How To Photograph a Band
By Shawn Petrovich of Totally Ripped of Los Angeles, which specializes in photography and video of fitness models.
One of the most common photography assignments can be the job of photographing a band. Shawn Petrovich of Los Angeles' Totally Ripped Photography offers this advice to photographers seeking to discover how to photograph a band.
First, Choose a Controllable Location: A Music Venue or Studio
We highly encourage you not to photograph a band in a bar or night club. Here is our reasoning:
- Photography is fundamentally about capturing light onto a medium.
- Bars and nightclubs are all about having less light (being dimly lit).
- Darkness, heavy shadows are a photographer's enemy.
- When you hold a photo shoot in a bar, you are going against the fundamental principles of photography. You need light!
- Bars are all about alcohol and drunk people.
- You cannot fully control drunk people.
- A professional photographer needs full control of his or her photography "set."
Therefore, you make your job much more challenging by trying to work in a setting that you cannot control. You might even be required to hold a re-shoot since the chances of the results not being adequate. So, save yourself time by using "best practices" when arranging your shoot.
Professional hollywood productions seek to control every aspect of a production - for a reason. Too many things can and will go wrong if they are not in control. They also need to control the amount of light available. Their production cannot be controlled by whatever random lighting that is available on location - and bringing lights to a location involves more work. Will all the drink bar patrons be happy if blaring lights are directed into their eyes - if you hold your shoot in a night club?
You may say "My shoots are much simpler." Yes, this may be true, but you still are forced to deal with the same problems a Hollywood production faces - if - you make the mistake of scheduling your shoot during a live gig.
Advising the Band
Most band members will suggest you schedule your shoot during one of their gigs. This is a mistake. They are musicians and not professional photographers. Do every bit of selling to convince them that if they want to be professional and be seen as professionals in the images you create, that they should take your professional recommendations - most notably - not holding a shoot during a live gig.
If you decide - against our advice, to schedule your photo shoot in a bar or night clubs, please consider this advice...
Audience Visible in the Photo?
Will the audience appear in the photo? If yes, then you must schedule the shoot before or during or gig. It is more preferable to hold the shoot in a closed bar/venue and bring in audience members to "pose" as if they are listening to the band. This may appear to entail more work than you wish to contribute to the project, so ask yourself: how many audience members do I really need for the photo? Do I just need 2-3 "back of heads" or do I need 80 "back of heads." Remember, the more audience members you include in a shot, the smaller your musicians will appear in the photo.
Dealing with an audience (and multiple people) adds exponentially more trouble and work to your photo shoot. If you must have a "performance photos" we highly recommend you hold a "staged" performance without an audience. For even more control, consider photographing your band in a studio - instead of on stage.
Band in the Studio
If you want to photograph a band as a "group," here are some things to consider: It is very challenging to make everyone look good in a group photo. This becomes exponentially more difficult based on how many members appear in the photo.
You spend hours sorting through photos during the selection process and then find one photo where 3 of the members look good. As you look closer to the photo, you see that the drummer is blinking or has an unflattering expression.
Alienating one band member (by choosing a photo that show him in an unflattering pose - while other band members look good) can cause you to be fired or not be hired in the future.
Instead, consider shooting each member separately & pasting the individual images together in Photoshop. This is how motion picture movie posters are created. Big Hollywood stars have busy schedules and are not always available at the same time to be photographed as a group. More importantly, as stated above, each actor in the photo demands to look their best. This is why professional group shoots are held separately with each artist. Consider following the same plan for your shoot!
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