You might have heard about some of the concert photography myths by yourself. A lot of them are not true. And therefore, I want to reveal the most common misunderstandings when becoming a concert photographer. One, you need professional photography training. I receive a lot of emails asking me if professional training is needed to become a concert photographer. Let's start with three hard facts being a music photographer.

I never attended any professional photography training, and neither have most of my colleagues. And guess how many clients asked me which photography school I attended? Zero. Nada? No. I agree that you need to know the technical basics about photography that you will learn in school.

But what will set you apart from thousand other photographers, other skills and guess what These skills won't be provided at any photography school. So I'm not totally against getting a proper education photography. If you are the type who learns best, by having a strict timetable, attending classes, and needing exams to get yourself going, then there is nothing wrong with it. You can learn the basics and get to know if photography is where your passion lies. On the other hand, a school won't help you much if you want to become a music photographer. It's not only about to know your gear, as there are other aspects, including, for instance, how to behave in the photo pit, how to get the press accreditation, how to not freak out when you have to take photos of your idols and so on.

You will learn all of this by actually getting out there and shooting concerts, learning from other photographers or getting to know the band members. The good thing about is that you can start right now. So there is no one and nothing holding you back becoming a music photographer. What would make sense, in my opinion, is to get a good education, maybe in another field. If, for some reason your photography business doesn't work out, you can always go back and get yourself a proper job. It's important to have a safety net.

So I would say, you don't need to attend the college to become a music photographer. You learn more by actually starting to shoot concerts than sitting in the classroom, too. You have to be the best photographer. Shooting life music is something few photographers do really well. I just discovered one day I was good at it because it felt natural to me. The recipe is as follows one part photography why Part love of music.

One part lot of theater and theatrical lighting, one part hero worship, one part timing, and 95 parts instinct. That's a quote from Neil Preston, the former Led Zeppelin photographer. We all started out with a camera in our hands with no idea what to do with it. Once I knew all the dials and settings of my camera, I still wasn't able to get decent photos, which looked like all the awesome concert photos I found on the internet. A lot of people might tell you that photography is a hobby, but that you can't make a living from it. They will tell you there are so many great photographers out there.

So why should someone book you? Let me tell you a story that blew me away when I heard it. You'll probably never have heard of a young guy called Connor McDonald. I hadn't either. A friend and guitarist in a small band from the UK told me This kind of guy wanted to take photos of tech geeks. So it just invited him and gave him the opportunity to learn and shoot for them.

My friend told me that the pictures turned out awful, and they couldn't even use any of them. So you would expect that Conan McDonald would give up, frustrated with photography and would have just walked away. Instead, it seems he still believed in himself and stayed in the game. Some years later, his name flashed up in the news, because he was the one instead of any liable weights for example, who should can invest and Kim Kardashians wedding? So what can we learn from this story? Everyone starts out small, as a beginner as someone facing challenges, dealing with drawbacks, getting up again, and fighting for the things that They love doing the most.

As you hear, I guess it's your love of music and photography. I started after finishing my PhD at the age of 28. And without any professional training, there were a lot of times when I struggled not only because of my lack of photography knowledge, but also because people kept telling me to get a real job in the field I have studied for nine years. It wasn't an easy time, but a feeling inside me kept pushing further and further down the road to become a music photographer. After four years of taking concert photos next to my day job. I decided to change my life completely.

I finished my PhD in molecular biology, and the next day I started my business as a photographer. I was scared to death and overwhelmed with the whole situation. I had no idea how to get business as a self employed for ographers know it, I know how to deal with the roller coaster ride of success and frustration, and all the rest from one day to another. I have talked to a lot of friends who are self employed in the creative field, and it seems everyone faces the same challenges. So don't get stressed out. Everyone started out small.

It's just about how you continue down your path. A popular beginners trap is to think that the more expensive to camera, the better your images will be. I have to admit that I am no exception. I started out with my first digital single lens reflex camera, which was a Minolta I wasn't really interested in photography back then. And my photos don't excite me much. This camera stand in the drawer for years until I switch to a Canon 40 D With the 70 to 85 millimeter lens, this was the camera I used as I started getting interested in concert photography.

Wasn't it the best camera around? Definitely not. But it got me started and helped me to build my portfolio. I believe that building up your equipment should go hand in hand with learning photography. If you don't know the basics of photography, and they hand you a face one digital medium format camera worth $40,000 Do you think you'll make better photos than your neighbor who is a hobby photographer with an iPhone? I bet you want.

Therefore, don't believe people who tell you that you need the best equipment to get awesome shots. I shot this photo from vintage trouble with a $300 manual focus lens. Sure you can get such a lens Also for $2,000, from Canon and Nikon, but will it be better, maybe the corners of your photos are tick sharp. Otherwise, you hardly see any difference. Don't be fooled by people who tell you that the equipment makes the photographer. I'm going to talk about all the great stuff in this course.

And I'll advise you on which gear to get if you're on a budget and what camera equipment works best if you want to take your concert photography to the next level. For concert photography, zz sorry, but it's not. In my opinion, concert photography is one of the most challenging fields in photography. Unlike other fields such as fashion photography, you can't change your environment. The movement of the artists and the stage lighting is out of your control. The space your work is limited, and the business side of things follows different rules.

Than in all other professions out there. Some people think that concert photography is just occupying the pet space in the venue and taking some photos. But when you're just starting out, you will find out that there is a lot of preparation to be done in the background, and the actual time spent shooting is only a fraction of the total time you will spending on the job. So overnight success is a Muth. Five concert photography will make a lot of money. Just because you might be shooting rock stars who earn millions of dollars doesn't mean that they'll give you their money.

Rock Stars seem to have a different view of the world from other people. Not all of them admittedly. But this is the same with celebrities. There are some who is still pretty down to earth, whilst others think they are from outer space, but the musician management aren't the only people who play an important role for you as a music photographer, as there are others such as promoters, clubs, and media outlets, like magazines, agencies, newspapers, and internet blogs. The truth is, it's getting harder and harder to earn a living with the get everything for free mentality around now, this holds especially true in the creative industry. However, I'll teach you all I know about the music business and discuss the fact that we, as concert photographers, have probably helped to establish this system by ourselves.

There are already some solutions available to get out of this rabbit hole, and I'll talk about this in module five. So this sums up my five myths about concert photography. With this information in mind, I would like to tell you more about the mind said you will need to become a successful music photographer in the next lesson.