Lil Wayne

09.22.08 | 17 Comments

Lil Wayne @ the Chaifetz Arena -- 2008.080.30

August 30, 2008 – After devastating performances by the St. Lunatics, multi-platinum recording artist Lil Wayne rolled into the Chaifetz to throw down, spit fire, and claim his title as best rapper alive.

Decked out in aviator sunglasses, a Nooka watch, and his finest chains, Weezy F Baby, took the stage as fans threw dollar bills on the stage, paying respect to the Cash Money CEO.

Following the surprise appearance by Nelly, Murphy Lee, and the rest of the St. Lunatics, Lil Wayne’s performance saw Bryan “Baby” Williams, AKA Birdman, as a last minute guest, appearing to perform the duet “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy.”

Lil Wayne’s set saw a diverse tracklisting, from the title track from 1999’s The Block Is Hot to hits from his double-platinum release 2008, Tha Carter III, his seventh studio album.

Set List:

Money on My Mind
Duffle Bag Boy
The Block is Hot
Burn This City
Comfortable
Started Out Hustlin’
Ms. Officer
Got Money The Sky’s the Limit
Leather So Soft
Milli
Stuntin’ Like My Daddy
We Takin’ Ova
Pop Bottles
Lollipop

Lil Wayne @ the Chaifetz Arena -- 2008.080.30

Lil Wayne @ the Chaifetz Arena -- 2008.08.30

Lil Wayne @ the Chaifetz Arena -- 2008.080.30

lilwayne_TO_DSC7185

Photographer’s Notes:

This performance was a highly unique set to photograph due to several factors. The most prominent feature was that the cruciform stage was in-the-round, providing a 360º photo pit and a lot of real estate to cover throughout the show.

Two spotlights, positioned opposite from each other in the arena, lit this show, and generally proved adequate for keeping Lil Wayne illuminated. There were only a few instances, namely when Birdman shared the stage, when this two-light setup failed to shine light on the rapper from the key angles.

The lighting setup also introduced the interesting instance of backlighting for many shots, which was excellent so far as one could line up the rapper with the far light.

Overall, Lil Wayne took good advantage of the 360º stage and worked all sides throughout the performance, but not to such a frenetic degree that tracking was impossible.

One hugely nice aspect of this shoot is that the press were allowed to photograph the entire performance, which went a long way toward a good variety of images in the final set.

Lil Wayne @ the Chaifetz Arena -- 2008.080.30

Lil Wayne @ the Chaifetz Arena -- 2008.08.30

Lil Wayne @ the Chaifetz Arena -- 2008.080.30

lilwayne_TO_DSC7095

lilwayne_TO_DSC7082

lilwayne_TO_DSC7068

Lil Wayne @ the Chaifetz Arena -- 2008.080.30

lilwayne_TO_DSC7169

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17 Comments Add your own

1. Celso | September 23rd, 2008 at 1:26 am

I haven’t had much time to comment on your latest posts as it’s back to school time for me. So I managed these 15minutes to browse a little bit around the blog and I have to say their as good as usual!

Heard you came to Europe on vacation, liked it here?

Best Regards!
2. Todd | September 23rd, 2008 at 8:12 am

Hey Celso, thanks for the comment, nice to hear from you. Glad you got to break away from your studies!

Yes, I was in Norway for almost two weeks and had a great time. I always love visiting Europe, and this trip was no exception.
3. Keath | September 23rd, 2008 at 8:31 am

Fabulous set Todd - looks like Lil’ Wayne is a fun one to shoot! I love the variety of poses you were able to get!
4. Todd | September 23rd, 2008 at 9:13 am

Hey Keath, thanks! Lil Wayne was fun to shoot, despite a very challenging stage set up. There was really no shortage of poses to shoot! Thanks for the comment.
5. Keith | September 23rd, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Dude, this is one HECK of a set. So many cool angles and expressions. I bet you were lovin it.
6. Todd | September 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm

Hey Keith! I was loving it. Regardless of whether he is, in fact, the “best rapper alive,” Lil Wayne is undeniably the biggest hip hop act at the moment.

