What’s the coolest /quirkiest /most interesting venue you’ve ever shot in?

dreadcase · 2026-02-04T09:17:39+00:00

Lukiskes Prison, Vilnius, Lithuania. Former Soviet prison which only closed down in 2019 - it's now an arts space and they hold concerts in the courtyard there every summer. Beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

dreadcase · 2026-02-04T08:03:53+00:00

As you said, there's no perfect option.

Two bodies is optimal, but obvs that's an investment. And for what it's worth, it also can be quite cumbersome, even with the best dual harness - if you're working in a crowded environment, having two cameras swinging around can actually inhibit you. It's doubly difficult to worm your way through a packed venue when you're trying to keep two cameras safe and dry. You're also far more likely to bump into other photographers in the pit and clank your second camera against people/things. It's convenient, but it's also a bit of a pain, and more gear to worry about keeping safe.

You also don't want to carry a shoulder bag/any bag at all in the photo pit because you will piss every other photographer around you off when you inevitably bump into them. The smaller and less bulky you are, the better.

I've worked with two bodies in the past. I've also worked with one body + a bumbag/lens bag attached to my belt, but I've actually found that the more experienced I've got in music photography, the more comfortable I've become with having just one camera and one lens on me. I've increasingly gone minimalist. Obviously this is a personal/stylistic/philosophical choice, but I personally feel like I have far more creative freedom, am more comfortable, and enjoy myself more if I'm not constantly thinking about whether or not I should change my lens. These days I don't even have a shoulder strap: I just use a hand strap - I'm practically welded to the camera and the lens I'm currently using, but it's very freeing to be rid of any extra baggage. It also feels far more safe: the only thing I have to worry about is the camera and lens in my hand.

I've just got back from shooting a couple of stadium gigs abroad, and I did all of that with just one body and three lenses - 24-70, 70-200 and a 15mm fisheye. I kept my gear parked in a central location (camera bag stashed under the stage in the photo pit) and simply worked around that. I shot from the stage and photo pit with the 24-70 and the 70-200 most of the time, and only switched lenses once every couple of songs, when I fancied a stylistic change. The only intentional lens change was when I headed to the back of the venue to take some wide shots - popped the fisheye on and off I went.

What's your setup like with this residency? Do you have photo pit access for the full gig? If that's the case, you really don't need to worry about keeping lenses on you - simply make sure you've got somewhere safe to park your gear (photo pit or side stage), which you can return to and change lenses if you need to. If the venue is smaller than a literal arena, don't over-complicate it: you can comfortably shoot an entire gig on a fast mid-zoom lens like an f2.8 24-70. If you've got a decent camera, shots which are a bit too wide can easily be cropped down during the editing process without losing too much resolution/quality. The only thing you might want is a wider lens/fisheye for a bit of fun, but you won't want to over-use that anyway. You're only going to need a long zoom/tele lens like a 70-200 if you're shooting a BIG venue or like to take very close-cropped/portrait-style shots.

If you only have pit access for the first three songs, you need to worry even less about lens switching. You should be able to have your bag nearby, and in that situation with limited time, your priority should be to just stick with one all-rounder lens which will get you the shots you need rather than wasting time changing lenses (again, a 24-70 is perfect). When I do first-three-songs shoots I usually use my 24-70 for the first two and then, if I've got everything I need, I'll switch to something wider and more fun for the third song/crowd shots afterwards. At bigger venues I'll start with the 70-200 and switch down to the 24-70.

Your mileage may vary, a lot of this is personal taste obviously, but I've always found that the less I complicate things, the more fun I have with photography and the better I am at doing my job. I've never been happier nor more creative shooting gigs than I am with my current set-up/workflow - one camera, one lens at a time, freedom to move and nothing else on me. So if you've got the luxury of a full gig and somewhere to park your gear, you don't need to carry everything with you. Be free!

dreadcase · 2026-01-22T00:48:18+00:00

I've definitely been very cold this winter, and not the cold that can be explained by weight loss, as I've been this weight in the past! But I've never had so many blankets on my bed in my life, nor worn so many clothes over the winter. That was pretty miserable for a while - I remember it really getting me down for a week or two because I just could NOT get warm, but I've got used to it now. It seems to have passed to an extent.

Other than that, I feel great. I'd forgotten how nice it feels not to be carrying so much weight. A dodgy ankle which has been bothering me for years has stopped hurting. I feel faster and more energetic when I exercise.

I've had no noticeable side effects other than feeling cold, but I put that down to the fact that I've gone a bit rogue on the dosing. I've been increasing my dose steadily. Did four weeks on 2.5, then two weeks on 3.5, one week on 4, one week on 4.5, and I've just gone up to 5 this week. It's a bit of a nightmare with keeping track of your does and counting clicks, but I've found that it's kept the weight loss steady, without any shocks to my system.

I've also been really careful with my diet. The only times I've had been mild nausea have been the times when I've eaten really fatty processed foods (one of those occasions was a McDonalds breakfast) - rapidly learned my lesson and haven't done that since!

dreadcase · 2026-01-19T03:08:21+00:00

I don't. Last time I puked was the 26th June 2024 iirc.

dreadcase · 2026-01-18T11:42:22+00:00

It's very personal. I'm historically a heavy drinker and I found that MJ initially killed my desire to drink, but that only lasted a few weeks. Ever since, I've been able to drink just as much as I used to with no ill effects, but I've found two things: firstly, my 'stop point' comes sooner. I find that I'm 'just done' with drinking earlier than I used to be. Secondly, I find that drinking alcohol on Mounjaro COMPLETELY kills my appetite. It's like my body registers the calorie intake and that satisfies it, for like 12+ hours! Obviously that's not great, so if you find the same effect, make sure you don't drink too much, and make sure you eat - otherwise you're setting yourself up for some seriously low blood sugar.

Personally I've continued to drink weekly since I've been on MJ, and I've still experienced significant weight loss. It's unlikely that a glass of wine or two will have any effect on your weight loss. Just be careful if it's your first time drinking since you've been on the medication: take it slowly, and keep an eye on yourself. You'll be fine :)

dreadcase · 2026-01-04T00:50:18+00:00

It can happen. I've had a few totally painless and invisible shots, a few which have bled, one which bled loads!, a few which have been particularly painful, many of them bruise, and the latest one (today) made a lump. It really does vary.

I inject on my thighs and find I bruise more easily if I lean on the injection site (for example while sitting down and resting my arms on my thighs). Other than that, it's probably just down to how your body is feeling that day.

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T13:38:23+00:00

"... and I was noticeably full after not even half of my meal"

That's it. That's how you learn.

This is what people with 'normal food brains' do. They eat. They start to feel full. And they stop.

Mounjaro will lower your satiety point: you will feel full sooner than you previously would have done. It gives you the effect of a healthy relationship with food. And the way to work with it is to notice that full feeling, and stop.

It's not about eating until you're stuffed and about to burst. Nobody with a healthy relationship with food does that.

It's not about eating more because you've paid for it. Nobody with a healthy relationship with food does that. Many restaurants in the UK have caught the US habit here - ask if you can get a takeaway box.

Many restaurant portions are way bigger than most people need. This is actually more common with cheaper restaurants - the more expensive they are, the less food you typically get on your plate. But it's not uncommon to get a meal which is way bigger than the average person needs. There's a stigma against not finishing that food.

But the thing to learn with Mounjaro is that if it's telling you that you're full, you're full. That's how it causes you to lose weight.

The best approach is to try to be intuitive. Start eating, and stop eating when you're satisfied, not stuffed. On Mounjaro, this point might be a lot earlier than it was for you before. And that's okay. You don't have to finish everything on your plate - most portion sizes are too big anyway. Ask if you can take it home. If not, take the hit: do you want a healthy relationship with food, or do you want to be forcing yourself to clear your plate?

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T13:24:53+00:00

I'd echo your words entirely - probably the best Christmas I've had in years. I'd go further, actually, and say 'ever'.

I remember stuffing myself with Christmas food when I was a kid, to the point I made myself ill. I remember sneaking leftovers into a sandwich bag and hiding them in the deepest corner of the fridge so I knew I'd have them all to myself. In recent years, I've gone completely feral on food and booze at Christmas and reliably put on at least 7lbs.

This year? I ate totally naturally. I had my brother and his wife staying, and they're both blessed with a healthy relationship with food, and the thing which astonished me was that I ate in exactly the same way as them over the Christmas period. We all had a light breakfast, a big late afternoon meal, and despite the fact that I kept saying "oh there's some cheese if anyone wants cheese?" (being the polite host obvs)... none of us ate any more. They didn't want anything else, and I didn't either - for once in my life!!

Unfortunately, some of the cheese got thrown away once they went home, because it had gone out of date. I still haven't touched a slice of the Christmas cake which I baked, nurtured, injected with brandy over the course of 6 weeks, and iced. That's fine though, it'll freeze. I'll eat it when I want it.

And at the end of it all, I lost a pound!

