June 5, 2009 – Kicking off their summer schedule, country rock band Rascal Flatts brought the big lights to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis with support from Darius Rucker.
Photographer’s Notes:
Rascal Flatts put on a great show – big lights, a great crowd response, and the perfect weather for this concert. In other words, an excellent way to start the summer shed shows.
This show wasn’t a straight pit shoot, as there was a small catwalk that terminated in a round mini-stage, which in total projected out from the main stage about 15 or 20-feet. The setup was such that there was no true photo pit, so I was in amongst the crowd for the shoot, and there was very limited opportunity to move much.
The rules were two songs, no flash for this one. We shot the second and third songs, which was someone of a trial, since there was one point during the first song where the guys were rockin’ it hard on a small catwalk.
This outcropping presented an interesting problem in positioning for the show. The main question was whether to just stick near the stage or to try for a spot at the end of the catwalk. Ultimately, I decided to start at the end of the catwalk and then to come in after the second song. This choice proved to work for me, but I think that any spot would have worked out. As it was, I did get my shots of Gary LeVox on the small stage.
Toward the end of the third song, I moved to the main stage, a task which itself took a minute or two due to the crowding at the catwalk. If I had to do it again, I might just shoot the whole show from the front of the main stage at the expense of any catwalk shots.
End Notes:
On a professional level, my goal for any show is to make the best, most compelling set that anyone is going to see from the show. On a personal level, my goal is arguably more modest: to secure one portfolio-quality shot. For this reason, I was happy to see guitarist Joe Don Rooney rocking out just as I got up to the front of the stage, and made one shot (third one in) that will spend some time in the portfolio.
This concert was the first of the summer shed shows for me – in the next 10 days along, I’ll be back here half a dozen times, a fact which already has me chomping at the bit.
This entry was posted on Sunday, June 7th, 2009 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with country, Gary LeVox, images, Jay DeMarcus, Joe Don Rooney, live, Music Photography, nikon, photographer, photography, photos, rascal flatts, rock, tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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My name is Todd, and I love the rock show. My work has appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, SPIN, the New York Times, Alternative Press, Metal Hammer, Entertainment Weekly, and Billboard Magazine. I'm available for worldwide travel for editorial and commercial assignments.
I love the third photo of the guitarist. Are these taken with a 24-70 lens?
Hi Niloy, thanks for the comment. The third shot you mention was made with the Nikon 24-70mm. I also used the Nikon 70-200mm and Nikon 14-24mm.
HEY! GREAT SHOTS!!! very colorful and sharp!
you were lucky to shoot them – their publicist is a pain and usually only allows “daily” paper to shoot her clients which include Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw.
Hey Nelson,
Thanks for the comment, nice to hear from you. The lights for this show were very colorful — spotlights from the front and lots of blue in the background, as well as plenty of action from the LED panels at the back of the stage.
There were three photogs shooting — the house photographer, one from a daily paper, and me.
Huh, the scene set reminds this year’s Eurovision contest :)
Hey Adis,
Really? Maybe they had the same stage designer, or the same inspiration.
I love how clear and bright these photos are. The band don’t look too good but the photos are great!
Aside from the weird flicker in the intensity and color temperature of the spotlights, this show was generally pretty bright — a pleasure to work with lights like this. I’m looking forward to shooting more at this venue, the lights are generally always pretty good given the size of the acts.
Thanks for the comment, Mark.