Bang Camaro @ Santos Party House, NYC 3/13

[FootAJ]

I'll start off with a brief intro incase you haven't heard of Bang Camaro. Bang Camaro are a band consisting of 2 guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, and anywhere from 10 to 20 singers. All their songs have yellable/chantable lyrics, and usually consist of extensive guitar solos. They are easily the most energetic band I've seen (I've seen them before as a fan, not a photographer), and there's beer (and people) going on and off the stage at all times, being thrown, jumping, and spit everywhere. It's one of the most fun concerts I've ever seen.

However, fun concerts don't always equate to easy concerts to shoot, it seems. I ended up being let in early with some friends and we got to watch the soundcheck alone in the venue, which was pretty cool. I chatted up a few guys from the band, got some personal emails so I can contact them today and tomorrow about the photos. I then secured my spot at the front. There was no pit, which is fine, however, as soon as Bang Camaro came on I knew it was going to be hard. The opening bands had ONLY red lighting, with occasional strobe lights kicking in every few songs. Last time I saw Bang Camaro, they played most of the set with the house lights up, so I was hoping for that this time so I could capture the energy. However, when they came on, it was PURE red lighting. My camera wouldn't focus half the time, and even at f/1.8 and ISO 1600, most of the pictures were way too dark. Even worse, though, was that there was no way to get shots of half the band! The singers were lined up infront of the drummer, so I never even saw him, and on such a tiny stage, about 5-6 of the singers were in complete darkness! Nonetheless, I toughed it out and came out with some decent images. Definitely not my best work, but it was a blast being able to see them again and they loved interacting with the camera! Sadly, autofocus missed out on most of the cool moments.

As always, C&C is welcomed, as is editing the photos. The rest of the set can be found HERE: http://www.flickr.com/photos/footaj/sets/72157615194004551/ . Enjoy!

1.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3547/3354841438_fb1cdf1ea3.jpg

2.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3135/3354877542_91c2f78cb0.jpg

3.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/3354111573_22054e6d25.jpg

4.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/3354899882_1136471495.jpg

5.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3354100249_8936280ff2.jpg

6.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3551/3354933606_059612814a.jpg

7.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3440/3354855300_61ff78bc39.jpg

8.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3542/3354939636_c604dc4254.jpg

[Bukanza]

Nice shots despite the conditions you described. I like pics 1 and 3 the most as they convey the most emotion. 4 is the least interesting as he seems to be standing still.

Just out of curiosity were you getting jostled a lot in the crowd? I'm going to be shooting a similar show soon and am wondering what to expect.

[johnstoy]

#2 and #3 are my picks from this set... Interesting.

[FootAJ]

johnstoy and Bukanza, thanks for the feedback.

As for the crowd, here's how it went down. I secured a place against the stage (left of center) before the band went on. Once the band went on, after the first 2 songs, I tried moving towards the other side of the stage (just for a song) so I could get the other band members. No one in the crowd would move for me, and I mostly ended up getting dirty looks. I quickly went back to my original spot and just did the best I could from there.

My advice would be to try and get a spot close to the center and GO WIDE!!!! Aside from my 18-70 (3.5-4.5), which is too slow, my 50 1.8 is my fastest and widest lens and it was WAY too long. As you can see, I made it work, but it would have been a lot nicer to have had a FF camera and the widest, fastest possible lens, especially with a 20 person band!

And whatever you do, don't stop shooting. I shot the entire show since I talked with the band and venue before hand, and they both had absolutely no limitations on anything. A lot of my better shots came from the end and especially the encore, where they didn't use as much red lighting and switched to blue. You never know what might change! Also, who are you shooting, if you don't mind me asking?