Live Music Photography in NZ

P.S The violinist in the picture above is Anita Clark, whose artist name is Motte. Very much suggest checking out her work.

P.PS. Support live music in New Zealand! There are some incredible bands and singer songwriters on the scene at the moment. Head along to your local live music venue and check them out.

FAQ for people interested in becoming a music photographer

Know your way around a camera and want to do some music photography in New Zealand? This section is for you.

Q. How do I get started in music photography?

Make sure you have an understanding of how to take pictures in low light conditions because concert photography will often take place in rooms with very little light. You don’t need to have perfect application of this, but you do need to know the basics of taking pictures in low light.

Once you have that knowledge, a good way to get started in music photography is to take pictures of a local band at a local live music venue. Look at what’s on at the venue and find a band or artist that you think you might enjoy listening to. Search for bands or singers that are not huge (e.g, you’re not going to get invited to a famous band - look for the ones that just popular locally). Then, find their contact details and write a polite and respectful email asking if it would be possible to take pictures of them during their gig. Most bands or artists will respond directly and say they’ll leave your name on the door. Then, attend the gig, take pictures, and send ones you are proud of to the band after as a courtesy. After that, ask yourself if you enjoyed the experience and want to repeat it. If so, find another band performing at the same venue and repeat the process. This is a good way to start an interest in live music photography.

Q. What advice can you give to someone interested in live music photography?

Be friendly and polite to the people you meet at the venue, from the door staff to the bar staff, to the lighting desk, to the band members, and to the people who have paid to see the band/artist. Don’t act in a way that will negatively impact the experience for someone who has paid to attend the gig. Inexperienced photographers/videographers overshoot and get in the way of people who are there to enjoy themselves. Avoid being that person. Instead, be precise, quick, and tick the boxes of light, timing, composition.

Most of all, try and consciously avoid doing what other photographers do. Strive to find your own style early on. The first step to this is study music photography. If you make a picture and you think it is incredible and no-one has done it before, it is most likely not true. You need to be conscious of what has come before you and be respectful of the founders of this genre of photography. Ultimately, there are only so many pictures you can take of someone standing still on a stage holding a guitar. If you took 50 shots of someone doing this, you only need two at most. Be brutal and ignore the rest.

Q. What is the one tip you can give to become a better live music photographer?

If it is a small music venue instead of an arena environment where you are invariably told where to stand, then my advice is to arrive at the venue early and predict how it will fill with people. For example, you might want a shot from right in front of the lead singer in which case you will most likely be unable to get in position once the gig has started. Therefore, start in the middle and then politely move sideways where there will be more space. You can typically shoot with more freedom on the sides before you move to the back of the room for a shot from distance.

Q. How do you shoot music photography?

1. Ideally have two camera bodies, one with a wide angle prime lens, such as a 24mm, 28mm, or 35mm, and a second camera body with either a 70-200mm or 85mm. If in an arena, you will need a 70-200mm above every other lens. If you are in a small venue, a 70-200mm can be too cumbersome. Use an 85mm instead.

2. Be mindful of your ISO. Depending on your camera’s sophistication, you need to be conscious not to go too high in the ISO level to avoid really noisy photos. For example, you can be at 5000 ISO in a Canon R6 Mark II, but I would want to be at a lower ISO in a camera that is not so advanced.

3. Always shoot RAW.

4. If indoors, and there is low-level lighting, you’ll probably need to shoot at 1.4 or 1.8 if you have a lens that has that aperture range.

5. Try to avoid going below 1/125 unless you are looking for a particular effect. You shouldn’t be shooting at a high shutter speed either as this will mean you’ll need to increase your ISO, which will lead to noisy pictures.

6. Practise changing your camera settings without taking your eye away from the eye cup. That means knowing exactly where each button is that you need to adjust: ISO, aperture, shutter speed, plus, knowing any shortcuts such as white balance, if working with manual white balance. If working fully manually, that is manually focusing, then practise that too. Should things go out of focus you need to know why without having to look at your camera. For example, you may have accidentally nudged the diopter (the grooved wheel next to the eye cup), or flicked from AF to MF on your lens without knowing.

7. Don’t be one of those photographers who compose using the live screen. You know, the ones who hold the camera out away from their face and spend time fiddling with buttons instead of looking at the action. Be professional and look through the viewfinder.

8. Never chimp unless you are doing a test shoot. Chimping is when you take pictures then look at the screen and scroll through. There is no need to do this if you have taken a test shot right before the first note is played and you know the light is fixed, or almost fixed. If you chimp, you miss key moments and you look vain and unprofessional.

9. If you want shoot film, then you will need a high speed film such as 3200. Shoot wide open, e.g, at 1.8, and keep your shutter speed down to say 1/125. It’s unlikely, unless the venue is well lit, that you can go over 1/125. With high speed film, brace yourself for grain. It can look moody and impressive, but can also cause problems if the venue is incredibly dark (most live music venues area) and you are presenting the picture on a big format such as an A2 print. In this case, drop down to an A3 size.

10. Always have your camera bodies attached to you in the venue and as enter and leave the venue. When in a venue you need to be mindful of all the things that can damage your lens and your camera body. If in a small venue and you are standing near a bin you will get sprayed with liquid as people will throw their cans or bottles into the bin. This means you need to keep your lens pointing down when not shooting, or, stand away from the bin. This is tricky as bins are often placed where you want to stand. Also, if you have your cameras on a clip, you still need to hold onto them as you leave a venue. Hold them tight to your body and protect them like you would a child. Then, if in a location that you are uncertain of, just be street wise and watch your back as you head back to your car. Finally, once in the car, lock the doors straight away. It’s natural to put your camera gear on the passenger seat. Try to get in the habit of putting them out of sight in the footwell and cover them with a towel.

Q. What are the rules of live music photography?

Each venue and artist will have rules, though if you are photographing a local band in a local venue they may be a little more relaxed. In contrast, for more established artists at the bigger venues, photographers are commonly allowed to take pictures for the first three songs and then they have to stop and leave the designated area. Sometimes, it can be less than three songs, or, it may be the second and third song. At the smaller local venue you may be able to take pictures all concert. If in doubt, ask the point of contact for the band. Some things that will be the same irrespective of the band or location will be that you should never use flash, and you should turn off the assisted beam on your camera. If you use flash while taking pictures of a band or artist, and you know you shouldn’t, then you need to have a word with yourself.

Q. Do you need to work for a media organisation to be allowed to take pictures?

For the bigger acts and bigger venues, this is typically the case. For the smaller venues, there may not be any other photographers there. Or, there be one or two more. Say hello and introduce yourself. Again, it pays to be pleasant, nice and humble. No-one likes a photographer who thinks they’re the man.

Q. Where can you view music photography in New Zealand?

New Zealand’s music scene is covered by music platforms that include (but are not limited to) Ambient Light, Muzic.net, 13th Floor, Rolling Stone NZ, Under the Radar, Moments Passed, From the Pit, Music Nation, Flying Nun.

Q. Can you recommend music photographers in NZ to check out?

Yes, there are many photographers in New Zealand whose work I think you should check out. These include Chontalle Musson and Dave Simpson.