Red lights are a gig photographers worst enemy, they make photos look awful plus more than often end up in loss of detail & an image which really cannot be saved....

This years Soundwave Festival was highly anticipated by the public who have attended in the last few years, the event has each year been able to provide a line-up that impressed & 2009 is no different. One thing that is different is the location, after spending two years at Sydney Park - St Peters they've shipped out west to Eastern Creek Raceway, eliminating noise restrictions (among other things) but venturing out of the easily accessible CBD area, the reaction to the announcement came with mixed reactions but overall I don't think anyone REALLY minds travelling the extra distance for the bands they have imported this year!

I've been lucky to shoot the 2007 + 2008 events & again I've been approved to shoot again for a third year in a row (though I bought my ticket just in case as my credentials have since changed)

Click to see my photos of Underoath - Lamb Of God - Devildriver & Lacuna Coil from past shows

My day has panned out to look like this:

(walk around / merch)

All That Remains 1pm-1:30pm                                Unearth 1:50pm-2:20pm

Underoath 2:50pm-3:25pm                                      Poison The Well 3:30pm-4pm

(break time)

Dillenger Escape Plan 4:40pm-5pm                        36Crazyfists 5:20pm-5:55pm

Lacuna Coil 6:15pm-6:50pm                                    Devildriver or Alice In Chains 7:10pm-7:55pm

Nine Inch Nails or In Flames 8:10pm-8:50pm          Lamb Of God 9:10pm-10pm

I was anticipating this show, they put on an awesome set @ Soundwave 2008

Again they came out with a force, unfortunately I was off my game & had a bad night shooting wise...so the shots below don't do justice in my eyes

Keep an eye out for shots from Craig Nye & Dave Youdell who were also shooting last night.

With 2008 coming to a close, I give you a selection of some of my favourite shots taken by me during the year.

I look forward to 2009, who knows what lies around the corner for me.

Merry Christmas & Safe New Years to all!

Dan

Bit of a disappointing night for me (results wise), I should have known that there would not be a barricade for a show like Kate Miller-Heidke.

I turn up & find out that I have to "politely" push to the front for 3 songs, I do so & end up 1 person in from the stage on the right side of the middle.

Kate comes out & spends 75% of the 3 songs at her keyboard on the left (doh) & I ended up directly behind one of the Sony TV Camera's - I've cropped & cloned him out of all the wide shots, though you can see the shadow in the bottom left corner of a couple.

I'd like to get the chance to shoot her again to rectify some of my problems, hopefully can do so soon!

Big thanks to Leanne (KMH Management) for setting up my pretty laminate press pass.

Well it's been over a month since my last show (Trivium) and I was keen to bring out the camera from under the dust & what better time than for the current pop rock 'it' band which are currently hogging up the radio waves - Metro Station.

The crowd was as I expected, packed to the rims with sweaty 15-16yo girls in black, there to see there hardcore looking but fairy music playing idols....no more than 1 minute in the venue & I was called a gangster for being in a hoodie from an MCR shirt wearing girly - seems like I was in for a good night

The lack of shooting shows in my results, my reaction times were slow and I couldn't nail 1 jump shot of Miley Cyrus's brother 'Trace Cyrus' (the dude who ends up in the b/w singlet) - I won't mention that he gave me like 8 chances to do so...being off the drummer or keyboardists platform

However given my latest break, I am looking forward to getting some cracker shots in a few weeks when Slipknot @ Acer Arena comes around at the end of October.

Dan

UNSW Roundhouse once again seen the boys from Byron Bay tear the venue apart, like a fine wine these guys seem to get better with age, stepping up a few notches since their last major show in Sydney (which was not too long ago I might add)

This time around they were supported by Break Even, Antagonist & Have Heart.

After another show tonight @ UNSW, Parkway Drive will pack up & tour through the US & Europe between July-November.

Last night seen a sold out Hordern Pavillion crowd rocking out to the tunes of BFMV, A7X & Atreyu.

