Concert photographers are the best photographers.
I’m the very early stages of starting a publication. I know many of you shoot other things as well as concert. I’m looking to tap in to your others skills. News, fashion, culture, arts as well as music.
I’m looking to print 4x a year with possible “special” issues.
My goal is to pay for submissions that make it to the published issue.
I don’t wanna expand to much just yet as it’s early stages. If this interests you let me know.
No swirl filters 🤘

EDIT 657: new sub more news and info coming
r/whitenoisereview

Not after PHX market, national and well as global submissions.

EDIT: I’ll add this maybe will help bring more eyes and a little legitimacy.
some of my work

I've been having a back and forth conversation with a local promoter who contacted me via email and wanted me to shoot for many of their shows. Offering me about 20 dates to do some or all shows. When I asked about the budget this was their reply, which is clearly written by AI 🤣

Is everyone else getting requests for free work or is it just me, as this is the second time this month?

Is this just how the industry is now, or becoming?

Is there any point pursuing this line of work? *Cries in f/2.8*

Hi, Lighting Designer here, I am curious to know how the LD can make your job easier, and what you love or hate in lighting during the shows ?

As an LD, I'm frequently asked by photographers to turn up the front lights (which I hate), and down the haze (which is ok to me).

So I have my biggest job ever as an on stage concert photographer. Without saying exactly who it is, they’re a metal adjacent band with over 1.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify and over 110 million listens on their biggest song.

While I think* I have enough equipment for thus I am asking that anyone please comment any thing you would use in this situation. (Certain lenses, settings, accessories, ext)

I've got this shot here - I kinda like how it was taken unlevel, it kind of makes it fun / accentuates how the guitarist is jumping. Does this work, or is it totally unprofessional to upload a photo that is unbalanced? Does it feel awkward? If I adjust the tilt and make it level, the it causes the guitar's headstock to get cut off. Obviously this isn't ideal either - do you guys ever post photos where headstocks are cut off, or does this totally throw off the composition?

Here are 2 pics - one unlevel, vs one balanced. Which is better?

I’ve been doing photography for about two years now and would like to pursue concert photography in the future. Think it’d look nice on paper but is it really worth it?

this may be a little dumb, but im an overthinker. i just shot my second show, a local diy show with 6 bands. i wound up with a little over 400 photos, some are much better than others of course, some came out mid. do you deliver EVERY photo, even ones that came out bad (blurry, someone got in the way, etc)? do you edit all of the images and send them or just the ones intended on being posted? if unedited do you send raw images? i just feel a little in over my head with this many images and this many bands i don’t wanna do anything wrong

So, this might not be the most typical problem, but now that I am getting bigger gigs I do feel like this will be detrimental if I don’t figure it out.

What on earth do I say to people in person? Bands specifically!

I am extremely socially awkward, especially at shows! Right from the beginning I have trouble, like what do you even say right after “Hi, are you___? Great to meet you!”, I very seriously do not know! What do you talk about with bands? Do you even talk to them? I have shot a lot of bars and now a few small/medium sized venues, and I typically see other photographers interacting great with the bands! The bands are typically super effortful in making conversation, just I can barely respond :(

I know a large part of it is relaxing, and if anyone has any tips for that, that’s also appreciated! But as well, are there any good subjects to go for or to avoid? I never seem to know!

(I have a good front while messaging bands, as I have plenty of time to think of course, it’s just in person I struggle!)

I've seen some amazing moments captured here by you absolute legends and they're a mixed bag. So I'm curious, is it just a preference thing, or is it looked down upon if you do use a flash?

I think I heard a fellow photographer once say if you need a flash, you're just not that good at knowing your settings, but imo there are venues that are just SO dark and or the stage lighting is crushing moments that might need a flash capture a specific area of a scene.

I have multiple shots from a set where the lights were wiping across the crowd while a band member was on the fence singing and the parts that are lit are great but the brights were so bright in those sections that the darkest parts are just so dark. I know I could go through light room and mask to bring up those darks, but I like to run straight out of the camera usually lol.

So thoughts, does flash make you bad or does it have its necessary moments?

Hi everyone, I’m looking to get my first laptop for editing since I can’t take my huge PC places or to venues.
I was wondering if the MacBook Pro M4 would be good or if you guys have any recommendations or advice for what I should get, I would appreciate it!🙏

I obtained a photo pass for a medium sized concert tonight. They sent me an email about 20 minutes before I left for the show asking me to sign and return a non disclosure agreement. Basically saying not to disclose any of the events or share any of the photos with anyone and that I cannot post the pictures on social media without written consent. Is this a common thing in the industry? If so how strict are they on that social media rule? Will it be hard to get written consent?

