Completely Insane!!

As a wedding photographer, shooting bands is pretty far out of my comfort zone. The atmosphere, lighting, and accessibility are quite different between band concerts and weddings. However, when my friend and fellow co-worker, Chad, told me his band, Completely Insane, needed photos, I decided to take on the task.

The show was at Brian's, a popular billiards and bar down on Kapiolani Blvd. It was a full house :)

For the photographers reading this blog, the show's lighting almost made me cry when I walked into the venue: darkness everywhere, except for some gelled spotlights. The ceiling was black, so that ruled out bounce flash. Chad's band was first, and played ten songs. I decided to shoot with both D300's to reduce lens changing. The 85m 1.4 was on one body, and the 17-50 2.8 was on the other. Once all the lights came on, I began to realize I had a chance of getting some stellar images if I timed my shots right. To add to the mix, there was a fog machine that cranked out some cool effects.

Shots were taken on Manual mode, ISO 2500-3200, shutter speeds ranging from 1/30 to 1/320 sec.

This was my first time watching Chad's band play, and I was BLOWN AWAY! They have a great rapport with their audiences, and are all talented musicians. For more information, you can find them on Facebook here:

Completely Insane's Facebook Page