Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/03/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> From: Bmceowen@aol.com > Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: concert shooting (was Leica Camera-Handling) > Wow. I had no idea your clandestine work was so well respected by the > performers themselves. With this kind of relationship I'm surprised that you > don't simply ask for credentials so you don't have to sneak around. <snip> > Is there some reason you prefer > remaining anonymous when you shoot? Well, I actually hardly shoot concerts at all these days. You get older, and the passion for rock music wanes. If it's something that I want to go and shoot badly, I will try the avenue of tour bookers and record companies, or simply get access to the artists or tour managers immediately prior to the show, during sound checks. Usually if I know the artist, they'll okay it. I rarely shoot clandestine any more. Most of the clandestine shoots from the past 15 years now comprise a small music portfolio, and that's sufficient to get me access. But without those clandestine shots in the first place, that portfolio and subsequent access may well have been impossible. Now days I usually go to concerts when I'm given (I get lots of comps) tickets for shows on the day of performance, and I tend to just go and enjoy the music. When you've shot bands like Sonic Youth a dozen times (that band is pretty camera-friendly, even though tickets usually stipulate a no-camera policy), it gets redundant to keep documenting them, when all I really want to do is kick back and have the music wash over me instead of getting frustrated by backlighting problems, etc. I now only shoot artists that I'm totally enthusiastic about but have never shot, and I try as many channels as possible to secure official access instead of sneaking the camera in. Most times this works, but when I was younger and didn't have a body of photos, it seldom did. BTW I got into photography after one time helping a friend sneak a lens into a Frank Zappa concert. His shots weren't fantastic, but they presented a record of the event that was much cooler to me than a ticket stub, and that's when I bought a used Nikon FM at a pawn shop and learned photography so I could take my own concert shots. I don't really condone anybody else "breaking the law," but it's how I got into the medium in the first place, got into publishing, and met lots of fascinating people along the way. - ------------------------------------------------ DGF PHOTOGRAPHY http://home.golden.net/~tekapo