Well that sucks.

[britt49]

haha, I thought there should maybe be a thread on the things that go wrong/not so much fun.

example, going to a show you have no interest in whatsoever alone to photograph, and have to stand awkwardly for 4 hours until finally the headliner comes on

[bacchanal]

I hate it when people actually show up to shows. I don't really like people all that much. I just want to go see some bands, photograph them, and drink some beer...and I like to have a little elbow room when I'm doing these things.

I hate it when musicians talk between songs...no one (who isn't completely drunk) wants to hear your stupid story that may or may not mention the town that you happen to currently be in...just play the damn guitar.

I hate it when people kick me, throw beer at me, or knock my stuff over.

I hate it when I'm up in the club and people keep blowing up ma-ma-ma telephone.

I hate it when musicians stay at my house and have sex on my couch. Geez.

Who am I kidding, I don't really have any real horror stories. Though, I did get into a bit of a situation at the Metro in Chicago once. One of the security ladies was bent on throwing me out (because I looked out the front door aka "left the venue"). I wasn't really having any of it as I was with the band, and pretty much all the other security folks acted like they thought the lady was kind of crazy.

[narlus]

i pulled a rookie mistake yesterday by leaving my gear in my car all day. it's winter here.

by the time i got to the club, all my lenses had fogged up, and kept fogging up for quite some time, despite frequent wipe-downs (on both elements). by the time the headliner got on i was good, but it took ~90 min at least to equilibrate.

[Compact Diss]

I went to a hardcore show, made the huge mistake of standing at the very point that separated the moshers from the non/moshers.

A guy crowd surfing was basically thrown right at me, his foot went into my camera, knocking my camera into my eye, which caused my contact to get messed up so badly that I had to take it out.

I was an hour away from home, had to miss the headliner, and drive home with one eye...very dangerous. Now I keep a pair of glasses, and contact stuff in my car at all times...

[jmcder53]

i didn't have my camera but i was at a Weezer concert and stuck in the mosh area where some guy kept trying to crowd surf. i got kicked in the head, so i tried to take his shoes. not much luck with that though. your story just reminded me of that.

[narlus]

i got knocked hard a couple of times when i shot The Freeze a couple of years ago...i learned very quickly to try to keep both eyes open, and not stay in one spot too long.

getting in the pit (mosh, not photo, obviously) to take shots is definitely a dangerous occupation. probably my favorite i've taken is this one of Trash Talk (http://narlus.zenfolio.com/p331213637), which definitely got crazy...i bailed rather quickly, since i had my bag w/ another camera and ~3 other lenses w/ me.

http://narlus.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p966096988-4.jpg

i was up front for the Jesus Lizard, getting pummeled, when the crowd passed singer David Yow back to the stage, right on top of me. i had my camera in one hand, and a flash via off-camera cord in the other, and basically just ducked and tried to use my forearms to prop him up. i got some nice rib bruises from being thrown into the barrier that night, but also got some shots i was pretty happy with.

http://narlus.zenfolio.com/p512145096/e3de5807

[bacchanal]

Yeah, after getting kicked in the chest and knocked into a PA stand (while looking through an 85mm), I now use something that I call the "tiger stance"...aware of center of gravity at all times. :lol:

[TeenPhotog]

I've had the singer accidentally spit/spray and came down on my front element. Of course I forgot a cleaning cloth.
Also I've had recurrent dreams of remembering everything except a card. Fortunately that hasn't happened yet

[skifurthur]

At one concert I had two bodies, all my lenses, all my memory cards but only one battery. The battery for the second body was still in the charger in the hotel room. I know have a pre-show checklist printed out that I check before I go to the site.

The other night at a Dropkick Murphy show myself and my assistant were the only photographers allowed to shoot after the first three songs. The photo pit got a bit hairy as the night went on because that's where security deposited the crowd surfers before sending them back to surf again. At one point I counted 7 bodies coming over the rail with apendages flying. I only got winged once!

[blackshadow]

At one concert I had two bodies, all my lenses, all my memory cards but only one battery. The battery for the second body was still in the charger in the hotel room. I know have a pre-show checklist printed out that I check before I go to the site.

The other night at a Dropkick Murphy show myself and my assistant were the only photographers allowed to shoot after the first three songs. The photo pit got a bit hairy as the night went on because that's where security deposited the crowd surfers before sending them back to surf again. At one point I counted 7 bodies coming over the rail with apendages flying. I only got winged once!

I hope you got a shot of 7 bodies coming over at once!

I once turned up to a gig with no battery in my camera - it was left on the charger at home - luckily I was there early enough to head back home and make it back before the bands started - I just lost a bit of pre-gig drinking time. I haven't made the same mistake twice. One advantage of using 1 series bodies is that it's very hard to leave without a battery.

[britt49]

i think this thread is a flying success ehh,
and it makes you feel a good solidarity with all the things that happen which are kind of funny to look back on but not so fun at the time,

and yeah batteries/running out of space on the card are fears of mine hhaah

also got a little kick to the nose last night at a pretty rowdy ****ed up concert,
but fortunately i just tucked in to the side for most of it