A couple of simple professional band photography questions.
I went and shot my brothers band again today (they are pretty big now, front page of NME and stuff). I have only done a couple of live music shoots professionally and never for any real money, just covering costs and stuff like that.
Anyway, tonight was a pretty big venue and when i picked up my photo pass i had to sign a form for the venue. What form did i sign?
Also the venue rules were "only flash for the first three songs". If i understand right this is an odd variation on the "3 songs only, no flash" rule. haha.
Also, i was SO impressed by the noise at ISO3200 for some of the shots later in the night. It was ridiculous. Occasionally showed the strange noise that looks like light leaks, but ive got some shots that just look so so clean. Very impressive. Thanks pentax!
If the first question is what did I sign, the answer is; pay the bearer of this form one million quid on demand!!!!.
Without being all doom and gloom, one of the early rules to learn as a pro, is to be very aware about what you sign.
It could be that you have agreed to terms & conditions imposed by the venue on how and where you can use your images and even for what purpose.
It may also have been a whole heap of health and safety type rules and regulations for you to comply with, while you were at the venue.
Maybe they were asking you to confirm that your public liability insurance, did cover certain aspects of your being there.
Who knows, just be aware for the future, this job can be hard enough at times, without extra issues popping up.
Aye your right enough, the three song rule is usually three songs and your out of there. It would seem the stars don't want hot sweaty shots of themselves working, I can't see why not.
Flash is not usually allowed at all, but these "rules" do vary from venue to venue.
So how did it go, did you get some stunning images from this gig?
Last edited by kerrowdown; 02-14-2009 at 11:51 AM.
Thanks so much for the advice, at the time i was rushing to see the first support band and thought that if i was signing anything important they wouldnt follow it up anyway.
I think these new rules started when the manager initially said "first three songs, use flash" and nothing else. Obviously an error on his part.
I'm looking at the photos now, but the poor lighting means heavy post processing is going to have a large part to play.
A few of the first ones are on my flickr (link below). opinions are very much appreciated!
Hmm I've never had to sign anything before apart from my name to confirm I am who I am etc maybe had some health and safety stuff, did they not give you a copy!?
Also Can you post samples at 3200 iso? Are you using a k20d? I use a k10d and never venture above iso 800 because of QC I normally stick at iso 400 (it may look ok on screen but when you print it....it'll look horrific!!!
Where does your bro's band play, maybe we could meet up and do a shoot together of them?
Thanks for adding me on flickr ed. The exif data is preserved on the photos that have been uploaded and the first and last are taken on 1600. As you can see though they are heavily processed so its hard to tell. I will process some pre-existing light 3200 shots tonight.
I use a k20d.
You are right about the noise, it looks fine in the camera and when you get it out it suddenly jumps on you.
Their tour dates are on their myspace, just google "late of the pier". They are a very fun band to photograph, if you ever want a photo-pass you can contact me through flickr and i will sort it out.
Are you shooting RAW or JPEG??? RAW is definately the way to go, larger file sizes but really helps with adjusting white balance afterwards especially if in changing lights.
Late Of The Pier are cool, I was supposed to photoraph them at Nottingham just before Xmas at the Chameleon bar but got called to shoot a festival instead, which was a shame as The Chameleon only holds approx 50 at a push, think it was a gig for friends & family only.
As fro signing before a show, these are ussually called rights grabs & you need to read them carefully, there are some real stingers out there.
Some demand a copy of all images for commercial & pro use, some specify you must supply all images so they can choose which ones you can use, some even demand payment!!!! So read carefully. If I get any pushed in front of me now I just walkaway, the tour manager will usually chase you to let you in. This mainly applies to metal & emo bands for some reason, indie bands I haven't come across it, hear Glasvegas once got a bit pompous but have now stopped doing it.
Have added you as a contact on flickr, you have some good stuff in their.
I could be mistaken here, but venue photo rules usually apply only to the media and freelancers. I assume that since this is your brother's band that you are working in some sort of "official" capacity for the band.
