Fstoppers Quicky: David Oppenheimer Shoots Jay Z At Bonnaroo

For the last 4 days I have been at Bonnaroo listening to music and living like a caveman. The biggest show of the event was Jay Z Saturday night and to get a decent view we camped out 4 hours before the show. The guy next to me happenend to be David Oppenheimer, a professional photographer, and we ended up chatting. He decided to camp out and shoot from the crowd with a monopod and a remote.


Lee Morris's picture

Lee Morris is a professional photographer based in Charleston SC, and is the co-owner of Fstoppers.com

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It was crazy seeing how many photographers were at Bonnaroo. Here is the link to the Gigtube remote LCD David was using: http://www.amazon.com/Adorama-Aputure-Gigtube-Digital-Viewfinder/dp/B002...

Also, in case anyone was curious, this whole video was shot on the panasonic TS1, my favorite point and shoot of all time. The camera has a spot light that comes on in dark situations so you can shoot video without any other light. And its also waterproof so you can take it on muddy slip n slides.

What was used to mount it to the Monopod?

Hey Joe, I made the device that attached the Gigtube to the monopod. It is made out of some quality solid foam used to stuff kayaks. I cut a piece in half and carved out room for the pole to fit in and then had the straps made at the camping store and also half a fat washer and bolt sunk in there to hold the hot shoe mount on. I then used 5 minute JB Weld to hold it together and cover washer and bolt head to prevent scratching monopod. My attachment device held up the whole Bonnaroo. This was first time I put this recently conceived device to work. The Gigtube Aputure is another story. I had two with me. One died and would not come on after long. I may have fried it plugging it in when it was on. The other had the swivel screen break loose from base which is why is was propped up on a koozie and had rope and a rubber band helping to hold it. Another reason for the rope and rubber band is that the the hot shoe mount on this thing is garbage. It cross-threads easily and even when on tight, a slight nudge will cause it to pop off. Screen is duller than screen on Nikon but was still able to use in the full Bonnaroo sun even when I could not see my cell phone screen. The end result of the photos was spectacular but I am definitely going to keep refining this contraption.

http://www.performanceimpressions.com/intro.html
http://www.concertphotosmagazine.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/livemusicphotography/

Here are the photos from the Jay-Z show all taken with the custom periscope cam - http://www.flickr.com/photos/livemusicphotography/sets/72157624307116218/

I am now using a Marshall Electronics 7" LCD screen held with a clamp to my monopod. Had to get a aluminum monopod because the clamp would cause the carbon fiber one make cracking sounds. Had to upgrade to get a screen that took HDMI.