One From Mayhem: DragonForce

Metal shredder and Guitar Hero Herman Li, taking a brief moment from melting faces to give a little love to the camera.

Without a doubt, DragonForce was hands-down one of my favorite bands to photograph at the Rockstar Mayhem Fest this year.

Between the crazy antics, flying hair, and searing solos, DragonForce puts on a show that is just plain fun.

I’m still slogging through the images from this festival, but all the hard works is finished, so stay tuned for a full set of the crushing metal dropping tomorrow!

About the author: Todd Owyoung is an internationally published music photographer specializing in concert photography and band portraits. He also grills a mean steak.

Contact Todd for image licensing and assignments wherever the rock show lives. You can also get in touch with Todd via Twitter.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 9:38 am and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with dragonforce, guitar hero, herman li, ibanez, mayhem festival, metal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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15 Responses to “One From Mayhem: DragonForce”

1. Keath says:

   July 28, 2008 at 10:41 am

   That is an amazing shot!

   Reply
2. Todd says:

   July 28, 2008 at 10:46 am

   Thanks, Keath. This one stood out to me when I was doing the initial edit, as it’s not too often performers look down into the pit.

   Reply
3. George K. says:

   July 28, 2008 at 1:15 pm

   I can’t wait to see photos of their keytar player.

   Reply
4. Todd says:

   July 28, 2008 at 1:58 pm

   Hey George! I do have a few shots of their keytar player that I’ll be posting.

   Much of the time he was at the back of the stage on the upright keyboards, but he did come to the front with the keytar two or three times during the set.

   Lots of fun.

   Reply
5. Kelly says:

   July 28, 2008 at 2:47 pm

   Love this shot and love these guys. By far the best to shoot on the whole tour.

   Reply
6. Todd says:

   July 28, 2008 at 4:32 pm

   Hey Kelly, thanks for the comment! I agree, DragonForce was my favorite band to shoot, though the whole fest was really fun overall.

   Reply
7. Keith says:

   July 28, 2008 at 5:47 pm

   I just posted a few of my faves from Dragonforce. They were out of this world. Stellar shot of Herman Li there. Li was def my best shots as well! Can’t wait to see the rest!

   Reply
8. Todd says:

   July 28, 2008 at 11:34 pm

   Hey Keith, I’ll check out your DF shots. What a killer live band. Herman Li and the other guitarist were the biggest hams, though I agree agree, Li was my favorite subject.

   I’ll be posting the rest of DragonForce’s set later this week.

   Reply
9. Chris says:

   July 29, 2008 at 1:04 am

   Great photo, Todd — their hair really does add the pictures, eh? Great eye contact, too!

   Reply
10. Todd says:

    July 29, 2008 at 11:37 am

    Chris, the hair was an integral part of this shot. I think DragonForce is the only band where I’ve had to take hair into heavy consideration when making decisions on compositions.

    Reply
11. Iz says:

    April 30, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    Hey Todd,

    What equipment/settings did you use for this shot? Looks fantastic!

    Reply
    • Todd says:

      April 30, 2009 at 6:05 pm

      Hey Iz, this was shot with the Nikon D3 and Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8. I think I was shooting around ISO 800 or 1600 for this.

      Reply
12. Iz says:

    April 30, 2009 at 8:20 pm

    DAYUM! That a sweet glass piece there, Todd. What do you think about the Sigma & Tamron lenses?

    Reply
13. Todd says:

    May 1, 2009 at 2:55 pm

    Hey Iz,

    Disregarding cost, I prefer Nikon glass. I know that the optics are going to be first class and that the AF will be quick.

    That said, I have had good experience with some Sigma lenses. I personally don’t like the EX finish, but the optics can be very, very good.

    Reply
14. Iz says:

    May 2, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    Cool, thanks, Todd. I’m thinking of giving the Sigma 24-70mm a shot.

    Reply