Facts: Tegan has a labret piercing. Sara loves the stage banter.
In a 20-song set, Canada’s favorite twins delivered a sprawling performance of shining indie rock and wandering anecdotes in their sold-out show at the Pageant.
Starting off with the the triple-threat of fan-favorites “I Know I Know I Know,” “The Con,” and “Walking With A Ghost,” the Quin sisters set the pace for tight set list that evenly balanced material new and old, with fresh reinterpretations for many of the later.
Set list:
I Know I Know I Know
The Con
Walking With a Ghost
Burn Your Life Down
Like O, Like h
Take Me Anywhere
Speak Slow
I Bet It Stung
Are You Ten Years Ago
Call It Off
Where Does the Good Go
Relief Next to Me
Not Tonight
When I Get Up
Fix You Up
Nineteen
Hop a Plane
Back In Your Head
Encore:
So Jealous
Living Room
Photographer’s Notes:
Going in, I basically only had one objective with this set: Get a shot of the Quinn twins in the same frame. Bonus points if the shot includes the guitar necks projecting out at twin-like degrees of similitude. Thanks to a nice pit, this was the easy part.
Tegan and Sara’s very liberal camera policy was evident on the floor, with lots of cameras all around, a stark contrast from the night before. During the first few songs, flashes going off in the audience made for a very high degree of catchflash even at moderate shutter speeds of 1/200.
I shot from in front of the barricade, which, thanks to My Chemical Romance on the previous night, was generously deep. After a streak of other shows with no pit, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I would have had to shoot from the crowd for this show.
Lighting:
Lighting for the first three songs was generally pretty minimal, with warm white light from the front and a mix of deep washes from the back. Blues, magentas, and reds dominated the schemes, with a good amount of haze to fill out the effects.
Exposure & Metering:
I shot mostly between f/1.8 and f/2.8 at ISO 3200, with shutter speeds ranging from 1/100 to 1/200. While I could have shot at ISO 6400 and f/2.8 with zooms, due to the mix of lighting, I knew that these images would benefit from the lower sensitivity.
Lenses & Gear:
In a change from a lot of my recent shows, I shot this show almost entirely with primes, drawing heavily on the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.4.
On the full-frame Nikon D3, the 50mm is once again a “standard” lens with a fairly neutral perspective, balanced in between the wide and telephoto spectrums. I found this lens particularly useful for photographing the two sisters in the same frame.
29 Comments Add your own
1. Nacho Philosophy! | May 14th, 2008 at 1:00 am
Man, I wish I would have gone to this concert. But in these great economic times I thought I’d save some cash and either go to this or the New Pornographers show…and I chose the New Pornographers. Not the best pick, although Okkervil River was good.
When are we getting pics of the New Pornographers concert, I thought you were there?
2. Todd | May 14th, 2008 at 1:12 am
I was also at the New Pornographers and I loved Okkervil River’s set. The images from that show will be coming soon, I’ve been swamped. So far I have these sets to post:
Murder City Players (opened for the Wailers)
Okkervil River
New Pornographers
Tech N9ne & Paul Wall (yes, really)
3. Janet | May 14th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Terrific shots! I was at this show, what a packed crowd. I thought they put on a wonderful performance. I was back by the bar (I showed up late) so I am grateful to see what it looked like from up front!
4. Todd | May 14th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Hey Janet, thanks! Nice to hear from you, especially since you went to this show.
I agree, it was a wonderful performance, and even the shocking amount of stage banter, which I thought was refreshing and charming.
The lights weren’t anything too special, but I did use primes for this shoot, something I haven’t done very often since picking up the D3!
5. frota | May 14th, 2008 at 8:52 am
great and very atmospheric lighting! I envy that you can shoot at 3200 ISO. My D50 can only make it up to 800, at 1600 the noise is terrible.
Can’t wait for your picf from Ladytron and Erykah Badu (I’m going to photograph her during summer so I’m curious about the show:)))
Cheers!
6. Todd | May 14th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Hey Frota, thanks. I actually really started to like the colors of this set when I came back to it. Even though there wasn’t that much light, the atmosphere and shallow depth of field create an appealing look to me. Just something different from some other shows.
I’m hoping to get confirmation of Erykah Badu soon, I’d love to photograph her, as well as to get another shot at the Roots. Ladytron should be fun, too.
7. Dustin | May 14th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I really wanted to shoot this show but was told that they would be taping this show so they won’t be doing any still photography.
8. Todd | May 14th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Hey Dustin, they may well have been taping the show, but what I can say is this:
1) There seemed to be a super-liberal camera policy for this show, such that I had mad catchflash during the first few songs from all the P&S cameras popping off left and right from the crowd.
2) Getting guestlist and a pass wasn’t entirely a smooth process. Obviously, everything did work out, but there were some bumps. There was one other photographer at this show.
9. Fielding | May 14th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
again as always great job, wish I would have shot them while they were in my neck of the woods a few weeks ago.. some beautiful clean pix this time..
looking forward to radiohead…
take care
10. Todd | May 14th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Hey Fielding, thanks very much. This was a great show, did you see them when they came through your area?
