How was Slayer’s set? In a word: Epic. These guys have been crushing it for almost 30 years, so it was a pleasure to see that they still have the chops to pummel a crowd of thousands with the metal hammer.
Photographer’s Notes:
After we wrapped up a quick 3-minute 43-second portrait shoot, Slayer took the stage and I jumped into the photo pit. The epic thrash-metal four-piece got to work, and, armed with my gear, an all-access pass, and 33dB NRR earplugs, I did, too.
Overall, the band was very spread out on the huge amphitheater stage, so group shots were few and far between. Even shooting the full set, there were only a handful of times when Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King played together.
Even fewer were the times when Tom Araya could be caught in the same frame with either King or Hanneman. And behind his massive kit, drummer Dave Lombardo was an elusive target to photograph solo, let alone with any of his bandmates.
Lighting for this concert was very tricky, as mono-color washes dominated the stage treatment for much of the performance. The times there was white light to be seen, it flared up from the sides of the stage and weakly from the back, so guitarists Hanneman and King were subjects that made the most of this effect. To combat the difficult lighting, careful timing catch the flares of white light was key.
In the middle of the stage with red/orange gels over his uplights, Tom Araya was a very tough subject for any “clean” lighting. Even when the uplights were off, Araya was bathed in washes of green, blue, and orange from above.
I shot this set with the Nikon D3 and D700 with the usual suspects: the Nikon 14-24mm, Nikon 24-70mm, and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8.
End Notes:
If you haven’t checked out the portrait shoot we did with Slayer, you can see that here. The other sets from Mayhem Fest are coming up soon, so stay tuned.
Also: Dave Lombardo, I’m sorry.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 5:40 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with all access, fest, festival, gig, kerry king, live, mayhem, metal, music, music photography, nikon, photography, slayer, thrash. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Slayer + All Access= more photos of Kerry King being a badass than you ever thought you wanted to see: http://digg.com/u1APgr
Todd, this whole set is epic!
You captured the feeling I had at the Megadeth/Slayer concert a few weeks back, Slayer can still rip it up with the best of them
how were your ears? I was deaf for 2 days after forgetting ear plugs, I can’t imagine how loud it was up close!
Hey Adam, thanks for the comment. Slayer can definitely still rip it up, they’re still beastly after all these years. Especially Kerry King.
I wore earplugs for this how, as I do for every concert, so my ears were fine even after 45+ minutes of Slayer doing their best to break my skull.
Holy shit. I don’t even have words for this set. This rules so hard. Awesome captures, Todd.
Also LOL at Tom wearing his own shirt.
Thanks, Brian! Yeah, both Tom and Kerry were wearing Slayer shirts. They made it work!
Nice Todd,
Think I’m going to struggle when these guys come out with Megadeth at the end of the year…their lighting is tough
How do you think you would have gone if you only had 3 songs?
Hey Dan, thanks for the comment. Slayer and Megadeth should be a great concert!
Yes, Slayer’s lighting was tough, but they do throw out more effects during the first few songs that seem to make it a bit easier for press. It’s a challenging shoot, but 3-songs or all-songs, the goal is always the same: domination.
This is incredible. Well done.
Hey Nik, thanks!
Hey Todd,
First off Your shots are amazeing as always =)
I shot mayhem fest when it was in san berndino, and i know exatlly what you mean about the difficult lighting Tom was very hard to shoot he was pretty stainoary the whole set and for the slayer set he was bathed in a super red light except for one shot i got when The lights on him turned purple, and the smoke was back lit with green! and kerry was an amazeing subject to shoot, I loved shooting them all i had was my little D60 with a slow lens I got some pretty intense shots! By the way i watched the whole set from the pit…raining blood was the closer and was amazeing there were like 3 guitar solos a bass solo and a drum solo!
Hey Justin,
Thanks for the comment. I had the same experience with Tony and know what you mean about the purple and green lighting. It was pretty other-worldly. Yeah, the finale was pretty excellent. Certainly the highlight of Mayhem for me.
