Breaking Into Concert Photography

I haven't written a blog in quite a while, but it is always so flattering when someone randomly brings up a blog post from the past while in conversation, and somehow that's happened a few times in the last month, and it's been really motivating, so here I am. But also, as a full disclaimer, I promise life isn't as glamorous as social media makes it look.

In the last year, I graduated from UCLA with a B.S. and moved to New York City with one of my best friends. I currently work two part-time jobs and do a show or two a week; I really feel like I'm living that New York life with my side hustle. I get asked a lot though about how, in the matter of three and a half months, is it possible to shoot shows like Conan Gray or Andy Grammar and in venues like Radio City. I never unexpected to break into concert photography in the way I have, but it's made me so happy and truly become my outlet. I want to be as transparent as possible in the process and how I approach this work, so here's my advice in a blog post.

How I started: I honestly couldn't tell you when I decided I wanted to shoot concerts, but it was pre-moving to NY back in September. I think I saw one of my Instagram mutuals post about shooting the Life is Beautiful show in Las Vegas and I thought that was so cool. I've always loved music and photography separately so combining them would be even cooler. I started making lists of shows coming up. I'd go to Ticketmaster and search up what shows were coming up in the next month and make a list. Turns out Vegas was not a great place to break into concert photography with a ton of casino regulations and liabilities. However, I did land my first show in NYC the first week I moved. After sending about 30-40 DMs to different band members, tour managers, tour photographers, and artists for shows coming up, I got a response from the SURFACES tour photographer saying he'd put me down for a pass. Here's what I said originally:

Surfaces is easily one of my favorite bands so the fact that they would be the first show I got to shoot was both nerve-wracking and also so exciting. I think Instagram/social media in general is so powerful and it's how I landed most of my early shows and even the smaller ones I now tend to get paid for.

I got really lucky with Surfaces being my first show. After that, I shot smaller ones at local venues to get the hang of using my camera and really tapping into my eye for concert photos. I also admittedly used "automatic" for the Surfaces show but after maybe three shows, I was shooting only in "manual," and my photos turned out much better because I could adjust my camera settings for each set (specifically shutter speed depending on how slow/fast the artist is moving)

Getting shows: I keep a running spreadsheet with shows I have done and shows coming up (reaching out about two weeks in advance unless it's a big show, like Radio City, and I'll reach out a month before). See the spreadsheet below. Overall though, I think the biggest three tips I've learned with concert photography are:

• You're going to have to work without compensation for some time to break into the industry, build your portfolio, and improve your skills. You have to be really open-minded and recognize that every venue is going to be different. I've shot in venues with huge pits as well as venues with no pits where you have to battle the crowd to get shots.

• As soon as you can, find an association with an outlet (this is the one I've been shooting for) of any type. Small, big, just any outlet so when you send press requests, you can mention that you'd be shooting the show for an outlet and not just yourself. Its a win-win for both the artist and for you.

• Start with the opener - typically once you have a photo pass through the opener, you can also shoot the next three songs (standard) of the headliner too and I feel like most people don't think to go through the opener.

*note: I also have a "Contact" section but removed that from this screenshot since it has private email information.

Other advice:

• Invest in a quality camera (I currently have the Canon EOS R5) - so expensive but worth it, depending on your goals with concert photography

• Join FB groups like the one linked

• Talk to every photographer and videographer you see at a concert and get their socials, I love seeing what other concert photographers are creating and you create your own network

• Reach out to venues to see if they need a house photographer

• Always keep an extra battery and memory card

• A basic 50 mm f/1.8 lens will take you far - some shows I shoot only with this!

• Lens filters are so fun and help set your photos apart from others (my favorites are from Prism Lens Fx)

The experience: Being at a show puts me at such a high. There's no experience like getting to the pit of a show, seeing the energy of the crowd, watching the artist(s) and crowd interact, and capturing those moments. I remember a friend asked me after maybe ten shows if I still felt the same high as I did initially, and my answer was instantly yes. I love live music and have been so lucky to see some incredible artists already in this time, including MAX, Alexander 23, Andy Grammar, Conan Gray, Valley, Bryce Vine, and Two Friends, and also some extremely underrated artists, like Juniper.

After the show: I have such a love-hate relationship with the post-show photo process because it can be tedious. After the show, here's how it goes:

• Start downloading all the photos as soon as the show ends (you want to give them to the publication and/or artist within 24-72 hours)

• Favorite all the images you like/want to work with

• Edit them in Lightroom - I'm happy to make a post about my edit process, but generally I up the warmth, increase the contrast and highlights and decrease the shadows. For photos in iffy lighting, those I will usually change to black & white (it's harder than you think to get a "good" black and white shot though).

• See which photos you want to work with in photoshop and work on those.

• Upload to dropbox and send them out (or write your article for your publication), etc

Hope this was helpful and please feel free to reach out with any other questions! It all starts with setting the intention and making time (that goes for any outlet or side hustle, not just this)!

Some concert photos (you can see more in my portfolio):