Music photographer Kenny Williamson photographed at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Nikon D3 + Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
Recently, my friend and fellow music photographer Kenny Williamson commissioned me to shoot a set of portraits for inclusion in the launch of his new website.
For this portrait session, Kenny was interested in producing a set of images shot at his home turf of the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, where he’s the house photographer for Live Nation. Kenny had seen my style of band photography and decided on a similar look for his portraits.
Hit the full set after the jump.
Armed with a half dozen speedlights, I went into the amphitheater with the Nikon D3 and utilized my beauty dish as the main light. One very cool thing about this shoot was access to Verizon Wireless Amphitheater before it opened for the season, with pristine asphalt and the entire venue to ourselves.
For this shoot, we started under the “shed” of the amphitheater. In this setup, one challenge was balancing the daylight coming in through the back of the shed with the exposure on Kenny, who was lit entirely by flash.
Two SB-600s camera right and left, SB-900 into the beauty dish for fill. Nikon D3 + Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
Moving outside, we put the beauty dish and SB-900 to the test – both performed like champs. For these shots, we used the sun as an accept light for Kenny, while the beauty dish provided character lighting.
Nikon D3 + Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
So, beauty dishes are not renown for being the most efficient light modifiers (there’s a double-bounce in there, after all), and speedlights aren’t the punchiest of sources. So, how’d they do in bright afternoon sun? Nicely, I’d say – when they’re in close enough.
Nikon D3 + Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
After shooting for about 45 minutes at the amphitheater, we broke for dinner, then tried a slightly different, more urban look just before the sun died down.
In addition to the beauty dish I’d used in the afternoon, I added in a gelled SB-900 on a Manfrotto Justin clamp for some warm accent lighting.
SB-900 into a beauty dish as the key light, gelled SB-900 camera right and behind for warm rim lighting. Nikon D3 + Nikon 50mm f/1.4
End Notes:
Big thanks to Kenny for being a fun subject and to my assistant Allyssa for her help.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 1:16 pm and is filed under Portrait Photography and tagged with beauty dish, diy, kenny williamson, Portrait Photography, speedlight, todd owyoung, verizon wireless amphitheater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Very, very nice work!
.-= groovehouse´s last blog ..05.01.10 – The Dead Weather at The House of Blues =-.
Thanks, Eric, I appreciate the comment.
The last one is the best … looks like he’s the most relaxed and approachable.
regards,
Robert
Hey Robert,
Thanks for the feedback. Originally, the shoot was schedule to just include time at the amphitheater, but I wanted another look. Very glad we shot a little longer, and Kenny was happy to have plenty of options for his needs.
Wow they are insane, really well lit. Image 3 looks a little bit too fake though but thats just my opinion.
.-= Jim Milne´s last blog ..Special Feature: Jonny Craig Interview (Emarosa) =-.
Hey Jim,
Thanks for the kind words. That third image with Kenny and the amphitheater sign in the background was shot when the sun ducked behind a cloud, giving the background a cooler, less contrasty look. I wonder if that’s what you’re seeing on contrast to the others.
This is great stuff Todd. Your concert photos are excellent, but I really enjoy seeing your portrait work and what you do with the lighting as I find it to be creatively inspiring. The latest image that I made of my son at my blog was created in part by what I learned just by checking out your portraits.
.-= Jay´s last blog ..Using Two Lights =-.
Hey Jay,
Thanks very much for the kind words, I appreciate it. I just checked out your latest posts (“Using Two Lights”) and I think the look you’ve created works really well. I’d love to do some sportraits myself sometime if I can get a break from rockers.
Small world too, I had just checked Kenny’s site yesterday.
.-= Jim Milne´s last blog ..Special Feature: Jonny Craig Interview (Emarosa) =-.
Hey Jim,
Very cool. I’ll let Kenny know. How did you find his work?
It was great, added him to my bookmarks. The Dave Matthews Band and Nickelback images were really cool.