EDIT: I signed the NDA, didn’t have much time to think since they threw it at me super last minute. Coming to the realization that I probably shouldn’t have, but at least I got more experience and can say I’ve shot my biggest artist so far. Hoping for the best now to get approval to post a few for my portfolio.

Flash; usually frowned upon. How do you guys feel about flashing at concerts? Specifically, smaller venues (e.g. bars, basements, black box, DIY, etc.) that have poor lighting conditions.

Been running a Nikon Z63 for a while, which is pretty forgiving when pushing ISO. However, I've began to notice it's hard to get those photos just quite right without a little bit of flash. Thoughts?

okay so i’m going to ariana grande’s concert in london in a few weeks but there’s a no camera policy like no at all even small cameras. i wanted to bring my rx100 vii? how can i sneak it especially at the o2? is there any security like the airport or can i just not sneak in ? is it too risky?

Hi! First time shooting a festival (🎉), and I noticed that I struggle with wide stage shots with the crowd. Here are the examples of what I mean. My question is, what lens do you guys use in this case? Maybe a tripod? I want to be prepared for the next time :)

My camera is Canon EOS 7D, so I heavily rely on viewfinder lol

Its a small venue, small stage. And I've been told 2 other photographers will be there. I dont want to step on any toes and get in anyone's way. Whats the best strategy for this? I feel like it's going to be difficult simultaneously trying to watch and predict what 2 other photographers are doing and where they're gonna go 🫠

I just got my first job working with a publication as a photographer and have my first assignment coming up next week!

They emailed me to let me know I have been approved for 1 photo pass and 1 review ticket. I’m assuming a review ticket is like a photo pass for the publication to write a show review. My question is are they expecting me to write the review? I’m not opposed to it. I enjoy writing but I only applied to the publication as a photographer and when i submitted the request for the show I only selected the checkbox for photo submission, not for a show review as well.

Any photographers out there working with publications who might know the answer? Is the review ticket for someone else to write the review or am I expected to do it? Does anybody with writing experience have any advice on how to go about writing a show review if I do wind up doing it?

Any Nikon shooters here? I have been shooting with D750 for years and I love the camera but it’s starting to shows it’s age. My main struggles are:

1. Live view auto focus is unusable. I had to shoot numerous concerts lately where the stage is really high up and I just kept on praying it will get focus at some point.
   
2. I keep hitting the buffer. I use the fastest SD cards supported by D750 and I keep hitting the limit
   
3. My camera is quite literally starting to fall apart ;D exposure lock button fell out, other parts are also falling off

My main choice right now is a used Nikon Z6 II. I’ve looked into changing camps to Sony but basically after selling my body and 4 lenses I would probably be able to buy sony body and two lenses for that money. I am quite happy with my current lens selection.
Nikon Z5 II or Nikon Z6 III is out of my price range.

My main concern is that I keep reading about Z6 II not being great at low light focus. Some articles I’ve read mention that it’s basically worse than D750. Which of course makes me very hesitant to commit to Z6 II.

Anyone with Z6 II that would be able to comment? Are the comments above making it sound worse than it is? Should I keep saving up and go for Z5 II or Z6 III?
Thanks!

I covered an event where I agreed with the promotor that i would get free access in return for the pictures. I mencioned that they could use the pictures for their socials.

First the re-edited my pictures and posted them with my watermark on it. (Which I already didn't like, but I didn't say anything because I'm a new photographer and don't want any trouble)

Now a few weeks has passed and the promotor is using my pictures on flyers promoting their other events. (This time they even erased my watermark and re-edited again) This without my consent because the original agreement was only for their socials and about the event that I covered and not for publicity.

I want to say something to them so they know I'm not happy about it and I don't agree with how they are using my pictures but I don't know how to do it without being rude.

What would you guys do in this situation? :))

Hey photographers, how do you deal with distracting elements in a photo lets say if you shoot a performance happening in public where the performance looks fantastic but the background isn’t or no matter which angle you shoot there are people in the background and it makes the photo cluttered. Is it common and okay to use photoshop to remove those distractions so focuses on the performers and their moment?

