1. there's always luck involved. for what it's worth I've never had my mirrorless sony taken away from me during german, dutch and british shows. I usually hide my 60mm prime and go in with the kit lens.
  2. I have been bodychecked on even smaller gigs recently. only smallest bags allowed. These days you cannot take for granted it worked 3 years ago. They massively changed rules here.....
  3. Originally posted by sparko:[image]
    on i+e I had a pass. First two songs from Red Zone (Edge) - phone pic:




    another three from first tier (London O2, behind the wheelchairs) above e-stage, on Edge's side. Starting with End Of The World, ending with Real Thing

    Useful. Better than I thought, but still troublesome if you aren't taller than the average audience at Red Zone! Thanks anyway. I will be applying to get that photo pass, would be a dream come true.
  4. Originally posted by flowerchild:there's always luck involved. for what it's worth I've never had my mirrorless sony taken away from me during german, dutch and british shows. I usually hide my 60mm prime and go in with the kit lens.
    this was last year btw!
  5. Originally posted by flowerchild:there's always luck involved. for what it's worth I've never had my mirrorless sony taken away from me during german, dutch and british shows. I usually hide my 60mm prime and go in with the kit lens.
    Agreed, luck is an important factor when it comes to sneaking gear into venues.

    The advices in my Taper's Guide might be useful to some
  6. at least, in London I stood on some kind of platform, and it was only us photographers for these few minutes up on that platform, the other guests sat aside on the barrierer backside and waited or were standing around us, on the ground. on my right there was the VIP area, just like 2-3 feet away, Noel was there (second London)
    You need a tele lens, on full frame I had my 70-200 and I wished I had more already in the first spot. Still, the 70 were good from the second spot to get the full stage and screen.

    Light is horrible on the first two songs, exactly for that reason of press photographers. I had a Canon 5D Mark II (and Canon L 2.8 lens) and it was almost not good enough. You really need a very good DSLR with damn good high ISO performance, which is also very fast. Shoot RAW format.
    I tried serial shots all the time, most of the time I read BUSY on my display.

    I'd love to give it another shot with my new cameras. But I guess u2com won't give me another photo pass for fun. (I was the "test rabbit" for "we give photo passes to fansites and see what happens")

    If you get a pass, you will meet at least an hour before actual show begin, leave everything outside the floor door (jacket, bags etc, a dedicated security watches over them) and will wait at the first spot then. You will not be able to see the rest of the show (though they tried to bring us in watching upstairs, but security didn't want people standing there), they have no storage for equipment, doesn't matter if you have a ticket. You would need to store your stuff away yourself.
  7. not that I'll ever get the chance to grab a photo pass for a u2 show, but reading sparko's experience kinda turns me off of the idea
  8. That's what I afterwards explained to u2com (and I know who else read my mails). Press is not the same as a fan. Press do their jobs, though all of them are usually pretty crazy getting a U2 job, but they do it for money, they take their pics, leave, mail them to their bosses or agencies and done, on to the next job. And for such a job you need high end equipment, they make it extra hard - these photos need to be good for a newspaper print, but not more. So they are not good enough to make money with them.

    I have been in the business for many years in Germany, concert photographer is my job, I know how things work and this is a JOB, not for fans. Though to be honest, it has been the first time ever, I worked for "standard press rules" (most artists it's "3 songs no flash" - there are only few who let them in a second time).
    It is the completely wrong thing to get good photos to fansites. Fans are not doing a job. Fans will be disappointed in one way or the other. (I was mostly for the unfriendly treatment, as they had some problem with a FAN)
  9. I agree with Sparko. Press is indeed not the same as a fan, but a concert photographer can be a fan too
    For a concert photographer the experience is totally different than for a fan. Usually it's three songs from the pit, and then you're escorted out of the building. That said, I'll definitely try to get a photo pass on the E+I Tour as a concert photographer and as a fan!
  10. I'd take the gig if u2 let the press photographers into an actual pit for three songs and not miles away.

    ps: I'm following a couple concert photographers. many of them take great photos of other artists and I'd love to get a chance at that. it just seems that u2's idea of how to use a professional photographer seems... boring/not worth it.
  11. Photographing U2 has been my dream.
    I would not do it again.
    (with a pass in the press slot)
  12. that says it all, really