The photo pit is a brutal place.
One approach to concert photography: When the lights go down, if you’re in the photo pit with me, I want to destroy you. After the first three songs, then we can be friends.
Todd,
I have quickly become an admirer of your work, particularly the unique angles and texture of your photos. One questions:
How do you approach the “photo pit” at bigger shows. It seems like such a recipe for cookie-cutter photography, but you get some really unique stuff. So I am curious how you approach those assignments.
Thanks, and keep up the inspiring work.
All the best,
Rich Copley
Hi Rich, thanks for the question.
At the risk of sounding brazen, my professional approach with every concert I photograph is simply to make the best set of images that anyone will see from that show or tour. Which is not to say this happens, of course – but as I concert photographer, this is my high goal for every event.
When I enter the photo pit with other photographers – to paraphrase to the former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson – “My main objective is to be professional but to kill them.”
At the heart of this healthy sense of competition is really simply a drive to make great images, which is more essential than any technique or specific game plan on entering the photo pit. As we all know, the variables for any given concert are going to be myriad and defiant, but one’s determination for excellence can be a powerful constant. Everything else is simply a means to an end.
In this regard, the real competition in the pit is simply with myself. I have a keen desire to push myself and improve on what I’ve done. In contrast to my professional goal of world domination, my personal goal is simply to make one portfolio-grade image with every show.
While it’s true that the conditions of many concerts – from difficult lighting to confined shooting positions – may seem like they’d create a fairly bland collection of images between present photographers, restrictions can also foster creative solutions to overcome mediocrity.
When one is hungry enough to execute the best possible work, everything else – working the angles, attention to lighting, killer composition, hustle, and perfect timing – falls in line. Will is more important than skill, because the latter is finite. Determination (and a little luck) can make miracles happen.
What’s Your Approach to Concert Photography?
What are you goals when entering the photo pit? What’s your approach to concert photography?
This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 6:13 pm and is filed under Letters, Photography Tutorials and tagged with advice, concert photography, Photography Tutorials, tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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This is absolutely SPOT ON! Great post!
Hey Eric,
Nice to hear from you, thanks for the comment — glad to hear this post agreed with you.
My goal when shooting, not only shows but all subjects, is not to capture the people in front of me(or whatever I may be shooting) but to capture moments and experiences. Be it a crazy guitar solo, a band member climbing a stack of speakers, any intense moment that will be gushed about the next day by the fans – I want a shot of it.
Hey Brian,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, great to hear them.
Great post once again Todd. I keep saying I am going to give live concert photography a go considering it combines two of my greatest passions. Maybe next decent show that comes around I’ll try to get in there and mix it up ;) Keep up the great work man.
Hey Kevin,
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. You should get in the photo pit one of these days. If I’m there, too, I promise I won’t try to punch you out.
Todd,
Hahahaha…You’ll have to bring it legit…I am pretty quick man…duckin’ and dodgin’ ;)
I wouldn’t expect anything less.
Fortunately, as a small town shooter, my only fellow shooter in the pit (if any) is the photog. from the locals daily newspaper, and his goal is only to get the job done and get the hell out of there so he can collect a check.
My personal goal, like yours is to get at least one great shot from each show.
Hey Clayton,
Thanks for adding your experience here. I definitely know what you’re talking about. For the people to whom a shoot is just a paycheck and nothing more, they’re always going to come up weak. It’s inevitable that one’s work suffers if there’s nothing on the line.
yeah you are a savage Todd. remember that one show when you super glued my zoom ring and spit on the front of my lens just before cutting my camera strap off my neck?! br00tal!
All’s fair in love, war and concert photography, David. “I’m in the hurt business.”
my goal is to always make sure each member of the band or group gets their “rockstar shot”
that shot that, they can look back on when they’re old a gray and go, “man, i was a rockstar!”
i don’t always pull it off, but that’s what i always shoot for
Hey Pat, thanks for sharing your own approach. I definitely have a similar goal of trying to give each member in a band their own rock star moment. And the great thing is when they get to see those images; it makes their day.
