Stepping out on his own with a veteran group of musicians, Nick Jonas rocked the Pageant to a sold-out crowd with his new band The Administration. While the two-thousands fans in the audience may have been small by Jonas Brothers standards, the intimate concert was the perfect setting to see the youngest Jonas flex his chops with his new side project.
Music Photographer’s Notes:
I’m always excited to photograph a sold-out show, and Nick Jonas and the Administration were no exception. After photographing the Jonas Brothers last year to a packed out arena, the theater-style venue of the Pageant was a marked departure for the youngest Jonas brother, but a great setting for more intimate photography.
As famed photojournalist Robert Capa said, “If your picture isn’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” That maxim holds pretty true for live music photography, so after photographing the Jonas Brothers from concourse level of an arena while the band played on the floor, I welcomed the chance for a closer shot.
When I arrived at the venue, I saw that there was a barricade set up, albeit closed off on the sides. When I asked security if I could jump in, they said no press were allowed. Just before Nick Jonas and the Administration took the stage, I found out why. A few minutes to showtime, Rob Hoffman, the tour’s photographer, jumped down from the stage and into the pit. You can see Rob’s photos at WireImage.
So, while there was no photo pit access, this proved just fine. Fairly perfect, even, as a slightly more removed position from the stage provides a more flattering perspective since the shooting angle is less acute. Better yet, security urged fans to stay in their seats for the performance, so my initial fear of being mauled against the barricade by fans was easily put out of my mind.
As expected, lighting for this show was almost all spotlight on Nick Jonas. The rest of the stage treatment was very minimal, with simple backlighting of various colored cans for accent.
I photographed this set with the Nikon D3 and D700 using the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses. On the fullframe cameras, these two zooms were perfect and nothing wider or more telephoto was really needed, though I did pull out the 14-24mm f/2.8 for a crowd shot to show the atmosphere.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with concert photographer, images, live, music, Music Photography, music photography, nick jonas, pageant, photos, st. louis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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They grow up so fast. Nick Jonas & the Administration: Photos from the Pageant http://ow.ly/YIj0
@mlbfan528 for you… RT @toddowyoung They grow up so fast. Nick Jonas & the Administration: Photos from the Pageant http://ow.ly/YIj0
@itsashleycombs @woahitsemilyx From my friend @livehead16: http://ow.ly/YIj0
@followyourlead_ @kimbahley I follow this professional photog and he got @nickjonas pics :) http://bit.ly/4qR3gU
Not to disrespect the work of Rob, but comparing your images to the three available on WireImages, in my opinion, you nailed this show a bit better than he did. For one, the white balance in your photos is far nicer than that in his photos (where as in his, Nick looks almost sickly as apposed to lively). Also, I feel as if your shots are a bit better exposed and just generally more interesting to look at.
Overall, it’s a great example that you do not have to be at the very front of or on the stage to get great shots. Thank you for sharing your work and insight Todd.
Hey Christopher,
Thanks for your thoughts here. One thing I will say is that the lighting used for this show was a bit strange. I’ve shot at the Pageant when they’ve used spotlights, but for whatever reason the spots had a very cool and slightly greenish balance. I dare say that Rob might have captured an “accurate” WB in his photos.
I should also note that I was basically just a foot or so more removed than Rob. The barricade wasn’t all that far from the stage, so my spot just behind it wasn’t all that different than Rob’s in this case. He had more freedom to move around in the pit, though, and of course stage access is always nice!
They grow up so fast. Nick Jonas & the Administration: Photos from the Pageant http://ow.ly/YIj0
I,too, have to say that I feel your pictures totally nailed the show compared to their tour photographers. How many photos did you take at that gig in total? I’m curious to know about how many shoots you took to produce those beautiful pictutes. Cheers, Lennart
Hey Lennart,
Thanks for the comment. I’ll generally shoot somewhere between 100-300 photos for a headlining act, though sometimes it may be double or triple that, depending on the access and restrictions.
If I’m shooting the full set with stage access, as I had for a recent gig, it may be 1500+.