That we got to shoot for the entire set was pretty excellent. I’d heard that it was a possibility the week before the show, but actually getting the OK at the venue was very nice. Thanks for the comment!
7. Chris | September 24th, 2008 at 6:41 pm

RIDICULOUS!

To all who endeavor on reading this post: This. Set. Is. Huge. Pace. Your. Self.

So many pictures! AH! Which means o-so-many picks: 2, 7, 9, 10, 14, 16, 19. My tops are prolly 2, 14, and 19. this is like your 15, but a different angle :P Go figure. Also really enjoy these thumbnails:

1
2
3
4
5

Great shot of Birdman… it was hard to get one without his hat blocking his eyes.
Interesting flare .

ChaCh$ng . Were you as tempted as I was to just swipe this off the stage?? Sure — you have a great job, but extra cash never hurt anyone… right?! I was tempted, but knew it would be inappropriate.

I agree, I LOVE the rim/backlighting… if you could harness it for your shots. I really enjoyed shooting the majority of the show at 800 at 1/640 - 1/1250… and that’s on the D80. The D3, again, produces such amazing results — would much rather have it over the 5dmk2.

And yes, I went through every thumbnail. That’s why I warn people to pace themselves… because I didn’t.
8. Todd | September 24th, 2008 at 11:33 pm

Hey Chris, thanks very much for the detailed comments. This show was a lot of fun to shoot, and of course getting to photo the whole performance was a huge bonus. Three songs would have been OK, but having full-set access made this a great shoot.

The only downside was the volume of images such a long shoot produced!

The great quantity of light was a nice touch, too. I never get tired of spotlights, even if they’re not always the most interesting light.

Thanks for your picks, and thanks for looking at all the images! There are over 100 shots in this set.
9. Vida | September 25th, 2008 at 6:47 pm

These are great! I’m wondering what lens you used to get such close up shots?
10. Todd | September 25th, 2008 at 10:21 pm

Hi Vida, thanks for the comment. I used the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 for the more close up shots.
11. Robert 'outkasted' | September 27th, 2008 at 11:12 am

These are some awesome shots Todd! A 360° degree pit!
So how many shots did you take? I usually take 400-1200 shots per concert. Then edit down to at about 400 shots. these always include crowd reaction shots, artists, and backstage if I get access. Most shows I also get unlimited sets, but with this years line up at the music festival fest I don’t think I’ll get it like this.
12. Todd | September 27th, 2008 at 1:06 pm

Hi Robert, thanks for the comment. Due to being able to shoot the whole set, I shot around 600 frames for Lil Wayne. It was refreshing not have a three-song limit for such a popular artist.
13. Kenny | September 28th, 2008 at 6:09 pm

damn todd! you really out-do yourself everytime…these shots are rediculous! Everything you shoot is GOOOOLD!!!

I am trying to get into the show in NJ in October with Jay-Z and NeYo…wish me luck on that…how hard is it to get in touch with LW’s people anyway? it seems i have had issues with finding the right folks at U.M.G
14. Kenny | September 28th, 2008 at 7:15 pm

actually i think i found the proper person now…so yeah, like i said, wish me luck!
15. Todd | September 29th, 2008 at 9:13 am

Hi Kenny, glad you got the contact sorted out. Good luck, and thanks for the comment.
16. The Nooka Zen H: Rockstar&hellip | October 7th, 2008 at 10:06 am

[...] do Erykah Badu, Lil Wayne, and the Go! Team’s Nkechi Ka Egenamba have in common? Aside from being performers I’ve [...]
17. Nelly, Murphy Lee, and th&hellip | October 14th, 2008 at 12:35 am

[...] were Nelly and Murphy Lee, who delivered a tight and quick set of the crowd-pleasing jams before Lil Wayne’s set capped off the [...]

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