A Whisper from the Heart

Live photographer

More photograph opportunites. More sneaky tricks. More shutter happy Gwen.

Danny brought me to another rock band marathon called Live! Still the same bands. Still sponsored by B&H. But the experience was way different.

This time, Danny managed to get us through the sweating jumping rowdy crowds to the very front! That was pretty amazing! If I was on my own, I'm sure I'd have given up halfway... But he isn't like that... Most photographers aren't... But as he called me, I'm an "apprentice".

He brought along his D70 this time, and I was having a really fun time taking pictures and looking at the result immediately. Danny likened me to being a little child with a new toy. And that's good to him cos he thinks photographers should have fun. Good photographers are the ones who have fun taking photos apparently. But seriously, it's very fun! I didn't even need to worry about film or anything because he has a 1Gb memory card!

So we had squeezed our way to the front of the crowds, by saying "please let us pass". Magic of the word "Please". and we found ourselves behind a barrier. The VIPs and the Press were in front of it. But in order to get in, we had to squeeze out of the crowd again and go in from another entrance. So I was satisfied taking pictures behind a barrier, and dancing to the music. (It was Junoon btw! The one we missed the night before. Great music!) Then, we saw a couple of our friends in front of the barrier! In fact, one of them was on stage! Knowing that they could get up there, I wanted to get up there as well! I wanted an up close and personal photo of those musicians!

We squeezed out of the crowd again. 2 guys came along to help to usher me out of the crowd! That was really really sweet of them... We got out safely and then we went to find the entrance to the VIP section. One of the Pathshala students, Murad, met us at the entrance and helped to get us in. He just coolly went up to the security and said "Media". The guy let us all go in. Even though only Danny and Murad had press passes. He didn't bother to check me. They never do. It's the face I tell you. And the camera I was holding.

Now we were at the VIP section. Right in front of the Stage. I took some pictures there and was happy there. But Danny wanted to get me to the stage. Think I was a little freaked out. I didn't think it would be possible and I didn't feel ready to be on stage. Like a lot of people would see me up there. And I wasn't even a real photographer. Just a poseur. I made myself swallow all that negative thought cos Danny was already getting us access on to the stage!

It was easy... Just displayed his press pass and walked in. Before I knew it, I was on stage! Looking at the musicians face to face, taking their pictures. I know I got some really nice shots of one of the cool bassists and another of a lead guitarist. As soon as I got some nice pictures, I'd show them to Danny and Kabir, the Pathshala student who was already on the stage. When we thought we'd had enough of the stage, we went in front of the stage and watched the musicians. I assumed that re entry would not be a problem since we had gone in once already.

Wrongo... There was a little difficulty in re-entry. A policeman tried to make some trouble for us by not allowing us to go into the backstage. I didn't want to make trouble so I just accepted it as that. But Danny wanted to prove a point. He went to the policeman, talked to him very calmly, and in a couple of minutes, the policeman was being apologetic and allowed us free access!

What was that about?

Apparently, Danny went up to the policeman and told him that he is a journalist. In time to come, he would be doing interviews with the government officials. And at that time, he would complain about how badly treated he was by the police. That scared the poor policeman. He didn't have a chance against the nifty tricks of journalists who want to get their way all the time... Think I'm enjoying the life of a real photographer...

Rest of the night was spent taking pictures of other people enjoying the music... including the stage crew! It was so funny seeing stage crew dancing to the music and some of the ladies becoming groupies to the cooler band members... Dan says this is the first time he's seen groupies in Bangladesh... Well well... There must always be a first.

Speaking of firsts, I saw some ladies wearing jeans and a tank top! I think they're either foreigners or they are the extreme minority. It was one group of friends and they all looked like they were really there for the music. Well done! But I think my idea of the adapted Salwar Kameez is more interesting than just wearing black tank tops. And still... no female musicians... Guess that takes more time...


Now, I'm totally hooked on the D70 DSLR. (No wonder Danny was always gushing about it! I'm doing it now too!) The convenience of digital is so evident! I could upload the pictures into my laptop in a jiffy. And I managed to get the hang of the camera very quickly. I'm not usually so comfortable with foreign cameras. But the controls of the D70 are very similar to my own Minolta so it worked like a dream... Can't wait to get my own now... Of cos there's the other thing that I really need to use the D70: A new laptop. One that can access the internet, has enough memory space for me to save my pictures, and allow me to work on photoshop without completely stalling. Maybe I can get those when I get home?? (Mum, Dad, are you all listening in? Hee hee! Just kidding...)

posted by thebemusedphotog @ 10:24 AM