Bands and concert photos, Bottom Liner asked for a thread title change

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Bands and concert photos, Bottom Liner asked for a thread title change

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pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Santa is strapped posted:

How do you approach the photographers/bands/magazines? Do you just go in their office and say hello or do you know them through friends?

When the local culture biweekly paper had an opening for contributors I walked in and asked. I got some poo poo assignments at first but it's pretty much open-ended. In my case it involves being involved in the community so that I make my own assignments and turn in stuff, which they almost always use in some way or another. After a few months I started to get invited to production parties and such. It can be scary coming out of the shell to network with new social circles, but it's something you need to get used to and good at if you want to be successful.

# ? Mar 11, 2009 23:20

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 01:03

bobmarleysghost: Mar 7, 2006

pwn posted:

When the local culture biweekly paper had an opening for contributors I walked in and asked. I got some poo poo assignments at first but it's pretty much open-ended. In my case it involves being involved in the community so that I make my own assignments and turn in stuff, which they almost always use in some way or another. After a few months I started to get invited to production parties and such. It can be scary coming out of the shell to network with new social circles, but it's something you need to get used to and good at if you want to be successful.

Thanks for the advice! We have such a paper here and I'm sure to check it out. If they are not looking for contributors (you get paid as a contributor right??) do you think it's a good idea to walk in anyway and ask?

# ? Mar 11, 2009 23:46

Cyberbob: Mar 29, 2006; Prepare for doom. doom. doooooom. doooooom.

jackpot posted:

What are you doing / who are you working for that would get you media passes? I'm just wondering how that sort of thing is usually done.

Essentially just asked ahead of time. No harm in just saying you're a freelance photographer who loves the culture and would love the opportunity to shoot XYZ band/concert/event.
Be involved in the community. New Zealand is a pretty small place, so each city i'm in will have a pretty tight college/university band scene where you can make a good name for yourself. You can then use that as a portfolio to show bigger outfits what your style can do for them.

# ? Mar 11, 2009 23:55

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Santa is strapped posted:

Thanks for the advice! We have such a paper here and I'm sure to check it out. If they are not looking for contributors (you get paid as a contributor right??) do you think it's a good idea to walk in anyway and ask?

I don't. There are 5 or 6 staff members and the rest of the magazine is made up from contributors, who are unpaid. I know some people here have a real, throbbing hate-on for that kind of thing, I don't know what to tell you, I'm trying to network and make a portfolio that I can take with me, along with references and whatnot. Don't look to me for advice on making money. That's why I read these threads myself.

But if you want to know a way to break in socially, that is one that is working for me.

# ? Mar 12, 2009 00:31

bobmarleysghost: Mar 7, 2006

pwn posted:

I don't. There are 5 or 6 staff members and the rest of the magazine is made up from contributors, who are unpaid. I know some people here have a real, throbbing hate-on for that kind of thing, I don't know what to tell you, I'm trying to network and make a portfolio that I can take with me, along with references and whatnot. Don't look to me for advice on making money. That's why I read these threads myself. But if you want to know a way to break in socially, that is one that is working for me.

I will definitely try it out, thanks

# ? Mar 12, 2009 00:34

rockcity: Jan 16, 2004

Oh and another person you should get to know in the business. PR reps.

Generally this is who you are going to be going to when you want to shoot a band. The more these people get to know you, the easier it is to get approved. My emails used to go really formal and professional emails describing who I was, who I've shot in the past and why I wanted to cover the show. Now most of my emails look like this.

Hey Mike,

Can you set me up for photo for the Taste of Chaos tour in Orlando?

That's it. The more these people know your name, the easier everything becomes. All you really need is a basic website, some content and you can get approved for most smaller shows. Hell my website still sucks and is ugly, but between that, and having content, and knowing the publicist, it'll get me approved for bands as big as Aerosmith. Every now and then you come across some really lovely publicists though who have an elitist outlook on everything and will basically only approve daily newspapers. That was fine when I still worked for my college paper, but every now and then you do come across those people.

# ? Mar 12, 2009 14:46

Zurich: Jan 5, 2008

Hope it's cool to cross-post from PAD (I completely forgot about this thread before I posted there)

First go at concert photography last night, unfortunately the photo pass I thought I had didn't materialise. Kind of hard to get around the people in front of me, I think this works though. A few of the shots in the set (I think you can tell which ones) were shot holding my camera above my head, shame my 30D doesn't have live view, but hey.

