The final band of the Big 4 was Metallica and shooting them was both the best and the worst of the day. It was the best because finally the sun had set and the stage lighting was doing what it was meant to do. It was the worst because the photo-pit was PACKED, I have never been in a pit as packed as this. I was unable to move at all. Then the security decided that they needed a path behind the photographers so they pushed us towards the stage. Now I have to climb back up on my soapbox again, but please when you are jammed into a photo pit with a hundred other photographers please don’t smoke. Nothing sucks more than getting a face full of smoke and not being able to do anything about it. And i don’t really want to have to clean your smoke off my gear.
I was recently asked what I thought professionalism meant in the photography business. Some of the behavior I saw in the photo-pit during the Metallica set really showed me that many people who consider them professionals certainly don’t behave that way. Here is a link to a photograph that summed up everything that bothered me. http://vvoice.vo.llnwd.net/e14//the-big-4-in-photos.6259708.87.jpg This shot was taken in the photo-pit with a point and shoot and in the bottom left corner you can see the photographer shooting while smoking a cigarette. Wow…
All images were taken with Nikon D3 and D700 cameras with 70-200mm f/2.8, 300mm f/4 and 24-70mm f/2.8 on Hoodman RAW CompactFlash cards.
OK, I’m licking my chops here. Metallica is my favorite band, I would love to photograph them, blah, blah, blah. You get the point 🙂
They express so much energy in their shows and it looks like you captured that expression nicely.
Any issues with the 300mm at night, or was the stage lighting good enough?
The 300 f/4 worked great. There was plenty of light and the D700 at ISO 1600 was enough to let let me shoot at 1/400 of a second
Great pics sir; sucks you had to endure the crap to get them, but man, you came through with flying colors!
Looks like you did pretty well even with all those challenges. Nice job! PS The smoker thing is totally baffling.
I took the picture that you linked to, and I didn’t even notice the hand/camera/cigarette in the bottom left corner until just now. I’m a smoker myself, but I try to be considerate of others. It never once crossed my mind to smoke in the photo pit. It’s three songs, for chrissakes! If you can’t make it that long without a cigarette, find someone else to shoot the pics.
This was my first time in a photo pit, so I didn’t realize that they’re not normally that crowded, but yeah, it was pretty much impossible to maneuver. Fortunately, I’m 6’4″ with long arms, so I just stayed towards the back and shot over everyone’s heads.
Honestly, the whole press experience seemed a little unorganized. I didn’t even get my official confirmation e-mail until after 4pm PST on the day before the show. Fortunately, I hadn’t left for Indio yet, so I could still print out the letter, but I guarantee a lot of people were already on the road with their fingers crossed by that point.
Some real classic shots there… Personal favs… 3, 17, 27, 32 and then 37 except for Ross in the background between James’ legs!
I guess you will be expanding the “do’s and don’ts” section of your presentation : ) Great photos Alan…..having the opportunity to photograph Metallica would have to be my Cinderella story. They are starting to finally show some age but I’m sure that doesn’t deter their performance.