Category: Logistics

My final day at Bonnaroo began back at What Stage once again with White Reaper.

Their backdrop was up in support of their new album, The World’s Best American Band.

Ryan Hater, aka MVP, was the most fun to shoot as he was the most energetic of the group. Plus long hair and rock music always make for a fun combination. I liked this moment where his hair was just out in front of his face enough to be clear of his eyes.

My next assignment was an unexpected one, but a cool peek behind the curtain at how things work for the Red Bull TV live stream from the festival. I got to go inside the broadcast truck and see what it takes for it all to run, switching from stage to stage and streaming past performances.

Above is a closer look from over the shoulder of the director.

After doing a quick edit back at the production trailer, I made my way back to The Other for the duration of my stay at Bonnaroo. Since I was staying here the rest of the day, I brought my laptop with me to download and edit between sets.

First up was Skepta, who is a British rapper and producer.

I was able to make my way backstage and get the above shot as the sun was starting to set. Sometimes my favorite shots are the quieter moments like these that happen behind the scenes.

This was another nice moment that happened while I was stage side. I can’t tell if he’s actually looking at me in this shot because of his sunglasses, but I like to think he is.

Next up was Borgore! This wound up being my favorite set of the whole festival.

And that’s because I was able to get on stage with him. I still don’t know if I was supposed to be on stage or not, but nobody stopped me and I didn’t volunteer to leave too quickly. I started off at a distance, as you can see from the above photo that was shot with the 70-200mm f/2.8.

I stayed stage side for a bit to get shots from that vantage point, and snagged this one of the crowd at twilight after sunset.

Then I made my move. I walked from stage side all the way up behind Borgore and held my camera up to get some shots then checked to see how they looked. I wasn’t close enough or high enough to get what I wanted with the 11-24 mm f/4. I was worried that I might be pushing my luck, but hey, go big or go home, right? So I stepped up onto the riser that Borgore was standing on and held my camera up again. Bingo. This was the right vantage point, but I hadn’t gotten what I wanted just yet. So I stepped down and waited for the crowd lights to come up again. As soon as they did, I stepped up and got the shot above.

I also wanted to get a shot from beside him as he did his thing, so I made a move to try for that. But as soon as I moved, so did he. So I moved again, and so did he. Finally, I got the above shot just before he moved again, but this time I saw him look back toward the other people standing backstage and give someone a look. I took that to mean he was looking for someone to get rid of me, so I stepped down before anyone could approach me. That’s what was happening in my head anyway. I don’t know if it was reality or not.

I stayed off the riser for a while, but still captured this moment of pyro going off between Borgore and the crowd.

After a couple of minutes, I saw the lights come up on the crowd again and jumped up on the riser to grab a quick shot. Thankfully, he put his hand up in the air at the same moment.

About 15 minutes after that last shot of Borgore was captured, Yellow Claw took the stage. Again, I started up the middle aisle toward the back of the crowd and shot for a bit.

I’ll admit, I was kind of addicted to shooting from this position. The lighting at this stage was just crazy good all the time, and this was the best vantage point to shoot it from. So I kept returning to it!

Eventually I knew I needed to get closer and get shots of the actual performers, so I went back up the the stage and shot for a bit.

I shot for a few minutes from in front of the stage, then made my way around back again to get on stage to finish out. Unfortunately for me though, the stage crew was using heavy machinery to remove gear from Borgore’s set, and I wasn’t allowed back onstage while that was happening. So, that meant my shooting at Bonnaroo had come to an end!

Thanks again to Kelly Garthwaite at Red Bull for bringing me onto the team, and to Jeremy Deputat and Jason Myers for being so gracious to the new kid, and to everyone else I worked with and met while I was there!

Day 3 of Bonnaroo began for me around 1:00pm when I arrived on site with the rest of the team. My first shoot of the day was back at What Stage with The Front Bottoms. I arrived early to scope things out, thankfully, because the thrust that was there the day before was gone. This meant that the entire stage front was free reign for photographers rather than some of them being relegated to one side of the thrust.

You can stake out your spot if you want, but the reality is that everyone will be moving around during the allotted shooting time. And if you want to be respected by everyone else in the pit, you also show respect by making sure everyone is able to get what they need rather than hogging a spot the entire time.

My next scheduled shoot was a few hours later, so I went back to the production trailer and did a quick edit before grabbing lunch and heading out to shoot lifestyle/ambience photos.

Before leaving the production trailer, my assistant grabbed a few cans of Red Bull so we could give them to attendees who were willing to pose for photos for us.

