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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.

Front of house at Tinley is about 150 feet from the stage, so most of these were shot with a 400 2.8 lens with a 1.4x extender on a Canon 1D Mark IV (1.3x crop body). Even then, in the uncropped files, I was barely head-to-toe on the artist. So, if you’re ever sent on a concert assignment, bring your longest glass and extenders just in case! I also recommend bringing a small step ladder, as arms-up-stretched smart phone wielding fans in front of you are going to make it very difficult to get a clean frame.

As for Lil Wayne’s performance, he shocked me with his discipline and clarity with regards to his microphone usage. Most rappers cup their hands around the grille of the mic (a huge no-no in the sound world) and scream their otherwise carefully recorded studio tracks in the heat of the live moment. Not Lil Wayne. He obviously has been molded and trained over the years on proper mic etiquette, for I could actually understand every lyric to his most popular tracks.

In the end, I enjoyed my experience documenting one of pop culture’s most iconic (for whatever reasons you may choose to cite) artists.

As a lighting designer in my other dicipline, concert photo assignments mean that wide shots of the entire rig are a must. Artists spend a lot of money and time on the productions they take on the road, so showing this in your take is essential.

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

Lil Wayne takes a moment to thank his fans for coming out. These between-song chats added to my total shooting time, so I welcomed them!

Pro skateboarders (complete with a quarter pipe) on stage? Check. Backing vocalists? Check. Lil Wayne does a great job of breaking the stereotype of what you’d expect to see at a hip hop show.

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

Showing the audience (whether massive, as here, or sparse) is also a part of the story that shouldn’t be left out when covering a concert.

With this bow from New Orleans’ own son, my three songs were up and the night was over!

Paris Jackson, daughter of the late pop singer Michael Jackson, signs autographs for fans gathered outside the singer’s boyhood home at 2300 Jackson Street in Gary, Ind.,. Wednesday, August 29, 2012. Michael Jackson would have turned 54 on Wednesday.

Since the evening of June 25, 2009, the day pop singer Michael Jackson passed away, I have lost count of the number of times I’ve journeyed to 2300 Jackson Street in Gary, Indiana, to document events at the singer’s boyhood home. Some of them were held to commemorate the day of his passing, while others (as with today’s) celebrated the day of his birth.

Today’s event was unique compared to others I’ve covered due to the presence of Jackson’s three children (Paris, Prince, and Blanket), who worked the crowd with their aunt La Toya, signing autographs and shaking hands. They were received by enthusiastic fans from all over the United States and beyond (one woman I spoke with journeyed from Amsterdam) who came to Gary specifically to celebrate The King of Pop.

Friends and family members of the late pop singer Michael Jackson gather on the lawn of his boyhood home in Gary.

Fans vie for the attention of Prince Jackson, son of the late pop singer Michael Jackson.

Prince Jackson, son of the late pop singer Michael Jackson, signs autographs outside his father’s boyhood home in Gary.

Fans hold a painting of the late pop singer Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson impersonator Carlo Riley of Denver, Colorado, poses outside the late pop singer’s boyhood home in Gary.

A street sign outside the Jackson home bears three years of visitors’ signatures from around the world.

Michael Jackson’s son Blanket is whisked away by security after an autograph session.

La Toya Jackson, sister of the late pop singer Michael Jackson, greets the crowd gathered outside her childhood home in Gary.

Fans wait along a line of barricades outside the late pop singer Michael Jackson’s boyhood home in Gary.

Seven-year-old Chelsie Smith of Indianapolis shows the autographs she received on her hands from Paris Jackson, daughter of the late pop singer Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson fans wrap up a night of celebration with a candlelight vigil outside the singer’s boyhood home in Gary.

There’s a select few events in our country’s history that have created defining, indelible memories in the minds of those who lived through them. People can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when the news of these events broke. When I was a child, these events were often ones relegated to our parents’ memories, and passed along like cherished, historic heirlooms. They told of being curled up in front of black and white TV sets watching Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon, or of school teachers running into classrooms in tears with the news that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.

For me, my first major indelible news memory came on September 11, 2001. A poster map of Manhattan (eerily enough) fell off the wall above my bed and woke me around 8am, and I heard radio host Mancow in an unusually serious tone asking listeners to get to a TV, if they could, to witness history. I sat up and fixed my gaze on the screen just in time to see the second aircraft hit the World Trade Center towers live.

A close second memory would be the death of pop singer Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009. I was on set with the crew from Mas Media 7 in Gary, Indiana, working on the last hospital scene of the short film Swan Song (a teaser of the finished product is in my video gallery). The building we were filming in is constructed with lots of steel and concrete, and as a result, cell phones get little to no service, especially in the room we’d used as our set.

At around 4pm central time, just after we’d wrapped for the day, a custodian came into the room and announced that he’d heard on the radio that Michael Jackson was dead. This particular custodian had been awkwardly joking with us all day, so we took his scoop with a grain of salt and continued packing up our gear. It wasn’t until I went outside to back my truck up to the doors for load out that my cell phone got signal, and almost instantly, began lighting up with texts and missed calls from almost everyone I regularly talk to. They confirmed what we’d heard, The King of Pop was no more.

