More U2

I am EXTREMELY lazy in updating this blog... Yes, I know. Life has gotten extremely busy.


More to the point- two more U2 shows during their Joshua Tree tour. I attended the Philly show and DC show. I am going to lump my thoughts in to a list format as I want to do.

• This tour does not feel like a regular U2 tour. In that they are not supporting new material.
• Because it is in a stadium, most everyone I would want to hang out with is scattered all over the place
• Due to previous point, people are showing up at all sorts of different times
• There are a LOT of "bucket list" attendees to these shows
• The screen is HUGE, amazingly crisp, and amazing
• The b-stage is great, but not utilized as much as I thought it would be
• For Philly I was left of the b-stage, and was not happy with the angle due to the camera boom located there. D'oh!
• For DC I was right of the b-stage, and pretty darn happy with the angle
• If I had gone to a third show, I would have stood between the b-stage and the main stage. Oh well!
• For Philly I shot blindly above my head. Too many damn mobiles out. My arm got tired doing that.
• For DC I was much closer to the stage/rail, not nearly as many mobiles in front of me to block photos.
• At each show I wound up standing next to another fan photographer. It was not planned, it just happened. Nice to be able to talk about the show through the lens.
• Still very sorry about blocking my one buddy at Philly, after he tipped me on the shot below. Still feel bad about that.

From Philly (full photo album here):



From DC (full photo album here):

Two new things

I just watched the little video on Google PhotoScan, and I gotta say- that is awesome sauce. Exactly what old printed photos need. I plan to try it out in short order. Course, it also helps to have old photos... thankfully, I know plenty of sources for it.
I don't use Google for my image storage right now... so I am curious to how the app will handle things.

Really good write-up from DIYphotography.

The intro video:



The other thing, I saw in passing and I plan to watch some of is the Netflix series- "Tales By Light." I recall someone suggesting there ought to be a photography cable channel a while back- oh wait, that was me. *sheepish grin*
In any case, this series sounds interesting... the downside is, I'll never get to these locations, nor be asked to do anything close to what these amazing people do.
Write-up of the series by DigitalTrends.

The video trailer:

Canon 7D "cannot communicate with battery"

I recently received the shock of turning on the body and seeing the message "cannot communicate with battery." This was right after I got the body back from Canon services. I called, asked what could be done, and they said (paraphrasing here) "the batteries do go bad sir."

I basically hung up on Canon I was so mad.

Thats when research mode kicked in. Some places said put the unit in to your freezer over night. Some said some sort of cleaning solution will fix it. However, I found the following video:



It worked! PRAISE JEBUS!

The only difference for me was the offending screw was in the cavity of the body. Thankfully I had a magnetic screwdriver left over from an iPhone repair. I 'fished' around in the space and found the screw further down.

For the record, all the screws that came out of the body also fit the missing screw hole. (just say'n)

Two more U2 concerts, two more sets of amazing photos

I brought my gear with me to Boston, my 7D, 50mm 1.8, 17-40 4.0, and 70-200 2.8 IS.

First night I only brought the 7D taped up to cover like Canon, and 7D. I had removed my vertical grip to make it small as possible. It only had the 50mm. 

I had done research on security at different venues, and it very much varied. From lax to SUPER restrict. I gambled that Boston would be old school east coast, don't give a crap. Turns out my gamble paid off.

When I went through GA first night, I could have brought a rocket launcher through... no one cared. 

On my way out from the first night, I talked with a guy about why he didn't bring his gear in. (he was photographing for a U2 tattoo project) He did say a woman in the first row of seats had a 300mm and shot the entire show. Nearly bumped the security guy in the head a couple times. 

Here are all the results from night 1 with only the 50mm.

That sealed it for me... I was bringing the entire family in. I had a strap bag... wrapped my 70-200 in a shirt... put my 17-40 on my camera and I was off. (even had my 50mm, but never used it)

The only problem I might have had was that I was going through the Ride entrance... security guy checked my bag, asked what that big thing was... and I was honest, I told him it was a camera lens. He said go... and I was in.

I was second person on the rail for the first five songs next to another U2 fan photographer. (he went back to his hotel to get his better gear after I told him what I was doing... paid off for him as well)

Then I wandered away, and was towards the back of the floor... and I thought, "Screw it... worst case, I can tell security I wasn't aware of the policy."

I put the 70-200mm lens on, being sure never to bug people or to get in the way. Being 6'4" also helped. I knew to move towards the B-stage at a certain time. I didn't have rail, but with a 70-200, I was good as there.  :)

I shot so much at a U2 show, I felt complete. It was a great feeling... I did the same for the Pittsburgh 360 show. I had the 70-200 in there as well. This time I got so many super sharp amazing photos... 

Worst problem- going through, editing, and posting. Gads... 1400 photos is no joke

Here are all the results from night 2 with the 17-40mm at first, but then using the 70-200mm 2.8 IS.

Also, the blue and red lights they use this tour, pain in the ass.