Sometimes shooting a gig, especially in a small venue with manky lighting and a lot of shouty drunk people half your age can get you questioning your photography.  Then occasionally there’s a band who just hit the spot, visually and musically you’d want to photograph them again and again.  Paper Dogs are a 4 piece from Belfast with a very accesible hard rock/funky/bluesy sound with bit of Hendrix, Jeff Healy, Thin Lizzy and many more.

The band are led from the front by lead guitarist and vocalist, Chris Rooney.  Looking like a young John Power from Cast (to these old eyes anyway), he’s a dynamic presence and a performer with a bit of class.

The rest of the band, while not as dynamic visually, perform as an exceptionally tight unit.  And with a style that looks effortless, they’re easy to photograph – lighting not withstanding.  The following shot of drummer Kris Young broke the no-flash rule – it was that or nothing as he was out of range of all the stage lighting

 

 

The band’s EP, “The Lost Art of Conversation” is on Spotify – definitely worth a listen and there are some more shots on The Flickr.

Kit:  Canon 5D, 50mm, 28mm and 85mm lenses
Lightroom, Color Efex and Silver Efex Pro.
(and a Speedlite 450 EXii….)