Metal-studded gauntlets, cut-off t-shirts and all, Conquest opened up for Anvil on the Anvil experience to rock the Pageant with a little oldschool heavy metal. Even with lighting that had me practically scrambling for primes, this performance was an unexpected surprise and a lot of fun to cover.

Photographer’s Notes:

This gig was just no frills old-school heavy metal. Which meant that, even with a pretty basic treatment by the lighting tech, Conquest were a fun shoot. Metal is one genre that’s consistently translates into good music photography. Who doesn’t love hair whips, right?

Lighting was borderline, but I stuck it out with my f/2.8 zooms, preferring to shoot at ISO 3200 and more marginal shutter speeds than give up the flexibility of framing. The 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 did the trick for this gig, with just a few snaps with the 14-24mm for a little stage-front shredding.

Photographer Damien Lovegrove was at Canon’s launch of the new camera representing the wedding industry and had the opportunity to put the camera through its paces. Canon supplied a model and Damien went to work, and has posted full resolution samples from the 5D MarkII at ISO 800 to ISO 6400. One should note that thes full resolution images are posted in Adobe RGB color space and are best viewed in a colorspace-aware application.

In addition, Dpreview.com has posted an exclusive set of samples from the new camera, with a variety of scenes and sensitivities put to the test.

If you’ve been waiting to see what Canon’s latest camera can do at high ISO, the above links are some of the first meaningful samples we’ve seen. Here are a few first impressions on these new 5D Mark II samples.

Very Well Controlled Chroma Noise:

The first thing that grabbed me about both sets of samples is the distinct lack of chroma noise, right up to ISO 6400. It really looks like Canon has taken a page from Nikon’s playbook when it comes to this type of noise reduction, especially in contrast to the previous generation of cameras. Whatever Canon is doing with DIGIC 4, it’s keeping color noise very well controlled.

This very low level of chroma noise is something many have associated more with Nikon’s processing rather than Canon’s, most notably with the D3/D700 sensor, so it’s interesting that Canon has also adopted this direction.

Noise vs Detail:

For me, the most interesting file from these two new sets of samples is Damien’s shot at ISO 800. Above this sensitivity, it’s clear that noise reduction is taking precedence over fine detail.

What the bridal shoot at ISO 800 shows, to my eyes, is a fine balance between noise suppression and fulfilling the expectation of detail. Looking at the hair and other areas of detail, which are not free from noise reduction, it’s not a perfect balance, but most likely the closest mix from the sensitivities represented.

Conclusion:

If it weren’t for the Nikon D3 and D700 that preceded it, I think Canon’s work with the 5D Mark II’s sensor would only mildly short of mindblowing in regard to high ISO performance.

As it stands, I think the processing Canon is achieving with DIGIC 4 is still quite impressive, especially in consideration of the 21 megapixel count.

In a bittersweet performance opening the new Chaifetz Arena, The Starting Line played a one of their last performances before taking an indefinite break.

Led by Kenny Vasoli on vox and bass, the Pennsylvania-based four-piece ripped through a tight 45-minute set of driving, punk-tinged rock.

Despite being one of the band’s last performances, the band seemed in high spirits and delivered a high-energy show that gave nothing away of the break.

The Starting Line’s performance at Bamboozle in East Rutherford, marked the band’s last performance. Band members will pursue other projects, including Person L and the 76.

Photographer’s Notes:

This set was really pretty straight forward. First three, no flash. Due to the lighting situation, Kenny Vasoli was really the only prime subject for this set. The singer and bassist for the group was lit with a warm mix of light from the front throughout the set without much deviation during the alloted shooting time.

As such, I focused on Vasoli, picking up drummer Tom Gryskiewicz in a few shots, as he was a distant second for lighting on the large stage.

Lighting:

This set was lit with very simple schemes. Singer Kenny Vasoli got the lion’s share of the light, while the rest of the band was mostly subject to much weaker color washes and whatever was being blasted from the back. Overall, lots of mixed color lighting from behind, with reds dominating.

Exposure & Metering:

Due to the very constant lighting on Vasoli, I shot at a very consistent exposure for this set. 1/320 and f/2.8 at ISO 4000 did the trick for the majority of these shots.

Lenses & Gear:

I shot this set with the Nikon D3 and Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 for the first three, switching once to the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8. Due to the relatively low four-foot height of the stage and close proximity of Vasoli, the more modest midrange zoom did the trick for this set.

End Notes:

Check out the Starting Line’s cover of Big Time Sensuality by Björk for a chugging, three-chord spin on the pop-house classic.

The French site lehiboo.com has posted a short article on the Nikon D3 featuring a small selection of my work. The piece discusses the high ISO performance of the camera and includes images from recent performances by the Dresden Dolls, the Walkmen, the Hush Sound, and Keller Williams.

