Photographing Concerts: Do’s And Don’ts

Pollstar works with tremendous freelance photographers. 

Scott Legato / RockStarProPhotography.com – Robert Trajijo of Metallica
Voodoo Experience, City Park, New Orleans, La.

They provide us with cool live photos to decorate our magazine, and our covers, and we give them a platform for career development. We asked one of them – Scott Legato – to tell us what makes for a successful career, and how not to suck. How do you get into the pit? What are some of the mistakes that new photographers make?  How do you stay on the good side of publicists?

We thought Scott would have fun with this and he certainly did.  He’s a kickass photographer and has been published via Getty and Associated Press in many music publications from Rolling Stone to, well, us, which probably publishes at least one of his photos every week.

Concert Photography: The Do’s And Dont’s

Ninety percent of all concert photography is related to a media source – media that desires a professional photographer. Yes, a professional photographer.  When film got replaced by digital it put the un in unprofessionalism. There are few that still understand the privilege of photographing a live concert and a saturation of those that are clueless. Concert photography is not only an art but a job – a job that requires professional results. Here are some do’s and don’ts:

Scott Legato / RockStarProPhotography.com – Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day gets the fans rocking out at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit March 27.

The Artist:

The Artist is your subject; you need to respect their performance and their turf. Don’t be a fan in the pit; that’s not why you’re there. Don’t climb on stage to get what you think is a better photo (yes, this happens), do not distract the artist from doing their job. Be stealthy and work your ass off to get great photos that capture the artist’s performance and energy.

The Pit:

The pit is normally full of media photographers; it won’t be hard to pick out the professionals from the wannabes. Respect your peers and give extra attention to the veterans. Do not push and shove to get a spot. Do not raise your camera above your head; you will only be blocking someone else’s shot. Do not wear backpacks; it’s too hard to move around with those bulky humps (besides, most pits are very narrow and moving for different angles are challenging enough).

Respect the fans. Remember, they paid a lot of money to be in the front row and although you will be in their way make it brief and keep low when possible.

Most of all, if you walk into a photo pit with a cell phone, iPad or a point-and-shoot camera, don’t look to gain respect or even a spot to shoot. Professionals use professional equipment, so get some if you’re serious about being a concert photographer.

Scott Legato / RockStarProPhotography.com – Dave Matthews
Dave Matthews gives a passionate performance for the crowd at DTE Energy Center in Clarkston, Mich., June 13.

By the way, the most ridiculous thing I ever seen happen in a photo pit? A girl taking a selfie on her phone, moving all over the place trying to capture the artist in the background while her professional camera dangled by her side.

Scott Legato – J. Geils Band
The Fillmore, Detroit, Mich.

The Photo Pass:

None of the above is possible unless you have been credentialed with a photo pass. Nine times out of 10 this credential will be coming from the artist’s publicist and if you’re lucky enough to acquire the contact information of these firms I suggest you don’t do the following:  Don’t be rude or take offense when the publicist asks you questions about who you are shooting for and so on. If publicists are doing their jobs, they want to know if you are representing a viable media outlet. If your answer is, “I am shooting for myself,” you probably will not get a response.

Be respectful and answer truthfully but don’t ever think you going to strong-arm a publicist into giving a photo pass because you are the band’s greatest fan with a camera; you will just end up on their blacklist.

Most publicists will follow up so don’t tell them some bullshit story; you will be sorry you did. Publicists protect their clients and because of the unprofessional photographers that consume every town in America they are very leery of handing out photo passes to just anyone. My suggestion is find a good media outlet that is looking for good photographers.

Reality:

Scott Legato / RockStarProPhotography.com – Twenty One Pilots
St. Andrews Hall, Detroit, Mich.

I once was new at this and it didn’t take me long to figure out the do’s and don’ts of concert photography. I could tell right away my low-end camera wasn’t going to cut it. I knew it would take the best professional gear that money could buy to excel into this profession. What I didn’t know was the long hours of editing, the lack of sleep and the personal sacrifices that it would take to turn my passion into a profession.  If you want to do this to be cool or get close to rock stars you’re going to get a dose of reality very quickly.  I have seen hundreds of so-called photographers come and go in my years, mostly because they find out that anyone can buy a camera.

Only a select few can master the art.

View more photos by Scott Legato via this link.

– Scott Legato