Several missed calls on my phone that afternoon were from my photo editor at The Post-Tribune, asking me to quickly head over to Michael Jackson’s childhood home at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary. I was asked to document the mourners who had gathered there to hold vigil. I spent about six hours there that evening, standing on the lawn of the Jackson house photographing people in prayer, in tears, or simply reflecting.

Mourners on the lawn of Michael Jackson’s childhood home last year (left) on the day of his death, and this year (right) on the one year anniversary of his passing (click both for larger views). The house at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary received many upgrades over the past year, including a new roof, fence, landscaping, and a monument in the front yard honoring the late pop singer.

Photographing the one year anniversary of Michael’s death yesterday offered many of these same moments occurring before my lens, only now the mourners and fans were relegated to the streets surrounding the house rather than on the lawn (an imposing wrought iron fence has since been erected around the house, which is only slightly larger than a two-car garage).

The emotional atmosphere this year meshed with my experiences last year as well. Moments of prayer and silence were juxtaposed with Michael’s hits (Thriller, Billy Jean, Bad) emanating from stereos up and down the block. Smoke from freshly barbecued ribs twirled gently above the heads of performers twirling in the streets, imitating Michael’s famous dance moves at what was still technically a “memorial service” (only at a memorial service for The King of Pop could you not only get away with showing your moves, but also, have your dancing be encouraged by the crowd).

Justin Olokum, 10, of Chicago, Ill., dances across the street from Michael Jackson’s childhood home at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary.

(From left) Gary Mayor Rudy Clay stands with Katherine Jackson, mother of the late pop singer Michael Jackson, and her granddaughter Genevieve Jackson, in front of the former home of the Jackson family at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary.

One thing I have grown to love about photojournalism is that it allows me to meet and talk with new people while allowing me to be in my comfort zone (with cameras). Here’s another morsel of truth for you: Despite my outgoing nature with friends, I’m actually quite shy around people I don’t know. When I’m in “action mode” with my cameras, however, I instantly have an excuse to strike up a conversation with anyone I see, even if it’s just a brief one to get their name for a caption. Yesterday at “MJ Fest”, my conversations led me to sharing the experience on a more personal level with people who came from all across the country (and beyond) to pay their respects to their favorite entertainer.

Mateka Tate of Chicago, Ill., holds a custom Michael Jackson umbrella her son had made for her outside the late pop singer’s childhood home at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary.

Donnie King of Portage, Ind., holds paper mache dolls he created of The Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson in front of the pop singer’s childhood home in Gary.

Georgina Lopez of Toronto, Canada, helps her daughter Indiana Williams, 2, put on a sequin glove outside the late pop singer Michael Jackson’s childhood home.

One of the last people I spoke with and photographed was Georgina Lopez and her two-year-old daughter Indiana Williams from Toronto, Canada. Georgina, like this year, traveled to Gary from Toronto in 2003, the last time Michael Jackson visited his hometown. Lopez was lucky enough to meet and receive an autograph from Jackson during that visit. Lopez also had tickets last summer for two of Michael’s ill-fated This is It performances, and was devastated when she learned of Michael’s passing. She felt it appropriate to venture back to Gary to pay her respects at the former Jackson home. As for her daughter Indiana, complete with her own miniature sequin glove, she got her name from the state where her mother’s favorite pop icon was born.

Sirmack of Gary, Ind., holds Michael Jackson incense he was selling behind Michael Jackson’s childhood home at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary.

Vincent Conner of Gary, Ind., plays the soprano saxophone outside the late pop singer Michael Jackson’s former childhood home at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary, Ind., during a memorial service held Friday, June 25, 2010.

Michael Jackson fans fill the intersection of 23rd Ave. and Jackson St. near the late pop singer Michael Jackson’s childhood home during a memorial service held Friday, June 25, 2010.

As I strolled up and down Jackson Street in the fading afternoon sunlight, I witnessed a steady throng of people walking for blocks north towards 23rd Avenue, on the last steps of their pilgrimage for a hometown hero. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d be out here again in a year covering another celebration for the second anniversary of Michael’s death? How many years will go by before Michael’s legacy fades into the background of all but his most die-hard fans?

Say what you will about Michael Jackson. Despite his bad press and decidedly curious persona, Michael Jackson was one of the foremost cultural icons many of us will ever experience or know of. And, like those indelible memories of historic occurrences our parents shared with us, the moment we learned of Michael Jackson’s death will likely remain etched in many of our minds for the rest of our lives.

Signatures cover a post behind Michael Jackson’s childhood home at 2300 Jackson St. in Gary, Ind., Friday, June 25, 2010. A ceremony unveiling a monument took place at the home Friday, commemorating the first anniversary of the singer’s death.