Unladylike

February 19, 2009 – Coming in with the one-two punch, newly Def Jam-signed rap duo Unladylike brought a fierce and unrelenting set to the Swagger Like Us Tour, priming the stage for headliners T.I. and Ludacris.

Shooting Notes:

This was a short, fun set by Unladylike, who performed early on in the eight-act Swagger Like Us bill. If anything, these women were a tough act to follow, as the made use of every inch of the stage, crisscrossing paths and generally bringing the double-barreled attack on the arena crowd. Better yet, when one of the pair moved to the other side of the stage, the other often took her place, making a relatively static shooting position less of a liability.

Of the pair, Gunna was more playful with the camera posing on a few occasions and even going so far as to give me the bird, Johnny Cash style.

Due to quick movements and non-stop action, I often find hip hop shows among the most challenging to shoot, and this gig was no exception. Tracking was a key technique, and I definitely appreciated the 51-focus points of the D3‘s AF system.

The Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 was the perfect lens for this set, though the 70-200mm also saw a little bit of camera-time as well.

ISO 3200, 1/500, and f/2.8 was the rough exposure for this performance. One interesting quirk for this gig, however, was that one of the two spotlights used at the event was about a stop and a half dimer than the other. From the crowd’s point of view, this didn’t look like that big of a difference, but it certainly made exposure a little more a challenge in changing between the two performers.

About the author: Todd Owyoung is an internationally published music photographer specializing in concert photography and band portraits. He also grills a mean steak.

Contact Todd for image licensing and assignments wherever the rock show lives. You can also get in touch with Todd via Twitter.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 2009, def jam, hip hop, music photography, photography, rap, swagger like us, tour, unlady like, unladylike. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.