Make sure in the future that your brother's band lets the venue crew know that you are actually part of their official "crew." This should give you much more leeway, except for the other bands at the concert.
Are you shooting RAW or JPEG??? RAW is definately the way to go, larger file sizes but really helps with adjusting white balance afterwards especially if in changing lights.
Late Of The Pier are cool, I was supposed to photoraph them at Nottingham just before Xmas at the Chameleon bar but got called to shoot a festival instead, which was a shame as The Chameleon only holds approx 50 at a push, think it was a gig for friends & family only.
As fro signing before a show, these are ussually called rights grabs & you need to read them carefully, there are some real stingers out there.
Some demand a copy of all images for commercial & pro use, some specify you must supply all images so they can choose which ones you can use, some even demand payment!!!! So read carefully. If I get any pushed in front of me now I just walkaway, the tour manager will usually chase you to let you in. This mainly applies to metal & emo bands for some reason, indie bands I haven't come across it, hear Glasvegas once got a bit pompous but have now stopped doing it.
Have added you as a contact on flickr, you have some good stuff in their.
Issac, are you a member of the "Concert Photography" group on Flickr? If not, you should join. They have lively discussions about just this sort of thing.
Unfortunately, while I do read the posts there, I'm not shooting at larger venues, so I didn't pay attention to the answers. However, you could be signing away rights to your shots (though I think it would be tough to enforce). Still, be aware of these things, and don't be afraid to edit the "contract" on the fly. Just strike out the parts that you take issue with, initial those, and then sign the thing. Many times, they'll take it like you marked it. Other times, they won't. However you definitely want to be aware of what you're signing.
What's this then? Now I'm confused!I click the link above and it takes me to flickr!? and your username seems to be cabstar: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cabstar/
Thanks russ, i think im a member of that group or similar. But i tend to find them rather arrogant towards amateurs or semi-professionals regardless of skill level. Thanks for the tips i will remember these.
Gary why is your flickr so thin on the ground? Add some of your higher calibre shots they look awesome! Just think of it as an extra portfolio...
The flickr thing confuses me, I changed my username a whilst ago, well I thought I did to garystafford.co.uk but I guess the link still goes to cabstar.
I don't post much of my gig stuff to flickr, as gig photography tends to get ripped of more from their, so prefer my own webspace & portfolio on carbonmade.
In terms of rights-grabs, do be careful. In most cases, you can't shoot if you don't sign, but sometimes you can get them to change some of the stipulations. If you ever end up shooting on assignment, but feel the contract you're being made to sign takes away too many rights, its possible to argue that you were forced to sign the thing under duress (no prior warning, short time in which to decide, etc), which nullifies its validity, but is a very tricky case to make. I've only seen it work a few times.
I've been shooting concerts for various publications and sites with my K100D pretty regularly for over a year now, and its never let me down (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dantekgeek). The best advice I can give you is to learn to love the manual setting (and use the green button or AE-L custom function to have quick access to auto exposure). Using center-weighted metering, you want to look for about a -1 to 1.5 ev indication in the viewfinder, and you should be good to expose the artist and the background fairly well.
Good luck and welcome to the exciting world of shooting shows!
Thanks Dan! Thats a good point actually...
I've actually been shooting music for about a year but very inconsistently, mostly for personal pleasure, and admittedly, mostly my brother's band...
I've contacted a magazine from a nearby town who used my photos once to see if they can hook me up with anything and done a little bit of scouting for shows so it might pick up a bit soon.
Oh, and also, so far ive found the TAv mode on my k20d really useful. I was shooting a festival-like thing for a small online magazine and the light was really changeable. Av kept giving me blurred shots or sharp shots where the sensitivty could have been lowered giving a cleaner image, TAv kept the settings perfect and always nailed the exposure.
I've been trying to do club photography and small gigs too but my flashgun which i got a while ago is very unstable and is taking ages to replace...