This was the second time in a year that I've been able to shoot BFMV & it was great to see them bring a bigger stage production this time...the definitely were the highlight of my night, Atreyu were also good however A7X seemed to lack any punch so after my 3song limit I exited the building.

Hopefully it will not be long before BFMV head back to our shores, the know how to put on a great show...mixed with killer riffs & melodic vocals, you're destined to enjoy

As for upcoming shows, Rogue Traders is a maybe for next week + Jona from IKTPQ is giving me an AAA pass to cover their sold out farewell tour show @ UNSW Roundhouse, look forward to some killer shots there.

Dan.

Korn - they were the band that convinced me to convert from rap to metal, so I was eager to get the chance to shoot them before they decided to call it a day.

I arrived at about 6pm to find that my pass has not been organised properly, after several calls/messages to KMW & a print out of my confirmation email an hour passes & box office give me the photo pass, however Bloodsimple had already been and gone by this stage.

Unfortunately all the supports had awful lighting, Chimaira being the worst of them which was disappointing as I was looking forward to seeing them. Not to mention I also tore a chunk out of my shin while walking in to the pit area, kicked the corner of the steel security platform...awful sight.

Korn took the stage and all was forgotten, they definitely improved on their last performance here in Sydney (their show with Disturbed was beyond awful) and the small crowd that attended went nuts, Sunday night @ the Entertainment Centre & they could barely manage to bring in 5,000 kids.

Good Morning...

Monday afternoon, going on about 8 days since I moved into the new apartment & iPrimus are still not providing my with the internet service I pay for! Anyhoo that's another story

This weekend I had the pleasure in being able to shoot my first 'pop' show, and who bigger than Celine Dion - she is highly regarded in the industry as a truly gifted singer & sells out shows around the world. I got the call on Friday afternoon, so it was a nice surprise for the weekend - especially after I received an email stating the otherwise 2 weeks ago.

David Youdell & myself arrived at about 8:15pm ahead of the 8:30pm request time & noticed Getty Images shooter standing inside the Acer Arena halls to our surprise, we were assuming the traditional box office meet with the Coppell rep...however after an initial problem with door security due to our equipment, we made it inside.

Things were a little behind schedule, we made our way inside to the awaiting audience (whom might I add paid a premium price for front row seats) where we waiting till about 9:05pm - with a few relieved spectators who questioned the length of our presence - one song access for this one folks!

Once took the stage & opened with Drive All Night, there was no question that the crowd were not going to sit around...everyone stood up & started dancing along with the woman they were all there to see.

To my surprise, Celine puts on a suprisingly energetic performance given the genre she falls into - I was anticipating a gentle creature to charm the crowd with her high notes, that definitely was not the case, she puts in as much energy & movement as a rock act.

Dan

The Big Top, Luna Park was packed with eager teens screaming to see their first glimpse of the HIM lead sing & Finnish heart throb - Ville Valo.

While my satisfaction levels were not really met, given the high energy shows I usually attend...the crowd seemed more than happy with the performance from the band while I was in attendance.

Here are a few shots from the night.

Keep an eye out for shots from Korn's show w/ the likes of Chimaira & Bloodsimple in April. 

Unfortunately I was denied entry to Celine Dion, Maroon 5 & I had to turn down Smashing Pumpkins + the Gucci Spring Release...however there is still plenty of time left in the year to get the content rolling

Dan

Aussie rockers Grinspoon recently headlined a show @ UNSW Roundhouse on Mar 7 2008, along side them were Many Machines On Nine who put on a solid performance which included some new tracks.

I found a nifty tool called PictoBrowser which I thought I'd try out...seeing as I haven't posted anything in a while. It uses your Flickr account and creates a slideshow for shots in sets or allocated specific keywords, I was hoping that it would pick up everything in my gallery, unfortunately it only allows for 'public' images.

I was pretty happy with some of the shots, UNSW's lighting rig has improved in the last 6months or so...a little too much red front were used but managed squeeze in a few regular skin toned shots (can't stand red!)

