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Ten Years of Adventuring: Descendants of Erdrick

Man… being around a band for most of their lifespan. Especially one that has now gone on for ten years. Didn’t think I’d ever say that.

Descendants of Erdrick recently celebrated their tenth anniversary. I’ve been around this band for damn near nine years of it and it has certainly been an adventure. I can definitely say they have changed my life for the better. With demonstrable proof. But that is a very long story… maybe which I’ll share in the future.

DoE put together an anniversary show with our friends DJ R.O.C.K.M.A.N., the Masters of Unlocking, and ABXY. MoU and ABXY were each missing one member but they put on some solid performances. Amanda Lepre did a small acoustic set of her solo material. And of course Descendants of Erdrick had a great show.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve shot any sort of musical performance. But I had fun with this and got some good photos out of it.



A Lesson Learned In The Hometown

Homwtown Throwdowns are always a fun time. DJ Rockman along with William and Dylan of Pixels Bar work hard to put on a good event and it shows. Plus it's just fun to get a bunch of our friends together to hang out, perform some songs, play some games, etc.

I had been covering these events for a while but this time around I wanted to do something different and challenge myself. Previously I would shoot digital on my Fuji X-T2 along with some sort of film, usually either Fuji Instax Wide or Ilford HP5+. This time around I was only going to shoot on HP5+ using my Pentax ES II. Originally I was also going to use this as part of a pair of articles on using different developing chemicals since there was a show at Kick Butt just six days prior that would have the same shooting situations. For various reasons that did not pan out.

One other part of this challenge was to only bring two lenses with me. I decided to go with the Pentax 35mm f/3.5 and Pentax 135mm f/3.5. I wanted to explore my 'concert portraiture' way of shooting again since I hadn't done it in so long. So the 135mm would work well here. The real fun part is that everyone on this Hometwon Throwdown moves around on stage A LOT. Since everything was manual focus and I had to shoot at a 1/60 shutter speed it meant it was going to be an interesting experience.

For development this time around I used Ilfotec DD-X as the developer. Previously I had used Kodak HC-110 to push the HP5+ film to ISO 3200 to good results. And the DD-X also did a wonderful job here. Maybe at some point I'll be able to do that comparison article between the two chemicals. Especially since this is a pretty specific picture taking situation that I'm not sure anyone else has covered. For the photos I have I was happy to see that the 135mm did get me some good frames in that 'concert portrait' style.

If you're wondering why there's no pics of Dual Core or Lex the Lexicon here...

Short answer: I fucked up. TWICE.

Given how much all the performers moved around on a stage I knew there was a chance that my 'hit rate' was going to be kind of low. So I made sure to bring one roll of HP5+ for each act. Given that I was pretty familiar with every act on the bill I figured I could go through the roll during the first half of the set and then just prep a roll for the next act.

Things went fine during Star Fighter Dreams and Bitforce. During Dual Core I thought things were fine... until I went to prep the next roll. The rewind knob went slack rather quickly. So that meant I got nothing (I had this happen at PAX South earlier this year as well). Not really getting why that happened I figured I'd go the 'cover your ass' route and load the next roll to split between Dual Core and Lex.

Once I got done taking pics I put my camera back in the bag and went to go enjoy the rest of the show.

When I went to get that roll out of the camera... the rewind went slack again quickly.

SHIT

I went ahead and developed the roll... and yep... got absolutely fuck all.

I looked at the sections that were exposed due to loading the film and I discovered what was causing this. With the take up spool in the camera I was expecting the slot for the film tab to be able to grip the film enough and only need a bit of rotation to be able to hold the film in place. The Pentax ES II really needs a bit more film to wrap around in order to keep it in place. In hindsight the fact that the frame counter didn't give a frame number until zero but yet started before that should have been a clue.

There's a basic rule in photography that everyone should understand and adhere to: know your gear. In the age of of digital there are many things that help make that easier especially more so now that mirrorless technology can give us instant feedback and we can quickly correct. With film there's no such thing. And given that my experience of shooting on film has a 20+ year gap it's apparent there's still more I need to keep in mind.

