This was a more atmospheric night in Montreal with Katatonia at Studio TD. From a photographer’s perspective, it was not the best conditions to make great shots. I did my best to come back with good pictures.
The band was supported by Cellar Darling and The Ocean Collective. Two really nice bands that in the end had better lighting than Katatonia. I think this is one of the first times when I have had better pictures of the opening acts ! Here is my full photo report of the night.
Cellar Darling
The Ocean Collective
Katatonia
Photographer’s Corner
There are some night better than other as concert photographer. This one was more on the “nightmare” side. And this is not really the bands fault. Studio TD is one of those venue where you almost never have a pit. So, the photographer job is already a bit harder, even if you can come back with great images in this configuration.
But the bands had really bad lighting, at least for photographers. This often happens with more atmospheric bands. The stage is pretty dark with a bit of backlighting, and it is almost all. So it can look great for the audience, but for photographer, it is pretty hard to get out with great picture.
And the last thing was that the venue was full and no moshpits. So it was really hard to change position in the crowd to get another point of view. And I do not even talk about being close to the stage.
In the end my favorite pictures are the one from the first band, Cellar Darling.
If you can photograph The Ocean Collective in better conditions than mine, I think you could end up with great picture, the band is moving and offer good photo opportunities. I would be perfect if they had a bit more light.
Gear used for Katatonia at Studio TD:
This time I tried to switch my lenses to have my 14-35mm on the R7 (which make it a 22-56mm with the crop factor) and the 70-200 on my R6. It allows me to have less gap in my focal range but I am losing on the wide angle side. For this show it was not really an issue, but I would prefer to keep the 14-35 on full frame for shows that are not in arenas. That means that I may go for the new R6 II to stay with full frame for both of my bodies. Stay tuned.
I got a weird issue with my R7 during the show. The rear dial kind of locked itself and I am still unable to unlock it. It was a bit annoying.
My chance is that in the end, with this “nightmare” show for a photographer, I mainly use my 70-200 on my R6. I took like 20% of the pictures with the R7.
My gear for Katatonia at Studio TD:
- Canon R6 + RF 14-35mm F/4 L IS
- Canon R7 + RF 70-200mm F/4 L IS
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Thank Vecteur Magazine, who allowed me to get to Centre Bell to shoot the event.
Let me know what you think about the photos!
You can find the rest of the gallery here.
Have a good day.