Rock Out

I hate rock music. It was unfortunate that I did not remember this until I was standing with my camera in front of hundreds of people eagerly awaiting a Skillet concert. Skillet, a Christian rock band, had offered me the gig a few weeks earlier and I had eagerly jumped at the chance. This was the concert that would officially initiate me as a "concert photographer"—I had shot for Gable Price and Friends earlier, but this was the first time that I had to sign contracts, split legal ownership of the images, etc. After listening to of few of Skillet's songs beforehand, I had not fallen in love with their music, but I was super excited to shoot for them nevertheless. Under the terms of the contract, I was to shoot the first three songs of their set, a rule very common at concerts (they do not want photographers to be a distraction the whole night).  

The problem for me, however, lay in the fact that Skillet had two bands opening for them. I was only under contract with Skillet, so I technically had no right to photograph the earlier bands. Both of the opening bands were heavy rock bands, so I am not exaggerating when I say that it was painful for me to sit through. The band members were incredibly talented—especially the guitarists, but it was just not my kind of music. About halfway through the first band's third song, I was losing my mind just standing around with my camera. To be perfectly honest it was super awkward to be at the front of the crowd—alone—while everyone jumped around dancing behind me. Finally, I could stand it no longer and I decided that I would shoot the opening bands to "warm-up" and I would not use or share the images. This gave me something to do and ended up being a wise decision because I got to practice shooting in the unusual lighting situation.

As soon as I popped off my lens cap I felt right at home. I began moving around the venue and taking some amazing photos. By the time the second band, Adelitas Way, came out I was surprised to find myself enjoying some of their music. When they had finally wrapped up their final song, I was officially ready to shoot the main event. As everyone began cheering for Skillet to come out, I took my place in front of the barrier. 

The next three songs went by faster than any other time in my life. Colored lights flashed, music blared, people screamed and pumped their fists, and I captured all of it with my camera. I ended up stepping back into the crowd to use them as foreground in my photos. The photo pit is great, but it can only give a certain look to your photos. Half of the time you are shooting up the artist's nose and the angles are weird. Once I moved into the crowd, however, there was a lot more to capture and many more stories to tell. Phones raised into the air made for great leading lines to the center of my photos. During the last song, the lead vocalist for Skillet strapped smoke canons onto his arms and shot them over the crowd. That photo remains one of my favorites today.

As soon as the third song finished, I gathered my gear and headed for the door. As much fun as I'd had shooting the concert, I had other places to be once my work was finished. As I headed through the back alley to my car, I saw the members of Adelitas Way packing up their trucks. I honestly did not think much of it until I got to my car and realized that I was missing out on a great opportunity. So, I made my way back over to them and introduced myself. I humored them with my story of shooting their performance and they ended up permitting me to post their photos as well. It ended up being a super cool experience and I made a connection that I totally would have missed out on it if I had not made the conscious effort to introduce myself.

This has proved itself time and time again in this industry. You will miss out on so many amazing opportunities if you do not take the time to reach out to people. Whether you make a phone call, send an email, or schedule a face-to-face meeting, make sure you take time to introduce yourself. Explain what value you could add to whatever the situation is and see what happens. 

Hope y'all have an amazing week!

-Luke