Hey Todd. It’s me again. ‘Tis my second time commenting. I totally agree, although I’m not much of a professional… I don’t like to look at others’ work before I submerge myself into ‘competition’ mode (with myself). But I guess it helps sometimes, ups your game a little bit but I believe that we can never truly be happy if we can’t drive ourselves to produce the best things and be pleased with it. One is never too contented in life…
I believe you’re great. You’re very passionate! I can never say inspiring things like you do. I think I should dislodge caffeine from my system. Tea seems a better choice.
Keep it up, Todd! Your posts are very, very helpful and engaging.
Hi Lvynne,
Thanks for the comment, nice to hear from you again. With photography, just like so many other disciplines, it’s always possible to improve, I think. Or if not improve, than to grow and produce in new and compelling ways.
I appreciate the kind words, and I’m very glad if posts like this help you find some inspiration, that’s an incredibly high compliment to me. Cheers.
Q&A: Approaching the Photo Pit. Creating unique images in a limited environment, from simple goals to domination. http://tinyurl.com/nbcmtl
RT @toddowyoung: Q&A: Approaching the Photo Pit. Creating unique images in a limited environment: http://tinyurl.com/nbcmtl
RT @toddowyoung Q&A: Approaching the Photo Pit. http://tinyurl.com/nbcmtl [Spot on! ~ @dilvie]
Entering the Ring: One Approach to Concert Photography …: The photo pit is a dog eat dog world. How profession.. http://tinyurl.com/nbcmtl
Todd! I’d love to get in the ring with you one day – watch a pro work. I’m loving shooting live music and just picked up my first festival. What do I try to achieve? Like you, one good portfolio shoot, some amazing vibes and some good tunes.
Sime
Hey Sime,
Thanks for the comment, nice to hear from you here. I’d love to shoot a festival in the UK sometime, so maybe we can meet up in the pit sometime.
My primary goal is to get the photo for that concert. Catch the moment. Failing that, I try to at least get better shots than my previous time in the pit, and not botch focus and exposure too often :)
Definitely good goals. I think it’s high aspirations like this that keep pushing one under tough conditions – there could always be something bigger, more epic, and more rock than the last just around the corner.
Pretty much what you have said Todd.
I mean you can have all the skills, but without any luck, you won’t get an awesome shot.
But that doesn’t mean you just only need luck, with skills, experience, and mingling with the band beforehand, you can make that “luck” appears more often that not.
Do your best, and never give up!
Hey Shiro,
Thanks for contributing to the discussion. I agree with you; with skills, experience, and force of will, one can make his/her own luck.
glad to hear I am not the only one who approches the photopit with a competitive attitude, I always though I was a little petty but I always seem to shoot better if there is other photogs in the pit, it just brings out the competitive spirit in me I guess!
If anything, having other photographers in the pit are just a physical reminder to push myself more. The other photographers aren’t really the competition; the only one I have to overcome is myself.
Thanks for adding your thoughts here.
Hey Todd,
Just needed to tell you how much more I appreciate your work then I first did.
The last weekend (4 days) I covered a music festival called CreationFest for NewReleaseTuesday.com and it was the most insane thing I’ve done in a long time. There were 4 major national contemporary christian acts every night and for each band I had a 3 song limit in the pit.. Little did I know what I was in for, having never shot in a pit before.. It was insane, there were like 15 shooters jocking for positions .. the events press people watching over our shoulders making sure we didn’t cause any problems it was actually a little intimidating and here’s little ol’me spending too much time trying to compose a shot, trying to shoot without metering.. a bad idea ..and next thing you know their telling you your time is up..and I just walk away hoping that I actually got something good… even by accident … and wait for the next band, reflecting on all the things I did wrong…
Now when I look at your stuff, I’m like woa, your stuff is top notch! Having had that experience of orchestrated chaos first hand I appreciate your work so much more. I have no idea how you pull of the work you do in the midst of that madness… your site really has become an inspiration to me and one day I hope to be able to pull off some of the quality images that you do.
Thanks for all you share!!!!!
