July 7, 2009 – Headlining on their annual Unity Tour, Omaha’s 311 brought an epic show with their big, funky sound and a great lightshow to match.
Photographer’s Notes:
311 are always a blast to photograph. I caught them on the 2008 Unity Tour with Snoop Dogg, so I was looking forward to their performance when I saw the tour dates announced.
Nick Hexum, as ever, was a fantastic subject, and received the lion’s share of the spotlight action for the first three songs. In this regard, I was a little disappointed that the other band members didn’t get as nice of a treatment, but this was also somewhat expected.
Overall, there was lots of really nice background lighting, with haze and a lush lighting rig working together to light up the stage. Frontlighting was relatively weak – mostly just white spots on Nick from above.
I photographed this concert with the usual lenses – 14-24mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm. For me, there’s no better way to cover from ultra-wide to telephoto than with these lenses, Nikon’s trifecta of f/2.8 zooms. Now, if only I had a third camera body, I’d never have to switch lenses!
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 12th, 2009 at 9:16 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 2009, 311, Aaron Wills, live, music, Music Photography, Nick Hexum, photographer, photography, S. A. Martinez, Tim Mahoney, tour, unity tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
RT @toddowyoung: Check out some photographs of the greatest band to come out of Omaha, NE: 311 – http://is.gd/1wCXI
What’s better than one guitarist going vertical down on one knee? Two guitarists doing that. Facing each other. 311: http://is.gd/1wCXI
Welcome to ishootshows.com, the premier site for music photography featuring daily concert coverage, portrait features, and photo advice from professional music photographer Todd Owyoung.
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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.
Todd
This is set is so good its almost depressing for us mere mortals!
Thanks
Hey Lewis,
Thanks for the kind words. 311 put on a great show, lots of fun in the photo it, and the animation of the band really made making these images a breeze.
I know what you mean about the third body. You walk in with two, thinkingh you’re set, but then that perfect 14 moment comes and @#$%, the 24 is on. Of course, you get that third, then you’ll want a 4th . . . never ends with camera gear.
Great shots, as always. Love the sole of Hexum’s shoe in that first one in the third row.
Hey Rich,
I think just three cameras would do the trick! I only use three lenses anyway for most gigs. ;)
But shooting with two cameras, which I’ve done for the past year, has been great. That reminds me, I may write an article on using two bodies. Thanks for the comment.
Excellent set. Another one where the lighting designer fixed you up on a hot date with Nikon sensors. I love the third shot with the circular rigging and red lights, like a UFO.
Hey Doug,
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, 311′s lighting rig does look like a UFO – it’s very “Close Encoutners,” isn’t it?
The lighting for 311, like last year, was very lush in the background at the expense of some frontlighting.
man I really love that jumping shot …. nice stuff as always
Hey Corey, thanks for the feedback.
I’m just dropping in to thank you for taking such great pics of one of my favorite bands. Do you enjoy their music or just their great stage personalities?
Hey Andy,
Glad to make these images for fans like yourself. Though I don’t listen to 311 that often, I think 311 puts on a great show and have seen them a few times at this venue.
Amazing…Todd.
not much more to say.
ciao
Vale
Hey Vale, thanks for the kind words.
Well that’s a coincidence, I’ve been listening to some 311 lately!
And the photos are the bomb. Lewis Cooper took the words out of my mouth. If we had seen some other concert photographer’s work I highly doubt that it will be of the same quality.
Imagine the photo of Nick jumping all hazy. :)
AWESOME set of photos. Your mix of wide and closeup shots is uncomparable!
Thanks, glad to hear you like the mix here. I always try to provide a range of perspectives.
You captured some great expressions. Good stuff.
Hey Craig,
Thanks very much, nice to hear from you here. Nick is a great subject for expressions, he’s rocking out every second he’s on stage.
Meh, another envious lot of pictures. Great colour and comps.
Really great set, as usual! I shot them last night in Houston and they were fun to shoot, as well as State Radio. I’m jealous of your jump shot! I would love to have a third camera body too, but it’s a pain in the neck (and back, literally) carrying what I have now (Canon 5D, XTi, and several lenses)!!