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I have tried the band stuff locally but its blinking hard so hats off to you.
A lot of the pics you take seem to be of rock/metal bands, is this by accident or design?
Quote: You carry a few fast primes, have you ever considered adding a lensbaby to your collection.
I have used a Lensbaby briefly, and it was a lot of fun, but for my band work I just don't think it would be suitable, especially if they move fast/erratically, as confirming focus visually can often be difficult under stage lights.
Quote: There's not many other gig photographers on EPZ. When you look through the gallery what kind of images grab your attention? What do you look for and what generally do you vote on/comment on?
Do you use the filters or just browse through from page 1?
I don't have much time nowadays for looking through the gallery like I might've done in the past. I sometimes search for music shots, but like you said, there aren't many on here.
Bright, colourful images tend to catch my eye, whether they be landscapes, architecture or whatever. I also like to try and deconstruct the lighting on stuff taken with portable flashes outdoors, as that's something I like to experiments with too.
Quote: I have tried the band stuff locally but its blinking hard so hats off to you.
A lot of the pics you take seem to be of rock/metal bands, is this by accident or design?
I shoot anything and everything, music-wise anyway. I tend to find my images of rock & metal bands tend to be my favourites, probably as they're generally more lively on stage than your usual indie or pop act.
Quote: Over the years the big Rock bands, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rush and the like, have upped the stage and light shows. Out of all the big ones who are your favourites for stage presence and for light shows?
Kiss put on an amazing show, as did Rob Zombie when I photographed him the other week. Pyros are always fun on stage. The heat you feel from them is something else when close by!
My absolute favourite lighting show is that of Neurosis (who aren't really a big band). One of the band members is a visual artist, so they play lit entirely by his visuals, which are projected over the stage. The first time I saw them live, was at Hove Festival in Norway on the Amfi Stage. This stage is set in a natural amphitheatre in the woods, so when I'd finished snapping from the pit, I wandered up the hill at the back to take in the visuals and the atmosphere. It was bloody brilliant! Here's a video of them performing live, even though it's a really poor quality video, just watching that makes the hairs stand up on my neck. They're such an intense live band. You may also notice, they're a nightmare to photograph!
Whats been the strangest and most challenging event for you so far for getting pictures.
Strangest?
I'm not entirely sure. Probably having to stay out of the line of sight of Patti Smith when I photographed her at ATP festival a couple of years ago, although I've had plenty of other restrictions like that. Apparently she doesn't like photographers in her view or somehting like that anyway.
For example, Nick Cave only allows photographers for the first song, which nearly all the lights are turned down for. When I shot Mastodon, their tour manager requested we shot the last three songs, instead of the usual first three, as the band feel they look better when properly into their swing and proper sweaty.
The most challenging gig is a difficult one... there's been so many that could qualify for one reason or another. A coupld that spring to mind... 1349 at the corporation in sheffield a few years ago were lit entirely by strobe lights (apart from a couple of weak blue lights behind them). Monotonix at Les Eurockeenes Festival played in the crowd, so apart from shooting from within the mosh, the singer kept crowd surfing. I got this shot shortly before he landed on me, giving me a slight concussion.
Strangest?
For me it was this, by day gigs in bright sunlight with absolutely no shade, by night tiny pubs and bars that where totally rammed, extremely fun though 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLIPalNJE3k&feature=related
Only wish there was more of this type
Haha, the narrow boat is certainly a stranger venue than I've aver shot in. I've shot a few in churches and in high street shops, but never on a boat.
Oh in fact, once a year Drowned in Sound Events organises a gig at a roller disco in Sheffield, which is a lot of fun...
Quote: Haha, the narrow boat is certainly a stranger venue than I've aver shot in. I've shot a few in churches and in high street shops, but never on a boat
From the roof not inside, far too cramped.
Got to admit, first time I`ve seen roller skates used in this way
Quote: Light painting... yes, but I'm not sure what you mean by grafitti.
it's that stuff yellow munky does - you draw with torches, usually things like flower, aliens etc .
was in Kirkheaton showing a camera club how to do it this evening - they loved it
Quote: What inspires the "look" for your shots, the music, the characters in the group or something entirely different?
On a separate tack, how's your hearing after the barrage of sound you must have experienced over the years ?
To be honest, I'm never quite conscious of creating a 'look' with my images, it's more a case of producing the best images I can under the circumstances. I think colour is really important, as I think it helps to convey the atmosphere of the stage, so I'm always conscious of the lighting behind the artist, to try and capture as much of that as possible.
As for my hearing, I used to have really bad tinnitus, but that has subsided over the past few years due to me using decent quality earplugs. If you're going to be subjected to high noise levels, I can't stress enough how important hearing protection is. Sensorcom are the place I buy my earplugs from, they doa fantastic range for decent prices.
Quote: it's that stuff yellow munky does - you draw with torches, usually things like flower, aliens etc .
was in Kirkheaton showing a camera club how to do it this evening - they loved it
Cool. I might look that up and have an experiment next time I'm out on a jaunt
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