When I heard that Asking Alexandria was touring again and making a stop at the Pageant, I was stoked. It's been a couple years since this band last played the Pageant, and I was keen to see what a couple of tours around the world have done for these guys.
In addition, my buddy Adam Elmakias was on tour with them, so we planned to have a little friendly photographer's duel with this show as well! We set up several speedlights on stage with remote triggers and a couple wireless transmitters between us. With all access, this was an amazingly fun shoot. Hit the jump for the full set.
Photographer's Notes:
Cameras Used:
- Nikon D3
- Nikon D700
Lenses Used:
Lighting Gear:
- Nikon SB-600 (2x)
- Nikon SB-900 (2x)
- Phottix Strato wireless triggers and receivers
First off, big shout out to my bud Adam for hooking me up and to Sumerian Records as well for the hospitality at this show.
This show was a blast. It's always nice to shoot a gig with friends. Oh, and all access and the luxury of setting of wireless flashes on stage isn't bad, either!
Adam and I shot with two Nikon SB-900s and an SB-600 on the stage, and I also had another Nikon SB-600 as a sort of “Johnny on the spot” in case anything else came up. All the speedlights were hooked up to Phottix Strato receivers and we each had triggers.
With the copious amounts of haze being pumped over the stage (which I was told was much less than normal, due to the venue's request!), the speedlights flared up beautifully.
Even with two photographers blasting away, these speedlights had more than enough juice for a full set, since we were still shooting at ISOs high enough to pick up some stage lighting (or at least I was, not so sure about Adam).
I know that flash for live music always gets a bad rap, but it's simply a tool to be used, nothing more. This is especially true whenever flash can be used off-camera.
Flash or not, this show was a blast to photograph. Lots of great action and good hangs with colleagues.
