Tour Photographer for Scott Stapp: Justin Willet
For the month of August I’m traveling as tour photographer for Grammy Award winning artist Scott Stapp. Below I’ve outlined the gear I’m traveling with and a brief description of each item.
Concert photography often takes place in a poorly lit environment with fast moving subjects which can make your job very difficult. My go to setup for this tour is the Nikon D750 with the 24-70mm lens. With a constant aperture of 2.8 this lens allows me to capture crisp images in very dark areas. On a typical night I’ll switch between the 24-70mm and the 70-300mm to capture close ups of each member as well as full band shots.
1. Macbook Pro
I’ve been using Apple products since 2005 and they’ve never let me down. The ability to quickly edit large quantities of photos after each night is a must in this industry and my Macbook pro is able to keep up with all the demands I throw at it.
2. Tripod
Simple lightweight tripod that collapses small enough to fit in my suitcase.
3. 1TB harddrive
SP Armor 1TB hard drives are drop resistant and with average file sizes of 22mb I need all the space I can get to store photos.
4. 64 Audio IEM
When you’re standing up against the stage night after night you need to make sure you’re protecting your ears. These custom molded IEM’s are noise cancelling and allow me to withstand 90 mins of Rock-n-roll night after night.
5. Steadicam
This basic steadicam is great for sweeping shots from the back of the crowd. They take a little getting used to but are a great addition to any videography setup.
6. LED on-camera light
Most backstages are nearly pitch black. This little battery powered LED light is perfect for quick interviews or backstage filming.
7. Nikon D750
This camera is amazing at high ISO settings. People often say the gear isn’t what makes a photographer but in some cases having the right equipment does allow you to do your job well.
8. Nikon 24-70mm
The fixed 2.8 aperture allows me to freeze the motion of the band and provide clear pictures for the band.
9. Nikon 70-300mm
Perfect lens for getting pictures of the drummer or more portrait style shots of the band members.
10. Nikon 50mm
Primarily used for video on this tour. Love how the 50mm looks for film.
11. Extra Battery
You never want to be half way through a set and run out of battery power. A fully charged battery will typically get me through an entire show and then some but better safe than sorry.
12. Nikon D90 w/ Tamron 18-270mm
This was the first DSLR I ever owned and there are still aspects of it that come in handy. For this tour it’s serving as a last resort backup camera. In case something would happen to the D750 at least I could grab some wide shots with this body. Hoping to replace this soon with a D810.
13. Clip on Lavalier microphone
Great little mic for recording interviews with band members.
14. Nikon SB-5000 speed light
Most venues and artists don’t allow flash at shows but for all preshow and meet and greet photos the SB-5000 is one of the best speed lights I’ve ever used.
15. Monopod
I really like shooting through the crowd and making viewers feel like they were standing in the audience. Sometimes to accomplish this I’ll break out the monopod with the 70-300mm lens to help steady the body. This also comes in handy for tall stages so that not every image is shot from below the knees.
View more photos from the 2016 Proof of Life tour here: Galleries