Hi David,
Thanks for adding your experiences here. Welcome to a world of pain. Concert photography is one of the most difficult types of photography most people will ever encounter, I think. But the more you shoot, the more the chaos starts to make sense, and it’s possible to approach shoots with a little more calm. Good luck!
@marvinILAP Thanks for the kind words, Marvin – glad to hear you article on approaching the photo pit! http://tinyurl.com/nbcmtl
Hey todd,
My goal in concert photography is to blow everyone elses photo put of the water, im very competitive so I always strive to be the best in the pit, like you said it doesnt always happen, but when you try that hard, you get great images, at the same time I try and be courtious to thoose photogs around me, I hate when photogs with higher end cameras try and bully the small independant photogs out of the way, I just shot warped tour, and this was happening during 3oh!3′s set, I dont care if you have a press badge from the LA times, a Nikon D3, and an asst. dont try and move me out of the way because you were late getting to the set, and I have a smaller camera.
Thanks
-Justin
Hey Justin, I have to agree, been pushed out of the way by someone with a *insert name badge here* attitude once or twice. I smile and stand my ground – Do you have a website?
Sime
Todd,
Thanks for answering my question, and I have really enjoyed the replies. I keep hearing the golf analogies: competitive, but can’t control the competition, so you challenge yourself to be better than the last time and get the best image you can.
I was really interested in David’s experience, because I just had something very similar at a Christian festival here in Central Kentucky, Ichthus. I had shot there several years, but they had completely reconfigured the photo pit rules for this year where we had to shoot from a couple dozen yards away (glad I was packing a 300 f4), and could occasionally, “run up, get your shot, and come back.” I had a very pointed discussion with the PR folks after one set of that, saying professional photographers aim to do more than “get our shot,” and they did relax the restrictions on how long you could be up front as the weekend went on.
Todd, I definitely carried some inspiration from your work into that weekend.
Being a daily paper writer and occasional photographer, I do have to defend the dailies’ shooters a bit. I work with some folks who are really passionate about getting great images from the photo pit, particularly a guy named Mark Cornelison (http://www.markcornelison.com/) who’s done great work and been published in some amazing places. So please, don’t assume the newspaper guys are jerks, unless they prove the are.
~ Rich
Hey Rich,
Nice to hear from you, thanks again for your question. The golf analogies certainly seem to apply.
I checked out Mark’s work and he’s got some really great stuff, especially some of the on-location portrait work. Thanks for the link.
I always give everyone the benefit of the doubt. The photographers I respect the most are the ones hustling to make the images they want and fighting their way to freeze those epic, rock start moments. It doesn’t mean I’m not out to crush them with every release of the shutter, but they’ve got my respect. ;)
I am similar in that I challenge myself, but in doing that I also find that I beat myself up mentally post shows complaining of awful work regardless of the praise I get from others, I very rarely admit to capturing a great shot.
Hope you don’t get that same mentality!
Like above, I came across the ‘I’m better than you’ perception by Red Carpet Togs the other night while shooting the Bruno premiere, I arrived an hour before media registration started & the first person that arrived after me pushed in, by the time registration came along there was a group of 10 standing beside the line which now went back 100 deep & just cut in when they opened the gates, no one said a thing because these were Getty/Wire & big Newspaper togs who apparently do this at every event.
Do you ever pull up those who you think are in the wrong?
I found that night to be like being back at school with tough kids cutting in to the canteen line!
Hey Dan,
Thanks for sharing your experiences here.
I don’t often beat myself up over missing one thing or another – there are always so many shows to cover, there’s always a “next time,” even if it isn’t with the same band. I think all concert photographers are prone to being critical of lighting and such, but hey – a great shot is a great shot! ;)
As for people coming in late at events, it happens. I’ve certainly seen my share of that happening at festivals, when wire photogs often show up for the last one or two acts of the day.
I can’t really knock it – they’re just making an educated guess on their ROI.
Dan,
I agree with Todd, don’t beat yourself up. Just ask, “What can I learn from this?” both if you get that dream shot and if one gets away. Success and failure can be equally good teachers.
