Prague sunset

At an international faculty party, in which I was probably the least traveled of the bunch, we got to talking about where we were going on our long weekends. I teach on Mondays and Wednesdays at CBS so I usually have four days off in a row to explore. In the past I’ve gone primarily to Norway and Sweden. I mentioned that I was undecided and asked for their feedback. I was debating between Estonia, several places in Germany, or Finland. Someone asked, “You’ve been to Prague, right?” When I said “no” they all universally agreed that Prague should be tops on my list. So here I am.

Tonight is my last night in Prague. What a place! Were it not for the ridiculous number of tourists and selfie sticks, this place would be near perfect.

July 16th, 2016 | Tags: blue hour, castle, Nikon D500, st vitus cathedral, sunset, Tokina AT-X 11-20mm F2.8 PRO DX | Category: Prague | Comments Off on Three nights in Prague

Uli Jon Roth @ 2016 Metal Magic Festival

@MetalMagicDK @UliJonRoth1

As mentioned previously, the Scorpions didn’t work for me at Copenhell. Uli Jon Roth, on the other hand, did. While the Scorpions no longer play their better songs (mostly written by Roth), Uli played nothing but early Scorpions (and a couple Hendrix covers) on this evening. I wouldn’t have minded some Electric Sun tunes as well, but I’m not going to complain.

The setlist was:
All Night Long
Longing for Fire
The Sails of Charon
Sun in My Hand
We’ll Burn the Sky
In Trance
Rainbow Dream Prelude
Fly to the Rainbow
I’ve Got to Be Free
Dark Lady
All Along the Watchtower
Little Wing
Catch Your Train
Pictured Life

“We’ll Burn the Sky” followed by “In Trance” was particularly amazing in my mind.

Uli Jon Roth Band doing “Scorpions Revisited”

July 15th, 2016 | Tags: concert photography, metal, metal magic festival, Nikon D500, uli jon roth | Category: Denmark | Comments Off on Uli Jon Roth @ 2016 Metal Magic Festival

Today’s photo was taken three days before Ronnie James Dio’s birthday earlier this week.

“No sign of the morning coming
You’ve been left on your own…”

Today I’m in Prague for the first time ever.

July 14th, 2016 | Tags: blue hour, copenhagen, kobenhavn, living in copenhagen, night photography, Nikon D500, rainbow, Tokina AT-X 11-20mm F2.8 PRO DX | Category: Denmark | Comments Off on Dio wrote a song about this

Aosoth @ 2016 Metal Magic Festival

@agoniarecords @MetalMagicDK

I was initially clued into the existence of the Metal Magic Festival by looking at where Uli Jon Roth would be playing in 2016. When I saw he would be playing in Denmark when I was also in Denmark I delved into the other bands on the bill. The one that rose to the top was Aosoth. Their most recent album, in particular, is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever heard.

They’ve only played one gig, ever, in the USA, and that was on the east coast. This was probably my only chance to ever see them live. They did not disappoint.

Aosoth setlist

July 13th, 2016 | Tags: aosoth, concert photography, metal, metal magic festival, Nikon D500, Tokina AT-X 11-20mm F2.8 PRO DX | Category: Denmark | Comments Off on Aosoth @ Metal Magic Festival

I was jetlagged; I was tired; I was wet. This was about my last shot of the evening on day one of Copenhell before I hightailed it out of there. I got more wet on my bike ride home, much more wet in fact, and lightning struck all around me in flashes and bolts. It was pretty spectacular at times. Riding past the Rundetaarn as lightning was reflecting off its windows was particularly memorable.

Had I been in a better mood I probably would have stuck it out. What got me in a bad mood? Strange I know, but it was not just the rain.

I love it when a band has really good intro music or the song they play over the PA just before going on is great. Take Iron Maiden. You know they are about to hit the stage when UFO’s “Doctor Doctor”, a fantastic song, comes on. I think King Diamond had Black Sabbath playing before he went on the next night. Megadeth had something cool too, but I can’t remember what it was now. Anyway, before the Scorpions went on stage Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” came on the PA. What a crappy song. The skies opened up at that point as if to piss on Metallica’s demise. My mood was worsening. Then the Scorpions came on about 10 minutes late which meant standing in a downpour for 10 minutes more than had they been on time. Finally, they opened with a lame song like “Going Out With A Bang”. Had they opened with something good and played something other than 90s Metallica before that, I probably could have pressed on through the rain. But I wasn’t looking forward to their ballads from the 90s or any more new songs either so I left to the sound of “The Zoo”.

July 12th, 2016 | Tags: concert photography, copenhell, crowd, Nikon D500, rain, scorpions, Tokina AT-X 11-20mm F2.8 PRO DX | Category: Denmark | Comments Off on Singing in the rain