Nicki Minaj is arguably the most visually exciting act on Lil Wayne's I Am Still Music Tour. With an outrageous wig, a screaming constume, and fantastically bright lights, I have to say that it may be well worth photographing this show just for Minaj's stage antics. Which, I should say, are considerable.
Photographer's Notes:
Cameras Used:
- Nikon D3
Lenses Used:
- Nikon 400mm f/2.8 VR II from BorrowLenses.com
- Nikon TC-17E II 1.7x teleconverter from BorrowLenses.com
Camera & Lens Support:
- Bogen 3021 Tripod
- Wimberley Gimbal Head from BorrowLenses.com
Just going to put it out there up front – Nicki Minaj is probably one of the better reasons to photograph the I Am Still Music Tour with Lil Wayne. No disrespect to Weezy himself, but Nick Minaj has the better lights, moves and costume. In short, she's a great photography subject, even at 40 or 50-meters.
Just as with all the performers on the I Am Still Music Tour, I photographed Nicki Minaj with the Nikon 400mm f/2.8 and NIkno TC-17E II 1.7x teleconverter that I rented from BorrowLenses.com. On the full-frame Nikon D3, this combo resulted in a 680mm effective focal range at a maximum aperture of f/4.8.
Overall, this setup performed very well for Minaj. While I wouldn't have minded more reach at times, what this lens and teleconverter provided was a great balance between getting me “ballpark” close and while still leaving room to crop to a desired frame. The one big challenge with a super telephoto is going too tight, which would have meant more trouble tracking and sacrificing wider frames that captured Nicki Minaj's great gestures.