Though if anyone needs some blank rolls in order to learn how to load a film reel for development let me know. I can hook you up.

Hindsight: Nerdapalooza 2012

This was the event that really got me into doing concert photography.

With being involved with the nerd music scene for a little over a year I still wasn't really well versed in what all was out there. While MAGFest was a great introduction there was a lot more out there that I was not aware of.

It was a rather random thing for me to go to Nerdapalooza. Our friends Descendants of Erdrick were invited to play as were the OneUps and Brentalfloss. I originally hadn't made any plans to go. But somehow through having a bunch of money saved up along with a good chunk of time off available I decided "What the hell? Why not?"

A lot of my event coverage experience up to this point had been with video. But I didn't think video was going to be an option here. I had actually been to The Social before since I had seen a number of shows there when I used to live in Florida. It really wasn't the best set up for video plus I didn't know how many people were going to be there. But I wanted to capture it in some way. Since I had the Canon Rebel T3i's I decided I'd go do some photography.

I'm glad I did.

It was a different experience than MAGFest. Split between The Social and The Beacham (which I didn't know had a connecting hallway until this) there were sets going on all the time. So sometimes I'd have to choose between seeing some new talent and someone I was familiar with. I did find some new music I really liked and became a fan of.

Plus everyone was in one hotel. So there was a lot of hanging out until way in the morning. Never thought I'd be in a room playing in a beer pong tournmanet while DJ Cutman was DJing through a clock radio. Or just hanging out in front of the hotel drinking with members of the bands or other attendees just talking about random shit. I'm not sure how our livers survived really.

Since this was the moment that got me started in concert photography I figured it would be to go back and talk through some of my favorite pictures along with discussion on how my shooting methodology evolved since then.

Adam WarRock (performing with Tribe One)

ISO 3200, 1/80 shutter spped, Canon 18-55 f/5.6

Now that I look at this image now I'm a bit surprised I was able to get this one at 1/80. The lighting in The Social wasn't always the best so more often than not I'd have to go even lower on the shutter speed. But Adam also moves around a lot so I needed to strike a balance between the two. This one was a bit of a lucky shot with how the light behind him frames him well but yet there was a light also in front of him so you could see his eyes and it gives good detail to his pose. I also liked how there's a good sense of balance in the framing.

The OneUps

ISO 3200, 1/60 shutter speed, Tamron 55-200 f/4-5.6

I loved how there's just enough light to bring out Will's face but yet everything else is in darkness. It's a good example of the "concert portrait" style that would define my concert photography for a number of years.

ISO 3200, 1/60 shutter speed, Tamron 55-200 f/4-5.6

While not a technically perfect picture since there's a tad bit of blur due to the low shutter speed there's something about this pic I just like. I think it's a mix of Mustin's expression and how he's into what he's doing along with the fact that you can see his hands on the keyboard in the reflection of the sunglasses.

Dual Core

ISO 3200, 1/50 shutter speed, Tamron 55-200 f/4-5.6

Another kinda lucky shot. The pin spot just hitting his eyes works here and there's just enough light to show the rest of him. But pretty much everything else falls into darkness just highlighting him.

Random Encounter and Descendants of Erdrick

ISO 3200, 1/50 shutter speed, Tamron 55-200 f/4-5.6

The funny bit is that this photo was actually taken during the sound check before they performed. Careless was paying attention to how the other members of the band sounded. There's something about his look on concentration that just makes it for me. And I also think the framing is really good.

Canon T3i, ISO 3200, 1/50 shutter speed, Canon 18-55 f/5.6

This pic just screams CONCERT. Random Encounter and Descendants of Erdrick did a collaboration set and in the middle they were all on stage to perform "Dancing Mad" from Final Fantasy 6. Bringing the crowd into the shot along with having a wider view of the stage and band members was a good choice.

Those Who Fight

ISO 3200, 1/50 shutter speed, Canon 18-55 f/5.6

I love this photo of Titan. His pose being rendered into silhouette along with a bit of over exposure from the wash light itself and the composition just speaks to me.

