In an odd case of deja-vu, the band that opened up for Steel Panther at the Metropolis was Future Villains, the same band that opened for them last year. Going in to this concert I had high hopes of walking out with some pretty good shots. Along with my partner in crime, we showed up at the Metropolis early, and though there was still a line going around the building, we were still in the building shortly after the doors opened. My hopes were to get as close to the stage as possible, as being close to the stage would mean less obstructions, I mean other fans, between the band and I. Much to my surprise, not only were we able to get close to the stage, but we found
ourselves standing right next to the little barrier that separated the fans from the stage. Front row! Who could ask for anything more. Sure, there was still a little more than an hour and a half before the show started, but I was exactly where I wanted to be. Well, a little more off to the right of the stage, but I wasn't going to complain about that since we were right there in the front. Finally, the house lights went down and it was show time. The band hit the stage, the first song was rocking and I started snapping a few photographs when I noticed one of the security guards making his way towards me. "You're not allowed to take photographs during the show." Yep, those were the exact words. I quickly mentioned that I had been given the okay from a friend of mine who works backstage at the Metropolis, which was in fact true, but it turns out that he wasn't working that night. I was told again not to take any pictures and the guard went back to the stage. A wave of disappointment crashed over me as we had spent the time getting to the venue early just to get these spots, and now I wasn't even going to be able to take any photographs. Now, in all honesty, the guy was doing his job,
and he was right when he said that photography was not allowed, but my disappointment quickly turned to anger when I looked to my right down the line of fans and not only saw others taking photographs during the show, but one fan was even recording video of the event with their iPad. Not a word of warning or batted eyelash from my security guard friend, despite the fact that all of this was happening about five feet from where I stood. To add insult to my injury, my buddy then took out his cellphone and began to record video from the show himself, just to rub it in (with friends like that...). My friend feels that I had made it a little obvious that I knew what I
was doing while taking a bunch of photographs right away, as compared to the others who would snap away only a few times. I suppose that I can understand that point of view, though it doesn't make up for the iPad fan. Though this fan being blonde and having forgotten to button her shirt all the way to the top might have afforded her some leeway. So, I tried to be a little bit more sneaky. The next few songs, the camera never made it higher than my waist. I wanted to give the guard the impression that I would be following his orders. As the guard slowly made his way back to his seat by the stage, I slowly began to move further to my left, where there would now be a large speaker between myself and the guard. Then, I tried to pick my spots. Moments in songs where there wasn't much movement on the stage, and quickly brought up my camera to take a shot or two before quickly bringing it back down. It was kind of annoying, and I was not able to play with the settings at all between shots, but I managed to walk away with a few photographs to show for my trouble. I even think the quality of shots I got is much better than last time. Feel free to
go back in 
time and see for yourselves. Here, the first photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm. The second photograph was taken at f/10, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm. I only got away with f/10 because there was a bright spotlight on the singer. I had to take the photograph quickly as I was in stealth mode at the moment, but I really like the star effect that shooting at f/10 created with the spotlight. The third photograph was taken at, f/3.5, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm. The fourth photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm and the final photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm. Much like the year before, the band stuck around after the show to sign merchandise, so this year I picked up their CD and all five members of the band signed it for me. There were a bunch of good guys. Hope they make their way up here again one day.
ourselves standing right next to the little barrier that separated the fans from the stage. Front row! Who could ask for anything more. Sure, there was still a little more than an hour and a half before the show started, but I was exactly where I wanted to be. Well, a little more off to the right of the stage, but I wasn't going to complain about that since we were right there in the front. Finally, the house lights went down and it was show time. The band hit the stage, the first song was rocking and I started snapping a few photographs when I noticed one of the security guards making his way towards me. "You're not allowed to take photographs during the show." Yep, those were the exact words. I quickly mentioned that I had been given the okay from a friend of mine who works backstage at the Metropolis, which was in fact true, but it turns out that he wasn't working that night. I was told again not to take any pictures and the guard went back to the stage. A wave of disappointment crashed over me as we had spent the time getting to the venue early just to get these spots, and now I wasn't even going to be able to take any photographs. Now, in all honesty, the guy was doing his job, 
and he was right when he said that photography was not allowed, but my disappointment quickly turned to anger when I looked to my right down the line of fans and not only saw others taking photographs during the show, but one fan was even recording video of the event with their iPad. Not a word of warning or batted eyelash from my security guard friend, despite the fact that all of this was happening about five feet from where I stood. To add insult to my injury, my buddy then took out his cellphone and began to record video from the show himself, just to rub it in (with friends like that...). My friend feels that I had made it a little obvious that I knew what I 
was doing while taking a bunch of photographs right away, as compared to the others who would snap away only a few times. I suppose that I can understand that point of view, though it doesn't make up for the iPad fan. Though this fan being blonde and having forgotten to button her shirt all the way to the top might have afforded her some leeway. So, I tried to be a little bit more sneaky. The next few songs, the camera never made it higher than my waist. I wanted to give the guard the impression that I would be following his orders. As the guard slowly made his way back to his seat by the stage, I slowly began to move further to my left, where there would now be a large speaker between myself and the guard. Then, I tried to pick my spots. Moments in songs where there wasn't much movement on the stage, and quickly brought up my camera to take a shot or two before quickly bringing it back down. It was kind of annoying, and I was not able to play with the settings at all between shots, but I managed to walk away with a few photographs to show for my trouble. I even think the quality of shots I got is much better than last time. Feel free to go back in 
time and see for yourselves. Here, the first photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm. The second photograph was taken at f/10, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm. I only got away with f/10 because there was a bright spotlight on the singer. I had to take the photograph quickly as I was in stealth mode at the moment, but I really like the star effect that shooting at f/10 created with the spotlight. The third photograph was taken at, f/3.5, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm. The fourth photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm and the final photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm. Much like the year before, the band stuck around after the show to sign merchandise, so this year I picked up their CD and all five members of the band signed it for me. There were a bunch of good guys. Hope they make their way up here again one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment