do you use earplugs for shooting loud gigs?

in a discussion on another site i frequent the subject of whether to use earplugs when shooting live music came up and i thought it might be an interesting discussion to have on here as well.

now i'm not talking about earplugs designed to block out all sound as that would be a little weird and would possibly take away from the energy of the performance, the ones i'm referring to are the ones worn by musicians/factory workers that reduce the noise level by a certain amount of dB without distorting.

personally i feel that they are a good idea, perhaps not necessary all the time, but if you're shooting and you end up standing right next to the speaker stack all night then they could make the difference between losing your hearing in your 30's or letting it degrade with time naturally.

to that end i decided to buy a pair of etymotic er-20's(manufacturers site) which reduce the noise level by 20dB, i got them on ebay for just shy of £10 including shipping which i dont think is bad at all. i figure its one of those things to keep in the front pocket of my camera bag and then they're there if i ever need them.

but what does everyone else think? do you use them? have you considered using them? or are you just too goddamn ROCK! to use them?

I played in a band for nine years, and didn't wear earplugs then.

That said, they're a good idea. The custom made ones, while expensive, are definitelty "sound" investments.

I think Dwight wears them...

I shoot Cheer and Dance events. Most of those are 10+hrs long with blasting music. I shoot from the end of the stage which is right in front of the speakers. The first couple of years i did not wear any kind of ear plugs. A couple of years ago I took a different directions and picked up a set of the etymotic er-6i headphones (same design as the er-20's) for my ipod. I now use them and have even created a 12 hr playlist of song as a "shooting mix". It works great and at the end of the day my head is clear and I feel much more fresh than when I was getting pounded by the music.

Michael

You can take precautions now...or spend a lifetime going "Huh...what did ya say?" Hearing loss is a real issue and giving the relatively small expense of protecting yourself...I can't believe more people don't carry and use earplugs. Every bad and strap I own has a set of disposable earplugs attached to them. Just in case.

I don't shoot much that's loud, but when i do, I tend to use cheap disposable earplugs. Better than nothing, and losing my hearing.

With that said, when i just go to a rock concert for the love of it, i don't wear them...

Rob

I have a pair (connected, that look like a cheap pair of headphones) in my camera bag and ALWAYS use them when shooting live music. I get a few "funny" looks sometimes - (and especially when another photog says something to me and I can't hear them - not sure whether it's down to the protectors or the volume of the music!)

I suffer from tinitus - more pronounced on my right side. I am absolutely positive this is due to listening to music in my youth on an old pair of headphones (I think they were ex-army type - well I did say old), at unbelievably high volumes.

About 15 years ago I went completely deaf in my left ear - after listening to rock music on a pair of Sony top-of-the-range headphones one night. The next morning, at work, the phone rang and I answered it. There was on-one there, so I simply replaced the handset. A few seconds later it rang again - so I answered, and again hung up 'cos there was no-one on the line. I then swung round to a filing cabinet behind me to retrieve some paperwork. The phone rang again, I again picked it up, only this time putting the receiver to my right ear.

The person on the other phone went mental, accusing me of hanging up on them twice! The simple fact is I couldn't hear them! It took about 6 weeks for my hearing to come back. I now try and encourage people I meet to maybe not turn the volume up quite so loud on their ipod, or not stand quite so close to that speaker enclosure, but more often than not, they don't listen (or maybe it's because they can't hear me??)

So, the moral of this story is - whenver working near live, loud music, always remember to wear some ear protection. You'll be glad you did!

TJ

cool. this has made me even more i'm glad i ordered them now. from the responses so far it sounds like earplugs are standard bits of kit in the music photographers arsenal but perhaps ones that are rarely mentioned.

I use them all the time when I work at weddings.

If I forget them, I figured out a way to fold a paper towel so it acts the same way.

absolutely. i've been going to see live music for a long time now, and wish i'd started to wear them years ago. definitely some damage has been done, but it's always good not to mess around w/ any of yr senses; protect what you've got!

I have some hearing damage, from both attending concerts and listening to music loudly on a personal stereo. Last year I purchased a pair of 'professional' earplugs, commonly used by roadies/venue staff - for concerts, you can wear them for unlimited amounts of time to protect you ears. I have atrocious memory so frequently forget them, but always regret it. If I have them, I wear them.

I've noticed that in the UK it's not very common for earplugs to be worn at concerts. However, I attended a heavy metal festival in Finland last week (Jalometalli) and the number of people wearing earplugs was much higher. I'm not sure if it was just the type of people attending, or if, as a country, they are more aware and more protective of their hearing.

I developed tinnitus from my younger days clubbing (well, 3 years ago), so now earplugs are a must for me at bars, weddings, even movies

I'm a Qualified Clinical Audiometrist and I say wear ear plugs in noisy venues.

If your up the front taking photo's you're getting the full 115dB from those speakers which takes about 20min to start shifting your hearing threshold.

If your up the back and taking photo's your probably getting only 90-110 which takes 30min-2hours to do the same!

80dB is the limit for about 6 hours before threshold shift.

tim wrote:
I developed tinnitus from my younger days clubbing (well, 3 years ago), so now earplugs are a must for me at bars, weddings, even movies

I wouldn't bother wearing earplugs for movies, the loud stuff isn't loud enough for long enough to damage your hearing. Of course thats for the movies I have been to in Oz, other countries may be different.

I can just picture you now, with about 12 inches of towel hanging out of each ear

I don't mean to question what you are saying, but I think this is more about comfort levels. I find with my tinnitus I just cannot listen to anything that is remotely on the loud side. My family sometimes complain because I turn down the volume on the TV if I find the level uncomfortable. This is often not over loud, it's just I find it physically uncomfortable for my threshold.