Playing at sunset under dappled skies, alt-rock granddaddies Sonic Youth laid it all out for one of the best free concerts of the Live on the Levee music series under the St. Louis Arch. The glorious light lasted just one song, and after another we were out.
Photographer’s Notes:
When Sonic Youth hit the stage, there was an awesome combination of warm sunset glow, a pale sky, and the spotlights on Thurston Moore. Of course, this didn’t last, but it made for a fleeting and lovely treatment for the iconic rockers.
Before the show, there was a short period when it looked like there was going to be a copyright grab – AKA, a photography release that would have forced me to relinquish my copyright of all the images I made. Fortunately, this was not the case for this show, and there was nothing at all to sign for the show.
The stage for this concert was relatively high, so angles were relatively limited. I relied on the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 on the Nikon D3 for most of the shots, since a row of monitors lined the stage and blocked off the performers from the thighs down. Shooting from slightly farther back in the photo pit (which was ample) helped flatten the perspective out for these conditions.
While there’s always an urge to get in as case as possible at a concert, sometimes the most flattering shots and the best angles come from taking up a little distance between the stage and the lens. This cuts back on very acute angles, and for stages that are relatively tall, as they were for this show, the negative effects of someone getting in between you and the stage are minimized unless they stand right in front of you.
As far as shooting, Thurston was a relatively easy subject, as he stayed fairly close to the mic and just rocked out. Kim Gordon was slightly trickier, mostly due to her movement on stage and tendency to hang back a little more. Of course, this situation was made easier when Gordon was up for vocal duties and tethered to the mic during the second song.
Since there was “plenty” of light for this gig, being outdoors at sunset, I shot at a luxurious ISO 800. Shutter speeds hovered around ISO 1/400 or so.
This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 2009, images, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, live, Mark Ibold, music, Music Photography, photographer, photos, sonic youth, Steve Shelley, Thurston Moore, tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Todd, how are you making the little gallery. I could knock something up for Lightroom myself, but was wondering what you used?
Awesome shots as ever. I was wondering what the full story behind the right grabs was? Never heard of a band having one and then changing there mind not too!
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the comment. The publication I was shooting for originally went through the band for credentials. Since this was not a regular tour gig, but part of a free, outdoor concert series being produced by the city, so the “rules were a bit different for this show.
As far as I know, the rest of the club dates the band played required the photo release for the band.
Great shots! :)
So do you actually sign away your copyright sometimes? I would have thought people such as yourself would flatly refuse..?
Thanks, Jamie. I was ready to walk away from the assignment if there was a rights grab. Fortunately, after a little more digging, there was nothing to sign for this tour so I could photograph and get paid without having to give up anything.
What do you get when Sonic Youth plays at sunset with a backdrop of dappled blue skies under the Arch? This, apparently: http://is.gd/2aUKL
Sonic Youth, dappled blue skies, and a free concert under the St. Louis Arch (and no ‘rights grab!): http://bit.ly/1yCA15
I thought I saw you there walking around. I love the shots.
There were actually a fair number of people approved to photograph this show. Thanks for the comment.
Damn. Just Damn fine shooting. RT @toddowyoung Sonic Youth | ishootshows.com http://bit.ly/1yCA15
It’s appropriate that you need to look upwards at Sonic Youth – they are rock gods after all :) Nice work as always.
Ha, true. Thanks for the comment, Craig.
Hey Todd,
Great shots. I found your site recently and a lot of your tips have helped me, so thank you for that. What publications do you shoot for most often? I’m glad you do not give up the rights to your images. I’m dealing with signing agreements right now and learning more about what rights I want to ask for and trying to understand all those complicated forms and whatnot.. Anyway, I just saw what you wrote on twitter about guest blogging. If you’d like someone to write something about the history of music photography, I could definitely do that!
Thanks,
Angela
Hey Angela,
Thanks for writing, great to hear that the tips here have helped you. I shoot for alt-weeklies and lifestyle/entertainment websites for most of my assignments if I’m not shooting for myself. Most of my jobs come through two publications and I regularly shoot for one or the other with the concerts I photograph.
Regarding a guest-article on the history of music photography, that sounds perfect! I’d love to feature something like that. Please email me and we can discuss, thanks for reaching out.
It’s okay, I’ll just knock something up in Lightroom I guess. Another plugin to the list of ones I written!
Hey Sean,
Can you make plugins in Lightroom? The gallery I use is Highslide.
Yeah.. for my sins.. here’s one: http://lrbportfolio.com, my site was done with it.
I’ve about 15 differents ones done, some released, most hanging around as ideas.
I was thinking of trying it with Shadowbox, same kinda vibe. I just really like how you have them embedded in the blog. It looks great.
I wrote this little flash slideshow that I sometimes embed.. I just export from Lightroom, then upload and paste in the HMTL.. example is here: http://randompanderings.com/?p=483. While it works, I think I’d still prefer clickable thumbnails.
Hey Todd,
Just seeing these now. Lucky you with all that blue sky! I shot SY twice in July, once a solo show in NYC and the other a festival gig in Seattle. The folks at Beggars initially asked me to sign a waiver for the solo show only (which they didn’t send), and then wrote back a few minutes later saying there was no waiver, but instead they asked me to agree via email not to use the shots for anything other than the assignment I was shooting for without written permission. I thought that was completely reasonable.
Long time no see, no speak!