I went up in the ferris wheel to take photos, but didn’t really get what I was hoping for. When I came down, there were a couple of girls taking selfies in front of the ferris wheel, so I asked if they would let me shoot some as well. While I was shooting them, this other friend of theirs came along and asked if I wanted him to lift one of them in the air. “Sure, why not?!” was obviously my response, which resulted in the photo above!

The Bonnaroo Fountain at Centeroo is iconic for the festival, so I went there in hopes of capturing shots of people cooling down in the mid-day heat. I climbed up on one of the benches on the outer perimeter and got my 11-24 mm f/4 as close to one of the sprayers as possible and fired off a few series of shots.

While I was on my way back to the production trailer to edit again, I walked by Which Stage where Rainbow Kitten Surprise was playing. That’s just one of the best band names ever, so I had to grab a shot from the back of the crowd!

After editing, it was time to get back to That Tent to photograph Joseph’s set. This trio of sisters put on an absolutely captivating performance!

I really liked the mirrored sunglasses that Natalie was wearing, so I probably shot too many photos of her!

Puffs of smoke kept coming out from behind the drummer, so I shot him until I got a frame where it was perfectly positioned to give separation between him and the darkness behind him.

After that, it was time to head back to What Stage for Future Islands. Lead singer Samuel T. Herring has become known for his impassioned and emotive performance, and he delivered on those expectations.

I had a couple of hours between Future Islands and my next performance shoot, so I set out to find some more ambience photo opportunities, especially since sunset was nigh.

As I walked toward the back of the crowd at What Stage, I spotted these two ladies taking selfies and got a quick shot of them.

I also saw that the sun was starting to set and grabbed some shots of What Stage with that golden light adding a lens flare.

From there I quickly made my way over to the Centeroo area near The Other and Jake & Snake’s Christmas Club Barn to get a golden hour crowd photo.

Once I was happy with the golden hour shots I had gotten, I went back to the production trailer to edit and upload before heading out to my first shoot at The Other stage. Little did I know that I was about to discover my new favorite place to shoot at Bonnaroo!

I wasn’t technically scheduled to photograph Matoma’s set, but I also wasn’t scheduled to shoot anything else until 2:00am. So I tagged along with Jeremy Deputat to check out the stage since I hadn’t been there yet.

This stage had a different vibe than the others I had shot at. While there were other types of performances here, it was primarily the EDM stage. Everyone there was just looking to have a fun time, even security! While the security at other stages was professional, they were also pretty stern and you could tell when they’d had enough. Here, security was dancing along with the music and passing out water to thirsty attendees. Plus there was a big aisle down the middle of the crowd, which allowed for shots like the one above!

I’m a sucker for a good silhouette, so this was one of my favorite shots.

After Matoma’s set, I still had plenty of time to kill, so I went back to the production trailer again to make sure I was 100% caught up with all of my editing and uploading, and double check all of my backups.

Finally, it was nearing 2:00am, so I hopped on a golf cart and made my way back to The Other.

(Side note: The Other was on the complete opposite corner of the grounds from our production trailer, and my first time using a golf cart during the festival was when I tagged along with Jeremy for Matoma’s set. This was LIFE CHANGING for me once I realized I could do this! I still walked to other destinations, but any time I went back to The Other from here on out, it was on a golf cart).

During the set, I shot from the back of the middle aisle and got stage/crowd shots for a few minutes.

And also up at the front to get closer shots of the infamous Marshmello helmet.

I shot for maybe 10-15 minutes and wrapped up since it was so late. Hopped back on the golf cart and went back to the production trailer to meet my editor and head to the hotel. When we got back, we worked in the lobby so I could do my editing and upload to the Red Bull Content Pool and the Dropbox folder others were pulling images from before calling it a night at around 4:00am.

We arrived on site for day two of Bonnaroo around 1:00pm, and I started by shooting an interview with singer/songwriter and activist Angelique Kidjo and Red Bull’s Sal Masekela. When photographing interviews like this, my goal is to capture shots that show both the production involved in case the client has a need for it, as well as just photos of the interviewer/interviewee. Depending on the space I have to move around, I’ll use some mix of the 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses.

From there, I went back to the Red Bull trailer to do a quick edit and check in with my editor before heading out for my first performance shoot of the day at What Stage (the main stage).

Since this was the first day of performances on the main stage, I arrived at the early to make sure I familiarized myself with the entry points and introduce myself to security. The stage had a thrust in the middle (, and I found out that most of the photographers would be stationed on one side of it. I made my way to the opposite side, because who wants to get the same shots everyone else is getting?

