I've started work on a book, I actually told a mate of mine, Paul, about it tonight, so that means I have to do it! - But more on that later! I was going through my Lightroom library and just laughing at the change in style and / or quality of the photos I've been taking over the last couple of years, music photos... From my first attempt at photographing some musicians in a dark pub to the larger stuff I'm doing these days - only one thing matters and that is that I get what I want out of the shoot. I'm not (A lot of the times) shooting for anyone other than press, and, as such I can pop into the pit, take a wide and a portrait and I'm done - but that's not why I'm there... I'm a music lover first and a photographer along side that. A music photographer, I think, can't capture the emotion on the faces of the people he's (or she!) photographing unless he (yes, or she!) understands the music, where it goes, how it runs and twists. I can air drum to any CD, Amy Grant included, I can get the most out of a piece of music - twice recently I've been stopped in my tracks by something that I thought I'd not totally enjoy... Acker Bilk the other night and a moment at the Benicassim Festival when, before the crowds were allowed into the main stage, I was standing listening to line checks early in the day and the audio engineer popped some Bach on - and we're talking a volume that would explode a small child at fifty paces... It was truly amazing! From there, we're moving swiftly on to Metallica, Linkin Park and NiN this coming weekend - so, I'm not precious with what music I will attempt to capture, I love music first and love capturing it equally first...
Dave Matthews from a recent show at the Brixton Academy
and then, moving back some time..
And, then back to one of my first gigs which, it turns out, was April 28th, 2008... My wedding anniversary?!
I really do find it amazing, the process, the trials associated with obtaining that magic "get me to the front" pass... One piece of advice I'd give to anyone trying to make it in this game - be kind to everyone you meet.
Sime - Music Photographer