The Darkness From The Photo Pit

THE DARKNESS

THE DARKNESS at The Glass House photo: Lauren Ratkowski

I love The Darkness. I have since I saw their music video for their first single “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” when I was only 10 back in 2003. Although they did disappear for a while, I was happy to hear they were returning to the rock scene a few years ago. At that point I had set my sights on doing music photography, so naturally, I put them on my list of bands I wanted to try to shoot.

My dreams came true when I was asked to shoot The Darkness at The Glass House in Pomona!

As usual, I grabbed my credentials and waited for one of our writers to arrive. We went inside and I did my typical venue survey to see where the best points to shoot from the crowd were, where the entrance to the photo pit was, and beyond. The crowd for this show was filled with enthusiastic rock lovers of all ages. It seems that The Darkness truly is a unique band that has the ability to appeal to both classic and modern rock fans.

According to the venues site, another band was supposed to open. However, the only band that played was The Darkness themselves.

I jumped into the pit 15 minutes before they went on. I’ve never shot at The Glass House, so I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of lighting and how big the pit was going to be. I was happy to find that the pit was a great size (some venues have very tight photo pits)! I got situated and set my camera to my usual pre-concert starting point.

The band came on about 10 minutes later. I must say I was a little awe struck because I’ve loved them for so long, but I had a job to do! Going into this shoot, I knew that lead vocalist Justin Hawkins is quite the character. I enjoy shooting bands with a presence because it genuinely gives a great dynamic to the photos. Needless to say, the band didn’t disappoint.

During the third song of the night, I found my lens pointed directly up at Justin Hawkins. I watched through my viewfinder as he pointed the mic out to the crowd, encouraging them to sing along. I snapped a few, then he pulled the mic back up to his lips. A moment later, it was back in my lens. He looked down at me and smiled- he knew he was creating a great photo opportunity and left his mic pointed at me as I snapped 5 more frames before pulling away again.

I was excited to know that I had hopefully just got something good. I wanted to check my LCD to be sure, but I knew if I did, I may miss another great moment. So I fought my urge to take a peak and kept shooting.

I stayed to the end of the show knowing that in the past, Hawkins usually jumps into the crowd during “I Believe In A Thing Called Love.” I found a spot that I knew I’d be able to get something if he did so during this show.

Although Hawkins did not jump out into the audience during that particular song, it happened during the bands 3 song encore. Sitting atop a crew member’s shoulders with guitar in hand, Hawkins was toured across the venue. I ran from one side of the venue to the other and followed him through knowing this was a moment that I needed to have. This paid off-I was able to capture some of my favorite photos of the night!

Shooting concerts is truly a labor of love. I love being able to appreciate bands I love with my art. I can’t wait to knock another band off my list!