Francis & The Lights, of which Francis Farewell Starlite is the sole member, took the stage with a highly energized set. As the first act of the day on this stage, he really woke up the crowd with his performance. I mostly relied on the 11-24 mm f/4 as my wide lens for his set.

Part way through the second song, I heard someone say, “Oh, there’s Chance!” I pull back from my camera and look up in the stage side balcony, and sure enough, there’s Chance The Rapper looking on in support of his collaborative partner. Even though I was right at the stage, he was still a good distance away from me, so I used the 70-200mm f/2.8 for this shot.

I finished shooting Francis, then made my way to  my next shoot.

This was my first time seeing or shooting Cold War Kids, and they didn’t disappoint. The only downside of shooting daytime outdoor performances is that the stage lighting doesn’t have much effect on photos. It’s pretty much all white/warm light from the sun. Thankfully, lead singer Nathan Willett is an energetic performer and gave the photographers plenty to work with.

After shooting Cold War Kids, I went into the artist hospitality area where various vendors are set up (as well as Danny Clinch and his backstage artist portrait area) in hopes of getting candid photos of artists hanging out. Brad Shultz from Cage The Elephant and his friends were more than happy to pose for a shot! I didn’t want to be right up in their faces, so I shot this on the 24-70mm f/2.8 in order to be wide enough to fit all of them in the frame without being right up in their faces.

Mario Cuomo from The Orwells also gladly posed for a shot, and gladly drank some Red Bull for his photo.

After getting a couple of candid shots, I turned the corner to Sal’s World, where he was interviewing Portugal. The Man.

Then I followed Sal out to this picnic table where he was joined by the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band for an interview!

After that interview, I backtracked to Which Stage again to shoot Tove Lo. Her set was one of the most entertaining ones I was able to shoot during the festival! With the sun going down, the stage lighting was much more effective than before. And she was constantly on the move, which made for a fun shoot!

I believe every photographer in the pit got a shot like this one, but who doesn’t like a good hair photo?

After Tove Lo’s set, I had a little time to go back to the Red Bull trailer once again and download/backup and edit/upload before heading out to That Tent for Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s set.

These guys were my last shoot of the day. Throughout each day, I tried to limit how many shots I took of each performance, but it was a challenge with this one! They were so great and full of energy, emotion, and expression that I didn’t want to take my finger off the shutter.

This was my earliest night of the week, wrapping up shooting around 10:0opm before heading back to the trailer one last time to edit and upload.

Next up, Day 3 of Bonnaroo!

We began our first day the same way we wound up beginning all but the last day, with a team breakfast at Cracker Barrel (we went to Waffle House on the last day). These breakfasts gave us a chance to just hang in a relaxed environment and talk with one another, whether it was about life, photography in general, or specific things about the festival. Plus we were able to load up with fuel to face the rest of the long day ahead of us. After breakfast each day, we had a little time to gather ourselves and our gear before we loaded into vehicles to head to the festival.

My Bonnaroo Experience

Now, let me preface all of this by saying one thing… I know that my Bonnaroo experience was not that of people who were just there in attendance, nor was it that of photographers who may have been there covering it for a publication or media outlet, nor was it that of the people who were shooting for the festival. So, if you’re looking at any of this in hopes of finding out what Bonnaroo is like from any perspective other than covering it for Red Bull, this will only be somewhat insightful. The passes I had allowed me to do some things and go some places others weren’t able to go, but I was also not able to do some things or go certain places others were able to go. With that said, here’s how my first day at Bonnaroo went!

Upon arrival each day, we parked in whatever lot it was we were designated to park in somewhere behind What Stage (aka the main stage), then walked to the Red Bull production trailer. Inside the trailer was a flurry of activity that included everyone from us photographers and our assistants to editors, producers, and a bevy of other people whose roles I’m still not 100% sure of, but I know they were more important than me. I’ll just suffice it to say that there was a lot of people doing a lot of work alongside each other in a relatively small space, but we all had a lot of fun together throughout the event.

Preparing For The Day Ahead

Also each day before heading out, I would grab some sun block and spray it all over myself, then suit up with the SpiderHolster belt and cameras with lenses (usually the 70-200 and 11-24. My assistant, Jordan, carried the ThinkTank shoulder bag with the 24-70, extra batteries and memory cards, etc, as well as a backpack with snacks, a clipboard with model releases, bandaids, and other random stuff. We also grabbed some cans of Red Bull in case we needed to stage some shots for marketing and branding purposes.

The first day allowed me time to wander around the festival grounds to see where everything was, roughly gauge walking time between stages and tents, and shoot some general lifestyle shots of attendees before we needed to photograph any artist sets. We did this for about an hour, finding people who were dressed, um, interestingly, or just straight up energetic and willing to pose for us.

