Lowlight: All the punters looking a bit past it - then realising I am contemporaneous with them...
Fill in: On driving to the venue I remembered why I avoided it normally but The Specials could not be missed. Parking here is horrendous - the only place near that is free means a walk down some rather dodgy dark alleyways - not recommended when you have a bag full of expensive camera gear on you. So I parked about 3/4 of a mile away at the bottom of the hill and did the long walk up. Even once inside the park it is a bit of a trek to the guest list gate, and I was exhausted before I had even got my pass. Then it is a longish walk through various halls to get to the actual stage. This was the last gig these guys were playing, and the atmosphere was buzzing. Terry Hall was right on form and the energy of the band and the crowd must have been transmitted all over London. The pit was full of security so got a bit apprehensive, especially as ankle still a bit wobbly (see Gillman and Soame) , but there was no real rough stuff (at least not in the first three songs).
Tech Spec: Another reason to avoid this venue for photography - strong backlight and no front light. You have to wait for the band to look up or sideways to get any light on them at all (the theme of the week - see Tori Amos). Add to this black guys and black suits and the odds are pretty much against you. Still good for silhouettes! The drummer nearly always does a salutation at the beginning of a gig - especially large venues so be ready to get that. I cranked up the ISO to 3200 (even though it is strongly back lit you are trying to get as much light on the face and in this situation you will have to switch to manual to be sure of a good exposure), stuck the aperture on F2.8 and tried to avoid shooting into the light by positioning myself at an angle to the stage. If the lights were in shot I tried to make the most of them.
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