Rest of the set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jongold/sets/72157615105918239/

All in all I had fun, can't wait to give it another go (and get a photo pass!)

As for promo photography I'd love to do that but I'm really poo poo with models in general at the moment so I think I'd like to practise more with my friends in the studio before I take on a poor unsuspecting band. (My direction skills pretty much consist of 'er yeah can you er turn that way and maybe I dunno, smile or something DON'T ASK ME')

# ? Mar 13, 2009 11:48

jackpot: Aug 31, 2004; First cousin to the Black Rabbit himself. Such was Woundwort's monument...and perhaps it would not have displeased him.<

Zurich posted:

Hope it's cool to cross-post from PAD (I completely forgot about this thread before I posted there)

First go at concert photography last night, unfortunately the photo pass I thought I had didn't materialise. Kind of hard to get around the people in front of me, I think this works though. A few of the shots in the set (I think you can tell which ones) were shot holding my camera above my head, shame my 30D doesn't have live view, but hey.

You got some great stuff, drat. I know what you mean about holding the camera up in the air and just praying; I did the same a bunch of times, and got lucky on a few once I got the hang of it. One limitation I found on my XTi: it'll take pictures just as fast as I can hold down the shutter, up to 20 or so - then I've got to sit there and wait for nearly a minute while it writes them all to the card. I don't know whether that's the camera or the card (probably both), but it drove me nuts thinking I was gonna miss something in the meantime. There's another good show coming in a few weeks (Reverend Peyton's Big drat Band!), hopefully I can take what I learned and use it there.

# ? Mar 13, 2009 14:38

Private Label: Feb 25, 2005; Encapsulate the spirit of melancholy. Easy. BOOM. A sad desk. BOOM. Sad wall. It's art. Anything is anything.

jackpot posted:

There's another good show coming in a few weeks (Reverend Peyton's Big drat Band!), hopefully I can take what I learned and use it there.

They are awesome!

(When they played with Flogging Molly last year- they moved around a lot, so it was hard to get a good shot with the crowd moving, them moving, and my old p&s-w/out a flash)

What kinds of lenses do people recommend for concerts? Or is it more playing around with the ISO/shutter speed?

# ? Mar 13, 2009 17:29

Bottom Liner: Feb 15, 2006; a specific vein of lasagna

Private Label posted:

They are awesome!

What kinds of lenses do people recommend for concerts? Or is it more playing around with the ISO/shutter speed?

I say at least 1.8. For smaller venues I shoot 1.8 and still usually have to jack my iso. If flash is kosher, I shoot with my xti's kit lens, using a vivitar 285hv with attachable softbox.

# ? Mar 13, 2009 17:31

rockcity: Jan 16, 2004

Fixed lenses are your friend. I use my 50 1.8 and my 20 1.8 almost exclusively. It all depends on the situation though. Lots of small clubs the 1.8 is almost a necessity. Don't think that because you have a 1.8 that you should shoot at 1.8 though. It gets to be really hard to keep a moving person in focus at that aperture. The slightest lean to or from the mic and all of the sudden the face is out of focus.

# ? Mar 13, 2009 18:45

jackpot: Aug 31, 2004; First cousin to the Black Rabbit himself. Such was Woundwort's monument...and perhaps it would not have displeased him.<

Private Label posted:

They are awesome!

(When they played with Flogging Molly last year- they moved around a lot, so it was hard to get a good shot with the crowd moving, them moving, and my old p&s-w/out a flash)

Ha, that was the first time I saw them too, with FM. My friends hated them, but goddamn do they put on a good show. The guy is completely unintelligible and looks like he's from 1800's Appalachia, but he's entertaining as hell. I'll be seeing them at a real small venue and just got word that photography is allowed, so I'm hoping to get some real good stuff.

Private Label posted:

What kinds of lenses do people recommend for concerts? Or is it more playing around with the ISO/shutter speed?

Echoing what the others said, you'll want something real fast like 50 f/1.8. I'll have my 50 in my pocket, but now that I've actually tried it I don't think I'd go anywhere again without something at least as long as my 100mm f/2.8. 50mm seems worthless to me unless you can get within about ten feet of the stage, and that can be hard to do. 100 f/2.8 may not be optimum light-wise, but the reach is great. Everything I did earlier in the thread was with the 100mm at f/2.8, 1600. The lighting was dim, but good enough that I avoided noise issues.

