Trying something new part 2: becoming taller
At 5′ 7″ and a bit you could argue that I’m neither short nor tall. But when it comes to rugby, basketball or being in a standing audience, I most definitely feel short.
As a photographer there are times when, for whatever reason, you’re stuck in a crowd, people seemingly towering about you and obliterating your view. And you can’t help but wonder how you’re going to be able to get any useable shots of the band.
In my last post I mentioned shooting exclusively with a 24-70mm lens while in the photo pit. The only time this year that I didn’t use that lens was outside of the pit. But having a nice 70-200mm lens in itself isn’t enough if you’re drowning in a sea of bodies.
In circumstances such as these your options may be limited. One worthwhile place to try is the extreme sides of the stage where there are usually fewer audience members. With fewer heads in the way there’s a better chance of getting a clear shot. The only drawback is that you might find yourself standing right next to an extremely loud speaker – of course you’ll be wearing ear-plugs, but still, it’s probably a good idea to spend as little time in this location as you can possibly manage.
Due to travel delays Electric Boys missed their early evening slot yesterday at the Steelhouse Festival. With some deft rearranging by the clever organisers this meant that the band were allowed to open up the festivities on Sunday afternoon. Now it was my turn to be delayed. I missed my slot in the photo pit and had to take pictures from amongst the crowd. Electric Boys’ original slot was three places from top-billing so it was understandable that there was quite a crowd for the band at this early hour. So it was at about this time that I wished that I was half a foot taller in order to get a clean shot. As it was I just had to choose to stand in a section of the crowd where the average height was a little lower than elsewhere so giving me a better chance of success. Evenso, heads and arms continued to get in the way and into shot. All you can do here is to try and time your shots and stand on tip-toe.
This first picture notice the blur in the lower left corner. This is someone’s head. Luckily the 70-200mm lens blurs it nicely enough and it doesn’t detract from the image enough for me not to use it.
The pictures below are from a 2011 gig at The Borderline in London. In this instance I was refused entry to the club because of my camera gear despite the fact that I’d interviewed Butch a few hours earlier and was due to review the gig for Uber Rock (gig review here). By the time I’d sorted out my photo pass I was one of the last people in to the gig which was already packed wall to wall. I’d never shot in such cramped circumstances – before or since – it was even difficult to get a camera up from your side to your face.
The advantage however of being in such a small club is that the photos look as if I’m standing unimpeded against the stage. The reality is that I’m only just managing to shoot through the mass of humanity that is packed into the club. The darkness in the lower right corner of the image on the left is the blurred shape of an audience member. Since this dark blur somewhat blends into Butch Walker’s dark clothes I’m not too bothered about it – this is about the best you can hope for when shooting in a straitjacket.
Subscribe to receive updates