Photographers WTF????!!!
Ok, as Meatlord Mogumbe Visconti can confirm, I’ve been wanting to write this blog entry for months, but never got around to it. Today I saw a bunch of photos from last Saturday’s show in Munich/Germany and like after every concert I can only say “WTF???!!!”.
My question here to most party/concert-photographers is: What the fuck are you thinking??? Are you thinking at all??
Before I continue my rant, here’s a little background info on myself: I’m a professional photographer. When I am not in the studio working on my music, I take photos for companies like Beiersdorf/Nivea, Universal Music, Warner Music, Gruner & Jahr Publishing and many others. I’ve worked for everyone from huge cosmetics companies to tiny alternative magazines. Here are a few pictures from my portfolio:
I rarely take concert photos these days, but I hope you get the idea …
So: after every show I find 30-100 concert pictures online that are simply the most atrocious and horrible looking pictures ever made of me or my fellow musicians. Mostly they are blurry, taken from terrible angles, showing terrible posture, terrible facial expressions, terrible light, terrible composition, terrible EVERYTHING.
I am not trying to debate the fact that most people who are in front of the stage with a camera have no fucking clue what they are doing. No, what I am asking is: if 97 out of 100 pictures from that concert are terrible – WHY THE FUCK DO YOU INSIST ON POSTING ALL 100 OF THEM???
Ok, two recent examples (photographer’s credit removed from the pic to protect their identity):
Do I look like that on stage? Maybe for a split second, yes. But that’s not what you want to show anyone because that’s not what it looks like on stage (trust me, I know, I’ve seen enough live videos of our shows!).
Let’s rethink this from the beginning. There are a number of reasons why you’d be a photographer at a concert:
a) you want to get in for free
b) you want to be cool and think you can impress the girls with your BIG camera and photopass
c) you actually like the band
d) you actually like taking photos and want to build up your concert portfolio
e) you are there to take photos for a site/magazine/partyorganizer – aka: you were documenting the event
f) you are a freelance photographer who wants to sell the photos later
If you are category a) and b) – why even bother taking any pictures? Or if you have to pretend, why bother with uploading them all? Especially if they reveal that you are in fact a completely shitty photographer?
If you are category c) and d) then you surely do not want to post an endless stream of pictures that make the band look like disfigured orks in Lord Of The Rings or that make your portfolio look like you are a photographer from the a) and b) category!
If you are in category e) and f) then you want something that can actually be used by the people you work for/sell to. You also want to look like a good photographer so they will book you again. Showing 5-10 great pics will do the job. Showing 95 shitty ones will make you look like a retarded amateur. Also, they don’t help in making the show/party/event look like something special. They make the event look much crappier than it actually looked cause of the on-camera flash that you probably used …
If you are just starting out and are still using your camera in “P” mode, it’s all good. Most people have done this. It still doesn’t mean you have to POST EVERY PICTURE THAT YOU TOOK. Understood??
Are there good pictures of my ass? You bet!
So whats the point of all this? The point is that you as a photographer are there to make people LOOK GOOD. To make the party/gig look FUN. To make everything LOOK EXCITING. Choose the best 1-5 pictures and delete the rest. You will never need them. The band will like you cause you made them LOOK GOOD and people will say that you are a good photographer because everything LOOKS EXCITING. You may actually get booked/paid because things LOOK FUN. 1-5 Pictures is more than enough. Get it??? Rant over. Don’t get mad unless I’m talking about you …
Photo by Edwin Van Der Ende
Photo by Martin Black
Photo by Nicole Imhof
Photo by Daniela Vorndran
Cheers man, i picked this blog up from Matt Fanale’s blog. Well said, this should be repeated times a million.
Hey,
very well written mate! As a photographer (and happy you mentioned me as a “good” example) I can only agree… you never should publish pics making the artist look bad etc. Sure, concert photography is not easy, you can have many problems with the lighting. But well, I know ho it is to throw 75% of the pics you took away. Photographery should always ask one question before publishing: Do I want to be shown that way?
CU soon on stage
Dani
Thanks man for writing down what I was thinking of to often during the last month.. There is a reason why I like the really big shows, where the organiser already write in the accreditation that only professional photographers with professional equipment are allowed !
That’s no joke, often I see people with mobile phones or pocket cameras thinking they can take usable pictures from the pit..
Or these photographers from party sites (like partyguide, tilllate ..) which think they are the best and publish 99% shit…
Can’t agree more.
