February 19, 2009 – Showing the world how to pop champagne, Jim Jones’s performance on the Swagger Like Us Tour seemed as if it could have been any other night at the club for the rapper, as he drank, puffed, and passed, all while never missing an opportunity for a well-timed pelvic thrust. Needless to say, Jones had the arena crowd on their feet and trying to keep up with his fun.
Shooting Notes:
This was actually one of the more interesting sets to shoot, due to the slightly heavier use of backlighting for Jim Jones. In addition, Jones made active use of the stage, hitting a variety of poses in the short time he took the stage, which made for a nice, varied shoot.
The Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 did the lion’s share of the work for this shoot and provided a great range of focal lengths. The 70-200mm f/2.8 and 14-24mm f/2.8 made cameo appearances as well.
While he made plenty of use on the stage, Jones didn’t seem to move at such a mercurial pace as some of the other performers, giving photographers a number of great photo ops.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 9:46 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with diplomat, hip hop, jim jones, music photography, photography, pop champagne, rap, swagger like us, ti. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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New blog post: Jim Jones, opening up for T.I. Yes, he does pop champagne. http://is.gd/lHby
I have to say, number 3 and final image are my favorite.
I adore number 3, Todd!
Hey Janet, great to hear from you, and thanks for your picks. Are you back to the usual grind now?
While I was busy ducking and covering my gear when the champagne started to fly (Jones was on the other side of the stage, even – I was sprayed by one of his hype men!), I was glad to get one shot of Jones with a bottle, given his song of the moment.
Yes, back to the usual grind.
I’m post editing photos as I type this :o)
lol@ ducking and covering the gear… the sign of a true photographer… “beat me, whip me, hurt me, but don’t hurt my gear!!”
Thanks all the more for grabbing a little time to come here and comment, Janet.
Yes, gotta protect the gear from sticky champagne. I got a pretty thorough spraying, too, though not as badly as the folks in the front row.
I love #3 (number 7 in the thumbnails). The clunky, different colored sneakers and elongated legs are great.
Hey Ally, thanks very much for the feedback. For the third shot after the lead, Jim Jones was sitting in a chair and pretending to drive. I just had to twist on the 14-24mm to the D3 for that shot, and did so as quickly as possible once I saw he was sitting down.
I like his bling…skulls and champagne…interesting. I love that last one!
Hey Keith, nice to hear from you. Hope all is well in SF. Thanks for the comment. Jim Jones definitely looked like he was enjoying himself on stage, he missed no opportunity to indulge.
New blog post: Jim Jones, opening up for T.I. Yes, he does pop champagne. http://is.gd/lHby
Hey Todd marvellous work again!My favourite one are numer 3 and 4 from the thumbnails! Really cool pictures!
Hey Dan, thanks for the feedback. Looks like people are really digging #3. Cheers.
Those are my favorite moments in concert photography — anticipating a pose, scrambling to change lenses and compose the shot, then nailing it before they move away! Hehe.
Hey Natasha, nice to hear from you here, thanks for stopping by. You’re right, I think many of my favorite shots have come from the exact situation you describe. And in recent memory, that means a quick grab for the ultra-wide!
Those kinds of shots are often the most rewarding – or haunting, if the image doesn’t happen.
The perspective on the different color sneakers shot (#7 in thumbs) is great.
Hey Craig, thanks for the feedback, looks like that ultra-wide shot is the frontrunner for this set. Cheers.
I BET YA’LL AIN’T GO TO DAT WEEZY CONCERT. LIL WAYNE ISZ ALWAYSZ GON BE BETTA THAN JIM JONES…… LILWAYNE ERR DAY EVERY DAY…
WEEZY:WAT ISZ LIL WAYNE REAL NAME??? IF YOU DON’T KNOW IT YOU’RE DUMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT’S THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://ishootshows.com/2009/01/12/lil-wayne-2/
http://ishootshows.com/2008/09/22/lil-wayne/