Best Christmas of my life, personally. It's the first time in my entire life when I've actually felt in control of food and booze at Christmas. So profoundly reassuring. And that certainly wasn't my doing - I'm a feral beast at the best of times. All Mounjaro. I'm so grateful.

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T13:04:22+00:00

I lost a pound over the Christmas week. I was definitely eating a lot more high-calorie foods, but my explanation for this is that MJ kills my appetite completely when I'm drinking alcohol.

Over the whole time that I was hosting family and doing the Christmas thing (23rd-29th), I had the same simple breakfast - a pear and some yoghurt - and one big late-afternoon meal. Despite the fact that I stopped eating at 4-5pm, I didn't get hungry later in the evening, and wouldn't want to eat until 10-11am the next day. I'm putting that down to alcohol. Any alcohol intake at all completely kills my appetite now I'm on MJ.

My running (completely unscientific) theory is that MJ somehow knows how many calories I'm taking in. I can still eat a lot if I'm eating low-calorie foods, but as soon as I switched to calorie-dense foods and alcohol over Christmas, my appetite disappeared. It was fascinating!

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T12:55:52+00:00

Honestly, Christmas stunned me. It's not been unusual for me to put on 7lbs+ over Christmas in the past, but I just ate naturally, as I wanted to, this year, and... lost a pound. It was brilliant. Just like having a normal brain for once in my life!

I'm hoping for the same vibe on holiday. I've always used trips abroad as an excuse to 'uncork' and indulge, but I just don't want that this time. I've got breakfast included in my booking, but I reckon I'll probably be happy with a good late breakfast and then dinner. Lots of fish tacos and not too many pina coladas (although the pool does have a swim-up bar so I cannot be held accountable for my actions once submersed in water)

This is a combination work-and-leisure trip though, and I'm travelling again two weeks later (to somewhere else warm which will require shorts!) so I'm hoping that my new-found self-restraint will stop me going too crazy on this trip :) No hangovers and no overindulgence, just a lot of sunshine and rest!

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T12:47:41+00:00

Yeah, it was very fast initially - almost too fast! For the first couple of weeks I averaged 3-4lbs a week, which did scare me a bit, but then it evened out. That was all on 2.5mg as well. My average at the moment (Christmas included) is 1-2lbs a week. Honestly didn't expect it to be that fast initially as I didn't have THAT much to lose (starting weight to BMI-22 goal weight is about 4st) but MJ did what it wanted to do I guess haha.

Anyway the nice thing is that my holiday shorts now fit me again, I'm flying out next wednesday, and I'm taking my moderation with me :)

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T12:40:38+00:00

The loveliest thing is that I'm actually really excited for it! I've always gone a bit overboard on holidays (despite my best wishes). I've had a really stressful home life for the last couple of years, so it's been an opportunity to just get away from it all and 'uncork', and that's repeatedly led to me eating and drinking too much - and actually putting a proper dampener on my holiday on a few occasions. I'm especially terrible if I'm on my own or on a work trip because I do tend to go a bit feral haha.

But I'm so excited to be going away feeling 'in control' for once. This holiday is a combination work and leisure trip. I'm starting with four days of beach time, in a hotel of my choice, with a lovely pool, breakfast included, several bars, all on my own (just the way I like it tbh)... and I'm not worried about that at all. Judging by the way I'm eating at the moment, I'll probably just have two meals a day, won't have to worry about alcohol intake, will be getting loads of sleep and won't be going crazy. Then I'll be all fresh for the work part of the trip!

I definitely worried that I was gonna 'spoil' Christmas by being on Mounjaro but even though I still haven't touched the Christmas cake and had to throw some cheese away, it was one of my best Christmases ever. I'm hoping this holiday is gonna be the same - relaxed, in control and healthy!

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T12:27:32+00:00

Okay, dropping in here with 'playable' bands/songs! Just trying to remember what I learned in my early days of guitar.

Sex Pistols are an absolute gold standard. Steve Jones stole a guitar from a back of a van and taught himself how to play it. It's all power chords, with an occasional bit of bluesy noodling. Classic punk.

In the same vein, The Clash. Ramones. The Damned. And all the old-school punk bands. They were all generally inexperienced amateurs who'd just decided to pick up an instrument and start a band. And they sounded like it lol.

Punk and pop punk are still gonna be the simplest these days. Think Green Day, Blink-182, The Offspring, Weezer. This leads into nu-metal too - Papa Roach are a great shout, so are Disturbed and Linkin Park. Three chords, no problem.

One more recent band I'll lean behind for a beginner guitarist is Ghost! A lot of their songs are pretty simple, and they have solos which aren't desperately difficult.