Being in Central Kentucky, I don’t seem much Red Carpet action except around Kentucky Derby time, and then, yeah, I see what you mean about the red carpet togs and TV cameras and their sense of entitlement. Usually, if I see someone doing something like that which gains them an upper hand and no one is stopping it, I’ll go ahead and grab my spot too. Then, if someone says something to me, I’ll point out they’re letting other people do it. The risk, of course, is they kick you out. I don’t envy you having to deal with that action regularly. I far prefer the photo pit to the red carpet.
~ Rich
Thanks for sharing your approach.
I’m usually shooting directly for one of the bands playing (although for organizers or magazines) so my goal is to get photos that make the band go wow. I’m essentially trying to position myself as the first photographer people look at when they want live shots. If the band is happy, they tell other bands and I end up shooting more. In the live scene where I live, most of the musos have day jobs so my images of them on stage often translate into non-concert jobs for their businesses.
Goal #1: As per Spinal Tap, “Have a good time all the time.”
Since Goal #1 is occasionally thwarted by horrible lighting, overzealous security, and/or other factors, I move onto:
Goal #2: Obtain images that will (hopefully) pull a viewer into the experience. I often love to get closeups of fingers on strings or strands of sweaty hair against the colored backlights or limbs as they twist and flail or facial expressions that most truly reflect/convey the emotion of the moment, so that someone viewing it later can at least get some taste of the essence of the moment or the vibe of the performer.
Goal #3: Come away with one, just one, shot in which I challenged myself during the shoot and I made it work, and that I’m proud of. Any more than that is great, but just one shot like that makes the experience worthwhile. It might not even be a shot that anyone else ever sees — it might be a file that sits in my computer or a negative that never gets printed, but I know it exists and it’s representative of me achieving that small goal I set for myself.
Goal #4: Be sure to accept the frustrations, limitations, and bad luck that sometimes comes with concert photography, no matter how daunting it might seem in the moment, because fighting against it is futile. Besides, if it was always easy, you wouldn’t get that rush from nailing a photo.
Goal #5: Remember that I’m not there for any reason except to create work that meets my own creative ideas/demands and truthfully captures the things I’m seeing and hearing and feeling.
When I strive to meet those goals, I find that I inevitably come away from a gig with enough good shots for whatever publication I’m shooting for, and at least some satisfaction of a job well done, however fleeting that feeling may be.
To be perfectly frank, and nothing against people who feel this way, I find that “trying to be the best photographer out there” is a pointless pursuit. I don’t look at photography as a competitive sport in any sense whatsoever. Sometimes I get assignments, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes my stuff runs in major publications, most times other people’s photos run in those publications. That’s fine. I don’t do photography for money or attention (although when either comes my way, that’s a nice bonus). I don’t need to be “the best” or ubiquitous. My only competition is within myself — always challenging myself, always improving (to my own standards) and always staying true to my ideas and my vision. In that sense, Goal #1 is achieved more often than not.
Hi Rich,
Just a quick followup…
As intense as I felt being in the pit the PR guys were actually really good to us. They did understand the need to get more then “get our shot”. For me the intensity probably arose more from me being totally inexperienced shooting in “the pit”.. The pit at this festival was right in-front of the stage. I could literally lean my lens on the stage and shoot.
My impression was that most of the phojo’s were really nice, a tap on the shoulder and they would move for you, and it seemed the PR guys “got it”. There were a lot of photographers there and it seemed they were trying to give everyone their chance for good positions under the 3 song limit, which seems to me to be the norm as I read more concert photographers blogs.. Unfortunately there were also couple jerks there who weren’t willing to play by the rules, so the PR guys became a more strict about the rules as the day’s went on… a shame really, wish I would have had Todd’s concert etiquette post to hand out to them. Maybe they won’t be invited back next year and the rules will be a little more lax :-)
Sorry you didn’t have such a great experience at Ichthus. Maybe things will change next year for you.
But in spite of the intensity of shooting
Sorry …. seems the end of my last post has gone missing… and I just can’t remember what it was supposed to read.. ooppps
On a complete aside. The dude on the left of the image with the chimera armband is a sarge in the US military. I meet that guy at a German music festival Rock Im Park about 3 years ago. Small wonderful world we live in:)