And even if you have a good photographer taking pics (I’m SO lucky to have found a good one for my events), It’s still worth the time picking out the REALLY GOOD ones. Too many pictures is just overkill and people will stop looking at the photos as a whole, I believe.
Well what can I say? I totally agree with you on most aspects!
There is however a point where the people in the category a and b should be somehow stopped from taking photos at all. Photography is something that should be taken seriously at concerts, after all you are in teh way of the rest of the audience.
Then category c and d, well for those it would be wise to find some way to get feedback from other, more experienced, photographers about the quality of their photos. Most however will argue that the experienced photographers had to start as well so you should give them time. End of discussion and from then on one more person to find you an arrogant bastard
As for the e and f, well they normally know what pictures should never be shown because in no way are they ever going to please anybody else than that artist’s worst enemies.
I too started out posting almost every photos that wasn’t blurry and in focus and where the subject didn’t look like an unintentional lunatic. But once you grow the number of published photos keep on decreasing in general. More self critisism will eventuelly lead to that. However depending on the show there can be sure more than 10 good pics, just as well as there can be less (some artists make great music, just a louzy show).
Btw, that picture published here as an example will be shown at my upcoming exposition
[...] voor wie mij niet geloogd, lees dan deze blogpost is van Faderhead. Een fijne mens die fijne muziek maakt en ik al heel fijne fotos van heb – zal er vanavond [...]
Amen to that.. Reminds me I still have to mail a few pictures from Gent – will do that later today.. Seriously hoping they fall into the “good picture” category now.
“Meatlord Mogumbe Visconti”, heeh
As I hate shitty photographs as much as anyone else there is one thing you’re forgetting in your rant. Maybe, just maybe the people who take the photographs just want a remembrance of the performance. They like every photo they took and just won’t trow anything away because it’s an reminder of a great concert (or not). And it’s just plain fun to share this with friends on the internet….
I would bet you found those shitty photo’s on peoples blog, some forum or a hobby website (who hasn’t one?) and not on a professional website. Why bother with those photo’s? It’s not like they are forcing you to use them for promotional use or something. Just let you audience have some fun and put stupid photo’s on the net. They don’t harm anyone and you can have a lot of fun with the poor quality people produce and think it’s “art”.
@Godpipo: you surely must not have read my blog at all??? I am solely talking about photographers who are there to take photos of the show/concert. Not about fans.
Too bad we didn’t make a bet because those pictures are from websites of photographers covering the event. If they are making money off of it is irrelevant (which you would understand if you had read my blog – cause I mentioned it specifically in my categorization of photographers) …
That said, I still don’t understand why even a fan would want to post 20 shit pictures of a gig/party when 3 shit pictures would be enough …
@ Faderhead: Surely I’ve read you blog! Otherwise I wouldn’t leave a reaction, but let me explain what I was saying because I think we misunderstand each other. When I say “fans who take photographs” I include also the people who came there with a mission, to take photographs of your gig (you’re a) till e) ) or even write a little review with it (defiantly an e) ) . I have done this myself in the past and I only went to concerts of bands I liked, so I was there as a fan with a mission.
The photos I took where meant for a semi-professional website (the owner wanted to make money with it) as where the reviews I wrote. I must agree with you just a few pictures is more then enough, 20 pictures is just ridicules but it’s also the photographer is just proud of his/her pictures and like to show them to everyone to see.
Nothing wrong with that and if there really shitty people will just laugh and go on with there life. Shitty photographers only get laughs and not the bread.
While first reading this entry, I felt quite attacked personally. Ok, after reviewing the other guys pics made in München, I understand most parts of your rant. Indeed most of them are just shitty and I couldn’t dare to upload them or even wasting my harddisk space with.
Speaking of the one made by me (first one): If you feel too cool or whatever to accept pics with some irony and fun, just talk to the photographer and every halfway professional working will of course delete it! At the Backstage, we are used to have fun with bands and till now it never was a problem, neither with Ronan nor Vasi or Tom and so most of us lack clairvoyant skills. If you don’t want to be shown as moron, don’t behave like a moron.
About the count, you are right and wrong. Overall, generally _no one_ is interested in concert-pics (so 0 would be an appropriate count), _besides_ the photographers themselves, the artists and a few extreme fans. The latter tend to choose their favourites for themselves and like to have a kind of overview (artists AND concert atmosphere), so after some years of experience 20 to 30 pics seem to be a quite good count for a not-sooo-boring band, as I am not arrogant enough to know every viewers taste. For me, these are (in lightroom-categories) 5-stars and the most intreresting 4-stars, while the other 80% – 90% are deleted immediately.
