2009 is coming to a swift close. It’s been a fantastic year for music photography, filled with great concerts and amazing opportunities.
From the beginning, I knew that I had my work cut out for me if I wanted to top 2008, which itself was a killer year. So, how did 2009 stack up? Here’s a rundown of some of the things that has made the year so memorable.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Without a doubt, one of the highlights of the year was a commission to photograph the live music performances at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for 2009. My charge of the evening was simple: produce killer performance shots that would be used in a national ad campaign.
The best part of the night? Getting a front-row seat to see – and photograph – Metallica in an epic lead-guitarist jam with Ron Wood, Flea, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Joe Perry, all at the same time.
Wrangler Commission
As you know (or should), my brother Chris is a badass music photographer, and so I was thrilled when he got a commission to work on a campaign for Wrangler. Chris tapped me to tag team the shoot with him, and it was an absolute pleasure getting to shoot with him on this job.
Warped Tour Portraits
Chris and I teamed up again to tackle Warped Tour 2008. Armed with half a dozen Nikon Speedlights and penchant for overachievement, we busted our butts to produce some portraits I’m really proud of. If anything, working on a very tight schedule with a dozen bands on a scorching day was a testament to how well Chris and I work together, which I think is something any pair of brothers can love.
Slayer Photo shoot for Rolling Stone
It’s a phone call most photographers dream about – the call to shoot for Rolling Stone. The assignment this time was Mayhem Fest, which featured Slayer and Marilyn Manson headlining along with a horde of crushing metal bands. Aside from the surreal all-access and having Marilyn Manson come up to me and ask if I was the photog from Rolling Stone, the best part of this assignment was a five-minute portrait shoot with Slayer. With a dozen people standing around practically tapping their watches and counting down the seconds, I was happy to knock out the shots I wanted with a minute to spare.
Relationship Building
2009 was a year filled with even more contact with publications, publicists and labels, and it’s been very rewarding to continue working closely with bands and the music industry in general.
Band Portraits
Going into 2009, one of the biggest things I wanted to focus on was focusing my energy on doing as many band portraits and promos as possible.
Live Music Photography
I had a blast photographing bands this year, with a ton of great tours and events filling out 2009. Here’s a selection of some of my favorite photos.
End Notes:
This was a quick look at my 2009. How was yours? I’d love to hear about it.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 10:44 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with advice, concert photographer, getting started, music photographer, music photography, Photography Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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A fine year indeed!
Very nice collection of photos…you’re an inspiration!
Great work, Todd! Looks like you had a well-rounded year. As for me, I’ve just started to photograph major concerts so am happy to have made an entrance. Met some very cool people, including your bro Chris in NY. What an awesome person to know; he has shared tips very generously, as have you.
All in all, it was a great year number 1!
Happy New Year!
Todd…Remember where you were at when you first started out?
That’s where I am now…making connections, building relationships,shooting spotty faced young Indie bands for free, just to get a foot in the door and gain those much needed credentials, but loving every minute of it.
I have saved this post to favourites as you are where I want to be and although I may never get to your level, I’ll sure have fun on the journey.
I wish you every success in 2010 and beyond and I hope I can continue to learn from and be inspired by you.
Thank you.
todd, it’s been great seeing your amazing work throughout the year. truly inspirational stuff! my top 10 shots of ’09 are posted here if you want to take a look. can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next year!
2009 was the year a lot of things started coming together for me photo-wise. i had another gallery show, got to hang work at a national bank, shot a crap load of shows and started getting more paid commission work.
i also started my photoblog, Scenes Around Jackson in May, and now i wonder how i ever survived without it LoL
looking forward to new, bigger, and better things in 2010!
hope you have a great New Years man and thanks for doing ishootshows! :)
Great job this year, Todd, 2009 has been great. Thinking back, my concert photography career really started at the beginning of this year with my first real photo pass for Katy Perry in January. I’m sure 2010 will be even better for all of us. Keep up the good work and thanks for the inspiration.
How was your year? Music photography 2009: Year in review – http://bit.ly/8lAUYJ
RT @toddowyoung Music Photography Year in Review 2009 http://bit.ly/8lAUYJ
You’ve had a great year Todd – your live work is consistently great, and your portrait work is really starting to blossom.
I think I’ve had a good year, too – one of my goals for 2009 was to shoot for a local publication, and I’ve achieved that. I’m getting trusted with larger shows, and I feel like I’ve been able to work on my technical image quality and composition. Not to mention assisting other, well known photographers… So… yeah, it’s been a good year. Looking forward to 2010.
Todd
Just a simple thanks for sharing so freely to all of us who hope to reach your level of extertise some day!
Happy New Year.
RT @toddowyoung: How was your year? Music photography 2009: Year in review – http://bit.ly/8lAUYJ
Hi Todd,
I really love your work. Your are always an inspiration for me. Thank you. I wish you a happy new year.
Cheers, Sven
Great year nad great assignments you had there. The Rolling Stone one is a quite a nice catch. Wish to do some stuff for them one day but I doubt they will be interested in some stuff from Poland hehe.
I did my summary here http://blackboxphoto.pl/blog/2842/best-gigs-of-2009/ and must say it was quite a pleasant year. Apart from the fact less and less people want to pay for photos…
great year in review Todd, you really are an inspiration for the rest of us!
I blogged my own year recently, and it’s always great to both be happy with what you have accomplished and what more there is to come wherever we are in the journey:)
thanks for the continuing inspiration!
Happy New Year!
Great review of your year, and of course great photos and tips throughout all this time.
Really appreciate it, and hopes to see more great shots from you soon!
You’re my main inspiration on my concert photography.
Cheers!
Hi all,
Thanks so much for the comments, I really enjoyed reading them. To me, one of the highest compliments that I can receive is that anything I do can inspire, so thank you very much for that.
All the best in the new year and decade.
Love the pictures, I had no idea you did the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame ceremony or Rolling Stone. That’s pretty unreal, Congrats on all the success you had last year.
A great year indeed. All the best for 2010.
Sweet recap,Todd! Lots of awesome stuff goin on!
Hey Todd…so I went ahead and created my own faves list. Nothing much, but it’s a start. :)
http://www.emonhassanphotography.com/live-music/best-of-2009/
[...] Weapons, check out photos of their show at the Blender Theater at Gramercy, which was one of Top 10 Concerts of 2009 (if you twist my arm, I’m calling it #3). You can also see the promo shots did in [...]
Great pictures. Here is my year in live photos review – http://whothehell.net/archives/7351