Now for something a bit different..
Billy Talent – O2 Brixton Academy, London
November 1, 2009
I was lucky enough to obtain a photo pass for Billy Talent’s London show last night. A photo pass basically allows you to take pictures from the photo pit (bit in between crowd and stage where security stands) – exciting stuff!
The supporting act (Cancer Bats) had just come off, and preparations were being made for the main band:
In the photo pit..
.. and the band are on!
I discovered the power of RAW mode. In all the time I have used an SLR camera, I have never once shot RAW. Most of the situations I shoot in (outside in natural light) don’t really need it, but with funky lighting, it’s *really* useful. I’m still learning how to edit properly, so some of these pictures aren’t all that great in terms of their colour.
Black and white..?
Or colour?
This is what I mean by funky lighting – ouch:
Slightly better lighting:
Frontman Benjamin Kowalewicz is a really dynamic performer and even with a fast lens, it was hard to get great action shots with this kind of lighting. Flash isn’t allowed, so you have to really know what you’re doing with the camera, and try to read the angle of the light hitting the subject. It’s not so easy!
(If you screw up, you can always convert to black and white.)
At one point he sang straight into my lens, but I was using Auto Focus and the light was too dim so it didn’t focus in time – boo.
Loving the eye:
Before I knew it, 3 songs were over, and we were promptly ushered out of the photo pit. The staff at Brixton Academy were great and said I could stay for the rest of the gig, but just couldn’t take any pictures. I suppose you could technically sneak in a few, but with a 24-70mm, that’s a little hard! Maybe next time I’ll take the Nikon F3 and shoot some film from the back so I get the crowd in.
There were obviously opportunities to shoot the crowd from the front but I spent all my time focused on the band itself. Something to remember for next time.
As for the music itself – absolutely fab. \m/ (<– haven’t used that emote since I was around 16).
Shalom!
Some random last snaps from Israel – this time from Netanya and Tel Aviv.
Lovely bonfire/BBQ at Ricki’s place:
I learnt some Yemen dancing :D
I dislike cats but honestly, how cute is this:
Netanya Market:
She started arguing with me about me taking a picture of her (above) but I told her I was more interested in the market. She then wanted her picture taken!
Largest knickers I ever seen. It puts Bridget Jones to shame.
Went to the beach with some amazing sandwiches from the above place. Tuna, peppers, tomatoes and some spicy stuff – it’s some kind of Tunisian mix. Very yum.
Something was up with the camera hence dodgy focus. Anyway, focus got fixed and Ricki took over while I frolicked in the sand.
I don’t get to run on sand often especially in this kind of heat and scenery, so yeah, I kind of made the most of it :P
Me with the plastic camera, and yes, I really was that red after an hour. I think my shoulders suffered for 2 weeks, but it was worth it!
Some scans of the pics from the disposable waterproof camera (£8 buy one get one free from Boots!):
I like the colours – and this is without any editing at all.
Some snaps I took at the Dead Sea:
En route to Tel Aviv!
Eyal + Goldstar
We had Goldstar on the roof of Eyal’s place and watched all the dressed-up people spilling out of the club below. It seemed like an unappealing crowd – I was happy to be up on the roof!
I don’t know why I love capturing graffiti so much. I guess it’s such a universal thing.. I can’t imagine any city without it.
Very cool old school camera shop:
I had a conversation with the lady who was selling this:
She told me she loves the London Underground and that’s why she made that, and she was honoured to meet someone from London. Maybe she was trying to get me to buy it. Or maybe she was just being nice : )
I really liked this Lego/olive pic:
Tel Aviv was hot. Quite a bit more hot than Netanya which is only 20 minutes away by train. Walking around in the sunshine takes it toll (especially with already burnt backs), so we went to Rotem’s place and chilled for a bit:
Back at Ricki’s place.. my last morning!
Shalmi – the most arrogant yet adorable cat I know : )
Turkish coffee (mmm!), cake, and nargila for the last time : (
Bye bye Israel..
OK, so airport food is usually barely edible, but I was impressed with the backlava for dessert!
Clouds fascinate me. I always have to sit by the window so I can stare at the view in awe. Not many people I know seem interested in looking out of plane windows, which I don’t really get. Unless you fly every week, it’s surely not possible to get bored of seeing the planet from a completely different perspective.
Full-view:
You can see the faint trail of another plane in the distance. Boring? Not to me!
Hello London:
I only got back last month, yet it feels like years ago. I don’t remember half of the things I wanted to say about this part of the world, but then, I guess this is a photoblog, so the pictures can speak for themselves. You can read my previous posts if you want more of a descriptive account.
Thanks for looking 
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2008
2009
