Blowing my own trumpet + anyone can do it!

[Lorne.t]

I've just been revisiting this thread...

http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=412328

realising it's less than a year since I've picked up a SLR.
My speciality is Music Photography and I've spent the last year or more trying to build up a decent portfolio and contacts shooting various gigs.
I've shot small "anything goes photo wise " gigs but have also obtained photo passes,some made through CD Times but the majority off my own back,through blagging and have shot bands all over the UK and have also visited Texas and Iceland to shoot bands at festivals.
I had my first published work in the Independent in May and had pictures published in the London and National press last week through an agency who I also shot three gigs for this week.
I also covered the Indian Summer festival in Glasgow for the BBC and have shot for a couple of London venues.My work also appears on several bands websites and My Space pages.
This may sound like blowing my own trumpet (which it is!) but it is also a reminder that there's no reason not to succeed in whatever type of photography you are interested in.
Keep putting the hours in and find the subjects that excite you - be it garden gate or rugby team and there's no reason not to get better and maybe do something with the hobby you love!
I'm still only beginning but I have another trip to Texas next month and lots of upcoming London gigs so i'l hopefully improve more in 2007!


(Watch this thread sink like a stone!!!)

[DM]

Well done! Any chance of some more The Sounds pictures? They were really good. :D

[Lorne.t]

There are some on my web site and more on my flickr page if you follow the link from the site...

[Gerschwin]

Good stuff!!
How did you blag the photo shoot passes? Talk to the gig? Did you need to show previous work etc or give rights to all pics to the gig or anything?
Just wondering as they may think your just after access to a free gig lol

....also...what gear do you currently use?

[downhillbiker]

You need to be able to give them (being the venue, PR company etc.) a reason to give you a pass - usually the number of people that will be seeing the photos/article that you're going to do. This generally means you need to have someone wanting to publish your work, like a website, paper etc, so they can obtain a pass on your behalf.

For the smaller gigs, it's easier - the larger ones usually need to be convinced that there's some tangible benefit in giving you a free pass. It's not as hard as everyone would believe though.

[Lorne.t]

Gerschwin- Some stuff I did through shooting for CD Times.I've also shot smaller bands that got bigger over the year,forwarding ,my shots to pr people which has helped me obtain passes for bigger bands that are on their books.I've also offered use of my shots to venues the band have played which has got me a pass for other gigs there.
There are lots of venues in London where you don't need a photo pass and also bigger bands play "secret" club gigs where you can also get good shots without a pass.
It's actually as much about selling yourself than your photo's to get access.I worked as an actors agent in a co-op for three years which has really helped me in promotional side of things.
I'm pasting this next bit from a thread on another forum about the gigs we went to in 2006.This is not all of them but it shows some of the bands I shot ...


Tilly And The Wall (21 times) London,Glasgow,Edinburgh,Iceland,Texas +!!

Metric (6) London,Texas,Iceland

CSS (6) Glasgow,Sheffield,London

New Young Pony Club (2) Leeds,London

Lovebites - Islington Bar Academy London

Hot Club De Paris (3)

The Damned - Islington Academy London

Cortney Tidwell - Bush Hall London

F.O Machete (2) Glasgow London

We Start Fires (2) London

King Kurt - Underworld London

Spear Of Destiny - Islington Bar Academy London

Betty Curse (4) Barfly,Garage,Undwerworld,Metro London

Roddy Frame - ICA London

The Long Blondes (3) Spitz,Kings College,Barfly London

The Chalets (5) Texas,Glasgow,London

Magic Numbers (10+) Dallas,Texas,London,Manchester...

