Backed by dramatic lighting, the Followill clan brought an epic set of the rock music to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. In the first three songs, we saw just about all the kinds of lighting you’re likely to see at a show: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Photographer’s Notes:
First three, no flash. We we dropped into the photo pit, we were met by someone from the tour who explained the rules for the set. Basically, no photography from the center half of the stage, so shooting had to be done from the outer quarters of the stage. You had to pick a side and stay there; no moving back and forth. These are the same rules I had the last time I shot Kings of Leon, though we could move back and forth for that show (we just couldn’t shoot from the middle).
The tour rep suggested going house right, mentioning that you’d get good photos of all the band members, while house left would allow only shots of Caleb, the singer. I’m a sucker for a challenge, so I choose house left.
The reason I chose the position I did was simple: Caleb holds his guitar neck high. A high guitar neck means shooting a headstock where Caleb’s face is supposed to be.
In addition, we were not allowed to photograph close to the stage. There were bass stacks at intervals that stuck out from the stage halfway into the photo pit; we were not allowed to go past the front of the speakers. Of course, stage was high enough and the back set back far enough that going closer to the stage wasn’t really something that would have resulted in any benefit.
Lighting:
The first song is the best for lighting with pinkish/magenta frontlighting and greenish/white light from the back of the stage. The second song was entirely a magenta wash. The third song treatment was a deep blue/cyan wash with yellow uplights/accents on the band.
Lenses:
I shot this set entirely with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 on the Nikon D3, with one exception. Of course, leave it to the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 to deliver the most interesting shots of the night – who says midrange zooms are boring?
Best Moments:
For me, the best moment for compelling shots was easily when Caleb Followill came out to the edge of the stage during the first song and rocked out (lead image in this set). Since the rest of the set was shot exclusively with the 70-200mm f/2.8, the closer distance to the singer made for a nice contrast in perspective.
I knew that going in this would be a telephoto shoot, so I twisted on the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 to the D700 and had it at the ready, just in case the band decided to get friendly. Were it not for Caleb’s quick venture out to the edge of the stage, the midrange zoom – and a second body – would have been unnecessary.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 9:37 am and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 2009, images, Jared Followill, kings of leon, kol, live, Matthew Followill, music Caleb Followill, Music Photography, Nathan Followill, only by the night, photography, photos, tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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I’ll be shooting them next week and want to thank you for your scouting report (shooting from the left is what I’m gonna do also) and it’s interesting about their ‘no shots from the middle’ policy. Kinda diva-ish, huh? I mean it’s only three songs and then all the photographers leave, I wonder why they do that. If the same rules apply in Houston, it will be the first band I’ve shot that have a restrictive shooting policy.
The last time I saw them I shot them with a P&S from the crowd.
Great, crisp shots Todd. Very nice work.
Hi groovehouse,
Good luck with your shoot. Personally, I think stage left/house right is the way to go for this shoot. The last/first time I shot them late last year, I ended up shooting mostly from house left as well, even though we could move around. I’m sure the shooting restrictions will be the same in Houston.
Have fun, thanks for the comment. If the shooting notes help, I’d love for you to come back after you shoot and let us know how it went.
it’s so funny to shoot a show BEFORE you. Green Day got to you first, so I read your notes, but KOL were here a while ago and I had to learn all this the hard way. Come to find out, KOL were burned by a photographer once who misused their images, so now they are super strict on photogs. Needless to say, I felt as if they purposely created a challenge with their lighting for the first 3 songs. Also, most of my shots from the show are accompanied by a very strong “angry face” from the singer.
Johnny,
As far as lighting goes, I didn’t think that Kings of Leon’s was bad overall. The first song was great and gave me a little hope, and the third song could have been worse. Anyway, I’m always up for a challenge, so far as it’s possible to make images.
Great set, as usual, as always. I really like the 1st photo in this post because lighting equipment’s framing.
Hi Diana,
Thanks for the comment. I think the first image is my favorite for the same reason of the lighting – when that was shot, the background effects were constantly changing, so different shots made during the same moment have dramatically different backgrounds.
Great shots Todd.
Hey Kevin, thanks, I appreciate it.
Here again, great set of pictures. Love the opener and the first one in the crossroads section. Absolutly awesome light and pose ypu captured here.
Hey Daniel, thanks for the comment and your picks, I appreciate the feedback.
Great notes and shots from the show as always Todd! They will be at the arena I work at a week from Saturday. It sucks though because apparently they aren’t allowing any house photographers, which is a first. How many photogs shot the show you went to in St. Louis?
