This was an interesting shoot. I was very curious about the setup for this show, as I'd only seen one set of photos with a killer shot of Gregg Gillis from this tour and they seemed to be from on stage. There's a reason for that.
The table where Gregg performs from is about a 3-feet – maybe a bit more – and about 3 to 4-feet deep, it seemed. Add this on top of a 5-foot stage, and you have a situation where it's basically impossible to shoot a clean shot of the mash-up artist without getting seriously creative.
There wasn't really any true panic until Girl Talk's setup was moved forward to the edge of the stage, as it started at the back of the stage for Penguin Prison's set.
As the crew moved up the table, a slow wave of panic and fear seemed to set into among the five photographers in the pit as we thought, “How the !@#$ are we supposed to shoot this?”
Photographer's Notes:
All the shots of Girl Talk you see above were shot with a Nikon D3 held about 8-9 feet in the air on a monopod. Yeah.
Cameras Used:
Lenses Used:
Lighting Equipment Used:
- Carbon Fiber monopod (Check out this Induro carbon fiber monopod)
If there's anything I expected at this show, it was chaos, and being the type who prefers to overpack than under, I brought a ton of gear with me. Among the kit was as a monopod. A monopod that saved this show.
As it became increasingly clear that shooting this show from the pit would yield approximately zero decent shots of Gregg “Girl Talk” Gillis, I mounted my Nikon D3 on the monopod with the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 and prepared to court Lady Luck.
Personally, I'm a photographer who never, ever throws hail marys (shooting with cam raised above your head) – so doing so with a camera hoisted 5-feet in the air was an interesting experience. The biggest challenge was simply manually focusing.
If I'd have had the luxury of running back, I would have use my Phottix Strato or Yongnuo RF-603 as a remote shutter release instead of using my camera's self-timer.
Of course, at a Girl Talk show, Gregg Gillis is just cog in the machne, and there is plenty more to shoot. Namely, the crowd – both on stage and on the floor.
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