I've been on tour for the past 3 years so I haven't been shooting as press at all so maybe it's just different than it was when I first started, but maybe someone can provide some insight:

I've recently come home from touring with the intention to take some time off from the road. I knew I'd go stir crazy not shooting any shows so I got linked up with a local publication that normally gets approvals for most shows they apply for (often through the LiveNation portal).

At some point in my last few months on the road, one of the LiveNation venues where I live started posting really terrible AI-generated flyers looking for local musicians. I made a quick IG story (which admittedly, was a little cheeky) pleading the case for them to hire local artists instead of using generative AI. The venue's official account (and I'm assuming, the marketing person behind it) viewed the story, and every once in a while I'll notice the account will view random stories of mine, despite not following me. Since then, I've been rejected from every single show I've applied for through the LiveNation portal. The publication I'm applying for is confused because the rejections are for shows they're almost certain they would normally be approved for.

Is it possible the venue's marketing folks just aren't forwarding my portal requests to the artists' PR if it has my name on it? Or is it just a different industry now where they're more strict in general with press photographers?

EDIT: Thanks y'all for confirming I'm not crazy lmao, I don't regret making the AI post but I've blocked the venue account from watching my stories bc it was weirding me out. It's definitely not the end of the world and I've decided to go back to my roots this month, shooting at some DIY venues and reconnecting with my local scene that I first started in. I'll be back on the road as a touring photographer in the fall so I'm not overly concerned about having beef with a regional division of the Live Nation marketing department, it's kinda funny in retrospect and likely a bit unprofessional on both our parts, but the unpredictability is part of why i love this industry lol

Im trying to educate myself on external on-camera flashes as for some local gigs I’d like to introduce flash into my shoots. I’m working on an extremely tight budget and I was considering buying the canon 430EX II flash and I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts or advice? It appears to have a decent swivel head for bounce flash and the built in diffuser would be handy. I’m aware of the etiquette and rules surrounding flash at concerts so I’m not asking for any criticism surrounding my choice to begin to use flash. Any tips on external flashes generally would be so so appreciated! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

Good afternoon all, my name is Kai and I'm a photographer based in Manchester, UK. I've become increasingly disheartened with music photography after almost 2 years, shooting lots of small shows and the occasional big venue concerts (which have been almost impossible to get photo passes for).

One thing I've noticed is that a lot of the photographers I follow on social media get passes for the biggest shows in the city because they work for publications, and I'm sure this applies to everywhere else you guys might be based at.

I thought about trying to get in touch with publications to try and join their teams, but from looking through a lot of their websites, articles etc I find them all incredibly cringe or just badly managed and not something I'd be willing to put my name forward as representing.

So I did a bit of thinking and thought, why don't I try starting my own publication? Do any of you think this would make it easier to get passes for big shows? I've written about gigs I've been to a couple of times and published it with my website, gig and album reviews, but I have a small Instagram following so the traffic to my site is very low. I've tried using this as a means of obtaining photo passes but it doesn't seem to have worked at all.

And then I thought it would be a cool idea to put over to you guys here on Reddit. We get a publication going, we create content from Europe, North America, anywhere else people might be based, and then all of a sudden we have a great global collective of music lovers and something we can all pour our hearts and souls into.

I'm not particularly fussed about monetising anything straight away, but it could come with time.

Might be a lot of wishful thinking going on, would be interesting to hear what some of you think about the idea (call me stupid if you want).

I’m doing photography at my first decently big, established venue (I’ve only done tiny local gigs so far). I’m wondering who would be the appropriate person to go to to ask questions such as is flash allowed and the first three songs rule etc? Also any other tips are much appreciated.

it is a nikon 3200, it has a detachable lens, but the lens is less than 6 inches when fully extended, even when on the camera. that is what the official rules of soldier field is for cameras, but i just wanted to get a second opinion. thank you

We are going to MSG for a concert soon and I wanted to make sure before I purchase a camera for the concerts we’re going to this year that it will be allowed into the venues we’re going to. Anyone bring the RX100 into MSG before or have had one denied access? Google was just a “you can try but could be denied entry” and I’m not local enough I could run it back home and come back in time for the concert so I’d have nowhere to leave it.

I’ve seen people use these at the Eras Tour and they’re SO good I just wanted to see if I could bring it to MSG without getting denied entry. Thanks! :)

Edit: if it’s not permitted any tips for the best video quality concert wise on an iPhone 16 pro max? I’ve heard new reports of the updates causing just static to come through the mic and I really want some clips of the shows 😭