At the end of 2011, I caught up with super bassist Liam Wilson of the band the Dillinger Escape Plan to do a portrait shoot for his endorsement by Zon Guitars. The Dillinger Escape Plan is a band that I've been photographing since my start as a music photographer, and it's been a pleasure and honor building a relationship with them with more and more access over the years.
I'd just shot DEP's show a month earlier and was extremely excited when Liam asked me to shoot a set of portraits for his endorsement with Zon Guitars. We met up at Terminal 5 in New York City, where Dillinger Escape Plan was performing along with Mastodon.
For this set, we shot in the street just behind the venue, picking up the city lights and mixing that ambient lighting with a touch of off-camera flash. Hit the jump for the images and photographer's notes.
Oh, and in case you were wondering about the live shots from Liam's performance immediately following the portrait shoot, here's a couple images of the man in action.
Dillinger Escape Plan at Terminal 5 in New York City
And one from Pop's in Sauget, IL from the same tour, just because I love the intensity on Liam's face.
Photographer's Notes:
Cameras Used:
- Nikon D3
Lenses Used:
Lighting:
- Nikon SB-900 Speedlight
- Honl Traveller 8 Softbox
- Phottix Strato Wireless Flash Triggers
As the modifier, I opted for the Honl Traveller 8 Softbox, an extremely small and packable speedlight accessory that throws some surprisingly nice light. Honestly, the light this petite modifier throws is a little shocking given the small size, and I was very happy to have this modifier to balance with the ambient lighting.
Speaking of ambient lighting, I shot these with the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 with shutter speeds as low as 1/8 at ISO 400 to get the right amount of atmosphere.
Big thanks to Liam for being a great subject on this one, looking forward to the next time.