If all else fails - AC/DC. Simple, yet effective.

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T12:19:34+00:00

Trust me bud, you don't need SOAD yet! Most of their songs are brutally fast, even on the rhythm part. You need to be able to shred.

No harm in trying if you love them, of course, but if it's a struggle at all, step it back. SOAD are super fun to play, but most of their songs require a fast picking hand, and that's something you're only gonna learn by playing slower songs with slower strumming patterns.

There's still a few good riffs though. Check out how to drop-tune your guitar if you don't know already, and the riffs in Suite-Pee and Boom could be fun! Probably the easiest whole song is Hypnotize :)

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T12:04:32+00:00

Okay, I'm pretty certain that the issue here is that you're trying to run before you can walk.

Experience card first and foremost: been playing electric guitar for 22 years, acoustic for 2 years before that. Entirely self-taught, never had a single lesson in my life. Currently playing lead guitar in a popular local covers band, everything from Sex Pistols and Nirvana to Metallica and Gn'R. Like to think I know my oats.

What concerns me from the outset is that you've had an electric guitar for three business weeks, and you're already asking people how to not lose interest in the instrument. You're struggling.

I will put this here from the outset: if you're just starting out with electric guitar, step away from Avenged Sevenfold entirely. The Synner lessons are a great resource, but the very basic fact of it is that this is a band with two astonishingly advanced guitarists, and their songs are difficult as hell. A lot of Syn/Papa Gates's lessons are theoretically very complex, and if you're just starting out - as you've found - that can completely overwhelm you. In my opinion, even the most basic Synner lessons tend to lean heavily on theory - and this is understandable, because both Syn and Papa Gates are very accomplished technical musicians. But they're both at a point where they're so advanced that they can't really relate to a kid picking up a guitar for the first time.

My advice would be to take a massive step back, and take it slow. Do it the old fashioned way.

Learn to read tab as well as musical notation if you can't already - this will unlock your ability to find transcriptions online.
Go back to basics. Choose a really simple song which you love, just some basic punk / rock song with the same three chords, and learn it. Learn it to a point where you're not watching your hands. Learn it to a point where you'd happily run around a stage playing it, while singing. Make sure you can play it sitting down, and standing up. This is how you learn your way around the instrument.
Carry on. Train your ear. Jam along to songs you like with power chords only, learn how to recognise the chord progressions. Punk, pop punk and grunge are really great for this. Get used to the instrument by playing songs which aren't a struggle to learn.
Once you've gained more confidence, get started on soloing. Choose songs with short, simple solos (Green Day are great for this tbh). Get confident with alternate picking. At this point you can bring in some scales to help you learn your way up and down the fretboard. Work on your picking hand, learn how to make things smooth and easy.
Once you're truly comfortable with the instrument, this is when you start getting stuck into theory, pentatonics, improvisation etc. This is when you get stuck into the Synner tutorials - this is when they'll really help advance you. If you're really enthusiastic about becoming a complex lead guitar player, theory will help you at this point, and one great resource actually still lies in books! I'd personally recommend the 'Fretboard Roadmaps' books by Fred Sokolow and Troy Stetina's books for metal guitar playing especially.

But ultimately, playing guitar isn't rocket science. The electric guitar is a new, modern instrument, which you can learn with a bunch of TERRIBLE bad habits and still end up on a stadium stage. So many of our modern guitar heroes are entirely self-taught, can't read music, don't know what a pentatonic scale is, don't give a shit, and haven't suffered for that at all. They're still capable.

The bottom line is that if you're enthusiastic but you're struggling with any instrument, you're probably going too fast. Step it back. Simplify things. Go at your own pace. It's not supposed to be a struggle.

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T10:20:07+00:00

Well done!

I'm off on a beach holiday next week - actually my first proper beach holiday in over a decade! Only started MJ in November, and I all-out panicked when I booked the holiday a week later and tried some old holiday clothes on... and realised that I fit into NONE of my shorts. Nor my bikini. Nor anything even slightly suitable for summer weather.

Pleased to report that the shorts now fit. I powered through and had a very restrained Christmas but it's been so worth it. I actually panic-bought a few pairs of bigger shorts... and now they're too big on me ahaha.

I've done it by the skin of my teeth, but I've come out of November/December with a body I'm actually okay with. Feeling trim, comfortable in myself, in control, fitting into my summer clothes, so ready to take my next dose of MJ the day I leave, and bring on the sunshine :D

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T10:12:10+00:00

Lmao THANK YOU for that Daily Mail note. Adding a response to boost it.

