Or how I got into a Travis gig... without paying
I am what could be considered an amateur photographer. I have absolutely no intention of turning professional, but I dearly love taking pictures. Some weeks ago, I decided it would be fun to go and photograph a concert; now Aberdeen has many fine small venues, The Lemon Tree has paid host to such bands as Radiohead, Terrorvision and Pearl Jam, but scanning through the local What's On guide, one concert caught my eye, Travis at the rather larger Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.
"Worth a shot", I thought.
My first port of call was the Internet, to find out how photo passes were issued. There were lots of stern guides warning that if you are not taking pictures for a newspaper or magazine, you should not even bother asking. I did not let this discourage me, and neither should you. I did a Google search to find Travis' record company, whose website very nicely listed their manager's email address. Several polite emails later and I was told that when as long as I signed and returned the attached release form, there would be a pass waiting for me at the Gig.
The days passed slowly...
1900hrs, 7th March 2001 and I was standing outside the main entrance. I went to the box office window and was greeted with... "No i'm sorry sir, we have no press pass for a Mr Thomas". AAAARRGGH! I knew this would happen. "But (name deleted) organised it, it should be here!" I feebly replied. 20 minutes, three phone calls, some people talking on a CB radio and a lot of me pacing up and down looking stressed, and my pass duly turned up. To this day I will never know if they just gave it to me because it was less hassle than confessing that they had lost my form.
At this point I was in the venue, I had a pass and I knew basically what to do, but not where or when to do it. I got through about half a dozen stewards before I found one who knew what he was talking about. "In the pit, first three, no flash".
There followed a large amount of time hanging around, chatting to punters and generally waiting for Travis. During this time, I was (depending on who I was talking to), taking pics for NME, Melody Maker or Rolling Stone magazine. Four other photographers turned up, all with identical identikit concert photographing camera kits (Nikon D1, Nikon 80-200/2.8 lens) who looked vaguely amused at my little Canon AE1 and Tamron 135/2.8. Three random women hinted at all sorts of good things if we could get them over the barrier.
The lights dimmed, the music stopped and Travis emerged.
Sing, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, reload.
The Fear, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, reload.
Writing to Reach You, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, relax.
Out of the pit and time to go home. I wandered around taking some atmosphere shots but a nice security man told me to put the camera away.
I have done few things in my life that have given me such a rush, the photo pit is a scary, hectic place. Five photograpers all trying to get the "one true picture". After the gig I was completely drained, I was suffering from an adrenaline crash and the only thing I could think of doing was going to bed.
If you think this sounds fun, do it, its easy. Find a concert in your area with a band you like (or at least vaguely admire), preferably one with an independant record label and start sending letters. All you will need is an SLR with motor wind and a fast (f2.8) lens in the 80-150mm range. Stock up on 800 speed film (I used Fuji Press film) and get to it. Even if the pictures are all crap I will look back on this as one of the best experiences of my life.
If you do it, read http://www.photo.net/concerts/mirarchi/concer_i first.
PS. If the prospect of having lots of young women pat you on the head while you crouch in the photo pit disturbs you, this is not for you, I wonder what happens at a Metallica concert.
I have decided to finish this off with a list of tips for the budding concert photographer:
- Buy good fast colour negative film (Fuji NPH-II 800 for example) and do not be afraid to push it a stop or two if the light is bad.
- Camera shake will kill a picture, do not let the shutter speed fall below 2/focal length seconds. You cann always get the printer to compensate for low light.
- Beg steal or borrow a spot metering camera, meter off the face and be happy. Use a centre weighted meter and prepare to have over exposed faces.
- Do not pack too much equipment, you will barely have time to change lenses. I would recommend 85-100mm as the ideal focus length if you are right up to the stage.
- If you are short of cash, get a fast prime lens, a 100/2.0 will cost far far less than a 80-200/2.8 zoom, it is much lighter and easier to handle, it will be just as sharp and lets in twice the light.
- Pack enough film, you can never have too much.
- Practise loading film until you can do it in seconds (in the dark, in front of an 8 foot stack of sub woofers, in front of 8000 people).
- Be polite to everyone, they are doing you a favour letting you take pictures at their concert so play nice.
- Realise that you did not pay for your ticket, everyone else did so do not block people's views unless it is necessary.
- If you are shooting for fun (as I was), do not get in the other photographers way - they are trying to make a living.
- Chill out, don't worry and have fun!