I shot Snowsera at Schubas a few months ago, and had so much fun doing so that I was thrilled when they asked me to come out to their headlining show at the Metro last weekend.
Despite not getting the repeat of their cover of “Billie Jean” that I was so desperately hoping for, it was a great show. In fact, Snowsera rocked out so hard, that on their FIRST song, they blew out their kick drum. If that doesn’t scream “awesome show,” I don’t know what does. And besides, I did get to hear “24,” my other favorite song of theirs, so I can’t complain too much about “Billie Jean.”
Also, as I mentioned in my last blog about them, Snowsera offers their whole Fictions EP for free download. And, a birdie told me that they might be putting out a new song or two on their Myspace soon, so if you like their music, be sure to add them.
Shooting Notes
This show was a great exercise for shooting in the dark. While I had some beautifully colored backlighting, the front light was almost non-existant. There was also a definite lack of white light. Yet, despite these challenges, this was probably one of the easiest shoots I’ve had this year. The light, while very dim and colored, remained relatively constant in intensity (no overly harsh shadows and no strobing lights), and I had freedom to move around wherever my heart desired.
I had an All Access pass for this show, so I made sure to grab some shots of the band warming-up in the dressing room as well as some sidestage shots of drummer Jeff Wagner. Suprisingly, the light was best on the drum kit (how often does THAT happen?), so I took advantage of the rare opportunity to get some well-lit drummer shots, as seen by the lead image.
I shot this set almost exclusively with the 5D Mark II, since it allowed me the freedom to shoot at higher ISOs, and thus use zoom lenses, rather than being restricted by primes. I stayed right around 6400ISO, f/2.8, and 1/125, occasionally needing to increase or decrease my ISO or shutter by a stop or two.
