
The Ska is Dead tour made it’s way to Sayreville, New Jersey Sunday afternoon. The show was held at Starland Ballroom, which I shot there once before in their parking lot for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones & Dropkick Murphys show. Hub City Stompers were the 3rd band on the bill.
I already wrote an exhausting live review of the show over at ReadJunk.com so please check that out here.
Like with most of the sets for this show, I used 2 lenses: The 18-70mm f.3-5-4.5 and the 70-200mm f2.8. The wide angle lens was used in the photo pit and the telephoto lens was used just outside the photo pit where I was standing. during the Avon Junkies set, I tried to shoot with the 50mm f1.4 lens, but it was too tight and close up for my liking. The wide angle proved to be the winner that night because I could capture many angles and shots with that one. Like I say all the time, I just wish I could pay for the faster lens like 14-14mm f2.8.
The lighting for the Ska is Dead tour at Starland Ballroom was a mix of harsh red lighting, and a refreshing blue/white lighting. If you see a photo in these sets that are black & white, most likely the original photos were red. But then again, black & white always looks nice anyway. My main goal for the Hub City Stompers was trying to capture the many facial expressions of frontman Rev. T Sinister. Only problem is he doesn’t stand in one spot for too long. So I had to follow him around a bit with my camera. I managed to get a nice shot of him outside of the photo pit with the telephoto pit (which you can see above).
Check out my favorite shots of Hub City Stompers below:







View the rest of the gallery here.
Tags: 70-200mm f2.8, Concert Photography, hub city stompers, nikkor 18-70mm f3.5-4.5, nikon d300, nj, NJ Ska, Photography, Rev.T Sinister, sayreville, ska, ska is dead tour, starland ballroom
November 18, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Thanks for the comment! I really want to get the 24-70mm f.28 lens as well but don’t have the money for it right now. I might get that one over the 14-24mm f2.8 since I’d prob. need that focal range more.
Gregory Taylorl
November 18, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Great photos. Red lighting is the nemesis of concert photography – like you I often convert those images to black and white.
When I photograph live music I like using a combo between my 24-70mm 2.8 and my prime 50mm 1.8 – mixed with a higher ISO there’s really no need for a flash.
Glad I stumbled upon your blog – I’ll add to my music feed. Cheers~