Photos: Murderdolls @ The Halloween Hootenanny

Opening up the The Halloween Hootenanny with Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie, Murderdolls put on a fantastic show that proved that showmanship trumps spastic lighting design.

Photographer’s Notes:

High energy and fast movements are never really a fun combination when the lighting is feast or famine, but that was exactly the case with Murderdolls. As such, the main challenge for this show was a little bit of timing to catch those flashes of white light, and making sure locked focus all the while.

For me, the trick is to not trying to focus, compose, and make the image in one burst of lighting, because the white light rarely flares up for long enough to do both well. Instead, break up the tasks into different bursts of lighting, and you now have much more manageable tasks for each burst.

Regardless, for all the challenges, the band put on such a fun show that it’s hard not to enjoy photographing these guys – especially frontman Wednesday 13.

Cameras Used:

Lenses Used:

End Notes:

Stay tuned for the full sets from Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie! Here’s a shot from Rob Zombie’s performance at Mayhem Fest earlier this year if you can’t wait:

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 Friday, October 8th, 2010 at 8:46 am and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 2010, arena, hard rock, live, murderdolls, music, music photography, photography, rock, tour, wednesday 13. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

←

→

dokool says:

October 8, 2010 at 9:01 am

Todd,

Great stuff under duress, as expected!

This is more of an aesthetics question so I suppose the answer will end up being “to each his own”, but would you care to share your thought process in including the second to last photo (w/ the frontman holding the mic)?

It’s a great pose and it’s exactly the kind of shot I’d expect you to nail with better lighting, but aside from his chin (or maybe nose?) it looks nearly completely out of focus. I was just wondering if you think the photo stands up on its own merits or if you’re using it to demonstrate the trouble you were having with the lighting.

Todd says:

October 8, 2010 at 9:08 am

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the comment. As for your question, I never really use photos to demonstrate difficulties (unless I post them in the photo notes as an example of something particular). I think that each photo should stand on its own, regardless of the situation.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the focus – for this sort of action shot, I don’t. The chin is in focus, and that’s pretty much it, as you mention. That, and I always find that images with a single-color wash always take a hit with sharpening at small res for the screen. There’s already a loss in resolution due to the lack of other colors in the light, and then you’re looking at PhotoShelter‘s automatic sharpening as well.

Todd Owyoung says:

October 8, 2010 at 2:55 pm

Showmanship trumps wack lighting. Case study: Murderdolls: http://bit.ly/9T59kb

shaun photo news says:

October 8, 2010 at 3:19 pm

Photos: Murderdolls @ The Halloween Hootenanny: Opening up the The Halloween Hootenanny with Alice Cooper and Rob… http://goo.gl/fb/oV0NJ

roby akbar says:

October 8, 2010 at 3:45 pm

RT @toddowyoung: Showmanship trumps wack lighting. Case study: Murderdolls: http://bit.ly/9T59kb

Nikki Qureshi says:

October 9, 2010 at 4:55 am

I love the Murderdolls and got the opportunity to shoot them in London last month… it was certainly a challenge! Here’s what I managed to capture… http://www.nikkiq.com/p385843748 – I was just glad to come out with something vaguely usable!!!

Some great tips here which I will certainly bare in mind next time I find myself in a similar situation.

Todd says:

October 9, 2010 at 10:41 am

Hey Nikki, thanks for the comment. Looks like you did great! More than usable in my opinion. I really dig this one: http://www.nikkiq.com/p385843748/hea76c77#hea76c77

- Nikki says:
  
  October 9, 2010 at 11:15 am
  
  Thanks! That’s my favourite of the set.
  
  You’re work and generosity in sharing your knowledge has been a big inspiration to me so it means a lot that you took the time to have a look and comment back. :)