August 17, 2008 –In a quick 60-minute set, Young Jeezy lit up the Pageant in a blazing performance that had the sold-out house screaming for more.
Bounding in from the side stage, the Atlanta-based emcee spit fire as soon as he hit the stage.
Young Jeezy's third studio album, The Recession, drops September 2.
Photographer's Notes:
Expecting a challenging shoot, I went in with double barrels blazing, using the D700 and D3 with the 14-24mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm all seeing use.
With only dim, warm frontlighting coming from above, I used flash for the majority of this set, balancing with the ambient lighting as much as possible.
I set the speedlights on-camera at -3.0EV TTL, just enough to open up the deep shadows produced by the high frontlighting. For the camera exposure, I metered for the ambient lighting to pick up the background lighting and the warm front-lighting that was the primary source on the subject.
Flash was essential for helping open up what otherwise would have been deep shadows on the Jeezy's face and body.
As with most hip hop acts, Jeezy dominated the length of the stage and proved to be a moving target throughout his short set. Rather than chase the rapper, I played zone defense for this gig more than anything and took advantage of the angles and opportunities as they presented themselves.
End Notes:
Did I mention that immediately before Jeezy I photographed Poison and Dokken? With a week of shows ahead of me, the last thing I needed was a double-feature, but you just can't stock the rock. Stay tuned for images from the hard rock, sets from Lollapalooza, NIN, Projekt Revolution, and more.
