the importance of having long lenses

I wasn't too worried about my not having anything longer than my 90mm 2.8 Tamron for concerts until I was standing in the photo pit of Rabarock Festival in Estonia in June 2008, seeing Helloween play on a stage this high:


Took that one with 17mm just to demonstrate how small I felt down there with my 167 cm which isn't even short! So I was happy to have at least my 90mm lens for Rabarock and ended up getting portraits like this:


The lens is a really good lens, but it doesn't give you many choices for framing. Especially when being in the pit, having the first three songs for shooting which means not much space and not much time for trying out stuff. At least for me. So I've been wanting a good 70-200mm lens for concert shooting ever since. Dear Santa... ;)

I must admit the stage was also a kind of a turn off for me as far as large festivals are concerned. A stage like that and it being outside (= the light is flat and boring) is not a very intriguing combination. However, with some luck and good timing it's possible to get energetic and interesting shots as well. The Japanese band Electric Eel Shock was the best band to take photos of in Rabarock, their stage show was just amazing.

So, even though my tent was flooded (it rained almost all the time) and I didn't get much sleep...



...even though I hit my left leg really painfully on an iron rod and mosquitos massacred my legs...




...Rabarock was made worth while by the hilarious, energetic, fun guys of Electric Eel Shock.

sometimes dreams come true

Last February I got to shoot my first huge gig in a stadium. Nightwish was playing and the Hallenstadion in Zurich was sold out. That meant that while being in the photo pit, there were 13 000 people celebrating Nightwish behind me and Nightwish playing in front of me. Something to make a young, inexperienced photographer humble ;) I didn't wet my pants, but it was an awesome feeling. The energy was amazing. The trouble was that our space was strictly limited between two basses so it wasn't too much. And there was this one guy who kept on pushing me aside :P What an asshole. The other ones were really nice and polite, the way I'm used to, acting according to the unwritten rules of photo pit manners. We also only had two songs instead of the normal three first ones, which fortunately were quite long songs ;)

What I really enjoyed was the great lighting. There was really enough of the light (except on Tuomas) and it was beautiful anyway.


I think I managed to capture a couple of really nice situations which still makes me very happy. Considering I'm still rather a beginner, the results looks actually quite nice. I was also still quite ill that evening, I had been ill all week, but hey how could I have missed an opportunity like this.

After the gig I was invited to the after party and yeah, I had a great time with the people ;) Ewo with his Ville Vallaton-drinks was really funny. I went to him to say hi and before he said hi back he gave me a glass, made me a Ville Vallaton and then shook hands with me :D

I want to thank my friends Maarit and Jarkki again for making that evening possible through their contacts and Marco for organizing the passes for me. See you some time soon :)

Cheers,
Ilona