August 21, 2008 – Fronted by the double-barreled attack of Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda on vocals, Linkin Park delivered a sonic chokeslam to close out Projekt Revolution with the biggest performance of the night.
Alternating between Bennington’s fiery screams and Shinoda’s charged flow, the two singers led the all out assault with relentless energy. Throughout the performance, Brad Delson played the quiet guitar hero with reserved, iceman cool, while David Farrell slung it low with slamming bass lines.
At the back of the stage, Mr. Hahn presided over the onslaught with a tight reign on the decks as drummer Rob Bourdon laid down the framework for the band’s pummeling performance.
Even after powerhouse sets by Chris Cornell, Street Drum Corp, Ashes Divide, and The Bravery on the main stage, Linkin Park delivered an epic show that left no doubt of the band’s place as the annual headliners for the festival.
Photographer’s Notes:
This performance was an insanely fun and rewarding shoot. Aside from having two singers, the stage setup itself proved a huge challenge, with a tall riser spanning a large portion of the stage.
This platfom elevated the performers while they were on it, and effectively obscured them when they were behind it. In addition, the extra height created even more acute shooting angles when shooting from below.
The riser was divided into three sections, with a taller middle platform and two shorter side extensions. Band members took turns performing on the center section, essentially playing musical chairs with their time in the spotlight.
Lighting for the set was generally fantastic, with two spotlights lighting the front of the performers and four spotlights at the back of the stage.
The only real lighting issue came as a result of Bennington’s close/tight mic grip, as a spot house right was tracking the singer. Since Bennington primarily held the mic in his left hand, this setup created deep shadows over the right side of his face.
Despite all of these issues, I had an absolute blast photographing this assignment and loved every quick second in the pit.
I shot this performance with the D3 and D700, utilizing the 14-24mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, and 70-200mm f/2.8. This two-camera, three-lens approach proved excellent overall and gave me all the range I needed. The 70-200mm f/2.8 stayed on the D700 while I switched between the other two zooms on the D3.
Overall, the 24-70mm saw the most use, followed by the 70-200mm.
End Notes:
I highly recommend photographing Projekt Revolution as a whole, but Linkin Park’s live show just elevates the festival to another level entirely. Pure photo candy. I’m already looking forward to photographing these guys next year.
22 Comments Add your own
1. G | September 25th, 2008 at 1:51 am
Hehe. I’m just listenin to Fort Minor.
And guess what, Shinoda is in my top10list “people i have to shoot in my life”
:)
2. Todd | September 25th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Hey G, Shinoda put on a great show. Everyone usually pays attention to Chester on stage, but I just had to give Shinoda the lead image.
Hope you get to see these guys soon.
3. J | September 25th, 2008 at 8:37 am
i’m loving the one with mike on guitar - i hope to see them live one day.. they rarely come to canada on projekt rev and i missed them that year
4. Todd | September 25th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Hey Jessie, hope these shots were worth the wait. I was glad to be able to check these guys off my list, I hope you get to see them next year at Projekt Rev.
5. Jessie | September 25th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Jack’s Mannequin for you again tomorrow - I’m waiting again haha
6. Todd | September 25th, 2008 at 11:19 am
That’s right. Tonight is Stars, tomorrow JM, and then Saturday is Maroon 5. Sunday I rest.
7. Eva Blue | September 25th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
That show was insanity to shoot. THEY RUN. Like shooting race cars. AND barely seeing their feet… you must be taller than me. :)
8. Todd | September 25th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Hey Eva, thanks for the comment. I agree, this was one of the more aerobic concert shoots I’ve had.
These guys do really run around on stage, and what’s more, there are two singers! That alone raises LP’s show another notch above rappers and hardcore singers in difficulty.
Add to that the high stage and there’s plenty of challenge.
9. Jessie | September 25th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I am admiring you for shooting Jack’s once a month for the past three months (you did, didn’t you?!)
10. Todd | September 25th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I hadn’t thought about that, but you’re right:
Warped Tour in July
Pageant in August
Chaifetz Arena in September
And the most interesting thing in comparing the shows is that they’re all completely different. From parking lot to a 10,000 capacity arena, not bad.
11. Stellar Spontaneous | September 25th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
No attempts at the drummer or dj then? Was the riser that high?
12. Todd | September 25th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
That’s a great question.
Due to the very high amount of activity at the front of the stage, I made the executive decision to only photograph Bennington, Shinoda, Ferrell, and Delson, in that order. The two singers took precedence, and I shot the guitarists as the opportunity arose.
For most of this set, I was literally running to get the shots I wanted. Unfortunately, the drummer and DJ were casualties for this gig. I should add that lighting was also a factor.
If I had to do it again, I’d make the same shooting choices.
13. Stellar Spontaneous | September 25th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Yeah, I guess it’s a matter of do you want to get the good shots are do you want to get all the shots?
When shooting specifically for a band, I get all the shots, but when I’m doing first 3, I go for the main attractions and fit in the rest if I can.
14. Todd | September 25th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
That’s a good way of putting it. For this shoot, as with most gigs, my priority was the singers. If I had the luxury of more time, I’d love to nail killer shots of all the band members.
15. Zach | September 28th, 2008 at 1:55 am
That last image is really nicely composed. You got the performer in a very nice pose, and there is a visual explosion of lights in the background. That shot should be added to your portfolio.
16. Todd | September 28th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Hey Zach, thanks for the comment. That last shot is in the portfolio! Shot #5. Glad to hear you like it.
17. Zach | September 28th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Glad to see that.
Hey Todd,
Would you mind taking a quick peak at some shots I took at the Ben Lee concert here at Webster on Friday. I would greatly appreciate it.
Here is a link to my flickr page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25121560@N04/
Thanks
Zach
18. Todd | September 28th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Hey Zach, I’ll take a look when I have a minute.
19. Chris | September 28th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Ridiculous set! I officially wish we could always have 6 spotlights… I love shooting at crazy speeds and low ISOs.
PICKS! 2, 7, 8, 11, 14, 16, and 24. 7 is my fav. of Shinoda and 8 or 16 for Bennington, even though it looks like he has demon eyes in 16. And what ISO are you shooting at? As usual, the D3 performed spectacular.. I’m always amazed with the low grain. That of shot 24 just shows the smoothness of it all.
Great set, I really like the tighter frames of this set instead of the wider angles. I especially like the mid-longer use of the 24-70 as well as the range of the 70-200, though they both have their place.
Any particular reason you keep the 200 on the d700 most the time and switch the shorter ranges on the D3??
20. Todd | September 29th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Hey Chris, thanks. The spotlights were most welcome for this set. I shot this performance around ISO 1600 I believe, even though I could have gone lower. I took advantage of the relatively abundant light to shoot at f/4 and 1/500 for much of the set.
I prefer to use whatever I think will be my primary lens on the D3, and to use the D700 with the secondary lens.
21. Chris | September 29th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Great set brah. On second look, you really got a ton of nice downstage shots of Shinoda. Oh to have two bodies!
22. Todd | September 29th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Thanks, Chris. I used the 24-70mm for the majority of this set, but the 70-200mm definitely came in handy for picking off a few shots of Shinoda or Bennington downstage while I was covering another performer.
speak up
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
You can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>