By John Hertsen
It had occurred to me that all concert photography tutorials say the same thing: “use fast glass and shoot at a necessarily high ISO. Good luck.” Since that’s about as useful as a hole in the head, so I figured I’d write about some of the topics that matter most to established and up and coming photographers.
So how to get started?
Shoot a few performances. Are you happy with the results? Unless you’re already a seasoned photographer accustomed to working in difficult circumstances, chances are you’ll find there’s plenty of room for improvement. Get use to working in crowded areas, become proficient at handling the mysteries of concert lighting. The more performance work you do, the more comfortable you’ll become with its unique demands. Staying active in the game is also important to help establish you as a valid player. Therefore, you must find a situation that permits you to shoot on a regular basis
What about equipment?
If you own a digital SLR and a f/2.8 or faster lens, you can get by shooting any outdoor concert. To get some great shots try shooting in manual mode, you should all things being equal get some interesting images. Shoot at a necessarily high ISO. Oh and, good luck.
You needn’t look further than the early work of Mark Leiahloha who had already been shooting concert photos on his own for some time when he chanced upon a young, struggling band from the San Francisco Bay Area called Faith No More, or Joel Bernstein who photographed Laura Nyro, Leonard Cohen, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young.
They knew how to get the best angles, compose an image and expose properly to get the best shots. Ultimately a camera is only as good as the photographer holding it and a bad photograph taken with a £8,000 camera is still a bad photograph.
Having better equipment only makes the work easier. The only critical reason to upgrade your gear is if your current equipment is preventing you from creating the kind of image you’re after. Your next “upgrade” could be a £15,000 digital back or a £5 disposable depending on your photographic vision.
