Queens of the Stone Age

I guess you could call last night the ‘opening act’ of my Foogasm tour. The Queens of the Stone Age played St. Louis last night and it was an AWESOME SHOW! I got there a little late and parking was a nightmare, so by the time I got inside the opening band was already playing. They were called ‘The Doughrollers’ I believe, a hard-edged rockabilly band that tasted a bit like the Stray Cats mixed with Social Distortion. They were good, although I’m not sure rockabilly suits the Queens crowd…still the crowd was polite and appreciative as seems to be the norm in St. Louis.

I worked my way down to the pit, hoping to get close enough for a decent photo or three. I got stuck around the middle of the floor behind five amped up dudes all over 6’ 3”. Damn. I tried getting around them, but no luck. I decided to wait it out, thinking there’d be a massive reshuffle on the floor once QotSA took the stage and I could flow right away from them. After a couple of elbows to the mouth and one to the right boob, I thought I might be doomed. The show hadn’t even started yet.

I think if I’d been drunker, I might have been more aggressive in staking my claim to a position on the floor. I’ve noted that for future reference…show up early and have a few drinks before attempting the pit. Anyway, the band took the stage and they were fantastic right off the bat, (Regular John and Avon nearly gave me squee overload) but there was no big wave that pushed me away from the tall guys. Bummer. I kept thinking to myself, ‘Damn, Josh Homme is 15 feet away from me, and all I can see is your nappy-assed head, drunk dude.’

I couldn’t get over how static the pit was. Usually once the band starts, it gets pretty liquid as people rock out, but last night everyone stood their ground like stone soldiers. Still, it was cool, I managed to get a few photos and rock out, but by the fifth or sixth song my battery died (photographer FAIL) and I had to pee and I wanted booze! So I crawled out of the pit. One guy literally would not move, so I apologized then pushed him out of the way so I could get around. Dude, you can’t just not move when someone’s trying to get out. Seriously, pit etiquette.

Ladies room, then the bar where I sucked down a very strong Jack and Coke. It was totally impossible to see from the bar area though, so I tossed my drink back and made my way over to a nice open spot in the back of the crowd stage left. It was perfect. I could see everything and I could dance! Squee! I watched the rest of the show there, but I noticed that there was a pathway guarded by venue staff that people were using to get right in at the front of the pit! Hey!

So when the encore came…guess where I was? Major fangirl euphoria when they played Little Sister. The whole crowd went nuts. Go With The Flow got an even bigger rush of fan love. I took some more pics with my phone, but…meh.

One of the aspects of the show that really made photography difficult was the constant blasts of really bright white light from behind the band. It made exposure a complete bitch. After doing some research on technique before the show, I’d settled on manual mode, ISO 800, auto WB, multi-point metering, and single shot instead of bursts. Things might have turned out differently, if my battery hadn’t died, but I learned a vital photography lesson last night (not just the battery thing either.)

When I shot Cowboy Mouth in February, I got more solid ‘good’ shots than any other rock show I’ve attempted to photograph. I shot it with my point and shoot, just like the Queens show. But for CM, I went with burst mode instead of single shot. On my camera, that limits you to ISO 400, which is really too low for the less-lit opening act, but better for the brighter lights they put on the main act (frankly, in the case of Queens I could have gone way lower on ISO). I don’t trust auto ISO at a show…shutter speed is just too unpredictable. Another thing I’d gotten right at CM was the metering. For that show, I used center-point metering and the exposure was more accurate and the shots didn’t wind up so washed out as they did last night. The advantage of burst mode is that you hopefully get one shot that is in focus. Motion blur from the band moving or me being jostled in the crowd is inevitable, so burst mode increases your chances of getting at least one good shot every time you lift the camera.

So…lessons learned.

1. Parking is a bitch, show up early.
2. Have a couple of drinks and go pee before entering the pit.
3. Look for alternate entrances to said pit.
4. Carry a spare, charged battery.
5. Burst mode
6. Central-point metering

Failures aside, I did get a couple of ‘okay’ shots. This is probably the best one…



However, this one is my favorite…



Overall, concert experience A+, Photography C-. Onward and upward.

In other news, the Foo Fighters are on SNL this weekend! :D And I’m going to a gig Friday night and shooting some local performers…more practice and fun with friends!

Photography? Are you nuts?

Hypothetical FAQ: So, you’ve decided to chuck a 15-year career in IT to start all over again in photography. Are you nuts? There's so much competition!

Yes, that has never been in question…I am certifiable. Photography is a difficult career. It’s physically and mentally challenging and the competition for good paying work is very high. But the same can be said for IT. Jobs are dwindling, pay is dwindling, and you have to constantly chase new skills to stay ahead. Every schmuck with a digital camera thinks he can call himself a “professional photographer”, but the same holds true for computer programmers. Can’t tell you how many hours of my life have been spent fixing some self-taught, so-called programmer’s catastrophes or arguing with an amateur dev over why they really do need to use a key field on their data table. Getting very tired of teaching Database 101 to my “professional” peers. I went to school so you don’t have to. Grr.

