Two weeks out on their “Back To The Roots” tour, I caught up with metalcore heavyweights The Devil Wears Prada for a quick portrait session. With sweltering heat outside, we decided to stay cool and shoot indoors doors as much as possible.
For the first look, we used a five-light setup, cranked up the stage lights, and got to work.
Photographer’s Notes:
Six-piece bands are always a little tough to photograph – much more, I find, than “just” a five-piece group. And for a 10-minute shoot like this, there’s a nice challenge to bang it out.
I’d caught up with The Devil Wears Prada previously on their support for Killswitch Engage for a portrait session before their live performance, and it was great to see the guys again.
We did two looks with TWDP, with an indoor spot in front of the stage and an semi-outdoor spot in a patio area adjacent to the venue.
The first indoor shoot was a five-light setup. I shot with three Nikon SB-900 speedlights, with the keylight shot though my DIY beauty dish. For accent lighting, I had two Nikon SB-900s on either side shot into two 46″ Photek reflective umbrellas for nice, soft accents (dialed up in the second and third images). Behind the group, I placed two Nikon SB-600s at the edge of the stage for backlighting to provide a bit of separation and pop. Lastly, I had the house turn up the stage lights to get a little bit of atmosphere in the room.
With a 100º+ heat index with something like 80% humidity, I was looking to get the outside location done as quickly as possible to keep the guys comfortable. We set up a very quick and light setup, again using the Chinatown Special beauty dish as the key light, with just a touch of fill from an umbrella positioned camera right. We clocked in at about 3-minutes from the first shot outside to the last.
Camera Gear Used:
Lighting Gear Used:
End Notes:
Big thanks to Heidi, Julie, Robert, and of course the guys of TDWP. Thanks to my assistants David and Allyssa as always.
Want more The Devil Wears Prada? Check out these recent sets:
Photos: The Devil Wears Prada @ The Bamboozle
Photos: The Devil Wears Prada @ The Pageant
Portraits: The Devil Wears Prada, March 2010
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at 2:34 pm and is filed under Portrait Photography and tagged with Andy Trick, band, band photographer, Chris Rubey, Daniel Williams, James Baney, Jeremy DePoyster, metalcore, mike hranica, music photographer, portrait, Portrait Photography, promo, studio, the devil wears prada. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Portraits: The Devil Wears Prada (@tdwpband) on the Back To The Roots Tour: http://bit.ly/bhjPt1
RT @toddowyoung: Portraits: The Devil Wears Prada (@tdwpband) on the Back To The Roots Tour: http://bit.ly/bhjPt1
Great shots and an even greater show that night. I do remember this being the hottest day of the summer.
I’m always checking out your band photography and especially TDWP. Keep up the great work man.
Hey Ismael,
Yes, it was brutally hot the day of the show – and for the outdoor portraits, which is why I wanted to keep it so short.
Unfortunately, the live shooting for TDWP wasn’t so good, as there was no barricade (Back to the Roots, and all). I was really tempted to jump in, but the pit was just too tight, there was no way I would have made it to the stage.
Thanks for the support. Many more portrait sets coming up from Warped Tour.
Yes i noticed the same thing. Not a good thing for the photographers AND the crowd surfers haha. I hope it wasn’t you that broke something on Prada’s set hahaha. I heard it was a photographer?
P.S. You think you could check out my Warped Tour set? I did my best from the crowd and it would be cool to see what a professional thinks of them. http://www.flickr.com/photos/izzyv/
Hey Ismael,
That was absolutely me. Party foul. I felt horrible about it, but their tour manager just laughed it off after it was fixed, he was super nice about it.
That first shot of Vic looks good – looks like you were super close to the stage. Or were you using a pretty decent zoom on your camera?
Nice work Todd. I recently shot a 6 piece band and know of the challenges you are faced with this kind of shoot. You pulled it off with some nice shots. Where did you meet up with TDWP for this shoot?
Hey Rick,
Thanks for the kind words. There’s just something about the dynamic of six band members vs five that makes it much more tricky with placement. And five people makes four seem like a breeze.
These were all shot at the venue, Pop’s.
Definitely agree with the six vs. five. I found the composition to be a little tricky. When its done right though, it’s niiiice. Shooting 4 people is a walk in the park after a 6 piece band. I just shot 70 people for a trade magazine cover. That sucked. haha
70-person group portrait? Ouch.
Yea man. It’s a bit intimidating seeing 70 people walking right at you for a “quick” group shot. I did get to go up in a cherry picker though.
Oh dude, another great of TDWP Portraits. Really stoked on the house photos, so cool making use of the stage lights.
So you didn’t shoot the live performance then? Shame but we have so much of previous work to enjoy. Great sets all round.
Hey Jim,
Thanks for the comment. I did shoot their live performance, but the conditions were such that to be honest, I’m not sure if I’ll post any of the photos. The other sets from their support of Killswitch Engage, the Bamboozle, and even the set from 2008 are better representations. Thanks again, glad to hear you enjoyed these.
That’s too bad, bet it was rough in the crowd. I went with my friend to photograph Converge/Kylesa and the barrier was taken away, needless to say she came away with pictures and bruises (actually from kicks, brutal stuff).
Well like I said you’ve done them good in the past. The pagent pics of this year is my favorite set, btw that link actually sends you to the portraits not the live shots.
Looking forward to the final Deluka and Pierce The Veil sets.
Professional pride wanted to jump into the pit, but reason won out – there was no way I could top my photos from the Pageant. Too much brutality going on at the front of the stage where I would have wanted to been, and I don’t think it would have been possible to even get there.
Deluka shots coming up, just waiting for the band to pick the final images. Pierce the Veil, Andrew W.K., and a ton of more stuff, coming up. Plus, I just shot Mayhem Fest yesterday, so there’s Korn, Zombie, 5 Finger Death Punch, and Lamb of God to post… Plus more Lilith Fair.
Thanks for the heads up, I’ll fix thank link.
WHAT?!
Damn you’ve been busy. Can’t wait to see the Korn photos not really seen how they play. Going to sort out doing them in October.
Alreet then, I’ll keep checking back.
Great job as always, Todd. I love the pic where you incorporated the “Pop’s” floor tile. I instantly recognized it. I’ve been trampled on it many a time. Good move on not getting in the pit. It was pretty ridiculous. Looking forward to seeing the warped/mayhem pics!
Matt Mayer
Thanks, Matt. I actually don’t really care for those tiles too much, but those are the breaks! Mayhem photos coming up for all the main stage acts.
Haha oh well. It was fun when they were just goofing off during it. But thanks about the photo. I just had a super zoom lens haha. But yeah I wish I knew how to photoshop them and make them look more epic. Oh well, maybe someday.