Amanda Lepre (performing with Brentalfloss and the Cartridge Family)

ISO 3200, 1/80 shutter speed, Tamron 55-200 f/4-5.6

The fact that Amanda is wearing all black could have led to some problems depending on the lighting. But here since she was doing main vocal duties on "Metroid: Fight For Love" there was a pin spot light on her which helped. The green wash in the background also helped bring her out. Amanda tends to be really expressive when she sings and the combination of those things led to a good shot.

Looking Back

One thing that was painfully obvious while I was going through photos for this article... holy fuck was I terrible about composing "in camera". Admittedly given this was my first go around at doing this sort of thing but when I was going through them I really had to wonder what the hell was I thinking. For example the bulk of the photos were shot in vertical orientation. Even with almost six years passing since I did this I quite frankly have no idea why I shot so much that way. Thankfully I've gotten a lot better about that.

Another piece: knowing more about the capabilities of my camera. Especially with the ability to shoot in RAW format. I had originally purchased three T3i's for video purposes such as shooting Amanda's "Slay The Dragon" video. I wouldn't come to understand that capability until later. Though with certain bits maybe it was a good thing I wasn't aware of that at the time.

Lastly... posting way too many photos. I talk about this quite a bit in my article The 1% but given my editing methodology now I certainly would not have posted as many as I did. I think part of that was that I was considering this exercise as doing some event journalism for 8BitX. But now I sure as shit would not have put out as many as I did. Which going back to my point about not being aware of RAW shooting maybe it's a good thing I didn't know about it. I would have ended up "saving" more photos and posting them.

Going back to my start of concert photography life has been an interesting thing. There's definitiely some bits here that I would carry forward for some time such as using a zoom lens for my "concert portrait" style. I would also eventually adapt my editing style to where it would be really close to what I saw on stage. Which is pretty close to what you see here.

Funny how a bit of a last minute trip would put me on this path.

If MAGFest Is A Donut Does That Make Jamspace A Donut Hole?

If MAGFest Is A Donut Does That Make Jamspace A Donut Hole?

The amount of talent that comes through the MAGFest Jamspace at PAX South blows me away every year.

Gaming And Festing With A Classic Style

In the years Game Over Videogames has been doing Classic Game Fest it's been very interesting watching it grow. And with it's fifth year doing everything in one location it's gotten better every year. One of the best parts is how a bunch of my friends come together (a good chunk of them coming in from out of town) to have a good time. This year was no different.

The one thing that was different was where they had the Music stage this year. Before they had it in the main hall where the bulk of the vendors were. It would have some light but it was workable with my old Canon Rebel T3i. But for 2017 they moved it off to another space to sit not far from the Console, Arcade and Pinball sections. So with that move they decided to not have most of the lights on.

Let's just say I'm glad I had moved to the Fujifilm X-T2 by this point.

In the past in their previous set ups I would have to shoot at ISO 3200 on the T3i in order to be able to shoot at a 1/125 shutter speed to get that nice little blend of frozen action and movement with the 18-55mm f/5.6. And with RAW processing I could bump up the exposure by a stop without making me cringe. In this particular set up if I did not have a lens with a wider aperture I would have been completely fucked. And even then it might have ben questionable.

With the X-T2 I was able to get really good photos at ISO 6400 and even some rather usable ones at ISO 12,800. Which was good since there really wasn't much in the way of stage lighting aside from some light bars on the stage itself. But I was still able to use shadow recovery and exposure adjustment to give some definition to the photos without really taking away from what people would have actually seen if they were there.

All in all a good time. Got to see a bunch of my friends win over some new fans, watched a young kid win the video game trivia contest (like seriously this kid must've been ten... and he knew history like I did being 40), some awesome cosplay, plus some cute moments like a dad making sure his daughter could play Defender.

Welcoming Some Friends From Out Of Town

I love it when a bunch of friends get together to put on an awesome show. Especially when our friends You Bred Raptors? came from New York City and had an awesome set.

Still not a fan of automated audio controlled lighting though.