Overall, photos are a question of personal taste. For my eyes, your concert-example is a foggy mush, the first “good” example (by Edwin) looks like a homunkulus and the last (by Daniela) is simply technically insufficient, while the ones my Martin and Nicole are great. Doing concert pics is somewhere between craftsmanship and art. The craftsmanship is to know your equipment and what to sort out. The art is to make “good” photos (not only wtfwowthisownspics) with the available equipment while handicapped by bad circumstances. At most indoor concerts of the dark scene there is _really shitty_ light, ugly smoke and hyperactive artists. While still some of my pics are technically and artistically “better” as the ones made by some magazine-guys with lenses which are worth more as my complete equiment incl. PCs.
To your points a) to f) (maybe same amount of polemic):
a) entry fees are normally cheaper than the working hours to process the pics
b) this is only for those ugly ones who just can’t do anything with a microphone
c) yes, good point – like the band, take memories
d) yes, but no one starts as pro
e) yes, but most sites and orgas wan’t more than five pics. These are not the times of magazines with space for some single pictures, but web 2.0 storing millions and billions of pics.
f) yes, if you are
So after MY rant, about YOUR rant, last but not least a few words about the ones really deserving some words.
a) You are right, there is NO WAY to use a flash at concerts. Most orgas doesn’t even permit flashes (Blackpaintingcrew usually too) and while teenytiny on-camera flash is perfect for goth guests (burnsacne and crincles) even a 1000€-fcukme-flash is death to all concert pics. It’s shit for the artists, it’s shit for the crowd and even shit for other photographers.
b) Technically insufficient pics are fu. Out of focus? Delete! Motion blur! If it’s not REALLY cool, delete! Noisy as hell? If there were even two minutes light enough to not need a night vision device, delete!
c) Redundand pics suck. If an artist really was so boring that he has only one or two poses, at least try to differ some pics with interesting color setting and dump the rest.
To a last personal word. If you feel affected by bad photos, talk to the photographers, let them show their results and ask about deletion. If you don’t want any photos, talk to the orga. If you want no flash, talk to the orga. If you wan’t real fcuking professional whoawow pics, pay for.
Dear “Neo”,
thanks for your reply. Needless to say I disagree with everything you say.
Good luck with your photography!
I am a photographer of Category E for an online magazine.
Sometimes I am photographer of Category F and for my two favourite Bands sometimes of category C.
You say, that 1 or 5 great pictures were enough. I still agree with you, I say that just one really good picture of Shoot makes the complete Shoot usefull. But the Problem is, my Onlinemagazine don’t make a gallery for 5 photos, they want at least 8, better 12 oder 20 pictures.
If I can only take in the first three songs my pictures, I must give all my power, to make 10 interessing, different pictures. It’s really hard work.
I have seen the original gallerys of munich, and have talk about this gallery and your blogentry. And we can understand you. I don’t have seen so much bullshit on a webspace. I can’t understand why the webmaster uploads this waste and produce useless traffic.
I take concertphotos since 2006 and I have never used a Flashlight, because I really think Flashlights a concertphotography is something for pussys. If the light is so badly, than must I use my creativity and my technological knowledge to make the best out this situation and must use some programms to optimize the pictures.
Sorry for double post.
adorable
@ rob
Did you propose your magazine to do not creat a gallery for 12-20 pictures in mid-quality in return just ilustrate the concert review with 1-5 very good pictures? I’m pretty sure, with this you will get more views on the magazine!
@ Neo
I often see people with pocket cameras or mobile phones in the stage pic, trying to shoot some pics.. after that they publish all these pictures and no one cares about.. but in the end, the artist will find these pics and start to make more and more limitations to get an accreditation (stage pit rules, contracts etc..), which ends, that the professional photographers will have much harder life ..
@ all
For the next time you will have really less light, think about in put the camera back to your bag and just forget shooting. I alway say to myself in this situation:
“If the band would like to have good pics, they would have more light on stage.. otherwise I will not support this act with pics”.
By the way, I fall into category e) and f) shooting for a press agency, bands, organiser .. publishing online and print .. if you want to get booked again, make a good set of 2-8 highquality pics and everyone will remember you !
By the way, in my opinion reviewing and making a selection is also a ability of a good photographer. Also well known names like James Nachtwey doing thousands of pictures for one reportage. But in the end, he has the competence in telling a story of a whole war with 10-20 pictures out of these thousands he made .. this is also a really important skill for a good photographer !