.-= Jim Milne´s last blog ..Special Feature: Jonny Craig Interview (Emarosa) =-.
love the photos man, esp that third one
very cool
Hey Pat, thanks for the feedback on this set, nice to hear from you.
Hey Todd,
The geometry of the roof really works well for the composition in the first two captures. Distortion is well controlled with the 14-24!
I think the forth one is my favorite. Up close and personal and the seat back you included in the fore ground gives a nice layered feel.
Have you done anything with the DIY speedlight grid yet?
Tom
.-= Tom Begasse´s last blog ..Photos: Melanie Fiona =-.
Hey Tom,
Thanks for the feedback. The distortion on the 14-24mm is quite well controlled. It’s a fantastic lens all around, really.
I actually did use the grids a bit during this shoot and have used them here and there for other shoots. The last most recent shoot was with The Devil Wears Prada, I believe:
http://ishootshows.com/2010/03/29/portraits-the-devil-wears-prada/
My friend Kenny commissioned me to shoot portraits for his new site. Naturally, I grabbed the Chinatown Special: http://bit.ly/aEUmLR
From Google Reader: Portraits: Music Photographer Kenny Williamson http://goo.gl/fb/XJQ7P
Hi Todd,
I’m a follower of your blog and a friend on flickr but I just wanted to pop by and say that I’m a big fan of your work and I think it’s all wonderful. This portrait session in particular was great. Your lighting in the second photo looks similar to something I’ve done when I shot Aerosmith years back. I’m just wondering how you didn’t get the flashes reflecting in his glasses though, was it more positioning, powering down the flash because you’re doing fill or photoshopping?
Thanks man, I love your work once again.
-Chris Gampat
RT @toddowyoung: My friend Kenny commissioned me to shoot portraits for his new site. Naturally, I grabbed the Chinatown Special: http://bit.ly/aEUmLR
These turned out amazing. You were right about the clouds and the trees in the first few, they do look fake! The colors are extremely vibrate.
When I reached out to Todd for this session, he did not hesitate to take on the challenge. I’ve known Todd for almost 3 years now, having shot shoulder to shoulder in the pit at the amphitheater. Putting myself in the uncomfortable position of being in front of the lens, I knew there was only one guy who would make it fun and relaxed. We all know Todd has mad skillz with concert photography, but the pleasure of him being here in St. Louis, is knowing first hand the guy has mad human skillz as well. T.O., I appreciate that you showed up armed with the beauty dish, your assistant Allyssa, your arsenal of flashes, and your vision to approach the day with the same intensity you put into all your work. Plus, I knew hearing ‘shoot all you want, and feel free to use flash’ would be a nice contrast to what we’re use to hearing at the amphitheater:) My goal was to get one shot to feature on my site, but like a good bag of chips, I can’t have just one. See ya at the next gig bro.
Hey Todd, great work as usual. I’d love to hear more about the exposure on these shots. I have a D3 with multiple SB600s on wireless PocketWizards and have a challenge getting my strives to look natural as a fill with daylight, both in intensity and color. I have a full Roscoe gel kit for the strives and would love to know what you prefer to use for warmth and also what mode you shoot the D3 on for these types of shots.
Thanks Todd. Your work never stops inspiring me.
Fourth shot is my fave Todd.
The first, using wide-angle, is becoming a trademark of yours.
Excellent work!
hi,
i assume you always use manual settings for your flash?
thanks,
Portraits: Music Photographer Kenny Williamson http://bit.ly/aRdEJV
the last ones great,his clothes look better and hes stareing you in the eye then you travel down to his camera.i also much prefer the light as well.
another winner.
.-= johnny moto´s last blog ..johnny moto is now friends with Shilling Shockers =-.
I think for me, image 3 is probably the best. I think to a certain extent they all look a little un-natural, the colours are too vibrant, but I think it’s all in a good way. but image 3, it’s the composition, and you can clearly see where he works. because he has the camera you can also see what he does there, it does a very good job of communicating.