Concert photography at smaller venues
When we recently posted our guide to concert photography, someone rightly pointed out that the tips were mostly geared towards larger venues with photography pits. This is true, of course, and in my eagerness to tell you all I know about taking photos, I completely forgot about the smaller concert rooms. Shame on me!
Of course, the same person also tipped me off to a site that does have a good guide to concert photography at smaller venues – Excellent!
Onno’s article on Concert photography is largely about taking photos at smaller venues, and offers useful advice, such as “Don’t be annoying” and “Don’t move around constantly” – both which are excellent, but are probably most useful to amateur photographers – if you are there to take some photos of your favourite band, then the advice offered by Onno is good. If you are there to work, you have to act like a professional: You’re not there to enjoy the gig (you can do that after you’ve put your camera away), you are there to capture the action.
The article writer gets excellent results with his method, but when photographing at small venues without a pit, there are still a few things you have to think about, and not annoying people is only one side of it. However, if you are at the venue to do a job, then you have to get your elbows out there, and get the job done: If you have to move through the crowd to get a particular shot, then that’s what you have to do.
Other things I don’t agree with in the article is the notion that you should bring a bag with you. Hell, it’s difficult enough to move through crowds with a camera without having a bag to worry about. So don’t bring a bag, and only put the lens you think you are going to get the most use out of. Make sure your batteries are full and that you don’t have to swap memory cards, too, because you don’t want to be fiddling with your camera in the middle of the action.
One thing that I missed, though, which Onno covers very well, is this:
Keep an eye out for the most active band members. If someone does certain things that seem to show their personality well, try and catch that. People don’t look good with their mouth open towards a microphone. Wait for them to step away from their standard spots so you can catch them off guard and in a different pose from the million other photos out there.
In other words, between our concert photography article and Onno’s article with the same subject, you should be an expert. Now go out there, and get those photos!
Making money off your concert photos
Originally, we had a lot of information here on how you could monetize your concert photography, but it all became a bit wieldy. I would strongly recommend you have a look at our seperate writeup on event photography, and our making money off your photos article.
My day job, if it can be called that, is being a writer. I've got one book out there so far and it's awesome, so go ahead and buy a copy! It's available from 
In front of you, five hyperactive men with guitars, drums, and microphones. Behind you, five thousand fans. In your hands, a camera... You're going to need more than just a little bit of good luck to pull this one off. That's where this book comes in.
Take a Canon EOS 450D. Attach a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens. Hit the streets of London. See what happens.
Insights, suggestions and comments
“Now go out there, and get those photos!”
I did…I did! Here’s some of mine…hope you like:
http://garethglynn.smugmug.com/gallery/1540489
http://garethglynn.smugmug.com/gallery/1517301
http://garethglynn.smugmug.com/Music
yo turk, i just recently done a gig for my friends band, keep in mind it wasnt my camera, so couldnt really play, and i had already had a good few too many jars.
b out.
So far, all that I’ve done are small venues. With regards to bringing a bag, I’ve found that knowing the sound guy (if they are the “in-house” sound guy/girl) you can leave you bag at the sound booth. Most clubs I’ve been to have security that watch the booth too. This can allow you to access your bag if necessary between bands/sets. I’ve also been able to use a power outlet from time to time to keep my batteries charged during some all day events!
Side note: Fantastic blog, thank you for creating it!
Eric
Hey, very useful site, im photographing my first gig tommorow, its a friends band and they want to use the photos on their website, do i need to get them copyrighted or anything first? and if so how?
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