Darklight is completely right.
A great example for how it can be done is the Reflections Of Darkness webzine. Enough photos of each band to give an impression of the gig/festival.
Check out an example here:
http://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5382&Itemid=43
Darklight, the problem is, they want an own gallery per band. Not one for the hole festival or complete concert, so I must give than round about 10 pics. I think that is not the problem to make 10 good pictures of a long and good show under the following Conditions:
1. Some different Lightsetups in the Show
2. Using special Instruments for some Songs (Like using a special guitar)
3. I can shot more than the usual 3 songs. (Often allowed in smaller locations)
4. Using of differnt postions (Front of Stage, from the visitors point, From the end of the hall)
5. Chaning or evolution of the outfit of the actors (taking of the shirt for example)
It’s simple, my chief says: “Bring me at least 10 pictures” So I have to bring him at least 10 pictures. But I don’t publish blurry, unsharp, bad exporsured pictures or photos with horrible faces. I must do the best with my task, to bring at least ten pictures. If I can’t bring the ten pictures, I will tell m chief that, but I don’t give him pictures, which could be negative for the band. (Horrible Faces, or really bad positions etc.)
I don’t have to produce high resolution Pictures for the online magazine, so I have bigger tolerances for noise and sharpness. This is a small advantage for me. With some optimizing in photoprogramms I can use them for the online magazine. Yes, if I had to shot for other uses (promotion, print or something else) I have to make a higher quality, but I don’t have to bring them 10 pictures
And I think, the only situation, that I will leave my cam in the bag is when the hall is complete dark, because the power for the lights will be off
I have learned it to handle every lightning situation, okeh sometimes it is really hard, but it’s my job and I have to do the job.
rob L
I definitely agree!!
Thats one of the point why I hardly shoot at concerts anymore – not because I’m a shitty photographer (haha) – no! Because of shitty photographers with even more shitty Camera staying in front of me or ran through, while I’m doing a pic.
The main question in my opinion is…. and thats the other point.
Why do they let in sooo many photographers??? Like WGT or sth. do they really need 100 photographers in the pit? Do we all need 10.000 Webzines on the internet writing about the same concert?? – Can’t imagine! 20 or maybe 30 from different countries are enough!
There are few really good Zines and photographers and sure, they started with tiny cameras as well – but in theese times, good cameras are payable and every photographer – who wants to be a good one – should have one! They aren’t so expensive like 5 years ago.
Within last 2 or 3 years things in concertphotography went terribly wrong.
Tons of photographers in the pit and silly rules for photographers in there. I don’t want to work on just one place like 50cmx50cm and capture the same pose again and again while I can’t move coz other 99 people staying around there or the orga wrote my name there on the ground. WTF??
I think everyone should sort things out!
*) Photographer – shitty pictures
*) Orga – shitty photographer with shitty cameras
*) Musicians – doing the same pose over and over again within the first 3 songs…. it’s very funny to see how they have better light or much better pose and not jumping around during these (important) three songs.
I think everyone would be much happier following these 3 little suggestions…
Just my two cents…. – Oh and sorry for bad english…
Faderhead, you are right.
I am very happy to read from an artist something about Concertfotography.
And thank you to show my pic as a good example.
See you on Mera Luna again.
Martin Black
Art-in-Black
I don’t think you should complain about bad photographs.
1, they may be bad photos but perhaps they are practising photographers, I have a friend who is 17 and would love to be a proffesional concert photographer one day, but if she deletes all the bad ones she will not know what to improve on.
2, any publicity is good publicity, especially in this scene were i am the only fan in the whole country it feels! lol. So as a fan i am eager to see ANY photos, whether there rubbish or not.
Hi,
you’re right!
That’s why we do show only 10 pics from each gig – that’s enough. And furthermore it shoul be normal to delete (or not to show) pics where the musicians look “odd”.
Greetings Alex
You are freakin’ awesome!
This is the Voice of a Fan.
Sure thing i can totally agree to what was written in your Rant. Can’t Argue about Taste though but many published Photographies are obviously bad ones. Period.
But: Look at it this Way… There is this Quote that holds some Truth: Any Publicity is good Publicity (and its cheap Commercial as well).
By the Way i think your Blog is awesome.
Greetings Micha
Hi,
thanks for the great quality of your blog, every time i come here, i’m amazed.
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