# ? Mar 13, 2009 19:34

rockcity: Jan 16, 2004

jackpot posted:

Ha, that was the first time I saw them too, with FM. My friends hated them, but goddamn do they put on a good show. The guy is completely unintelligible and looks like he's from 1800's Appalachia, but he's entertaining as hell. I'll be seeing them at a real small venue and just got word that photography is allowed, so I'm hoping to get some real good stuff.

Echoing what the others said, you'll want something real fast like 50 f/1.8. I'll have my 50 in my pocket, but now that I've actually tried it I don't think I'd go anywhere again without something at least as long as my 100mm f/2.8. 50mm seems worthless to me unless you can get within about ten feet of the stage, and that can be hard to do. 100 f/2.8 may not be optimum light-wise, but the reach is great. Everything I did earlier in the thread was with the 100mm at f/2.8, 1600. The lighting was dim, but good enough that I avoided noise issues.

Yeah, your lens size will depend greatly on where you shoot from. I do almost all my shooting from the photo barricade, so 50 is about as tight as I want to get shooting up front, excluding drummers.

# ? Mar 13, 2009 20:02

psylent: Nov 29, 2000; Pillbug

I've got a 50mm f/1.8 and a 28-78mm f/2.8 which I use for smaller clubs/theatres. If I could afford a 70-200mm f/2.8 I'd buy one, I just can't justify the cost for my hobby though.

And here are a couple of my better shots:

_{except for the drat keyboard}

psylent fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Mar 14, 2009

# ? Mar 14, 2009 14:35

IndieRockLance: Jan 29, 2003; The devourer of worlds demands a Moon Pie to satiate his hunger!

jackpot posted:

What are you doing / who are you working for that would get you media passes? I'm just wondering how that sort of thing is usually done.

This won't work for everyone, but if you're a college student, hook up with the campus media. I've been able to shoot a lot of fairly big names-Kanye West, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, to name a few-from the press pits just because of the clout involved with being with college media. And I don't even go to a big school.

Chances are you're not going to get paid, but it's a good way to start out.

This thread is a huge boon to me. I've been shooting concerts for about two years now, mostly as a hobby but also for the campus paper. I'm starting to attract people wanting to pay me and the whole idea is hard to grasp. I'll definitely be taking some of the advice in this thread.

Here's some of my favorites that I've shot:

# ? Mar 16, 2009 02:42

DEUCE SLUICE: Feb 6, 2004; I dreamt I was an old dog, stuck in a honeypot. It was horrifying.

jackpot posted:

Dub Trio?

# ? Mar 16, 2009 20:53

jackpot: Aug 31, 2004; First cousin to the Black Rabbit himself. Such was Woundwort's monument...and perhaps it would not have displeased him.<

warwick5s posted:

Dub Trio?

Aye, that's them. I didn't get to hear much from them, I was too busy at the entrance trying not to be kicked out.

# ? Mar 16, 2009 21:15

FatalTheGod: Oct 11, 2005

Private Label posted:

They are awesome!

(When they played with Flogging Molly last year- they moved around a lot, so it was hard to get a good shot with the crowd moving, them moving, and my old p&s-w/out a flash)

What kinds of lenses do people recommend for concerts? Or is it more playing around with the ISO/shutter speed?

Just figured I'd add a Reverend Peyton photo to the mix! I shot them a few weeks ago when they opened for Clutch here in New York. Ended up talking with them a bit. They put on a hell of a show and are really appreciative and nice as well. Oh, and of course, the lighting was terrible, but so such is my luck

# ? Mar 16, 2009 21:49

Bottom Liner: Feb 15, 2006; a specific vein of lasagna

Shot my favorite band/client again tonight. Possibly going on tour with them in the near future, psyhced. Click through any of them for the rest of the set.

These were shot with xti/kit and vivitar 285hv with opteka inflatable softbox attached.

# ? Mar 22, 2009 08:38

Fragrag: Aug 3, 2007; The Worst Admin Ever bashes You in the head with his banhammer. It is smashed into the body, an unrecognizable mass! You have been struck down.

Festival season is starting again soon and I'm looking forward to doing festivals again. Some of my favourite from last year.

# ? Mar 22, 2009 12:07

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

Some of my more recent work:

http://abortmag.com/?p=5509

It was a team effort between me and another photog. If you're wondering which photos are mine, let's just say about 2/3 of them are if you count the credits.

# ? Mar 23, 2009 06:20

rockcity: Jan 16, 2004

Shot 3 shows this past week, two of Craig Owens and then the Taste of Chaos tour. I'll toss up some of the better shots from the shows later tonight.

