“27 tour buses and trucks. Fans rocking glitter paint. Monster claws. And 600mm of glass.” That’s what I posted on Twitter before photographing Lady Gaga’s set. With a seemingly notorious photography policy that barred press from her last North American tour and a guaranteed soundboard position for this show, I had to wonder – how would this shoot work out?
As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so here are the images.
Photographer’s Notes:
I’ve been interested in photographing Lady Gaga for as long as I’ve seen images of her performances. And though it seems as though the days of being able to photograph the pop icon from the front of the stage are long gone, I’m happy to report that the restriction banning photography from her last North American tour has been lifted.
This was a two-song shoot, starting with “Telephone” and ending with “Speechless,” which were nearly smack in the middle of Lady Gaga’s set. Shooting was done from just house left of the soundboard at the back of the general admission floor, so just about as far away from the stage as was possible without being in the stands.
However, thanks to the majority of “Telephone” being performed at the end of a thrust (the B-stage) that jutted out towards the middle of the room, the distances weren’t insurmountable. In fact, the shoot as well as any soundboard shoot I’ve done.
For “Speechless,” Lady Gaga rocked the ivories at a flaming piano. And not just flaming, but rigged up with some sort of fiery vortex at the heart of it, whipping a column of flames a good two meters into the air.
Cameras Used:
Lenses Used:
My primary lens for this shoot was a Nikon 300mm f/2.8 VR II, which is really a beautiful piece of kit. However, just as important for this distance shoot was the relatively new Nikon TC-20E III 2x teleconverter. While I know many photographers might have reservations about the image quality of using a 2x TC, I have to say that the new 300mm and this TC worked beautifully together to produce an effective 600mm field of view on the Nikon D3.
Overall, the combo worked out fantastically. I was banking on Lady Gaga bringing the big lights, and she certainly disappoint, so even the f/5.6 effective aperture with the 300 + 2x TC combo was completely workable for this show thanks to the Nikon D3‘s nice high ISO performance.
I thought 600mm was just about perfect for the closer “Telephone” performance to get tighter crops of Gaga, and surprisingly nice to get shots of Gaga at the piano, including the flame-tornado.
End Notes:
Rick, Lady Gaga’s tour manager, is awesome. One of the nicest TMs I’ve met this year, so shout out to him.
Also, big love to Semi Precious Weapons, whose full set of images opening for Lady Gaga are coming up! SPW are a band I’ve photographed everywhere from tiny basement dives to clubs and theaters. Stay tuned to see how these rockers tackle an arena show. In the meantime, you can see some sets from SPW here:
Semi Precious Weapons @ Gramercy Theater
Portraits: Semi Precious Weapons
Photos: Semi Precious Weapons @ The Fox (opening for Lady Gaga)
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with concert photography, costume, dancing, lady gaga, live, music, music photographer, pop, rock, soundboard, stefani germanotta. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Nice. Did you have to use a mono? 600 effective MMs would make even a sharpshooter’s hands tremble.
How high did you bump the ISO?
Hey Justin, thanks for the comment.
I did use a monopod – 600mm effective has to much jump in the frame from minor vibrations. I went to ISO 3200 for this Lady Gaga’s set.
Your images look great from being that far away. Must be nice to be able to sport that kinda glass :-)
So what really is the deal with reputable concert photographers being positioned that far away to shoot a show?
and better yet.. what can we do (if anything) as a community of concert photographers to change whatever sterotype of us is out there?
Hey David,
Thanks, I rented the 300mm – generally no need for it as I prefer not to shoot soundboard. Good questions you pose, but I don’t think things are changing any time soon – if anything, it’s going to get worse, I fear.
Did they have a platform for the photographers to stand on or were you on the floor??
No, it was shot from the floor. Even with a step stool, you’re going to get hands in the frame. Bring a ladder!
Photos: Lady Gaga http://bit.ly/duyoEs
RT @crephoto: Photos: Lady Gaga http://bit.ly/duyoEs @starchild215
@SPWworld Thanks, will do. Just posted the @LadyGaga set here: http://bit.ly/cs1noV Should be posting the @preciousweapons set tomorrow.
some nice shots, given the restriction, Todd. the last one with the flame is my favourite, but I still can’t stand her.
