Last weekend I was asked to take photographs of a small band festival in a tiny club. It was a strange thing, 15 bands with a 15 minutes set each. As a part of the audience I would have found it exhausting, but it was a good opportunity to shoot a lot of bands on stage in only a short time (insert random Dimebag Darrell joke here) and add a few lessons to my limited experience. I’m only a self taught photographer, and not a very good one, but my own ignorance has never kept me from talking, so here are my 10 beginner's rules for photographing live bands:
1. Use the appropiate tools
Digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras of the smaller, simpler kind have become quite affordable. The Nikon D40, for example, is a decent, light-weight SLR camera you can get for the price of 4 - 6 weekends of not getting horribly wasted. And no, your cell phone camera is not sufficient, smartass.
2. Talk to the band before the show
Inform them that you’re going to photograph, especially if they don’t know you yet. Give them the opportunity to be prepared. Chances are they will pose a bit more than usual, although they won’t admit it. They will be less irritated if you try to get close when they already know what you’re up to. And don’t act like a pro if you don’t have that much experience, that’s just fucking embarrassing for everyone.
3. Avoid flash light
Like an iPhone, a small club gig is not the right place for flash. Flash photography is reserved for U2 concerts and press conferences. In a small club, you’ll be very close to the stage, so the flash will kill the colored light show on your photos, making everyone look like a deer caught in the headlights. Instead of using flash, increase the ISO level. Don't mind a little grain on an otherwise great shot.
4. No auto-focus
It will mostly focus on the wrong spots, anyway. If the musicians move abruptly, the auto-focus won’t be able to keep track. Nothing is more frustrating than missing a good picture because the camera won’t trigger. Which leads us to...
5. Don’t spend ages adjusting your camera settings
Seriously, you’ll miss the show. Better a flawed shot at the right moment than a perfectly composed, technically brilliant masterwork that shows absolutely nothing exciting. If you have the time, work out your settings before the show, when the lights are on, and learn how to adapt quickly.
6. Try to capture the experience
The only way to do this is capturing the band in visible motion. Play with the exposure time on your camera. Work out the shutter speed you need to get reasonably sharp pictures of inanimate objects like amps, mic stands etc. while jumping or dancing band members will have a nice, soft motion blur. For the fuck of it, shoot a couple of pictures with long exposure, especially if the light show is good. You never know what might come out of it. Of course this works best if the band is actually moving. That’s why I like shooting punk and hardcore bands - there’s always some fat idiot jumping, beating up the audience or ramming his head into a speaker.
7. Be artistic
The band probably has a shitload of boring pics of them playing together on stage. Why repeat what their moms, girlfriends and parole officers have done hundreds of times before? Do something different. Take them one after another, wait for a wicked pose or a cool light effect which makes them look like the goddamn Green Goblin. Experiment with the depth of field, shoot them slumped over their bass guitar behind an out-of-focus mic stand, or focus on the stand and use the guy behind as a blurry texture. Because that’s the kind of photo that will appear on their Myspace page.
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| Avoid this situation at all cost. |
Don’t prance around in front of the stage with your camera from beginning to end. The people came to see the band, not your ugly old mug. Limit yourself to 10 or 15 minutes, either at the start or the end of the set. This rule does not apply if the crowd completely consists of obnoxious assholes, and if you are bigger and stronger than all of them. In that case, annoy the hell out of them fuckers.
9. Send the photos to the band where they belong
This should be a no-brainer, but still - write down their e-mail address and send them the pictures. Even if you just did the job for practice. Even if you think the pictures are not that good, you can still weed out the worst of them beforehand. Young amateur bands carve attention. Most of them interact with only a very small scene, so they’re happy about every new face that appears at their shows. They will be grateful for your work, even it might not be perfect. They will keep you in good memory as that weird guy who showed up, listened to their music and gave them cool photos in return.
10. Do not take money from a band unless you’re actually good
I can't stress this enough, people. Professionals are expensive because they spent years learning how to do their job. Every local music scene knows people who act like they’re crack recording engineers, graphic designers, or photographers, when in reality they have no fucking clue how to do it right. I once made the mistake of recording a band for money because I thought I knew how it was done in theory. Although I didn’t charge much then, I still cringe when I think of the result. Since then I learned a lot about recording, but I still wouldn’t take more from a band than what I need for my own expenses. At least with photography you don't waste the bands time, but if you have to practice with a real band to get better (and you will) then please have the common courtesy to do it for free.
Update: Not that I thought I'd be the first one to address this topic, but there are loads of sites about band photography that go into a little more detail. Check them out if you're interested.
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