When do you get pure white light and nothing but for three full songs? With Blink 182, that's when. Headlining the Honda Civic Tour, Blink brought the three-man circus to town in a set full of middle-school humor, the band's infectious brand of pop punk, and even a flying drum kit.
Photographer's Notes:
Cameras Used:
- Nikon D3
- Nikon D700
Lenses Used:
This show with Blink 182 was pretty insanely bright, even to such a degree that even exposures were a challenge. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.
With lots of haze on the stage and high contrast light from the sides of the stage, this show was a rare opportunity to use pretty reasonably high shutter speeds and moderately “mid-level” concert ISOs.
If anything, the only real challenge of this set was navigating the packed photo pit. Tons of credentialed photographers combined with a very tight photo pit made moving around slow at best – not ideal for a band that can move around as much as Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge at the front of the stage.
Lens-wise, the 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 did pretty equal duty, though I'd give the slight edge to the telephoto on this one, simply because I used it exclusively for drummer Travis Barker as well as for both Hoppus and DeLonge. The midrange zoom was useful for closer action, particularly when Tom DeLonge knelt down to play his guitar right in front of me.
The truth of it is that the whole band knows what makes a good photo, but Tom DeLonge in particular really hams it up for the camera.
Overall, a very fun show to cover on assignment. Personally, I would have loved a more selective press approvals, but at the same time, it's great that Blink 182 isn't snobbish in the least for who they'll accept press from.
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