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!