Markus Toivonen, Ensiferum

1/20/2019, Oakland Metro Operahouse

2nd show for the year and 2nd time in Oakland Metro. This time I wanted to go support my fellow Finns, Ensiferum. The night was awesome and the audience really got into the show. The guys said it was the best show of the tour, but potentially that's said every night. I'm always surprised about th eamount of light they can summon in Metro when they want to. This night was one of the better ones and I had a blast shooting there, even when I did have to do it from the audience again. The metal crowds are the best, when you show them your camera, most people almost push you to the front row.

Jeff Becerra, Possessed

1/12/2019 Oakland Metro Operahouse, Oakland

The beginning of the year is always slow for me and this time I took whole December off photography because pf travel and family visit. It was great to get back to action and the start was an old school concert at Oakland Metro with Possessed. It's been a while since I shot from the front of the stage without barricade and my old bones definitely felt it. You get a lot of energy from the band and crowd in front, but you don't get to move and your shots are from the spot you managed to get before the band assrives. I unfortunately had backup cocal mic on my face and I had to try to reach around it for my shots. The stage in Metro is low enough the you don't shoot up the noses of the band but the lighting is unpredictable and with a lot of stage fog it was a waiting game this evening. Eventually I managed to get a bunch of decent shots of Jeff and the rest of the band.

Municipal Waste

11/24/2018 UC Theatre, Berkeley

All the bands on the bill but on a great show but the lighting tech tried to sabotage the whole night. I understand that the show is for the audience not the photographers, but this was beyond bad. I get that you want to bring drama to the lights but being so dim that the audience can't see what the band is doing on stage is not acceptable. Bright lights at the back and dark hues in the face of the performers may give the stage a strong look, but it prevents the audience from seeign the people they came in for.

Nergal, Behemoth

11/23/2018, Regency Ballroom, San Francisco

Behemoth is currently one of my favorite bands. I have seen and shot them number of times, but tonight was hands down the best show for me lighting wise. Usually the band has very strong lihgts and stobes from behind, but this time sround there was more light in the faces. A great night indeed!

Al Jourgensen, Ministry

11/21/2018, The Warfield, San Francisco

First time shooting Ministly! There are some bands that are harder to get to shoot, they either come around seldomly, there's a ton of photographers who want to shoot them or they are not photographer friendly. Ministry definitely ticks all the marks, tough they have been more accommodating recently.

I really wnated to get closeups of Al because of his very interesting face with all the tattoos and piercings. My original idea was to get him mid movement with some of the face in focus, but he didn't end up moving emough to ge that shot. Instead I got this more moody headshot of him.

Scott Hill, Fu Manchu

11/6/2018 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco

I have been a long time fan of Fu Manchu and finally I got to shoot them. My favorite album is their 2001 California Crossing and they rewarded me by playing California Crossing from the album. The light was what it is in GAMH but I'm happy I got to cross one ore band off my bucket list.

The Damned

10/31/2018 Regency Ballroon, San Francisco

My favorite punk grandfather, Captain Sensible of THe Dambed. I have shot the band a few times and Captain is always the most entertaining character on the stage. I wish I have similar energy in 20 years!

Daren Cris and Lea Michele

10/29/2018 The Masonic, San Francisco

Brandon Boyd, Incubus

10/14/2018, Aftershock Festival, Sacramento

Chino Moreno, Deftones

10/13/2018, Aftershock Festival, Sacramento

Wolfheart

10/11/2018, Oakland Metro Operahouse, Oakland

Tomi Joutsen, Amorphis

9/22/2018, UC Theater, Berkeley

It's always special to me to be shooting bands from back home in Finland. This night was special in a way that the bill had two finnish bands, Amorphis and Omnium Gatherum on the bill. Tomi usually has very big microphones and sings through his hair so it's rare to get a shot of his face. Lucky he's also an entertaining performer nad you sometimes get cool shots when he's not belting his lungs out.

Arcade Fire

9/21/2018, Greek Theater, Berkeley

Exodus

9/18/2018 Slim's, San Francisco

This is Exodus performing at 30th annuversary of Slim's. It's hard to believe that I have been in SF for half of that! This club has been the venue for most of my shoots in San Francisco and I still love to go there because of the awesome bands they get. This time I was positively surprised, but also a bit sad, to see the photo pit widened. Now you can pass other photographers without rubbing your genitelia against their asses. Nice!

Patti Smith and Flea

9/14/2018 The Masonic, San Francisco

I got to shoot Patti and Flea with number of other musicians at Pathway To Paris event in San Francisco. This was an event against climate change and to advocate clean energy and future for us and for our children. Check out 1000 Cities campaign as well as 350.org for more information.

Rebelution

8/31/2018 Grek Theater, Berkeley



I have mixed feelings shooting at Greek Theater. The lighting is usually really good but the stage is very high and you always get shots that are right up the performers nose. Also, it's next to impossible for a short guys like me to get full body shots because I can't reach the stage level. I should always carry my stepstool with me, but somehow I always forget about it.

