I began shooting concerts by chance in the summer of 2022. My friends in the band Saving Vice were playing a home show and didn’t have a photographer. Though I had never shot a concert before, photography had been a hobby of mine all throughout high school, so I decided to give it a shot. I did my research and found that the content of this genre of photography was far scarcer than in many other fields. Despite that, I showed up, did my best shooting the show, and as soon as I got home began editing. I got great feedback from the guys, and because of that chance opportunity, I found my newest passion in photography.

Shoot Manual

The first few years I was photographing, I would usually shoot on either shutter speed or aperture priority. While I always had a loose understanding of how ISO, aperture, and shutter speed affected photos, I never truly had a reason to shoot in manual and control all of those. When I began researching tips for shooting concerts before my friends’ show, most sources said that shooting manual is a must. That first show, I learned just how important it is to shoot manual and have full control over all your settings, especially in such an unpredictable environment like a concert. While your camera will try its best to compensate for the low-lighting situation, being able to capture a show’s energy is only possible when you are the one in control of the outcome of the photos.

Under Promise, Over Deliver

I was on a call with a friend of mine who is a musician and a producer and I was asking him about what he looks for when he’s hiring photographers. One piece of advice stuck out-always under promise and over deliver. It’s something that he does when working with his own clients. He’ll promise to get their mix to them in three weeks, and send it out in a week and a half. With photography, under promising and over delivering can be telling a client that they’ll get a minimum of 35 photos in two weeks and then sending them 60 after only one week. This gets your clients excited that they feel like they’re getting more value than what they were expecting. This also gives you a time buffer for when life happens.

Real Friends Don’t “Pay in Exposure”

We all have to start somewhere, and oftentimes starting out means doing some work for free. If you’re an experienced photographer in other niches and understand the mechanics of your camera, you shouldn’t work for the same person for free twice. Once you establish a relationship with someone and show them your capabilities as a photographer, you should be compensated for the time and work in the future. This goes for shooting for friends as well. A true friend will appreciate and see value in the work that you’re doing for them and will find a way to pay you beyond exposure. A social media post tagging you won’t get you more work, but a word of mouth referral will. Real friends will want to see you succeed and won’t try to take advantage of free work.

Be Someone People Enjoy Working With

There are plenty of talented people out there doing the same work you are. You cannot rely on talent, hard work, and skill alone to get you hired. Half the battle is being someone people want to work with. This doesn’t mean you need to suck up to your clients, but build a relationship with them. Get to know the band you’re working with; engage with them online, and talk to them between sets once you’re at the show. Creating a genuine connection with your clients will increase your chances of getting hired by them again as well as getting recommended to their friends. This is especially important in music, where networking is a big part of working in the industry. There will always be photographers who are as good and better than you; give people another incentive to hire you.

Reach Out

There is no harm in reaching out and asking an artist for a press pass to shoot their show. Worst case scenario is they either say no or just don’t respond all together. I’ve gotten many gigs just by reaching out to an artist asking for a ticket to their show in exchange for photos. I’ve also gotten ignored many many more times, but for those bands that I had gotten gigs from just hitting them up out of nowhere, I often got rehired by them for future gigs.

Overall, this past year has taught me a great deal of what it means to be a concert photographer, and a lot of those skills are ones that I can carry over into other types of photography I do. I was able to combine two of my passions–music and photography–and learn how to make a living out of it. I can’t wait to see where this journey will take me down the line because this is just the beginning.

Hey there! If you enjoyed my story and want to give a little to support me on my journey, you can buy me a coffee 🖤

What I’ve Learned in a Year of Concert Photography

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