Bring your earplugs!
Gigs are great! Gigs are fun! Gigs are loud! Gigs can be brutal for photographers!
A lot of people love live music, I’m one of them! I’ve been living and breathing music for most of my life. I’ve probably shot hundreds of gigs by this point and not a single one has been the same as any other. shoots at the same venue will be different. Shoots with the same band will be different. Shoots with the same band at the same venue will be different!
At the beginning, lighting will be one of your biggest challenges. Smaller venues often only have a couple of coloured LED lights for the band (you’ll learn to hate pink light more than anything). Black and white edits can save you in some of these situations. Flash is also a pretty big no-no when shooting the band - it’s usually fine for patrons and audience members, just remember that the audience has paid to see the band and not be blinded by a photographer.
“…lean into the funky lighting, try to put beams of light right behind the artist to highlight them, try to find angles where the artist is hit by 2 different coloured lights, shoot black and white…”
A lot of bigger bands and venues will have a 3 song limit for photographers to be able to shoot in, that’s why smaller venues are also great practice because most of the bands playing there won’t have a three song limit. You have the entire set to hopefully get a few good shots out. At the end of all this, it’s important to remember what you’re shooting - it’s a gig! It’s never going to be a super clean, bright, evenly lit shoot. I personally try to lean into the funky lighting, try to put beams of light right behind the artist to highlight them, try to find angles where the artist is hit by 2 different coloured lights, shoot black and white, shoot from the back of the stage (if you can get there without crossing the stage), shoot from the back of the audience. Try to imagine a place from which the audience has never seen the artist and show them that angle. This is your change to TRULY experiment with funky lighting, weird framing, and capturing moments that will only ever exist once. It truly is the best thing I’ve ever done.
Bonus tip: ALWAYS BRING EARPLUGS!!!
The Saints playing with Mick harvey at the northcote theatre