# ? Mar 23, 2009 13:57

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

rockcity posted:

Shot 3 shows this past week, two of Craig Owens and then the Taste of Chaos tour. I'll toss up some of the better shots from the shows later tonight.

How were the lights for TOC? I'm shooting that next week.

# ? Mar 23, 2009 15:31

rockcity: Jan 16, 2004

HPL posted:

How were the lights for TOC? I'm shooting that next week.

Bring a flash if the venue will let you use it. I shot Pierce the Veil without it and it was fine, but both Bring Me the Horizon and Thursday had ZERO front light. There's tons of rear lighting, but none on their faces. And of course my flash batteries died like one song into BMTH. Son of a whore.

# ? Mar 23, 2009 19:41

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

rockcity posted:

Bring a flash if the venue will let you use it. I shot Pierce the Veil without it and it was fine, but both Bring Me the Horizon and Thursday had ZERO front light. There's tons of rear lighting, but none on their faces. And of course my flash batteries died like one song into BMTH. Son of a whore.

Yeah, I saw Todd Owyoung's photos from TOC and I wasn't too impressed with the lights and he's using a D3 with good lenses. I'm hoping they'll let us use flash but it's Live Nation so I'm pretty sure they won't.

# ? Mar 23, 2009 21:05

rockcity: Jan 16, 2004

HPL posted:

Yeah, I saw Todd Owyoung's photos from TOC and I wasn't too impressed with the lights and he's using a D3 with good lenses. I'm hoping they'll let us use flash but it's Live Nation so I'm pretty sure they won't.

With flash it all depends on the venue really. The venue I was at doesn't care, but again, mine died. Looks like I just got approved for The Devil Wears Prada for Wednesday, hopefully that'll be decent. The stage at the venue it's at is like 6 feet tall though, bleh.

# ? Mar 23, 2009 21:29

nicolerork: Feb 9, 2009

TOC lights were amazing in Columbus and the exact opposite in Detroit. It's hit or miss, be prepared for both.

A few shots from SXSW -

# ? Mar 23, 2009 21:51

Cyberbob: Mar 29, 2006; Prepare for doom. doom. doooooom. doooooom.

A few shots of various New Zealand bands.. ignore the crappy watermark, it was just for a preview part of my site and needed a quick & dirty marker

# ? Mar 23, 2009 22:13

rockcity: Jan 16, 2004

A quick update of those shows I mentioned. Only had time to get into Pierce the Veil from TOC though. Just got approved for The Devil Wears Prada tomorrow, so more to come.

Here's a shot from the Craig Owens show in Tampa.

Mike from Pierce the Veil

PARTY MOTHER FUCKERS

# ? Mar 24, 2009 12:59

nicolerork: Feb 9, 2009

Mike looks like a warrior in those shots. Good job.

# ? Mar 25, 2009 06:45

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

TOC was nasty for lighting. The opener was okay because it was the local band and the lighting guy didn't really give a drat and mostly left the lights on constant. Cancer Bats was a gong show. Dark as hell, flashing backlights, musicians running around like scalded monkeys. Pierce the Veil was okay. Most of the lighting was on the lead singer. Couldn't get a good photo of "MOTHER FUCKERS" because I was in the photo pit at the time.

Visually, Four Year Strong stood out the most for me. They had the matching varsity jackets and beards, the big lit-up FYS signs and knew how to hit and hold the poses just long enough while still moving like demons.

Bring Me the Horizon and Thursday were pretty much the same from a photo standpoint. Thrashy, jumpy singer in the middle of darkly-lit, mostly static musicians.

If anyone else is shooting the rest of the TOC tour, one huge hint is to get in your lead singer shots between songs. The lead singers were tough to capture in motion, but they like to talk a lot while making and holding grand gestures and the lights are usually brighter during those breaks so take advantage and make hay while the sun shines.

Also, be prepared to get shots of the singers climbing into the crowd. Almost every band did that. Hell, BMTH's singer basically spent the better part of a song lost in the crowd. All you could see was his microphone cord trailing off the stage.

HPL fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Apr 2, 2009

# ? Apr 2, 2009 18:02

Bottom Liner: Feb 15, 2006; a specific vein of lasagna

drat you guys and your living in places with big venues and acts! Great shots though guys, very inspiring stuff.

Speaking of this though, have any of you guys shot warped tour before? I'm currently going through the process of getting my photo pass and was wondering if anyone had experience with it/tips about it.

