Concert Photography is about capturing the energy and spectacle of a live performance. Timing is everything. A mere 1/500th of a second can alter an expression from ecstasy to agony!

Concert Photography - 10 Commandments

Concert Photography: “The 2nd tablet”

Concert Photography is about capturing the energy and spectacle of a live performance. Timing is everything. A mere 1/500th of a second can alter an expression from ecstasy to agony!

6 • Thou shall listen to the music

It’s a concert – it’s about the music – all your cues come from the music. Anticipating the musicians movements is key to getting great shots. Shooting is all about anticipating what could happen next. The music is the engine behind the movement and expression. Learn to anticipate movement based on the music. Never remove your eye from the viewfinder – if you’re not looking you can’t take a shot. A concert has an underlying structure – a flow – you need to learn how to read that. A show is not a monotone presentation, the intensity and focus of the individual elements constantly fluctuate in their own harmony.

7 • Thou shall honour composition

The pace can be hectic but you still need to pay attention to the basics of composition. There is no getting around it. A poorly composed image, despite any technical merit, is doomed to the delete pile. It’s integral to telling the story of the performance, in the same way words try to paint a picture.

8 • Thou shall expect the unexpected

When shooting – the load-in, setup, sound check and the show – always expect the unexpected. Essentially pay attention to the entire experience and particularly to the small details; hands playing instruments, the stage floor, amps, the drum kit, guitar pedals……. look around at things to see if they can tell you something about the performance, or the dynamic of the show. If it catches your attention and you think it might be relevant then shoot it. Images are everywhere, you just have to see them! There is almost always something somewhere on the stage worth shooting. You need to be looking through the viewfinder to capture images.

9 • Thou shalt leave after 3 songs

(unless you are hired by the band or record label or PR Firm)

The media photographers have to get their images to the newspapers for the following days paper – some claim this is how the 3 song rule came into being. Local and national magazines have to abide by that golden rule as well. Most of my engagements come directly from the artists, their label, a PR Firm or promoter and I often shoot the entire show, starting with the setup and sound check. This gives my clients the best selection of material to choose from. In that capacity I also have access to getting backstage and into the wings. I almost always find great images from these vantage points. There is a certain quality you can capture when shooting from the wings. One important aspect is getting much better access to shooting the drummers, and I have found that a shot done from backstage usually gives you a great angle.

10 • Thou shalt not piss off the crew, security or other photographers

What the road manger or band giveth, security can taketh away. You may have a Press Pass to a show, but if you go and really piss of the crew or security they will toss your butt right out of the venue. I know and I’ve seen it happen, and in a two instances as the official photographer at an event, I had other photographers tossed!! [Once for repeatedly using a flash and another for taking a run and intentionally knocking me over while shooting.)