After being asked a few times & recently receiving the question below, I thought I might try and clear a few things out when it comes to taking photos at events.

'how do you go about bringing your camera in to the mosh pit though?? xx lis'

First up, something is wrong with my comments, they aren't showing any email addresses which are filled out, only websites...so I am sorry that I can't respond to you directly, hopefully you come back and stumble across this post.

The gig photography business is not something you can overnight decide to do, unfortunately for large scale events/festivals you need accreditation from the artist, their management, the promoter & sometimes the venue. In order to achieve this you need to be representing a legitimate media organisation - being either a magazine, newspaper, webzine or agency.

Before you make it to this level you obviously will require a decent camera, no one wants to look at fuzzy/blurry images that can be achieved on a mobile phone - the best entry level DSLR setup you can buy in my opinion is the Canon 350D (RebelXT for you overseas viewers) with the Canon 50mm f1.8 MKII lens. Though now days you might have to purchase the upgraded model which is the Canon 400D as the 350D is pretty much fazed out.

This is the setup I used when starting out, one which can achieve amazing results when in the right environment. If you look at my portfolio, at least 50-60% of the shots you look at is with this setup.

The 50mm f1.8 is a sharp and fast lens that can be used in any situation - from your large scale arenas down to the low light pub setup down at your local venue. It's a lens which is kept as back-up by many professionals should the lighting ever be a problem & it comes with a great price tag of only $100-$115 in the shops. 

OK, so you have your camera setup now, how do you go about shooting bands?

Myspace can be a powerful tool - I've arranged many club shoots by just contacting the band directly, of course you cannot start charging $$$ right away - without a solid portfolio you won't receive any positive answers...starting off you will be doing a lot of favours - look in your local street press/venue website for upcoming shows & offer your services to the bands in exchange for free entry.

Try shoot as much as possible to become familiar & comfortable with camera settings in various situations/environments - don't forget to switch up your angles to avoid shots looking the same, move around the stage every few minutes.

Some ideal club venues in Sydney to learn in: The Annandale Hotel, Gaelic Club, The Factory & Manning Bar

Once you are comfortable and taking great shots on a regular basis, join a webzine/street press i.e. FasterLouder & The Dwarf - these frequently cover club shows but also some of the large scale events. They ask for photographers to cover shows every week, so put your hand up for club shows & meet their deadlines for a number of shows before requesting to shoot one of the big name shows.

This is where you really test yourself - you have to contend with a number of other photographers in the pit trying to capture the ideal moments, so there can be a bit of tension when getting a good spot in front of stage - be sure to move around to allow the others to snap away, you don't want to get a bad name for yourself amongst the scene if you become a regular - now instead of being able to shoot the entire set, you are given restrictions which are preset by the artist & their management...this can range from the first 30 seconds of a song at the sound desk to the industry standards of 3 songs infront of stage - remember no flash is allowed to be used in any case within the large shows, BUT you should be used to average conditions now from shooting in the clubs

If you produce some great shots regularly & impress the right people, more shows will come.

After a few years & now hopefully with a decent portfolio you can start to look at shooting for a publication or photo agency to try and make back some of the cash you would definitely have spent on drinks/transport for the countless number of shows you have now covered.

Once you can afford an upgrade, do so - decent semi-pro/professional body such as the Canon 40D or 5D

Lens Range: Canon L Glass is the way to go - Canon 24-70mm f2.8 + Canon 70-200mm f2.8 seems to be the most used setup - however if you take a look at Triple J photographer Matt Booy, you can see prime lenses (such as the 50mm) can easily do the job (though you might get annoyed from interchanging lenses) Canon 20mm, 85mm & either the 135mm or 200mm will be enough for all situations

Anyway I'm sposed to be working in the office right now, so hopefully I've answered a few of your questions & pointed at least one person in the right way.

Any questions don't hesitate to email me - dan@dbedford.com

Dan