Bon Iver
12.31.2009
On Friday, June 12, I got a call from my friend Drew asking if I wanted to go to Bonnaroo – a huge, 4-day music festival held every year in Manchester, TN. It attracts some 80,000 people and I’ve wanted to go since I heard about it. Before I packed up to leave, I grabbed my camera because I figured I’d get some great shots of hippies doing awesome things.
When I met Drew at a Starbucks just off-site, he told me he had wicked passes. Drew and his business partners created the official Bonnaroo iPhone app and negotiated festival passes as part of the deal. After consulting the schedule on said iPhone application, I saw that one of my very favorite artists – Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver – would be performing that afternoon. With his passes, Drew and I were able to get in side-stage. Because I live my life like a boss, I decided to saunter into the photo pit – the place directly in front of the stage where photographers shoot. My camera would be photographing more than hippies!
- Many of the photos in this set have a night-show feel to them, but this show actually took place at about 3 in the afternoon if I remember right.
- Some people mentioned that Justin looks like he missed a shower before this show. The previous night from this day was a brutal one. A tornado touched down about a mile from the farm where Bonnaroo is held. A heavy rain made things very muddy and coated all the attendees with just a little more stank than they would have liked.
- This was my first shoot in a bonafide photo pit. Before this, I didn’t know that, at most shows, photographers only have access to the pit for the first 3 songs. After Bon Iver played 3 songs, we had to leave.
- Being my first shoot in a real pit, I saw photographers with REALLY nice gear. The 1DsMKIII, 5DMKII, Nikon D2x, D3s, and D3x – bodies that run $2,500 – $7,000. I was intimidated big time! I had my little 3-year old Canon 30D. They had huge, sweet lenses – the Canon 70-200 2.8L being most popular among Canon shooters. I had a Sigma 50mm 1.8. What I learned when I got home is that I liked my photos a lot. Theirs may have been better, but that’s ok! If I played Lebron James in basketball, I’d get killed. And I should! He’s a pro! They’re professionals and, at this point in my photography career, their photos SHOULD be better. I can’t be discouraged by what I don’t have and don’t know. I can only do my best and then learn from the experience later.
- It was interesting how the photographers danced around each other to get various angles during those 3 songs. If someone was pressed right against the stage, they would move after a song to find another position – allowing other photographers to fill that spot.
- A technical thing I learned this shoot is that it’s important for guitars to actually be in the photos. Unless you’re INTENTIONALLY excluding them, you need to be aware of what your framing looks like. In some photos I was obstructed and couldn’t get the guitar in frame but, too often I was so focused on Justin’s face that I forgot about the other 75% of the frame 50% of the time. (Yeah, too many percents!)
Throughout 2009, I shot a crazy number of photos but never posted them. For 40 consecutive days, I'm going to post these shoots. Something new every day!
I love the intensity that you captured in these photos.
And I have to admit, I’m pretty excited and grateful for the shoot notes that you included as well!
Thanks a lot for the feedback, Nicole!