So why do I think that I’m the schmuck that can make it in photography? I don’t really but I’m not going to let that stop me anymore. I know what professional photography is and I know I am not yet worthy to call myself a pro. I’m not even a very good amateur yet. I look at other people’s photography every day and I’m sooooo not worthy to compare my work to a lot of what I see out in the world. Well, I can compare it, but the result is always, “Ooo, look at THAT! Man, I totally suck!” However, I have a crazy passion and just a little tiny itty bitty sparkle of talent. I keep reading over and over that it’s not so much your skill in photography that makes you…it’s your business and marketing skills. I hope that’s not totally true, but it gives me a little hope.

I did a scary thing this week…I did a Google map search for “photography” in the St. Louis area. The number of dots on that map was MIND BOGGLING! (see? Google Map of Photography in St.Louis) I was completely intimidated, but then I started clicking on those dots and taking a look at what was under them. I didn’t do a complete survey, but I explored a lot of dots for a couple of hours. About one third of those dots seem to be photo finishing/printing shops. We’re not going to consider Walgreens as the competition.

Of those dots that are photographers/studios, about a third of them have no business calling themselves professional photographers. I’m not even that bad now, and I suck! I can also make a website that doesn’t look like it came from the 1990s. So, I’m dismissing that lot too…not because I’m so confident in my present skills, but because I am not hanging my shingle out with the word “lame” on it. Lame is where I am right now, lame but improving dramatically. I have a bar to reach and I’m not going “pro” until I reach it. So, I’m crossing off that batch too.

Still, the map is scary even whittled down that far. So after you hack out the Walgreens and Pro Processors, and then the “so bad they should be ashamed” crowd, you have a big segment that are talented, self-taught amateurs trying to make a go of it or educated pros who don’t really have much in the way of artistic style to set them apart. When you whittle it all the way down to just people who have the skill to make your eyes pop out of your head…well, it’s a lot, but a far more manageable number. If I shoot for that level of skill, I should be able to swing some sort of meager living out of this adventure and maybe stop hating almost every minute of my day…and if I fail, I can crawl back to IT and bleak despair. :P

Another thing about the map…lots and lots of portrait and wedding photography. I totally understand why and trust me, I’ve seen some stunning art made in these specialties. But if I have to go to a lot of weddings, I will poke out my own eyes. It’s just me…I don’t like weddings and receptions are worse. I believe there may be a finite number of times I can hear The Electric Slide before my brain self combusts. Why risk it? Even the best weddings I’ve ever been to were endurance tests. Might not be as boring if I was shooting it, but I think my hang-ups would show in the work. I just wouldn’t be good at it.

So, what interests me? What area of photography do I see myself in? I like working in the studio. I like the engineering involved, the puzzle solving, the alchemy of controlling the light. So, I’m thinking commercial photography is where I’ll wind up.

So looking back at the photography map and only considering commercial photography…hell yeah, the size of that field looks manageable, of course I have no idea what the market is in St. Louis, but at least the map is less intimidating. Now the skill involved? Oh lord, I’m no where close.

So much to think about…so much to learn, but I’m ready. Let’s go!

Since I forgot to post a photo on my last brain dump, here’s one I took recently after being inspired by a pro photographer’s blog post about embracing auto modes (I have the bookmark here somewhere but I’ll be damned if I can find it right now…will keep looking).

So here’s the photo…shot in full automatic macro mode with a table lamp and a cheap, craft-store feather.

Foostalgia

On April 12 the Foo Fighters will release their 9th disc, entitled Wasting Light. Today they posted the new album on their website (http://wastinglight.foofighters.com/). This will be my third full listen to the album and I find myself recalling how I felt back in 1995 when I slipped that very first Foo Fighters CD into my player.

Let me take you back…

Still stinging with grief from the loss of Kurt, we little rocker fans were a bit unsure about Dave’s new project. Big Me was swarming all around the airwaves, and while it’s a good pop tune, it wasn’t the hard-edged brain blast we’d grown so fond of/addicted to from the days of Nirvana. Still, many of us, myself included…were willing to let Dave have his chance and bought the Foo Fighter’s CD out of loyalty…and hope.

I remember sitting there with my roommate at the time, staring at my little boom box basically daring Dave to present us with an album full of wimpy pop crap. He did NOT. As the album continued to play, I found my jaw dropping further and further. There were only a couple of pop songs (and the radio grabbed right hold of those) but the rest of the songs were pure grunge brilliance. Weenie Beanie and Watershed still remain two of my favorite, hardest rocking tunes ever. When the disc was over, my roommate and I looked at each other and said, “Wow. That was great!”

While I have, over the years, continued to rank every Foo release higher than most other rock groups, there was something special about that first album and a lot of it had to do with it far exceeding some jaded, cynical, low expectations. I mean really, how often does a drummer step out from behind the kit and completely own the front-man spot? Yeah, Dave and Phil Collins…it’s a short list.

So the reason I’m remembering that experience of listening to the first Foo Fighter’s album is because I had the same response the first time I heard Wasting Light. Only instead of low expectations, the Foos had set the bar pretty high over the years, so what is so amazing about Wasting Light is that it makes my jaw drop in the same way that first record did. They set the fricking bar rock-star high and then soared right over it!!

Wasting Light hits the stores April 12. Don’t miss it. It is, in this humble fan’s opinion, the best Foo Fighters album ever!