I wonder if the band has all the restrictions (only from the corners, no moving around, no house photogs), or if it’s rules done by management. It’s kinda strange…
Hey Paul,
I’m not sure about the exact root of all the restrictions, though maybe it’s a bit of both the band and management. Too bad you won’t be shooting this show, though I can’t say it was the most easy of conditions. The first song was great for light – I barely shot during the second song. Thanks for the comment, nice to hear from you.
http://bit.ly/2v5eQO Great live KoL pics.
Nice ! ^^
http://bit.ly/2v5eQO Great live KoL pics.
http://tinyurl.com/ydnftey some very cool shots of kings of leon
Great work as usual, I like these because Kings of Leon has become a band that I do like to listen to, I really need to up my game so I get a chance at a band like this.
Hey Rene,
Thanks for the comment. I always find that photographing a band that I listen to provides an extra incentive for making great shots. That, and it’s always more fun when one is familiar with the music.
Awesome pics! Really enjoyed reading your comments on how you shot the show. Also interesting to read the other photog’s comments on shooting KoL shows. When I saw them in Indy last week I wasn’t able to use my Canon Powershot S3IS from the front row because their security said they were only allowing pocket sized cameras. They let me shoot the first 2 songs and then the very last song, Black Thumbnail. I’ve been to many concerts and have never had a problem with using that camera, so this was a big surprise to me. Guess it makes sense if they’ve been burned in the past.
Hi Monica,
Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed reading the notes on this show. Yeah, I think that KoL’s tour manager is fairly strict on photography and photographers. There usually aren’t the restrictions we had for this set, though I think they were perfectly workable. It’s nice that you were able to still shoot for three songs from the crowd, even though you couldn’t photograph the entire concert.
Wow – these are awesome shots, captured the atmosphere great.
Hi Jo, thanks for the comment.
Hi Todd,
And I was just checking out KoL’s twitter updates as I’m a big fan of theirs and saw your amazing blog. So it’s been over an hour now and i’m so hooked up that I couldn’t pass leaving a comment. Great advises and beautiful work. I’m a self taught photographer considering a career in this field, so I’ll be following your posts here for sure. Very inspiring. Just wanted to say thank you for all the useful info, and I hope you wont mind me picking your brains once in a while:)
P.S. I drink tea everyday as well….. Green :))
Kings of Leon & amazing photographer (@toddowyoung), this can’t be wrong http://bit.ly/qbMA
Wanna get psyched for Kings of Leon at Rupp Oct. 10? Here are some recent pics from @toddowyoung: http://bit.ly/kuP7S
Hi Todd,
Great set. I’m supposed to shoot this show in Houston as well. I’ll be shooting with just a 50/1.8 and a 100/2.8, do you have any tips for this show considering this equipment? I’m trying to come up a game plan, so knowing that we can only stay on one side is very useful. Did they allow for any movement on the side you chose, or were you required to stay in one spot?
Thanks so much Todd, your notes are very helpful and your images always a joy to see.
Sure enough Todd, same rules applied here in Houston. I shot KoL Tuesday night and it was very restrictive with the bass cabinets and security standing in between them. There were three photogs at this show. One shot stage right, me and the other shot stage left. With mic stands and other obstacles, good shots were hard to come by. There weren’t many vantage points on the left side and only one real clear view. When Caleb came out to play from behind his mic, just my luck, he went stage right.
I’m still editing ACL Festival pics, until then, my KoL photos can be seen on the Houston Press website.
Slideshow
More photos on the review
These are perfect. Beautiful lighting.
I really need to get around to shooting them sometime – I’ve always heard they put on a fantastic show.
Hey Tasha,
Thanks for the comment. The lighting was overall pretty good if you discount the second song of all magenta. I really love Only By The Night and I think Kings of Leon’s live show is coming along. They aren’t all that active on stage, but they do have their moments of rocking that are fun to shoot, that’s for sure. Hope you get to shoot them soon.
Hey Todd,
I shot their show at Nassau Coliseum, only problem I DIDNT!!! I shot the opening band, Glasvegas, and about 10 mins before KOL went on, a Coliseum rep informed me that no one was allowed to shoot KOL, not even their house photographer. U, my friend are a lucky bastard!
Hey Todd
Some great shots there as per usual, but I am particularly interested in the way you captured the main shot here.
I have taken a few shots like this and every time I have been plagued with lens flare when shooting into the lights.
Did you just catch this at the right time, or is there a trick to it?
Cheers
Bob
Hi Bob,
Regarding the lights in the lead image, the lights aren’t facing directing into the lens, so that’s helping in regard to the flare. The lens used, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8, has performed pretty well for flare for my use, but I think it’s mostly the angle of the lights in relation to the axis of the lens.
[...] favorite recent opportunity to photograph Kings of Leon was their 2009 arena tour. Even though these same restrictions were in place, I felt that the band was much more dynamic in [...]