The lighting was pretty “dirty,” with a very atmospheric touch, but I was surprised by how nicely the 50mm and 85mm pair worked out.
Thanks again, Radiohead will be coming up first thing next week!
11. Dustin | May 14th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Yeah if I had a P&S camera I would have taken it seeing as it seems the Pageant is easing up on them. It was just a little frustrating that they say one thing and then you see photogs in the pit, but I am not mad about it because I know I will not get a pass for every show that I send off for.
The Mars Volta show was crazy with people with P&S and flash. I was laughing the whole time because the contract that NLM wanted people to sign to get a pass and here you have a venue that lets people take pics with non-SLR/DSLR cameras for the whole show and they have no control over the images.
12. Todd | May 15th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Hey Dustin, I know exactly how you feel. Sometimes it would be nice if publicists simply said “no” instead, but the “soft” rejection is probably the safest in their line of work.
In this day where basically every phone is a potential camera, and p&s quality getting better and better with longer zooms, the game is certainly changing.
That Mars Volta contract was something else. I just shot Radiohead and there was no release to sign at all.
13. Dustin | May 15th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Can’t wait to see the Radiohead pics. The show was amazing even from halfway up the lawn. I was going to try and shoot it but so many people said that it was just about impossible to get a pass unless it was a festival I didn’t send off for one.
14. Todd | May 15th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Agreed, Radiohead was fantastic. The lighting setup, as a spectator, was great, especially for a huge venue like the amphitheater. As a photographer, though, it… challenging.
15. Fielding | May 15th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
No I did not even get to see the show… wish I had now..
I love that 50, sometimes it never leave the D3.
take care
16. Chris | May 15th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Hey Todd, great set. Favorites are the first one before the jump, then 2, 9, 10, 12 starting after the jump, and this one . Overall I’d say I like 9 and 12 the best. I also like the vignetting-like circle on the last one. How’d you get #5 after the jump? You seem up high, did you just go upstairs? Great captures!
17. Todd | May 15th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the picks! #9 and #12 are two of my favorites from this gig. The light falloff on the last shot is actually a nice “feature” from the D3 – Saves me from adding vignetting.
#5 was shot from the balcony. The restrictions on shooting were that we could shoot from the barricade for the first three, and after that we could continue shooting, just not at the front. #9 was shot over the floor from the front of the bar.
18. Jon | May 15th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I was wondering when I was gonna see images from this wonderful evening. I wish I would have known the camera policy was so open. The ticket was misleading. I would have killed to get my d300 and 17-55mm into there and get some shots. Were you able to get any shots at radiohead last night? Also, I look forward to seeing what you have in store for the Wilco show this evening, which I will also be in attendance. Do you know of any upcoming shows that will allow such a liberal policy?
19. Todd | May 15th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Hey Jon,
I believe the statement about “no cameras/video” on the ticket is just the stock policy, but this isn’t always the case. It’s always up to the bands on how strict venues should be about things like this.
I don’t know of any camera-friendly shows coming up in the immediate future, but please check back with me later!
20. Dan | May 15th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Todd,
The D3 is nothing short of remarkable, the results I’ve seen from it’s high ISO shots are amazing…how far have you pushed it? Have you tried going 6400 or higher & noticed any grain?
Wish I could afford an L series lens let alone a body like the D3 haha
ps. great shots here again
you’ve got one of my fav blogs to view, happy to have stumbled upon it!!
kudos,
Dan
21. Todd | May 15th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Hey Dan,
The D3 is an excellent camera for concert photography, and I’ve really been enjoying it. I regularly shoot the D3 at ISO 3200 and 6400, and there it really shines.
I don’t often shoot at ISO 12800 or higher, but it’s nice to know that those settings are available in a pinch.
Thanks for the kind words, glad to hear you enjoy ISS.
22. ww | May 16th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
hey Todd, do you bring your full compliment of lenses to the shows and then decide to shoot with zooms or primes on the fly? you shot mainly with primes for this one; were the zooms in your bag?
whoo hoo, tegan & sara! i met them once at their after show party a few years back.
cheers
23. Todd | May 16th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
WW, I often bring a basic selection of lenses to each show and then decide on the fly while shooting what I think will work the best for any given shoot.
There are several factors that inform this decision, such as the venue, expected shooting conditions, and the type of music.
I did bring zooms to this gig, but given the very dim lighting, I opted for the faster primes. For brighter shows where I expect better light, I may bring only f/2.8 zooms.
24. G | May 16th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Gosh i love them.
25. Todd | May 18th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Hey G, they put on an amazing show. Very charming!
26. Neetu | May 20th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I really wish I could have been there with you to see them. But you’ve captured it so well! Great work!
27. Todd | May 21st, 2008 at 8:34 am
Thanks, Neetu. We’ll go to a show together soon!
28. Brian McClelland | May 24th, 2008 at 5:22 am
these really came out wonderfully, todd! man, you got some serious skillz.
29. Todd | May 24th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Thanks, Brian! Glad to see you stop by.
speak up
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