How does Jonathan Thorpe shoot one of the country most famous bands….? Neon Trees Photoshoot with BTS video and Lighting Diagram

A good friend of mine, Dustin Whitlow, has asked me last week to shoot some video of the band Neon Trees at the 9:30 club in Washington DC for Nylon Magazine.

Final Image

WIth them being an Island Def Jam band, and Def Jam being a client of mine, I sent out an email asking if I could get a quick portrait shoot with the band before their show. I've shot a decent amount of famous musicians in the past, (Nas, Jeremih, Clipse, We The Kings to name a few), and one things is always the same. Get it done fast, and get it done well. I arrived to the location about an hour early with my buddy Shawn, to setup and get lights tested.

Neon Trees checking out the pics in the back of my camera

BTS shot where you can see most of my lighting

 I did a few different setups, but for some reason the old car wash by the 9:30 club looked like a great place, the sun was coming down the side alley and would act like a perfect rim/hair light. The above shot took literally 4 minutes to accomplish.

I had everything ready and tested by the time the band got there, so I already knew what to expect which is a huge benefit of arriving early to a shoot.

Always plan ahead when dealing with a high profile client. The fasted you can produce a solid image, the better. You want to be remembered for how good a job you did in a short period of time, not for how awkward and slow you were.

Lighting Diagram