Performance Stages and Tents at Bonnaroo

A quick note on the stage and tent names at Bonnaroo. It takes some time to figure them out, but once you do, you still get them mixed up because they’re hella confusing! They are as follows:

• What Stage (main stage)
• Which Stage (secondary stage)
• This Tent (I never even made it to this one)
• That Tent (spent a good chunk of time here)
• The Other (used to be a tent, but this year became a stage and was the primary venue for EDM artists)
• Who Stage (the smallest of the stages)

There’s also the Comedy & Cinema tent with standups performing and movies being screened, sometimes with the director or star in attendance to answer questions. And the Silent Disco tent, where an emcee is playing and pumping music out to headphones being worn by attendees, but you can’t hear anything that’s being played without the headphones. And we can’t forget Snake & Jake’s Christmas Club Barn, which is basically home to a 24-hour a day rave.

For day one performances, I was primarily stationed at That Tent. I shot sets by Welles, The Orwells, Twiddle, The Lemon Twigs, and Turkuaz. The only band I had shot before was The Orwells, so I had an idea of what to expect from them, but no one else. The photo pits around the festival were all pretty decent sizes, but with the number of photographers there, they were still pretty crowded. But not uncomfortably so. Thankfully you could still move around to shoot from different angles, so I was happy all in all.

I shot all the sets I was assigned to, and then when there was time between sets, I would either go back to the production trailer to download and edit, walk around shooting lifestyle photos, or take a lunch/dinner break.

Meal Time: Let’s Eat!

For on-site meals, Red Bull arranged for us to have meals in the artist catering tent. Everyone at the festival has a wristband (or multiple wristbands depending on the access you’re granted and whatnot). Each wristband has a different color “belt” on it which houses an RFID tag that gets scanned whenever you go into various areas. The color combinations of the wristbands and their belts also serve as visual guides for security to know where you’re allowed to go. So, when we would go to catering for meals, they would scan our wristbands and that would let them know if we were allowed to eat or not.

End of Day 1

I finished shooting my last set a little after 2:30am, roughly 12 hours after I first set out to take lifestyle photos around the festival. Once I downloaded, edited, and uploaded, got back to my room, showered, and got ready for bed, I got to sleep around 4:30am.

I recently had the opportunity to cover a sold out arena show for the band Third Day, who gave me full access to do pretty much anything I wanted. Today I want to share some of those shots with you, as well as my experience covering the show. I also recently shot some band portraits for another artist that I’ll share after the concert stuff.

As soon as I got the phone call asking if I was available to come to Atlanta and cover the Third Day show, and being told I would have full access, I knew I wanted to set up a remote camera on stage to capture the view of the band performing with the sold-out audience as well. I set it up during the band’s sound check (as you can see in the test shot above) using two Manfrotto Variable Friction Magic Arm with Super Clamp setups (one to hold the camera and another attached to the rail and arm holding the camera for added security/support).

The camera itself is a Canon 5D Mark III with a 8-15mm fisheye lens at 15mm, and I put the biggest memory card I had in it to make sure I didn’t run out of card space during the show as I wouldn’t have access to it to swap out cards. Since this was my first time setting up a remote camera on stage, I just took a guess at the settings and hoped it would work. I went with Spot Metering, Auto ISO with 1/250 as the minimum shutter and 12,800 as the max ISO, and f/5.6 just to be safe on depth of field.

To trigger the camera, there’s a PocketWizard Plus III in the hot shoe and connected to the remote port with the appropriate cable (in this case the CM-N3-ACC), and I had another PocketWizard Plus III in my front shirt pocket that I used to trigger it during the show. I could have put the PocketWizard I had on me on one of the cameras I was carrying if I wanted the on-stage camera to shoot at the same time I was shooting, but I opted not to.

This allowed me to capture some key moments during the show from a unique perspective, as well as show the size of the crowd. These guys aren’t doing too badly for a band that’s both been around for over 20 years, and it’s still four of the founding members!

It’s always a privilege to shoot soundcheck, so here are a couple of my favorites from that:

The band invited some friends to join them for the show, including one of my other favorite bands, Needtobreathe, who were also in town for their own shows at The Tabernacle that weekend and stopped by for a couple of songs:

And here are a few more of my favorites from the evening:

And at the end of the show, I went on stage to get a shot of them facing me with the crowd behind them:

It’s a cool experience being able to shoot for a band that you grew up listening to and can now call friends, so I’m hoping to have the privilege of shooting for these guys more in the future!