I knew Ministry as the “pioneer of industrial metal” and I was not disappointed!
The evening was supposed to have three bands, unfortunately, Chelsea Wolfe had a bus issue and could not make it. It is sad as several people told me they were going to the show to see them.
Anyway, we still had two bands, The God Bombs, and Ministry.
The God Bombs delivered a really nice show, so much energy, and a music not so far from Combichrist (which I loved). It was a really nice discovery. I hope to see them again.
Ministry… Not much to say I found them really nice, I loved their music. If I knew their songs before going, I may have enjoyed more, but it was good enough. If you like Indus, you should definitely check them out and go see them live! You will not regret it.
Enjoy the photos and give me your feedback!
Shoot For <a href=”http://thoriummag.com/”>Thorium Magazine</a> !
Review (in French): Soon
It was my first time shooting at Centre Bell. For those who do not know it is the biggest venue in Montreal.
I was a bit stressed by this first time, but everything went pretty well.
The set up of the venue was at his minimal (“theatre mode”) and it was not really different from other venues. If it has been a 360 stage with full seats, I may have been a bit more intimidated.
We were stuck at console so my 70-200 was my best friend, and the only lens I used.
About the show itself… you can read my review (in French). To sum up, it was a really nice show, but it was not as good as Apocalyptica or Hans Zimmer. And when you only do covers of other artists, it is a bit disappointing. So I did not like it because it was bad but because with their talent and resources (and their own compositions), I think they could do a far better show. Yeah, it is a strange feeling.
On the photos side, besides being stuck far from the stage, it was sad that we can only see the first three songs, that were really quiet songs. When you see how they move and do crazy stuff during the hard-rock covers later in the show… It would have been so fun to photograph.
It is always a pleasure to see for the first time a band that you were listening to when you were a teenager.
For me, it was the case with Cradle of Filth. I heard a lot about them but never had the chance to see them live.
And it was a delight! What I heard it that their performance and costume were a bit less than what they use to do in the past, but for me, it was far enough and more than I am used to.
And this night was also the opportunity to see two bands as openers. One I have already seen, Uncured, opening for Soulfly and are still really nice to see on stage!
The second band was Jinjer from Ukraine, and I must say it was the nice surprise of the evening. A really great band, with a lot of energy! You must see them!
The only downside is that they would need a better light show, stroboscopic light on every song and almost all song… kind of boring for a full set.
Enjoy the photos and give me your feedback!
Shoot For Thorium Magazine !
Review (in french): http://thoriummag.com/cradle-of-filth-2018/
This is something that I am often asked about, what gear am I using to shoot concerts?
It mainly depends on the venue, knowing your venue helps a lot to determine the gear you may need, and a bit of the band, black metal generally needs a bit more of light than a big pop star like Madonna.
In my case, my gear is limited so what I am bringing for one night, 1 to 5 bands most of the time, is the same. But it is really different when I need to shoot a festival, will discuss this in a future blog post.
So my “one-night” bag looks like this:
The amazing Peak Design Everyday Messenger. It allows me to carry all my gear without taking too much space if I have no pit, It is easy to put it in front of me to be able to change lenses. If I got a pit I put it under the pit barrier or where I can. It is “waterproof”, which is always nice when a beer is raining.
Peak design Slide Strap. A comfortable strap, that will change your life if you are used to the canon default one.
A Canon 6D. A full-frame is really a nice thing to have for live photography, it allows you to have a really wide angle and a better quality when using high isos. I could definitely have a better body, 5D MKIV, 6D MK II, 1Dx… But it is enough to do my job, and at the time I purchase it, it was the one in my budget.
Canon 50mm F1.8. THE must-have for any concert photographer (and for me all photographers). It is really cheap, light, wide aperture, and 50mm on a full-frame body is a really good focal. If you are looking for a lens to start concert photography, go for it! I use it almost on all show, and it delivers really nice pictures, you just need to be careful to the depth of field and focus point to have a clean image.
Canon 16-35mm F4 L IS USM. A nice piece of glass that does the job. 16-35 allow you to shoot really wide angle, Being able to capture all the stage in one picture, or small portrait if you have access to the pit. When You have to shoot from the crowd, I use it only to do ambient shots, capturing the band with the crowd. If you do only low light photography, I strongly recommend you to go for the F2.8 version. The reason I am using this one is that when I purchase it, my goal was to do landscapes and daylight photography, so F4 was enough and lighter. The weight was my main concern to be able to hike and photograph at the same time. But At the end, if you are short on a budget the F4 can do the job, you will just need to crank up isos a bit.
Canon 70-200 F4 L IS USM. Same as above, I recommend you the F2.8 version which is THE best lens I have ever tested. But it is also more expensive and heavier. Otherwise, 70-200 is a really nice range for concert photography, it is really helpful to capture the drummer and do a nice portrait. And when shooting from the crowd is really a must-have.
2 extra batteries LP 6, I never had to change my battery even for a 5 band night, so it may seem to be overkill, but you never know what could happen (you can forget to put a battery in your body before leaving… and you are happy to have some extra when arriving at the venue – True Story)
Pelican 0915 SD Memory Card Case. Always protect your memory card, it is easy to break them, so having them in a good case is safer. Especially if your body does not have a dual slot, you do not have any backup while shooting so be careful.
Sd Cards. Usually got 6 from 8Go to 64Go. I switch between them from shows to shows in order to use all of them and not the same one every time. Use fast cards, no need for 4k filming cards, but choose at least a 90MB/s in writing. Otherwise, on a burst, you may be blocked by your card writing data, and miss a crucial shot.
A lanyard from HTBARP. Really useful when you have some credential other than a bracelet to enter the pit.
That’s it. A pretty small bag, that would need some upgrade, but this will be for another post.
If you have any suggestions or question about that, do not hesitate to comment or send me an e-mail.
The links in this post are affiliated links, that means that if you purchase gear using them, it will not cost you more money, but I will get a little commission helping me to keep this website alive. Thank you.
Concerts