Walk Off The Earth

8/26/2018 August Hall, San Francisco



It's rare that I get to shoot in new venues, especially in San Francisco. After renovations, the old nightclub, Ruby Skye was opened as performance music venue August Hall. This was my first time shooting there. The lighting equipment is powerfull, possibly too powerful for the size of the venue. Also, the stage is very low which makes shooting very easy. Another first for me was also Walk Off The Earth, a canadian band that has gotten poppular through their Youtube videos and they were very capable musicians and performers, thought most of their music was covers.

Maria Brink, In This Moment

8/23/2018, The Warfield, San Francisco



In This Moment is one of the few bands that allow the photographers to shoot the whole show. The show includes multiple costume changes so it makes sense to allow photographers to capture all aspects of it. Unfortunately the show also inlcudes insane amounts of smoke and strobes which makes shooting the band harder than many others. My approach to this kind of a lighting is to set my camera for the brigtest lights on stage and then try to capture the brief moments when the lights are on. This helps cut throught the smoke and produces framatic photos. Naturallythe hit rate is not so awesome and I ended up throwing at least half of the shots to trash without much of a hesitation.

Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco

8/14/2018, SAP Center, San Jose



Shooting a bigger indoor show with a long lens was a change of pace after working three days at Outside Lands. The light was dramatic and with a performer like Brandon it's hard not to get awesome photos. The photographers were stationed on the sides of the arena, half way to the sound board. The distance was a bit awkwards, but lucky I had my extender with me and I got some nice shots. Always be prepared for everything!

DJ Snake

8/12/2018 Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco



Last act on Twin Peaks stage at Outside Lands this year was DJ Snake. There was a rumor that a very special guest would be performing so I stayed and shot the whole set. This equals to the time I have spent in my life at DJ sets. The show was awesome to shoot though. It had fire, sparkles, huge video wall, and if you like this kind of music, great music. Not my style though

Future

8/11/2018 Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco



The main act on Twin Peaks stage on Saturday was rapper Future.

Beck

8/10/2018 Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco



I wasn't in the group of five photographers who were approved to shoot Beck so I had to catch few shots from the audience just so that I can say I have shot his show.

Weezer

8/7/2018, Shoreline, Mt. View



It was great to get to shoot a bigger venue and a bigger band after being in club scene for a while. The abundance of light took me by surprise and it great that Sleigh Bells opened the evening so I could get my bearings. Weezer brought a 70's living room vibe into the set and delivered for the audience. They started with bnch of songs from their self titled "blue" album. They are always a pleasure to photogeraph thought this time they didn't do their signature move during the 3rd song. Usually the guitarists and bassist get together for a guick pose in the middle of the song. I was ready for that to happen just to find out that old dogs do learn new tricks.

Ace Frehley

8/6/2018, Cornerstone, Berkeley



This is the first time shooting any Kiss members and first time shooting at Cornerstone. The venue is small and intimate with no barricade but the audience condensing against the stage. You have to shoot "old school", get in front of the stage at the beginning of the night, fighting to keep your spot and rememeber not to have to go to the toilet the whole night or your miss you photos. The audience was mainly older crowd, but there were some kids that their parents dragged into the show also. Ace put on a great show, he's still got the gutar chops even though his movement on the stage already seems a bit limited. This is probably the closest I get to shooting Kiss so I'll take it.

Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With SIrens

7/31/2018, Great American Music Hall, San Francisco



GAMH is usually very dark venue, but tonight it was surprisingly well lit. Maybe it's also because of the more acoustic and laid back nature of the evening that I could use slower shutter speeds for the night. The place was also full of young girls and didn't have photo pit as usual. Lucky I was able to shoot over the crowd from few rows down. This also helped with the angle to the performers and you can't see up their noses in every shot.

Midnight Sinfini

7/19/2018, Elbo Room, San Fancisco

This might be my first time shootign at Elbo Room though I have seen plenty of bands there. The club is small and dark so I never saw it as a potential photo opportunity. My friends from Midnigt Sinfini were playing and I was going to see them anyway so I desided to bring my camera along. I did some sutter drags with flash and other half of the shots "normally", high ISO, no flash. The light was red and dim so all I could pull off was Black and White conversions. These do work actually. I might go back one day and shoot someone else at Elbo Room.

More photos HERE

Steve Von Till of Neurosis

7/10/2018 UC Theatre, Berkeley

Brandon Ellis, The Black Dahlia Murder

7/7/2018, UC Theater, Berkeley



I'm always a nit skeptical of shooting at UC Theater because the stage is very high (and I'm short) and the lighting can be very challenging. This time around i was pleasantly surprised and there was pnelty of lioght to wirk with. All bands with the exception of Whitechapel that I really didn't get any shots of, were photographers dream with plenty of light from the front.

