Stay Hungry
As has been previously discussed right here, the quest for a photopass can be a monumental procedure at best of times. If you are not working for a major publication, be it print or online – most of the major concert promoters completely and utterly ignore your request.
Of course, there are exceptions to that rule – and you can view my gratitude and thanks to those people in the credits section of this website.
Even if at this point in time I am strictly a freelancer when it comes to Rock N Roll photography – that does not mean that my work will not be helping the act in question on some capacity. The show will always be heavily promoted either here or on my blog Dogmatic which receives some serious traffic on a daily basis. Traffic which targets the key audience these promoters are trying to reach. Hello?
Having said that, I decided several months ago to prepare and present a professional looking website. The website would promote my work and be used as a marketing tool for me to be taken seriously and to show the promoter that I am not dicking them around.
This hasn’t always worked so in the perennial quest for the holiest of the hol’ – I go directly to the band. Fuck the middleman. Fuck all the bullshit and hoops you have to jump through to help promote the gig and the band. If you come across a promoter that just won’t budge – go directly to the source.
And that’s exactly what I did when I found out several months ago that Los Angeles Metal act, Five Finger Death Punch were about to tour these shores. I contacted the band directly through their management – presented my case and showed them my work via my website. Within an hour I had received confirmation that my pass had been granted.
No hoops. No trials and tribulations. No bullshit.
The shoot itself? Well, I hate shooting at the HiFi Bar. The lighting sucked (again) and was constantly red for the duration of the band’s set. *sigh*.
There were quite a few photogs present last night. At least 7 of us in the pit for the first 3 songs which was graciously extended to 4 songs as for the majority of song 3, the bouncers had their hands full with a couple of thugs who decided to fight in the crowd.
And as always, found it very hard to shoot anything decent with the first song. The band was highly energetic and frenetically moving around the stage. I don’t think I got a shot worth keeping at this point in time. By the time your alloted timeframe is about to end – is the point where you are taking some cool shots and have had time to acclimatize to the band, the lights and your camera.
View the complete set over at the Slideshow to the right, or on 
