How to Be Music Photographer
Making a living by following rock bands around the world and going to gigs every night sounds like a pretty good way to spend your working life. Establishing yourself as a music photographer is no walk in the park, though. Although the Internet has increased the demand for music photography through the emergence of myriad online music magazines and artist sites, the ease with which photographs can be taken and sent digitally by anybody with a computer means that it can be hard to get the money you deserve unless you're at the top of your game. You'll need a good eye, solid networking skills and a dogged determination if you're going to build a full-time career as a music photographer.
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Instructions
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Learn how to take photographs. Although there are no specific courses to teach you how to be a music photographer, you'll benefit from signing up for a photography course. There's no need to embark on a 3-year degree program, though. A short evening course at a local college should be enough to help you understand the basic theory and practicalities of how to use a camera.
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Attend local gigs with your camera and start shooting. If you can, get permission from the artists to get up on stage with them. It's highly unlikely that you're going to get to photograph a multi-million selling superstar when you're just starting out, so be prepared to start at the bottom. Once you've taken a few pictures, offer them to the artists you've been shooting for free to use on their websites and in promotional material. You can also approach local magazines, newspapers and music websites to see if they'd like to use your work.
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Invest in a decent digital SLR camera once you've started to build up a body of work. It's all very well starting off with an entry level camera -- in fact working with a basic camera can often help to improve your photography -- but you'll get better results if you spend a few thousand dollars on upgrading and using professional lenses and speedlights.
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Set up a website or use an online image hosting service to showcase your work. As well as possibly making some sales and raising your profile, you'll be able to point potential clients to your online presence to show what you can do.
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Contact artists, venues, record labels, management companies, newspapers and magazines on a regular basis to ask if they need a music photographer. Call the photo desks of newspapers and magazines, check musicians' websites for contact details, and get in touch with the press offices of both major and independent record labels. You'll be working as a freelancer, so the work isn't going to come to you. Offer your services to up-and-coming bands and solo artists for a whole tour. You may even get a book or exhibition out of it if the artist you're working with hits the big time.
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Sign up with picture agencies to sell your work. Although they'll take a healthy commission on any sales they make, they'll have access to a national or international market that you would find it impossible to reach alone. Approach agencies such as Retna, Magnum Photos and Getty Images to see if they might be interested in carrying your work.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Creatas/Creatas/Getty Images
