Todays Shoot - Megadeth

If you told me when i was 12, I was going to get to do an assignment - for work - and that job would be to do a photo session with MEGADETH - i would have asked for a time machine to that day to prove you wrong... buuuuut given a very fortunate turn of events - I did actually get the opportunity to do this shoot.

Originally I was supposed to do three sets of photos and solos, and have about 15-20 minutes with the band.

That turned into five minutes, and one set. - no biggie - i knew how to make it work, and have worked with WAY less before.

So there was an empty trucks trailer - and i figured i could light it to look awesome.

I used two bare parabolics one pointed behind them and away and up - to light everything behind them and above them - then one pointed at them and down toward to floor to give some leading lines - drop shadows on their legs - etc. - then used a beauty dish main as a hard light - figuring i wanted these images to be REALLY bright - and metal - lots of highlights and mids - not many shadows - if any at all.

All of these shots are at 160th - F14 - ISO100 - with the 24-70 lens - it was a tight shot so being able to go wide with out having a ridiculous amount of distortion was key!

I started with group shots - did some shots of the two daves - then some solos - check it out!













































































































All in all - it was the biggest honor and privilege getting to work with David Ellefson yet again - as he is one of the best dudes in the industry - also getting to work with a band that is not only legendary in their own right - but has inspired many, if not most - of the bands ive had the opportunity to work with over my career. - Look for these images in outburn and hails and horns soon!

Todays Shoot - Slayer - Megadeth - Testament (live)

Today was the first of two days shooting the american carnage tour.

I wasnt sure exactly what days what shoots were happening - so this day ended up just being live stuff - which was cool, because that meant I would have a day to really see the show/shoot it before shooting it a second time to get better shots (which I did)

Now being that this is one of the bigger shows, at a bigger venue, that means no flash is allowed (booo) - for some bands with good lighting, that doesnt matter, but with some bands that flood the stage with a heavily saturated color - your shots either need to be edited or they will all look like the devil or the hulk or avatar. haha.

First up was testament - whos lighting was terrrrrrriiiiblleee. it sucks to have one of the best bands in metal.. EVER! in front of your lens and not be able to really give them much justice due to the lighting limitations generally set onto support bands.

I shot at 2.8 at F400 - there werent any spots used and it was mostly backlighting - red and green - but every now and again some whites and yellows pop through and I could get a solid shot. All in all I ended up getting more than enough good shots to work with, but I cant wait for their next headliner where they have awesome lighting!
















































After Testament it was time for Megadeth! They always have solid white lighting or spotlights, and on top of that - they are one of the best sounding live bands - on earth, so its always good getting to shoot them. For Megadeth i was pretty much at the same settings, because there was alot of red flood happening during the majority, but still managed to get some solid shots during the set.
































































































Last up was Slayer - whos stage movement is always minimal - so they are pretty easy to get good shots of... all you really have to do is wait for the lighting to hit the way you want it to.

The singer - Tom - always had some pretty awesome white light hitting him, but the rest of the band barely had any front lighting the entire set, so you pretty much have to wait until their head turns up to get any sort of solid shot of the guitarists (Kerry and Jeff). BUT! paitence pays - check it out