Comments on: So You Want to Shoot a Rock and Roll Star

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:35:30 +0000

Correction to Ryan Russell’s post above in reference to Rakkasah, “the biggest bellydance festival in the world.”
Rakkasah East is in Somerset NJ every October and the Rakkasah
West is in California every March. There is also the new
Spring Caravan show each May in NJ. visit http://rakkasah.com

By: Ralph

Ralph — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 07:59:00 +0000

Nice article. I do a lot of nightclub photography and what you wrote pretty much applies there as well.
Good stuff.

By: Mason Resnick

Mason Resnick — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Thanks for a very useful and well-written article. I was involved in producing a magazine for Modern Photography some 20 years ago called “Rock Photo,” which was dedicated to photographing rock musicians. It was great content, but didn’t do well on the newsstand, and folded after only 2 issues.

More recently, Jamie Howard wrote an article about picture-taking techniques at live concerts but doesn’t really cover how to get access in the same depth your article does.

You can see Jamie’s article here:
http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?article=071706&op;=academy_new

By: daniel

daniel — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 22:38:00 +0000

That's a very handy look at how to get a photo pass.

It irks me a little that you would so freely offer the photos for free to the promoter - but i understand that if it's not what you do for a living it's no harm to you.

I've written an article looking at some of the more technical aspects of concert photography. It may be handy to some readers.

By: Ryan Russell

Ryan Russell — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:49:00 +0000

Not bands per se (though they do also have them), but I’ve been failing to point you at the Rakkasah show in Richmond each year. It was just a few weeks ago:
http://rakkasah.com/

Biggest belly dance festival in the world. Should be a lot of picture opportunities.

By: Norby

Norby — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:24:00 +0000

Thanks for the informative post - I've been interested in doing concert photography for a while (though usually I have enough going on and/or am more interested in enjoying the concert with other people that I don't go out of my way to find other concerts to shoot) and haven't really had a good handle on the precise dynamics of how & why to getting permission.

However, Arlo Guthrie is coming to town next month and I'm pushing to get a photo pass for the event (I'm attending it anyway and expect not to get permission to shoot the entire thing anyway), so hopefully some of these tips will help me to be able to convince them that it's worth their time to do so.

I currently donate my time to shoot for a performing arts organization that puts on classical concerts where there is the additional requirement of being quiet/unobtrusive (not usually quite as much of a problem with rock concerts) though if I had the time I would love to shoot a wider variety of concerts.

-/\/

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:35:00 +0000

I’m not even in the same class as you all, but it’s so interesting to know all the steps involved in photographing a celebrity. There is a basic assumption nowadays that everyone with a camera has bad intentions. I was at a music teacher’s conference in February, and one demonstrator was playing drums in a way I could not remember or write down, and I wanted to use it in my classroom. So I pulled out my crappy P&S; and recorded about 2 minutes to show my students. Out of nowhere, his assistant threw herself in front of my camera (it’s about 3 inches big) and forbade me from “recording!” My intentions were so innocent (remember, this is a room full of humble Southern teachers), and I was humiliated and surprised.

By: troymccluresf

troymccluresf — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 10:48:00 +0000

Stupid HTML.

Thanks for this post. One of my main goals in becoming a better photographer is to be able to shoot concerts well. My best leaves a lot to be desired, especially considering how hard it is to walk around with a zoom lens down my pants.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/troymccluresf/sets/72157594385994122/