I had the opportunity to get into a concert of a few unknown local rock bands, some excellent and some will definitely raise an eyebrow with the average listener, like myself.

The interesting point was actually the venue- a huge loft over an old warehouse, with the band located right in the middle, and a set of extremely strong lighting which could make the entire room brighter than daylight. The lights were effective enough to point out that sunglasses are recommended.

Hearing about this set of performances at the particular set up translated clearly into a photo opportunity. Equipped with my trusty, though somewhat slow Olympus C-8080, I headed out.

The lighting conditions kept changing dynamically throughout the night and every few seconds. Which made the use of flash virtually impossible to set up in time. Aperture priority and lots of snapshots became the immediate tactic, while also trying to get the lighting, musicians and crowed into the composition. Black and white post processing also seemed to add a bit of atmosphere to some images.

Beyond the special event and unique lighting conditions, this was my only attempt so far with band photography, a genre I encounter quite a bit at personal galleries of photographers. It’s actually fun an challenging, as the combination of items and composition is both endless and dynamic.

Have you tried band photography as well? Why not let us all see?