blog | kunal kakodkar | photography

• I did an all-color set for the NH7 pieces on this gig (check out those pics + review + setlist here and here), so I thought it'd be a good idea to crank out some black and whites for the blog. 
• Typical low-key Blue Frog lighting, with the addition of a projector that was blasting the band (and backdrop) from the FOH. This added a tiny bit of front lighting and produced some vaguely interesting mesh patterns on the band. Shooting wide open with ISO maxed out at 1600, shutter speeds were locked between 1/40 and 1/100 for the most part.
• Monica Dogra (Shaa'ir) may be the easiest person to shoot in all of Indian indie. It'd be impossible to shoot her for an entire set and not come away with at least a handful of keepers. +100 points on the night for the awesome eye-makeup that made her look like she was crying tears of mercury.
• I miss Randolph's epic LED eyewear.
  
• The encore for the night was Radiohead's '15 Step', with Vishal Dadlani on guest vocals. Although he did a stellar job, it seemed like an odd note to end on after twenty-ish excellent S+F tracks.
• Incidentally, this was the launch gig for the band's third album, Mantis. It's available for free download or purchase on their website.
  

• Swarathma played the opening gig at this year's Nokia Music Connects conference. They played the same venue about four months ago, where I shot them along with Tough on Tobacco and Pentagram.
• Shooting the same band in the same venue can be a bit meh. Lighting was pretty similar to the last gig, with the exception of a row of LED cans over the front of the stage. While the ultra-saturated color washes they provided made for some interesting shots, for the most part it was impossible to get a decent exposure without blowing one or more chroma channels. Swarathma had also sprung for flamboyant new outfits which provided some variety.
• In the middle of Pyaasi, the power goes out. The crowd soldiers on through the chorus, and without missing a beat, the band is now doing an impromptu unplugged set. Quick switch to AF-S, turn on the AF-assist lamp, pop-up flash and hope for the best. I thought I got some decent shots considering that the outage was both short and unexpected. Unfortunately, the mammoth 24-70/2.8 casts an ugly shadow when used with the tiny on-camera flash. A bit of it is visible in the photo with Vasu, Sanjeev and Pavan.
• This is the fourth Swarathma gig I've shot this year. Their new stuff is shaping up nicely, and they continue to be one of the country's best live acts.
  

• There's nothing quite like Lou Majaw's brand of geriatric Khasi rock. Pics are from the second of this two nights at the Blue Frog a couple of weeks ago.
• Few people appear to be as genuinely happy on stage as him. That, combined with his borderline-crazy gesticulations, make him a lot of fun to shoot. My only regret was not having enough shutter speed to catch his end-of-song leaps.
• Ever the intrepid journalist, The Groovebox took it upon himself to find out where Majaw buys his shorts. 'Snip, snip' was the appropriately short answer.

Asian Photography magazine features some of my photos in this month's issue along with a how-to article on concert photography. I had nothing to do with the article itself, just provided pics and captions. That being said, it isn't half bad. The images, of course, are stellar. ;)

Click here to download:

AP June 10.pdf (2.75 MB)