# ? Apr 2, 2009 18:05

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

Bottom Liner posted:

Speaking of this though, have any of you guys shot warped tour before? I'm currently going through the process of getting my photo pass and was wondering if anyone had experience with it/tips about it.

All I can say is bring lots of storage. TOC had six bands and they were loose with the song limits so I shot a ton of photos, around twice as much as a regular concert.

Also, can we get Todd and Chris Owyoung's web sites up in the OP? They are awesome concert photographers and their web sites are full of tons of useful information. Other sites have good photography information, but theirs deal specifically with concert and promo shooting.

Todd: http://ishootshows.com
Chris: http://www.onelouderphoto.com

The Flickr "Concert Photography" group is useful too:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/concertshots/

HPL fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Apr 2, 2009

# ? Apr 2, 2009 18:09

meltingpoint: Jul 29, 2007; Out Like A Sack Of Lights

What a great thread. I've been doing this for about a year now, although recently I've been going through a bit of a dry patch and haven't had any decent work since some promo bits I did at Christmas.

I stick to the mantra of never using a flash (I used a flash for paid live work once when the venue was darker than a dungeon, the results are awful but you just literally have no choice in that situation) and pumping the ISO aperture up.

I use a Nikon D50 and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 which yields some great results although it can really take a while to get the hang of the shallow DoF when the aperture is wide open. Practice loads and take loads of shots per gig, then you can extract the best bits!

I'm hoping to get some more work soon when a local festival kicks off in the next few months. Here's a few of my shots, all paid. First two are live, last one is promo.

# ? Apr 6, 2009 12:32

Zoowick: Apr 9, 2007; Making fifteen year old girls looks like whores since 2006

I finally got to do another promo shoot. I wish I had more of these.

# ? Apr 6, 2009 17:57

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

How do you keep the lighting so even? I find there's ALWAYS one guy in the group with skin so white it's blow-out city when lighting for the group as a whole. Maybe I need to start doing promos for Reggae bands or something.

# ? Apr 6, 2009 18:21

rockcity: Jan 16, 2004

Bottom Liner posted:

drat you guys and your living in places with big venues and acts! Great shots though guys, very inspiring stuff.

Speaking of this though, have any of you guys shot warped tour before? I'm currently going through the process of getting my photo pass and was wondering if anyone had experience with it/tips about it.

First off, you'll get approved, don't worry about that. You could probably get approved with a magazine you printed for distribution in your house. I have heard of no one getting denied for it.

Second, get ready for typically bland lighting. Outdoor shows are fun because it's a crapload easier to get a decent exposure, however, it's also a crapload easier to come away with REALLY generic photos. Take you time and look for good angles and good poses, this is easily the best tip I can give you.

Third, as mentioned above, storage, storage, storage. Back when it was pricey I used to bring my laptop and dump all my stuff a few times a day. Now I have enough to where it doesn't matter. Though it's still nice to bring a laptop if you have some down time to take a look at the shots.

Fourth, if you can, do interviews. Bands tend to be really nice on the warped tour as it's a fun, relaxed vibe. Find fun questions that the band probably hasn't heard before and they'll like you. If you can, interview them before they go on and then see if they'll let you shoot side stage. Good drummer photos from there.

Fifth, check in with the press tent, they often have free water/drinks there and the PR reps are usually pretty cool.

# ? Apr 6, 2009 18:31

Zoowick: Apr 9, 2007; Making fifteen year old girls looks like whores since 2006

HPL posted:

How do you keep the lighting so even? I find there's ALWAYS one guy in the group with skin so white it's blow-out city when lighting for the group as a whole. Maybe I need to start doing promos for Reggae bands or something.

I HIGHLY recommend http://www.onelightworkshop.com/DVD_Ordering.html Zack Arias's One Light DVD. A ton of technical stuff but done in a hands-on way. I learned a lot of my lighting stuff from this DVD.

# ? Apr 6, 2009 19:10

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

Zoowick posted:

I HIGHLY recommend http://www.onelightworkshop.com/DVD_Ordering.html Zack Arias's One Light DVD. A ton of technical stuff but done in a hands-on way. I learned a lot of my lighting stuff from this DVD.

Seconded. Inverse square law :science:

# ? Apr 6, 2009 20:35

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 01:03

Zoowick: Apr 9, 2007; Making fifteen year old girls looks like whores since 2006

pwn posted:

Seconded. Inverse square law

Yup, that info alone helped me even out my lighting.

# ? Apr 6, 2009 20:51

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