Janelle Monae

6/16/2018, SF Masonic, San Francisco

This is my second time shooting Janelle and she delivered again. Her show is visual she sings her guts out and she moves around the stage. rue entertainer. For photographer her show is a dream come tru. There's a lot of light (and it's dramatic, just a note to vighting dudes who hate light), she makes and holds poses throught out the songs and she uses the whole stage. Really makes my job easier!

Fantastic Negrito

6//16/2018, The FIllmore, San Francisco

Super energetic show from Fantastic Negrito. I didn't really know wat to expect from the show, but I was still positively surprised. The energy from the band was awesome and for photographer this was an awesome show light wise. There was a spotlight following what's going on the stage. Sometimes it was on the band but most of the time it followed Fantastic Negrito himself. This makes for easy shoot as you do't have to worry abou tchanging light that much. If the spotlight ios there you shoot with one setting, when it's not, you shoot with another. I got a bunch of decent photos tonight and this does bring be out of a slump I have been recently with sup-bar work by me in my own eyes. A good night!

Minus the Bear

6/10/2018, Regency Ballroom, San Francisco

Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse

5/24/2018, Fox Theater, Oakland

I had pretty high hopes for the show. I received approval with "Photographer can shoot the whole show". The light at the beginning of the show was not all that awesome but there were occasional white light from the sides of the stage that made the band visible. I wasn't hurrying since I was goign to shoot as long as I liked. To my, and other photographers, surprise, we were ushered out of the photo pit after 3 songs. When I discussed the sutuation with the head security guy, he said "you can possibly get back in later since the band doesn't mind". Why were we ushered ou then in the first place? Learning opportunity; always shoot as if you could only shoot one song. Memory cards are cheap and should allow you to capture the whole show if you ever got to shoot that long.

León Larregui, Zoé

5/11/2018, Masonic, San Francisco

When shooting for wire services, you try to shoot as much as possible. This naturally leads you to shoot bands you don't like or don't know. I really had no idea where I was going when I went to shoot Zoé. This band from Mexico drew full house in 3500 seat Masonic. The music was energetic and interesting, and I wish I understood the lyrics. The photo gods were smiling a bit to me thought and I got bunch of nice shots with pretty lighting.

Perttu Kivilaakso, Apocalyptica

5/10/2018, UC Theater, Berkeley

This is my fith or sixth time shooting Apocalyptica around the bay area. The guys are very popular here and always draw a great crowd. This time the lighting was really challenging. Not sure if it was their purpose, but the stage was so full of smoke that whenever there was any light form behind, you really couldn't even see the band. I managed to catch handful of shots where you can actually see the guys, but even those are hopelessly red to be used. You can't win every time I suppose.

Thomas Youngblood and Tommy Karevik of Kamelot

5/4/2018, City National Civic Auditorium, San Jose

One of those nights when warmups had easier light to shoot than the main act. Sometimes building dramatic light for the audience doesn't mean dramatic light for photographers.

Jus Oborn, Electric Wizard

4/30/2018, The Warfield, San Francisco

Must be my red period. 2ns show in a row with only red light. This suits Electric Wizards very well tho and supports the sludge/doom vibe the band has.

Jonathan Davis

4/18/2017, The Fillmore, San Francisco

Jonathan was on his solo tour and stopped at The Fillmore in San Francisco. The show was lit with only red light, so it was really challenging to take impressive photos. In these kind of situations I often make black and white options for wire.

Whores.

4/16/2018, Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco

Nightwish

Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish performs at San Jose Natioal CIvic Auditorium on April 13th, 2018.

Nightwish is one of the biggest (metal) bands ever to come from Finland. They have been around since 1996 and are currently on "Deacades" tour around the world. There's always somethig unique to bands that can stay around this long. Nightwish is very visual band, their sets are awesoem with a lot of vide content. They also perform for the audience to see, with the exception of mastermind Tuomas, how likes to have the work speak for himself and mostly plays the keys in relative darkness while the rest of the band stands in spotlights.

Michael Schenker

3/24/2018 San Jose Civic Auditorium

Awolnation

3/13/2018, Fox Theater, Oakland

Myrkur

3/9/2018 Regency Ballroom, San Francisco

Robert Plant

2/28/2018, Fox Theater, Oakland

What a privilege to be photographing a true rock icon. I always say it's the photo, not the people in them, but this time it's the other way around for me. I got to take photos of Robert Plant.

X Ambassadors

2/26/2018, The Fillmore, San Francisco

Exodus

2/25/2018, Regency Ballroom, San Francisco

Tyler Connolly of Theory Of A Deadman

Theory Of A Deadman performs at The FIllmore in San Francisco on 2/16/2018

Mårten Hagström of Meshuggah

Meshuggah performs at The FIllmore in San Francisco on 1/28/2018

The Wombats

The Wombats perform at The Fillmore in San Francisco on 1/27/2018