Le-Hiboo features coverage of music and film, with a prime focus on concert coverage and photography. Rod, the article’s author and Le-Hiboo’s chief contributor, is a talented music photographer based in Paris, France.

The original article is available here, and also translated from the French here. For further reading on the topic, check out the article of my impressions of the D3′s high ISO performance.

As an aside, Le-Hiboo also features a very nice custom WordPress theme with excellent integration of Flickr streams and sets. In particular, Le-Hiboo integrates the image viewer HighSlide under the platform Crossroads, and to very slick effect.

After a quick photo shoot with the Dresden Dolls prior to their show, it was time to come in for the real deal: the live performance. In their singular brand of “Brechtian punk cabaret,” the Dolls rocked the house in a raucous set that affirmed the duo’s status as one of the best live shows around.

Taking the stage in dramatic fashion wearing military-style cloaks and sequined masquerade masks, the two partners in crime assumed their stations and set into a furious energy that persisted throughout the entire performance.

For those unfamiliar with what exactly constitutes “punk cabaret,” let alone that of the Brechtian variety, one need only be introduced to two musicians: Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione. The group’s dynamic sound is a product uniquely born from the collaboration that is at times incendiary, cathartic, and whimsical, often all at once.

Seated at her Kurzweil keyboard, one half of the Dolls’ sound is defined by Palmer’s expressive vocals, which can rage from a whisper to a lion’s roar all in the same bar, and reel from agony to ecstasy in as much space.

On the keyboard, Amanda Palmer delivers an animated performance that mirrors her vocal range, attacking the keys like she holds a grudge one moment and then gingerly extracting notes with a childlike fascination at another.

Complimenting her across the stage is Brian Vilgione, who adds a uniquely explosive sound to the group with his charged drum work and the sheer physicality of his playing style. Like his counterpart, the drummer flies from a meticulously controlled pianissimo to a tempestuous assault of percussion, rolling between the two extremes with a deftness that should be both seen and heard.

During the live performance, the Viglione is equally as likely to be seated or standing above his set, mugging all the while with a flare for theatrics fitting of any mime.

On stage, the two performers are in constant conversation, both musically and through persistent eye contact as the songs progress, which adds a highly magnetic and organic appeal to the live shows. The “call and response” structure of many of the songs is one of the most engaging aspects of the live performances, not only for the musical dialogue but the gestural exchanges as well.

The setlist featured a relatively large selection from the Dolls’ self-titled album, with almost an equal number of new songs. The 2006 release Yes, Virgina only saw very minor representation by comparison.

Highlights from the performance included the ever-popular “Coin-Operated Boy,” “Missed Me,” “Girl Anachronism,” and a finale with the burlesque duo Gravity Plays Favorites and their namesake song. Viglione’s drum solo during “Mandy Goes to Med School” drew a strong crowd reaction as well.

And, like any proper Dresden Dolls show, the set featured a few choice covers: Pink Floyd’s “In The Flesh,” Beck’s “The Golden Age,” and an epic performance of the Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right,” which Amanda introduced as “a Yiddish protest song.” This last song, which drew the biggest crowd sing-along of the night, featured Brian taking over main vocal duties and playing the electric guitar, while Amanda helmed the drums with obvious relish.

In addition, the duo performed one track, “Astronaut,” from Amanda’s forthcoming solo album, which the band revealed is being produced by Ben Folds.

From an outstanding tracklist that seamlessly wove in new material with the old, the two tracks I missed were the anthemic “Sing” and “Half Jack.” And for those songs, the Dresden Dolls will simply have to come back.

Setlist:

1. In the Flesh (Pink Floyd cover)
2. Girl Anachronism
3. Missed Me
4. Sex Changes
5. Ultima Esperanza
6. Glass Slipper
7. The Gardener
8. Golden Age (Beck cover)
9. Fight for Your Right to Party (Beastie Boys cover)
10. Coin Operated Boy
11. Sorry Bunch
12. Mandy Goes To Med School
13. Astronaut
14. Mein Herr
15. Gravity

Dividing by Zero has the bittorrent to the file linked up if you want to grab that, too.

Photographer’s Notes:

Cameras Used:

• Nikon D3

Lenses Used:

• Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
• Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8

This performance marked the Dresden Dolls’ return to to the Pageant after two performances at the venue in 2006, once opening for Panic! at the Disco during the Summer and again headlining their own Fall tour. Having covered both dates in 2006, I was excited to photograph the Dolls again with another year of experience, not to mention the Nikon D3.