KT Tunstall - Underworld London

The Young Knives (4)

Buzzcocks (2) Perth,London

Guillemots (7) London,Glasgow

Au Revoir Simone (2)Texas,Water Rats London

The Go Team! (5) Texas,Iceland,London,Birmingham

Be Your Own Pet (3) Texas, London - Bush Hall,Bloomsbury Bowling Lane

Lucky Soul (8+)

Missy Higgins

Fields

My Life Story

Shiny Toy Guns

We Are Scientists (2)

The Like
Emmy The Great (2)

June Brides

The Pipettes (3)

The Mighty Roars (2)

Camera Obscura (2)

Lily Allen

Jenny Lewis (2)

Bauhaus

The Research (2)

Giant Drag (2)

Bic Runga

Gang Of Four

Snow Patrol

Cerys Matthews (2)

Get Cape Wear Cape Fly


Love Is All (2)

Mr Hudson And The Library

Lay Low

The Charlatans

The Cribs

Jose Gonzalos (2)

Dr Dog (2)

1990's (3)

Broken Social Scene

Anthony and the Johnsons

Babyshambles

Graham Coxon

And there are more I haven't mentioned.

I currently use a Canon 5D camera which I love alongside Canon 100mm 2.0 and 50mm 1.4 lenses.
I also have a Sigma 24 - 60 2.8 which I generally only use with flash.
I have a cheap Tamaron 70 - 300 4 - 5.6 which I got by with last Summer but I'll be upgrading to a better lens in a few months.
Otherwise I feel i'm covered lens wise.
I also carry my Nikon D50 with me as a back up with a 50 mm 1.4 and the Nikon version of the Sigma wide lens.
If my paid work becomes slightly regular this year I will upgrade my camera as I crop a lot of shots resulting in them being okay for newspapers but too small file wise for magazines even coming out of RAW shooter at best quality.
However that is a lot of money and something I wouldn't rush into.

[Gerschwin]

That's a serious amount of gigs :)
Do you always pay your own way to further afield gigs?

What sort of equipment do you recommend to someone starting out on a budget? Always wanted to get into it but want to test the water first and not splash out mega bucks straight off!

[Lorne.t]

I do unfortunatly though I might be shooting next months SXSW for soemeone which I'll get paid for alongside any pictures that the agency I'm now with try to sell.
I started with the Nikon D50 which is a good camera but I wasn't happy with the D200 when I upgraded so switched to Canon.
Their entry level SLR's will be just as good.
There are plenty people and threads on this forum that will stick up for both firms so look around.
if it's for small gigs the best thing to buy would be a 50mm 1.8 lens as it's cheap and should give you decent results in low light situations.

[Gerschwin]

I do unfortunatly though I might be shooting next months SXSW for soemeone which I'll get paid for alongside any pictures that the agency I'm now with try to sell.
I started with the Nikon D50 which is a good camera but I wasn't happy with the D200 when I upgraded so switched to Canon.
Their entry level SLR's will be just as good.
There are plenty people and threads on this forum that will stick up for both firms so look around.
if it's for small gigs the best thing to buy would be a 50mm 1.8 lens as it's cheap and should give you decent results in low light situations.

Thanks for that - have been watching D50s on eBay (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-582776-5826355) for a bit.

Do you ever edit your pics (apart from cropping)?

[Lorne.t]

Nothing too fancy.I just play with the exposure and add a bit of light and shadow and occasionally white balance the shot.

[Robby]

Well done Lorne, I know how much you love your music and photography and it's nice to see you're getting some success out of combining the two.

[lticket]

excellent to hear you're doing really well :)

i'm trying to push myself as much as possible at the moment... really hoping to sort something out for some of the festivals this year- and keep the club stuff as high profile as poss! now got some studio gear will also be branching into that!

[still average joe]

A look at your site clearly shows you are good at what you do, and deserve success.

But I'm not sure "anyone can do it".

Im surprised by how many people try to flog there stuff and services online when most folk would agree they realy aren't up to the job.

[Lorne.t]

Thanks everyone.
I wouldn't mind getting into studio shots myself but it's coming up with new ideas all the time to keep it fresh.
Iticket - you seem to be doing well with all your club shots anyway,as Robby says,it's great when you can shoot stuff you like.
I'm still plugging away - sent off another request for a photo pass today and I'm still chasing up my photo pass request for SXSW.I didn't have one last year and managed okay but I'd rather have one if possible.