RT @tweetmeme Slayer @ Mayhem Fest | ishootshows.com http://bit.ly/cJhoz
Slayer + All Access= more photos of Kerry King being a badass than you ever thought you wanted to see: http://digg.com/u1APgr
Hello Todd!! Very nice shoots!!! Well, I’ll ask you something. I’ve a great doubt in my begginer concert’s photographer’s mind. I noticed in many concerts (mainly in the metal concerts) an intense use of red/green lights in the entire stage. Personally, I don’t like the result of the photos under these conditions. The skin seems terrible to me. I don’t mind with the mix between red/blue, red/white, red/ambar (and many others combinations) but the entire stage in red (or green) makes me really sad :( I really love your work and I follow your work to learn always more about shoot concerts. What do you think about this kind of lights? Do you care about it? Or it’s something that I must to forget and It’s only on my mind :D Thanks!!!
Hey Karina,
Thanks for the comment. Red lights – and single-color washes in general – are very tough to photograph due to the nature of digital sensors.
Personally, I prefer other lighting treats to red light, but we have to work with what we have most of the time. If anything, one thing I try to do if I have the luxury is simply not to shoot that much while there is red light present. That’s the case with this set – almost all the images show some of the white light that was blasting in from the sides. Editing takes place while shooting as well as after the images are captured.
As always, terrific set!
Didn’t have the chance to shoot them yet, but seeing the kind of results you got, I can’t wait for them to come around !
Never thought I’d see the day I’d be disapointed with your set but this one missed the target. This is NOT Slayer… I’ve shot Slayer several times and this has nothing to do with their live shows… Hi Quality pics but completly off topic…
Will the real Slayer please stand up?
Todd excellent captures! I just started focusing on concert photography this past year and draw a tremendous amount of insight from your blog. thanks for taking the time to explain your shoots. I shot Slayer from Mayhem at Blossom near cleveland 7/31/09. Heres what i came up with: http://masphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/9121830_krise#P-1-20
thanks, Michael
Hey Michael,
I’m very glad to hear that http://www.ishootshows.com has helped you – you got some great shots of Slayer in that set, especially of Jeff. Keep at it!
Stunning set Todd!
I’m hoping to shoot Slayer and Megadeth when they hit Australian shores later this year.
Cheers, Richard
Hey Richard,
Thanks for the comment, hope you get to photograph Slayer when they go your way – it seems like that would be a great bill to shoot.
Despite the lighting, you’ve captured a great set as always Todd.
Hey Sean, thanks for the comment. The lighting was tough, but it did seem to suit the band quite well.
Metal bands are always fun to shoot because of all the power they give to shows. It’s a fantastic set. Love the colors on all shots and about the lightning … it’s Slayer so there’s always lot’s of red lights. But I think it suits the band pretty well and the shots turned out amazing as usual.
I especially like Kerry’s shots, because of his expressiveness.
Cheers,
Daniel
"This is NOT Slayer…" http://is.gd/2gLza
You’re right – their set was incredibly epic, and you did a great job of catching it. I know I’ve seen the photos for years, but the D3 never ceases to surprise me with just how clean the photos can be.. it’s like you can actually feel the gloss of sweat on their skin. You did an insane job capturing the white light on them, too – something I couldn’t get at all. You never cease to surprise me… damn. There’s plenty of concerts, and tons of photographers, but there’s only one Todd Owyoung, that’s for sure.
Great Set you can feel the energy of the eve. I love the shot of KK with the flames in the background, to bad for the shadow of the guitar neck over his mouth.
Todd, fantastic as always.. YOU SUCK! and I mean that with love :o)
The magazine I shoot for sent me and our reporter to cover the last day on the tour in Oklahoma City.
One epic, hell of a hot, yet extremely fun shoot.
Thanks for the inspiration as always!
jhs
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