I picked the above as the lead image because it almost looks like Mike is making a hand sign for the hand of God, which I liked in contrast to the wild eyes he has in this pose.
The Devil Wears Prada are one of the highlights of any day whenever I get to photograph them, and their performance at Mayhem Fest was no exception. I've been photographing TDWP for four years now and it's been a pleasure seeing them grow, musically and in terms of their stage performance.
Hit the jump for the full set of The Devil Wears Prada thrashing the Jägermeister Stage at Mayhem Fest 2012.
In all, I think I've photographed TDWP over half a dozen times as well as having the great opportunity to shoot portraits of these guys. And yes, they're as awesome off stage as they are on stage.
Photographer's Notes:
Cameras Used:
- Nikon D3
- Nikon D700
Lenses Used:
Sometimes, you have to be thankful for being able to photograph a band as energetic as the Devil Wears Prada in daylight instead of dim stage lighting. One thing about this band is that it feels like they never stop moving, with frontman Mike Hranica's stage presence being especially ferocious. So with an overcast sky, it was nice to be able to shoot with shutter speeds at 1/500 and above when necessary to freeze the intense action a band like The Devil Wears Prada lays down.
Due to the setup of the Jägermeister Stage, I shot a little more with telephoto than I expected to minimize the stage height and presence of big bass stacks in the pit.
One thing that I think can get lost for music photography is the sense that one always needs to be at the very front of the pit to get the best shots. While having a singer as intense as Hranica in your face can definitely make for great images, sometimes it's also necessary to step back to draw on other perspectives as well.
