This blog usually pertains to a lot of my ranting, and this entry isn't going to be different. I'm going to rant on "fauxtographers" shooting live at shows. Leslie came up with the word Fauxtographer and I thought it was so brilliant, that I'm adding it to my vocabulary. On with the rant...
Last night I photographed my great friends in the band Run Doris Run while they played at Chain Reaction. They opened for a couple of larger acts from Arizona, This Century and The Summer Set. The show was sold out and had a great crowd. Security is pretty lax at Chain and there's almost always a slew of people backstage without proper wrist bands, or clearance and last night was the same except for this time the slew of people were all armed with shiny new Canon Rebels. There were two other photographers who seemed to be there with a purpose, and I've seen them before, so I paid them no mind, and they are exempt from the rant.
What drove me to the brink of murder were the kids on stage with absolutely no reason to be there! When shooting live I like to adhere to the unspoken rules, and these kids had no idea what stage etiquette should be. I didn't have much problem during Run Doris Run because they were opening, and since they asked me to be on stage, I hid behind an amp for most of the show. Before This Century I asked the lead singer if it was cool if I took pictures, and he looked at me bewildered and said "Sure, I don't care". I gave up taking pictures half way through their set because of the other six chicks on stage holding their little Rebels and pretending that they knew what they were doing. I didn't even try to fight that crowd for The Summer Set. See image above, all those people on the left thought they were supposed to be up there. I saw two people working and the rest were holding cameras and dancing! It was ridiculous.

I was so peeved by the end of the evening I started making a list of the unspoken rules of stage etiquette in my head. I've narrowed it down to these...
7. Having a camera in your hand does not give you the golden ticket to stand on stage. Ask permission first, and only shoot from stage if you're supposed to be there! Usually the best photos are from the crowd anyway... just saying.
6. Be courteous to the crowd, no one is there to see you on stage, they paid to see the band. Be respectful of that.
5. Ask the band if you plan on using flash, and only use flash if they say it's okay. Getting blasted in the face with an off camera flash sucks a lot when you don't expect it.
4. Only use flash for the first three songs! This is probably the only spoken unspoken rule. If you're shooting professionally, this is what security will tell you. Use it at small shows too, and deal with it.
3. If another photographer is there and wants to trade places for 30 seconds do it. Be courteous.
2. Stay out of the way of the band! Once again, no one there came to see you. Hide behind an amp if you can, and don't walk across the stage during a freaking song! I've seen that happen so many times since I came here it's been driving me nuts.
1. WEAR EARPLUGS! I can tell you from experience that losing your hearing from shows sucks. I'm 25 and I've lost almost 40% of my hearing, and it's all from not wearing earplugs until I was 21. I carry them with me at all times on my keychain, and I never ever EVER shoot a show without them.

So there you have my rules. I want to print them out on little business cards and hand them out at shows to clueless chicks with cameras. But hey, last night was still a fun time, and I got that top images of Run Doris Run which is printing for my portfolio as I type.