Cleveland rocks. With legendary performers on-stage and in the audience, five-thousand die-hard rock fans, and a fire under my butt to deliver for a national client, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for 2009 was easily one of the year’s best and most challenging events. The list of performer inductees for 2009 included Jeff Beck, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Metallica, Run-D.M.C., and Bobby Womack. Additional inductees included Wanda Jackson, Bill Black, DJ Fontana, and Spooner Oldham. Throw in a list of presenters like Ron Wood, Joe Perry, Flea, Eminem, and it was a big party.
Photographer’s Notes:
My charge for this event was to shoot anything and everything onstage. That sounded simple enough.
The real challenge for this event was actually the logistics of photography. Since the event was being filmed live for television, a camera crew occupying the prime, stage-front real estate meant that the opportunities for those epic, ultra-wide shots with the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 were out of the question.
What was decidedly “in” for the night was three hours of crouching and basically trying to be a music photography ninja, shooting in between the tables of seated rock stars and their family. And Ross Halfin, who I was actually sitting/shooting next to for half the night. We were both shooting with the Nikon D3, 24-70mm f/2.8, and 70-200mm f/2.8.
Lenses:
Ultimately, I was probably about 8-10 feet back from the front of the stage and relied on the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 for the majority of my shooting, switching to the Nikon 24-70mm on the D700 for wider perspectives as necessary.
Stage Lighting & Exposure:
Lighting for the event included a nice, if not particularly bright, production, and I shot at ISO 3200 for most of the night. I can only cringe at the thought of shooting at ISO 3200 on my old D2x that was retired years ago, but the D3 delivered effortlessly at this exposure.
End Notes:
Let’s do it again in 2010. Iggy Pop & the Stooges, anyone?
This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 11:28 am and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 2009, concert photography, elvis, Flea, images, Imperials, Little Anthony, metallica, music photography, Oldham Spooner, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, rock and roll hall of fame, Run DMC, Wanda Jackson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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.
Great stuff as usual! It’s hard to pinpoint how, but this feels a lot different from the type of shows you usually cover, but it’s definitely got your touch all over it. Good job!
Hey Doug,
Thanks for the kind words. This gig was much different than most concerts, as I was shooting for most of the night crouched down in between the banquet tables of those being honored that evening. For the most part, I shot from two main positions, one stage right that was near Metallica’s tables and one stage left that was near Spooner Oldham and Ross Halfin.
Hey Todd,
That first Hetfield alone picture is absolutely amazing. Perfect timing. I´d actually love to have some of your pictures printed out as 50×70cm posters….amazing job!
Cheers,
Lennart
Hey Lennart,
Thanks for the comment, glad to hear you dig the Hetfield shot. Metallica have been simply awesome subjects the two times that I’ve photographed them, and this was certainly a special performance.
I’m going to be starting sale of prints very soon, so please let me know if there’s anything else in particular you’d like to see. Cheers.
Flawless as usual! This event looks like a music photographers wet dream, and to be shooting with Haflin…does it get any better?
Hi Clayton,
Yes, this is just one event/job where I was living the dream. Loved every second of it.
Halfin and I were shooting the same gear, so we had a very brief chat about that. He asked if I was shooting with the Nikon D3x, and then he made the comment that he preferred film.
Beautiful series.
Do you always shoot with two cameras? Or do you also exchange lenses? I tend to be moving faster with one camera and change lenses during the shoot.
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the comment. I do use two cameras for most all of the live music events I photograph, though I also change lenses as well. Using two bodies just helps to minimize lens changes.
I generally shoot with the Nikon 24-70mm on the D3 and the 70-200mm on the D700. For the Rock Hall event, I switched it up due to the distance to the stage and made the 70-200mm and D3 my primary option.
Hey Todd!
what a brilliant and illuminated set!
congratulations for all your acrobatics to shoot that set haha..
Hey Gaisler,
Thanks for the kind words. All in all, the acrobatics weren’t too bad, just a bit more crouching down than I probably do in a month.
Hi, I loved your photos. A few questions; are you going to be shooting the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony on March 15th? Also, do you remember what kind of attire the audience mainly had on…formal, casual, dressy casual, business, etc.? I’m actually going to this years ceremony and can’t find any photos of regular guests. Thanks for your help!
Hey Nancy,
I won’t be covering the induction ceremonies this year, though I’m sure it will be a great event – you’ll love it. As for the dress, do you mean people attending as guests, or the fans? The guests were formal, but I couldn’t really see the fans – at the 2009 induction ceremony, they were up in the balcony and I couldn’t really see them, though I don’t think they dressed up at all.