The last ones I tried to take were of The Kinks at one of their last Atlanta gigs, and other than to prove I was there and show them to friends (and later on photobucket) what good were they?
Okay, I admit that if you have one of those super-fantastic Nikons you’d get some very good shots of Ray’s sweat, and maybe some you could sell, but if you had one of those cameras, wouldn’t you be in the section reserved for legit photographers? (Don’t know for sure, just asking, okay?)
Yes, I’ll still buy the overpriced t-shirt (for The Kinks or Stones only, though!), but as far as taking pictures? Nah. I’ll just enjoy the show.
If I’m at a really good show, I might make a half assed attempt to get a shot or two with my cell phone so I could upload it to facebook (just to show people where I am), but that’s about it.
It depends, I’ve done it before, but I don’t make it a habit. However, every show I’m at, I see a crapload of little screens from digital cameras and phones.
I was bitching all over Facebook this morning over this very issue.
I went and saw Gary Numan last night at the Fillmore. Am so old that I am now into my third decade of enjoying his music and it was a great show.
HOWEVER, I could not be more annoyed at the number of people who were holding up their cell phone cameras, blocking the view of everyone behind them. The insidious part is that the show was so highly produced with back-lighting, that I am sure the only thing in the photograph were brightly colored lights and not the artist himself.
Standing right in front of me was a young girl, easily 4’10" who kept putting her camera up above her head (in front of my face) to take useless pictures. Next to her was her 6-foot boyfriend who was dutifully holding his cell phone, recording the entire concert and trying hard not to move or sway to ruin the recording.
Don’t folks just enjoy a show without trying to document it? This was hot, loud, raucous music and the more I moved and danced, the better it was. But a lot of my moving and dancing was to catch a view from around the multiple miniature screens which were being held up.
I went to YouTube this morning to listen to a few of the bits that were captured from these people and, as suspected, the sound quality is horrifically distorted and worthless.
I don’t go to many concerts, but I think I’d feel weird about it. I think it’s just been hammered into me by going to Broadway shows that you just don’t take pictures–it’s the height of rudeness and also against the rules there. So even if it were allowed, I’d feel way too gauche doing it myself.
I have some old pics of Gary Numan at the Warfield, but I’m to lazy to dig them out right now.
I’ve been taking pictures at concerts since the mid-70s. It’s just for fun–I just hope for one or two halfway decent shots. The keys are getting up close and being tall (which I am not). The big problem is it’s too easy to get caught up with taking pictures instead of enjoying the show.
Who doesn’t at a concert? Every concert where photos are allowed these days seems to be filled with people taking snapshots, and even when photos aren’t allowed people will sneak a quick cellphone shot. I only take a few pictures on my dinky Olympus at a show because with my shaky hands it takes forever to focus. But I still do because going to concerts is mostly about the immediacy of the artist and the venue. Professionally shot pictures look way better, but they never capture the moment like my half-assed shots.
Fried Do Ho makes a great point. When I take photos at shows with lots of fancy lights (like last night’s Kate Nash show), the picture’s always blurry. But when I took some photos at a simply staged Jenny Lewis concert two years ago, they came out nearly professional quality even on my dinky digital.
I don’t do it, but at concerts almost everybody is holding up their mobile phone, seemingly capturing video of the show so they can enjoy it later. Too bad about enjoying it while they’re there.
“Oh, is that Beyoncé right in front of me? Better get my mobile out so I can have a nap standing up right here and now, but I’ll be able to watch it later, on a tiny screen, blurry as fuck. That’s the way to experience live music.”
SO MANY PEOPLE take gig photos. Seriously. When I went to see The fucking Pixies last year, I think a sizeable minority of the audience spent the entire concert watching through their phones. Same for Pavement at ATP.
I personally don’t really get the point, but it might be because my gig photos are uniformly dreadful. The only gig I might take a photo at now would be Les Savy Fav, and that only if Tim Harrington came and sweated in my face.
I sometimes take a couple, but they’re usually not very good. (I swith off the backscreen and the flash and use the viewfinder so as not to inconvenience other people. (Which might account for why they’re not usually very good!)
But I have started taking pictures of the empty stage after the performers have left, and the audience is leaving. Much easier to get to the front, nobody to annoy, and using flash isn’t a problem (if it helps, it often doesnt).
They’ve given up on that, although I sometimes used to see ushers/security scanning the audience from behind for the tell tale screen glows.
Now they claim they don’t want good quality pictures taken, so they ban ‘proper’ cameras, even if some phone cams might be more powerful! (i.e. more pixels)
It depends on the venue; my partner has to check her camera at some venues but not others.
I was at a big, crowded street event for Halloween, and sometimes I could only see what was happening by looking at peoples’ camera screens!
I don’t go to big concerts, but I do take pictures at some of the small events that I go to – using decent equipment so that I can take reasonable pictures like this and this. However, these were events where it was easy to get close to the stage.
I go to a lot of concerts, I’ve easily been to more than 100 in my day. I’m ALWAYS front and center, unless it’s a concert with assigned seats, because I love the energy; hey, it’s a nice perk of being the biggest, strongest guy at every show. Anyway, since I always have the best shot, I tend to take at least a handful of pictures during the set of any bands that I like. I often get mementos like picks or drum sticks or set lists, but getting a nice shot of random on-stage antics or someone ripping off an epic solo or hanging out with the bands after the show are just as awesome. But even still, I’ll only take a handful of pictures, because even if I do want a great shot, I’m there for the music.
If it is a show that I am really into, that I have traveled a long distance to see? Then no. I am there to have the experience, and I don’t want it mediated through a bit of electronics.
On the other hand, I shoot concerts professionally, and will sometimes shoot a show for an artist for free giving them a professional product that I will put up on YouTube that will help people decide to see them in concert. I’ve helped a lot of bands in this way.
Good thread. I don’t really go to concerts anymore, since everyone I’d want to see is either dead, or sucks now.
I took my son to see The Black Eyed Peas back in August and was absolutely laughing my head off at everyone EVERYONE! watching the concert through a 2" X 3" screen instead of enjoying the actual show itself!
I have 600-700 photos of Ray and Dave Davies taken over about a 10 year period as well as about 200 of the Saw Doctors; I’ve also photographed a number of local and regional bands for their promo stuff and websites.
In all cases, however, I had permission and/or a press pass, and used an SLR with several lenses, no flash – when you take those sorts of photos, you get to stand in places off-limits to the fans, which also helps to get better shots and angles. I was always pretty good about not getting in people’s way, but one thing that always annoyed me (and annoys the pro photographers who are there on paying gigs; I am not a professional) is when you set up your light metre, and someone with a flash camera snaps one off, ruining your shot.
Nowadays I just go to enjoy the show – it’s true, when you’re busy working and taking pictures, you don’t actually see much of the show until your get your prints back, because you’re too busy setting up angles and shots and fiddling with light metres, &c.
Count me in as another one who’s baffled by people trying to film the entire show on their mobiles, and annoyed by people trying to take crap photos on smaller cameras – I know people might like to have a sneaky photo or two for a souvie, but yer, the ones constantly snapping them off or waving mobiles in your face, not so much.
I saw ZZ top earlier this summer and I snapped about 5 pics during the whole show. One of them came out but it’s enough the show my friends who couldn’t make it. I can’t imagine look at the whole show through my camera though.