In April 2019, I flew down to Nashville and headed back to Blackbird Studios. It had been almost a year since Beartooth and I last visited the studio to record the album “Disease”. It created a very nostalgic atmosphere for those of us that spent a month within those walls, but strangely we fell so quickly back into place that it felt like we never left.
I brought my Leica M6 TTL along with me and shot a few rolls in between shooting for my actual role which I cannot mention yet. It turns out my Leica is underexposing significantly and will need repair work done. In the meantime I need only overexpose the negatives by half a stop to mitigate the issue. These images are shot on a mix of Ilford Delta 3200, Portra 400 and Fuji Superia 1600 pushed one stop.
To kick off 2019 I went out to Europe with Beartooth where they provided direct support for Architects on their Holy Hell run. This was slated to be a huge tour boasting room sizes up to 12,500 people, something I had never done before outside of festivals. Brimming with excitement I felt it was the perfect place to put my new Leica M6 TTL to the test. Armed with an assortment of films (Portra 400, Portra 800, Delta 400, Ektachrome 100), I tried a variety of settings trying to find the perfect set up for shooting shows. Unfortunately that doesn’t exist. Never the less I had fun attempting/failing/succeeding in covering a live metal show with an analog range finder from 1999.
Prior to the Holy Hell tour, I didn’t think film would be able to manage the insane task of shooting a live concert. Fast movement and horrendously bright flashing lights in an otherwise pitch black room are not exactly the ideal circumstances for a slow and thoughtful process like film photography. However, after a few successful experimental shots on some Portra 400, I thought I’d try a roll of Portra 800.
During Architects’ Berlin show I ventured into the photo pit for their first two songs and shot a roll. These are some of my favourite shots. Considering I’d never shot a roll during a concert I was surprised to find more than a couple decent shots. My next test will be the Fuji Superia 1600 during the next part of Beartooth’s Disease Tour.
Leica M6 TTL
Kodak Portra 800
Leica (Leitz) 35mm F2