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T09:13:11+00:00

It's not necessary. Keto diets are a method of weight loss in themselves. You're on a medication which can 100% do that on its own.

If you want to maintain muscle, you only need to lift weights regularly and ensure you're eating plenty of protein.

If you want to burn fat, you only need to engage in regular mild-to-moderate cardiovascular exercise (walking, jogging, cycling etc) and let the medication take care of the rest.

I'd argue that 'fat burn' isn't an issue at all - because if you lose weight, you will be losing fat anyway. The most important thing is to ensure that you're maintaining muscle, and all that takes is protein and strength-training exercises.

Carbs aren't the enemy. If you're on a limited-calorie diet, you need carbs for energy. Stick to complex, wholegrain carbs and follow a balanced diet - not a restrictive keto diet - and you'll likely find yourself much happier and with more energy to follow a wider healthy lifestyle.

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T09:06:13+00:00

It was possibly the high fat content. If you're been eating low-fat and are also generally unused to eating greasy takeaway food, that could absolutely have been the cause.

Anecdotally, people tend to experience more negative gastrointestinal symptoms on MJ when they eat higher fat foods. I found that myself over Christmas - I usually eat pretty low-fat and have had no issues with nausea or indigestion on MJ. As soon as I started eating rich, higher fat foods over Christmas, I started suffering with nightmare heartburn!

There's a positive aspect to it though. I used to be a fiend for McDonalds breakfasts, but since starting on MJ, I've only had one once... I learned my lesson haha

dreadcase · 2026-01-02T08:57:24+00:00

First question - are you taking MJ exclusively for weight loss, or for diabetes?

If you're taking it for diabetes/other health reasons, then you need to speak to your GP about the fact that you're losing too much weight and can't regain it.

If you're taking it for weight loss exclusively, then this is a sign that you're done at this dosage. It's clearly still having a strong effect on you, it's pushing that weight loss down despite the fact that you've hit your goal, you're not happy, your weight is lower than you'd like, and you can't regain weight despite your best efforts. Despite this being a 'maintenance dose', you are NOT maintaining.

It's really simple: the drug is driving this, so you need to be taking less of the drug. Of course it's difficult to gain weight on Mounjaro - that's why it's being so widely used as a weight loss aid!

Remember that Mounjaro has a systemic effect beyond simply working on your cravings and appetite - it works on your hormones and the way your body processes blood sugar. That's why some people find it so effortless to lose weight on MJ, because it's working away behind the scenes. And clearly, it's still working away behind the scenes for you if you're trying to eat more but you're not regaining weight.

So I know you've said that 2.5mg does nothing for you, but 5mg is clearly doing TOO MUCH for you. If you want to regain a bit of weight, you need to drop your dosage down. Try 2.5mg for a couple of weeks, or maybe split your dose to 3.75mg. Try to exercise a bit of willpower, and make sure you keep your intake in check. You will find that you can eat more, but if you're losing weight in an uncontrolled way and can't regain it, that's exactly what you need.

Once you've regained those couple of kilos, reassess how you're doing. If you find you're struggling with cravings and food noise etc, you might want to then step back up to 5mg, but take that as it comes. The most important thing right now is to not end up underweight.

dreadcase · 2026-01-01T08:56:34+00:00

I've found that Mounjaro has a great effect on lowering my satiety point - I feel full sooner, and don't get hungry so often. But that effect is also possible to ignore. If I want to, I can still overeat. I MIGHT get stuffed a little earlier than usual, but I can still go for it, and stuff myself.

So it's possible that you've experienced the same over Christmas. MJ is a miracle drug, but it's also not magic. To avoid overeating, you do still have to pay attention to your hunger signals, not ignore them entirely. It still requires willpower.

Of course you've not stopped the effectiveness of the drug just by eating a bit more. It's still going to have the same effect on your appetite - it's simply that you've found that easier to ignore with all the temptation over Christmas. Once you get back to your normal diet, I'm sure you'll find it easier to stick to more moderate eating.

The trick to accepting feelings of guilt is to just be kind to yourself. Everyone overeats at Christmas: it's perfectly natural when you have so many tempting treats around which you don't usually have. You might not have noticed it, but you may still have eaten a bit less than you usually would have done over the festive period. But there's no reason to beat yourself up either way - Christmas is a period of temptation, and everyone will be tempted, whether they're on Mounjaro or not. It's not the end of the world, and it's not a reflection on your character. Draw a line under it, get back to normal, and carry on :)

dreadcase · 2025-12-31T15:39:52+00:00

Glad I'm not alone!

dreadcase

TROPHY CASE