Hey Doug, thanks for the comment. The fire piano was fun to photograph and play with for composition. The flames went pretty high in some instances, a good 1/2 of the vertical frame.
…once again: kick-ass photos todd! awesome!
…hey, what you suggest 1.4x or 1.7x for my 70-200mm VR I?
Hey Angga,
Is this for concerts? And what camera body?
Photo de Lady Gaga : http://bit.ly/dePHh5
Paws up, Little Monsters. Photos: @LadyGaga rockin' Scottrade Center http://bit.ly/dhyi3Q
RT @toddowyoung: Paws up, Little Monsters. Photos: @LadyGaga rockin' Scottrade Center http://bit.ly/dhyi3Q
Photos: Lady Gaga performing at the Scottrade Center | ishootshows.com http://shrten.com/3h7x
@gagadaily Awesome pics here!RT @toddowyoung: Paws up, Little Monsters. Photos: @LadyGaga rockin' Scottrade Center http://bit.ly/dhyi3Q
knocked it out of the park again!!! @toddowyoung: Paws up, Little Monsters. Photos: @LadyGaga rockin' Scottrade Center http://bit.ly/dhyi3Q
RT @toddowyoung: Paws up, Little Monsters. Photos: @LadyGaga rockin' Scottrade Center http://bit.ly/dhyi3Q
i'm still resisting but for those who like her…RT @toddowyoung Paws up, Little Monsters. Photos:Lady Gaga rockin' STL http://bit.ly/dhyi3Q
What's it like to shoot #LadyGaga with 600mm of #Nikon glass? Ask @ToddOwyoung – http://ishootshows.com/2010/07/18/photos-lady-gaga/
Love the photos, I was at the Modest Mouse show but after seeing the images and hearing from all of my friends how the concert went I can’t wait to get a chance to actually see her next time she comes to town.
Hey Phillip,
Thanks for the comment. At the rate Lady Gaga is going, she’s just going to keep circling the globe forever on this world tour.
good set man seems like it worked out ok ……
Hey Corey, thanks!
Absolutely amazing.
Hey Jim, thanks very much for the comment.
Music photography by the always-inspirational @toddowyoung http://bit.ly/d1tOtW
You really think things will get worse for us concert shooters?
You think it’s this idea of using “fan photos” for everything?
Man… it’s already tough enough shooting 3 songs from the pit..
Well, it’s not going to get any better or easier. My plan is to win with longevity so that when I’m a 60-year old grizzled rock photographer, maybe I’ll get an extra song or two thrown at me.
I AM a grizzled 60 year old rock photographer … unfortunatley, the only thing that gets thrown at me is sympathy … st least Tom Jones gets knickers (|;-)}
Ha. So much for that plan.
“My plan is to win with longevity…” I’m with you!…
Maybe we’ll get 4 songs when they see us in the pit with our walkers.. They’ll know we just won’t be able to move all that fast :-)
awesome todd! glad to see the restrictions from last tour were lifted.
how many photogs were there at this gig? i hear there still arent alot….
after shooting her so much for the first year and half of her success, im hoping approval wont be hard for this run…how long before the show did you get yours?
these are great once again….600 mm is noooo joke….definitely gonna bring 2 tall stools with me in D.C. or Philly
[...] Adam Lambert reminded me immediately of the recent shoot for Lady Gaga, in that the atmosphere surrounding the show had a similar electric buzz. Maybe not as many [...]
@maxroper I hear it's a cool show (piano with fire!), but VERY limiting to photogs. Here's @toddowyoung's shots/notes – http://bit.ly/99A7GE
I use the new TC20E III and I can say you are completely right about the quality of the combo (TC20E III + 300mm f/2.8). Congrats.
Yes, it’s a nice combo, isn’t it. Thanks for the comment, Pataro.
Hello,
Did you have to get “cleared” by Rick to display the Gaga photos from the tour? When I shot her, Livenation confirmed that we were not allowed to post the photos anywhere except for our publication. I wanted to post a few on my blog and website :/
I don’t understand why they don’t let photographers shoot her from the stage when she crowd surfs at open festivals.