (live concert)

schmoo · March 15, 2008

I don't do live music much, but this is a show/band I was waiting for years to see.

A few years ago I purchased the 85mm f/1.8 for shooting concert photography but I ended up never using it for that. And I brought it for this show, but I decided against it because I wanted to be closer to the front - and then it was a bit too long for my 30D. So I ended up using the 24-105.... I'm sure I could have done much better if I had a more suitable lens. Focus? What's that?

Interestingly, Seabound is (somehow) affiliated with a wonderful part-time concert photographer who I have long respected, Claudia Schöne. Her truly stunning shots of live performances of this genre of music was enough inspiration for me to crawl of my cave on a weekday night. :lol3

Comments, feedback or whippings welcome! Concert photography is quite challenging at the best of times. :huh

DavidTO · March 15, 2008

Schmoo, these are truly awesome.

gregneil · March 15, 2008

Wow, I love these. The shot of the dude with his army breaking the plane of the lasers is my favorite. Great stuff.

Art Scott · March 15, 2008

These are fantastic

thumb

bow

aktse · March 15, 2008

Excellent work!

Awais Yaqub · March 16, 2008

Amazing stuff !!

Richard · March 16, 2008

Great series, Schmoo.

Just the right mix of performers and background context. And hey, the focus is close enough for rock 'n' roll. Well done.

Cheers,

Arvan · March 16, 2008

Nice feeling captured!..i think that consert photos arnt that good if they are that perfect. A bit rough and oof is just what i want

.

What sort of music is this?. Seems like every band is using lasers now a days..Even The swedish band KENT does that..

Seems sort of a ripoff from the hard electronic music that i listen to. They have bin using lasers for many many years.

But back yo you. I think you should be more then happy with these pics. They just deliver the feeling! and that´s what you want!.

just a little pic to sho how much we love our lasers ^^.

schmoo · March 16, 2008

Thanks for the comments, guys! I am surprised I had as many as 10 after taking roughly 300 shots that night. But it was a blast, the light show was awesome (and very suitable for their music) and they are humorous, wonderful guys.

I actually woke up this morning to find an email from them about these photos. Woot! :smo

Arvan, they are an EBM duo from Germany, not quite industrial but not as happy as regular electronic music.

Lasers are not new in either the States or Europe, but I generally don't find myself going out to shoot concerts very often and I don't see many shots from electro shows on Dgrin (yet?)

saurora · March 16, 2008

Excellent series of shots!!! Lasers and lighting aside, I think your timing and compositions are what make these shots work for me. Nicest I've seen in a long time.

summerz · March 16, 2008

Wow these are great, love how you did them.

jeffreaux2 · March 16, 2008

These are great. I like the fact that you did not try to make something from nothing. By that, I mean that you capture some creative sillouttes that are well composed, and aren't ruined by noise. You used the available light to get great images. Excellent!!!

cunarder534 · March 16, 2008

Inspiring. Simply amazing.

schmoo · March 17, 2008

Thanks guys, it means a lot to me!

Hope more folks go out, have a good time, and share the photos here.

DI-Joe · March 17, 2008

Steph, these are fantastic. Which glass did you use for this?

schmoo · March 17, 2008

DI-Joe wrote:

Steph, these are fantastic. Which glass did you use for this?

Hey Joe, thanks!

I actually have only one lens that would be good for this sort of thing (85mm f/1.8) but it's so long on my 30D. At the beginning of the night I took a few test shots from the back of othe venue standing on the bar (heh) because I'm so short, but people's heads still kept getting in the way. So I switched to my backup lens, 24-105 which is not fast but has IS. I kept that on for the rest of the night and elbowed my way up to the front. I keep thinking that a 17-85 would have been optimal, or the 24mm f/1.4 L. Something faster, basically. I was shooting at ISO 1600, yeow.

Two days before the show I was actually reading through your recent thread about the nifty fifty. I really need to get one of those in f/1.4 form but it just wasn't in the stars for me on such short notice.

rpcrowe · March 17, 2008

I really like these images...
Your shots are great - album cover material... Congratulations!

greenpea · March 18, 2008

Great shots schmoo!

I've tried in the past to do concert photography and its HARD!

I have to say, you promted me to go check out the band... and I have to say I like there music. What's *THE* song I should listen too?

schmoo · March 18, 2008

greenpea wrote:

Great shots schmoo!

I've tried in the past to do concert photography and its HARD!

I have to say, you promted me to go check out the band... and I have to say I like there music. What's *THE* song I should listen too?

I've never really been successful at concert photography before, but those times I was fighting the lack of light, not working with it.

That's tough to say. I'm a big fan of EBM and the more melodic industrial and I have no clue what your musical tastes are. Scorch the Ground, The Promise, Poisonous Friend, Without You, October Song? I try new music by listening to the clips on iTunes.