The Robert N. Stewart Bridge in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, August 13, 2014. NASCAR celebrity Tony Stewart, who grew up in Columbus and still resides there, was involved in a fatal accident at a Sprint car race Saturday in New York. Driver Kevin Ward was killed when Stewart’s car hit the young driver while confronting Stewart on the track.

Here’s a contradictory thought that I’d like you to ponder for a few moments: “As a photographer, I thrive on lack of direction.” On the surface, this phrase doesn’t make much sense. After all, how can once excel at anything without direction? How can one come away with anything worthwhile without a plan?

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Hip-hop artist Lil Wayne headlines the America’s Most Wanted Festival at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, Ill., Saturday, August 10, 2013.

In honor of hop-hop artist Lil Wayne’s triumphant Chicago-area return tomorrow to the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, I dug out this set that I shot almost a year ago to the day at the same venue for the Chicago Sun-Times. As with most concerts, I was given the first three songs to get whatever I could of the spectacle before being whisked back to the venue gates by Live Nation reps. Due to a communication breakdown with the aforementioned reps, however, I only got escorted to my shooting position at front of house (the sound and lighting board control area) about 20 seconds before Lil Wayne began his set, leading to me juggling lenses and extenders in the pitch darkness as the audience screamed into the humid air around me.

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