Feed Me!

Shutter: 1/25, Aperture: f/2.8, Lens: 15mm Fisheye, ISO: 1600

Dubstep superstar Feed Me brought his amazing video array Teeth to the party last weekend at 9:30 Club. Check out my pics below.

Shutter: 1/50, Aperture: f/2.8, Lens: 15mm, ISO: 1600

This show was a bigger challenge than I had anticipated, and if anything, I hope I learned quite a bit from it. First off, I’m not a big dubstep aficionado. I appreciate what it’s about, but it’s not my style. I love rock and roll. Anyway, I’m trying to shoot everything I can to further improve my skills, experience, and connections. As a concert photographer, my goal is to show you what happened, but also make you wish you had been there. You can’t just show up and start clicking, you have to tell a story, capture the energy, and make the viewer regret not going.

Shutter: 1/50, Aperture: f/2.8, Lens: 15mm, ISO: 1600

One of the things about a DJ or electronica act is that they have to entertain the crowd in some manner if they’re going to do something live. Deadmau5 has that signature helmet, Fatboy Slim nestled into the center of the action and kept everyone pumped up, so Feed Me came up with a huge stage show. Named simply “Teeth” this video array looks like a set of grinning teeth. At the center, they’re about 5 feet high (?) and they were as wide as the whole stage. They had thousands of LEDs so they could either flash patterns or even play video. The DJ himself, Feed Me, stayed relatively out of sight. He was behind Teeth like a desk, and rarely lit. So here’s my dilemma. I’m up in front of the barricade, and I had it all to myself (sweet!) but from that angle, I couldn’t get the whole array, and I couldn’t see Feed Me at all. So how do I effectively report on this concert? I started shooting the crowd as well. I could time my shutter (relatively so) with the lights coming from the stage and from Teeth’s glow. I got a few shots that way, but to be honest, the audience was very much high school, and they were wearing outfits that, if photographed and put on the internet, could put me in the slammer. Seriously, I am a fan of the female form, even moreso when they give my imagination a break, but I had to keep an eye out for Chris Hanson.

Shutter: 1/100, Aperture: f/2.8, Lens: 70-200mm, ISO: 1600

So after I got a few audience shots, I darted up to the balcony to try and get some zoom-in shots and some wide angle shots. Their publicist asked I only shoot for the first 15 minutes, so right before he started, I put a timer on my iPhone so I’d know when to quit. With the reverb pounding from the speakers, it’s a surprise I felt it at all, but I did. Anyway from the balcony I did get some cool wide shots (like the one above) and I also zoomed in a bit with my 70-200 and finally got a pic of Feed Me himself. He does mainly like to stay hidden, but every now and then he threw his hands up for the crowd.

Shutter: 1/50, Aperture: f/2.8, Lens: 15mm, ISO: 1600

This show had a crazy packed rave feeling. People were glowing and undulating and just moving to the beat, and I was taken in how they all meshed into one “body” that was reacting to the tunes. So I wanted to capture that energy, that communal feeling. I love when the colored stage lights just hit the edges of the performer (or the audience) and just barely pick out the forms from the darkness, it gives it more movement, it feels more like a moment frozen in time. One of the upsides to reporting on concerts is that, in the editorial sense, you’re not manipulating the scene too much with post production, but rather you have a lot more spectacle in front of you than at a press conferences or sporting event. So it’s somewhat easier to get something more dynamic. But you have to know what you’re doing to capture it. Not only is there a lot less light, but the subjects are moving faster than normal, so you have to adjust accordingly. I like how this shot (as opposed to the very first image) shows more of the depth of the crowd so you get a better sense of how many people were there, and how big Teeth really was. I have to tell you, in Washington DC, 9:30 Club has the best lighting I’ve ever shot. Mainly I had to get my shutter right and then wait. I waited for the light to get the way I wanted and then grabbed this pic.

Shutter: 1/100, Aperture: f/2.8, Lens: 70-200mm, ISO: 1600

This was one of the shots I had in my head before I got up to the balcony. Again, I love catching just a sliver of light on the edges, and though it took awhile, I nabbed this shot of Feed Me in his element. The biggest challenge to this night was I need some variety for my photogallery. It can’t all be audience, or the stage piece, or the DJ hiding in the dark. The best way to tell the story is to get details of each of the elements, and present a bigger picture of the evening. If you take away any one word, it’s variety. If you’re interested in dubstep or Feed Me, swing by his website to see what’s new. For more techno/dance coverage, check out my coverage of Fatboy Slim.