One thing I love about the Dolls is that they’re consistently open and welcoming to photographers. Setting up credentials for this show was an easy task, facilitated by the Dolls’ wonderful publicist, Anabel.

For anyone shooting the Dresden Dolls now or in the future, one important fact to note is that because of the band’s very open camera policy, they don’t always issue photo passes. I know some other photographers who had set up credentials ran into trouble due to the lack of photo passes, since security was only allowing photogs with all access passes into the photo pit. While their cameras were OK in the venue, the floor was absolutely packed and without the proper passes, the shooting options were very limited, especially without a long lens.

In addition, Anabel had mentioned that for some dates on the tour, there had been no photo pit made available, but that it would likely depend on the venue. Since their previous headlining performance at the Pageant had included a pit for photographers, I wasn’t too worried, but kept this consideration in mind and packed the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 just in case I had to shoot from the balcony.

Just before checking in with the Dresden Dolls’ manager, I overheard her talking with the staff about the pit barricade; the staff assured her that there would be still plenty of interaction between the fans and the band despite the small gap. For anyone shooting this tour or other performances by the Dresden Dolls, you might be out of luck for a pit unless it’s the venue’s policy to have one, which seems to have been the case with the Pageant.

As a very photo-friendly band, the Dolls granted me an all-access pass for the show and I was able to shoot for the entirety of the performance from anywhere in the house. Still, despite stage access, I found that the pit provided some of the best vantage points for the group.

With Brian and Amanda positioned on opposite sides of the stage, I found that center stage provided a great spot for shooting both performers.This was especially true for shooting Brian stage left, given the setup of his kit, which is relatively open from the front. Shooting from the side provided less clean shots, due to a high cymbal and the position of his mic stand.

Amanda, positioned in her traditional stage right spot, was a little more difficult to photograph due to the position of her mic stand, the arm of which cut across parallel to her keyboard. I found the best shots of Amanda when she was seated came when the singer reeled back slightly from the mic, which incidentally coincided with some of her best facial expressions.

By contrast, photographing Brian was a decidedly different experience, given his relatively open drum kit and flare for the dramatic, both of which made photographing the drummer a blast. In talking to my brother, who also photographed the Dolls recently, we agreed that editing through shots of Brian was much harder.

With any other drummer, the one shot of them standing up from their kit with arms outstretched and screaming across the stage, that would be the one, no question. With Brian, all the shots of him are basically “the one.”

I know, it’s a tough position to be in. Credentials to photograph the Dresden Dolls is pretty much like a license to fish with dynamite. It’s deciding what to do with the catch afterwards that’s the problem.

Lighting:

Lighting for this set was fairly straight forward, with three main lighting schemes: red, blue, and white, with an emphasis on the latter.

During much of the set, deep blue backlighting and dim, white front lighting would dominate many of the songs. This scheme was often punctuated by a slightly cool white light during the most fierce parts of the songs, giving especially dramatic effect to Brian on the drums.

In addition to the standard front and backlighting, two lights positioned behind the two players provided additional accents that combined with water hazers to cast some nice shadows at times.

Lenses:

While the band was seated, I utilized the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 almost exclusively. The range of the lens was nearly ideal for shooting from the pit and gave plenty of framing options for the two players.

When Amanda and Brian were more mobile during the second half of the performance, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 came into play. The extreme wide angle of the latter was especially useful as the pair came to the front of the stage.

Camera Settings:

There was generally plenty of light, but I shot primarily between ISO 3200 and ISO 6400 for this set, opting to stop down and increase shutter speeds rather than lower the sensitivity.

Had I shot this gig with the Nikon D2x instead, I’m sure I would have shot at ISO with more marginal shutter speeds. Needless to say, the freedom of the clean high ISO performance afforded by the Nikon D3 was very welcome for this show.

In what would have been a luxury with the old camera, I stopped down to between f/3.2 to and f/3.5, and kept shutter speeds at 1/200 and faster.

End Notes:

Again, a big thanks to Amanda and Brian for being such engaging subjects in the promo shoot before the performance, and of course for the fantastic performance itself.

Also, as always, thanks to Anabel for setting for setting everything up. Last but not least, thanks again to Katie Kay for handling the moving target of the shoot and all the stress of the tour with such grace. Katie was instrumental in making everything run smoothly.

It’s a pleasure to have such an accessible group and to deal with genuinely great people who treat business more like a conversation with a friend.

To all the photographers out there, you owe it to yourself to catch the Dresden Dolls live, because you’ll be hard pressed to find a better pair to photograph. If they’re coming to a city near you, do not miss them!

Check out my brother’s set of the Dolls’ New Year’s Eve Performance in NYC:
Dresden Dolls @ Manhattan Center’s Grand Ballroom – 31.12.2007

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