Goodnight Sunrise in the Desert.
Working with bands: Do's and do Not's
One of the e-mails I most frequently receive goes something like this...
"I want to photograph bands like you do. How did you get to photograph bands like Goodnight Sunrise, We the Kings, and All Time Low?"
These e-mails usually come to me from 15 year old girls. To which I mentally respond... "Do you want to photograph bands like these, or do you want to date the boys in these bands?"
I think that female rock photographers have the hardest time being taken seriously because of the over abundance of teenage girls calling themselves "photographers" in a ploy to hook up with the cute lead singer. This phenomenon also leads to bands thinking of female photographers as glorified groupies, and me getting slapped on the ass. So 15 year old girls, KNOCK IT OFF!
But back to the question at hand. Suppose you're like me and you're in it because you love music, and aren't necessarily in it for the fun of having a boyfriend on the road six months out of the year. I started photographing bands that I was friends with. Photographing your friends bands is easy because if you screw up, they'll usually be cool and understand. You can spend a lot of time getting it perfect. I've been photographing Goodnight Sunrise since 2006. I've built a relationship with that band and they're like family. They never hesitate when I have a crazy idea or a new technique I want to try out. That being said they're usually on the cutting edge as my style develops.
If you're like me as I said, and are photographing bands because you love music, you shouldn't have a problem meeting tons of local bands. If you don't have any friends in bands, start going to shows and talking to people. When I was working on The Forgotten State I spent 2 years embedding myself into the scenes in different cities. If I wasn't at a show 3 hours away in Missoula, I would get a call from someone asking where I was. I can't stress enough how important it is that you have to LOVE it. Love is an understatement. You have to eat, breathe, sleep, dream, and sweat music. If I find myself in a slow spot where I'm not booking much, I make a point to go to all the shows I can of bands I've photographed. I'll dust off my live shooting skills, and get introduced to the other bands playing. Maintaining relationships with the bands you work with is important because if you're nice, they will want to work with you again. If you act like a big shot during the shoot, and spend more time dropping names than taking photographs, the band will most likely tell their friends that you were a pain to work with.
Most importantly make sure you listen to what the band wants. If you have a fantastic idea that you're excited to do that involves fireworks and a slip and slide, but the black metal band isn't feeling it, you need to respect that. That also goes the other way, if the band wants to be photographed in their tighty whiteies and you don't feel comfortable with it simply tell them All Time Low already did it, and you don't want to copy someone else. Stick to your guns. I have a lot of little personal rules that I try to follow at all times. I very very rarely will photograph a band where anyone is smoking, because I don't want to portray it as cool to their young fan base. It's an extreme pet peeve of mine when a band of 18 year old boys wants to be portrayed in that way to their 14 year old fans. Moral rules are tricky because if the band is dead set to be chain smoking in a hotel full of call girls and drinking, they'll find a way. I've been flat out ignored, and a band has started smoking anyway because they really wanted to look like "players"... with cancer in their future.
Last but not least RESEARCH! Read every music magazine you can get your paws on! Keeping up to date on what's trendy in photographic styles is essential. If you don't know what a band means when they come up to you and say they want their photos to look "Spin Magazine" then you're screwed. Spin and Alternative Press have totally different photo styles. Chances are if a band is coming to you wanting AP photos you have that style already. Bands are pretty good at researching photographers before they plunk down their hard earned merch dollars. Don't stop at reading magazines either. I have a coffee table full of around 20 photo books by everyone from Franchesca Woodman to Annie Leibovitz. Don't settle for trying to emulate the photographers in Alternative Press, strive to be like the best of the best. Go sit in Barnes and Nobel for a day and look through high end fashion, music, and culture magazines. I even read wedding magazines looking for new lighting styles to try out. If you don't read PDN, start now. Photo District News has some great lighting set ups in the back of the magazine, and lots of interviews with world class retouchers. I've gleaned a ton of information from that magazine.
To sum up...
Be professional, especially if you're a girl.
Love music, or find a different niche.
Listen to what the band wants, and make sure they respect your style and moral code.
READ! Get off the internet and go to the library or a book store!
P.S. Stop calling photographs "shots"! God it's annoying.
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