You've dialed in the correct camera settings, the band is playing, and you've started taking photos. So here's some advice during and after the concert. Be nice to the audience. As you're standing in front of the stage in the crowd. Be nice to other people. This paid to be at this geek and want to have a good time to tell them that you're just there for the first few songs.

This should help to avoid any arguments with the audience, especially in front of the pit. I also heard of a tip whereby you offer some of your photos to the problem guys, you tell them they will get some great shots if they let you work up front. Switch your position. It's important to switch your position from time to time and try to get another few points to not only are you blocking the view for the audience if you stay in one spot for the whole concert, but your focus will also like variation switching position is essential. If you are a tall girl or guy, as I'm not that tall, I don't have this problem. But it gets you know the feeling when you're at a concert and then all of a sudden, the tallest guy in the venue stands directly in front of you.

For the next one and a half hours, you can switch from the left side to the stage to the right side, or move back a little bit further away from the stage and color the audience to for instance, don't use a flash when you're in front of the stage. I know it's dark and the flash seems to make sense in this situation. However, flash in general is not allowed when shooting concerts. As I'm discussing the next module, use of a flash is forbidden at 99.9% of the concerts that I'm photographing. The only time you can use a flash is when you're friends with the band or you have permission from the band's manager. As you're just starting out and don't want to deal with these issues.

I suggest sticking to the channel. settings we discussed earlier, and don't worry about your flash anymore. If you decide to use your flash without permission, you risk getting kicked out. To avoid ear damage, it's crucial to wear your ear protection. You will often operate in work in front of speakers which are situated on either side of the stage. I agree that rock music sounds best if it's played loud, but Don't risk your health.

Just because you think using the protection is not rock'n'roll enough. Take hundreds of photos, don't be shy and press the shutter release often. Firstly, no one will notice and it's quite normal to take hundreds of photos at a gig as a concert photographer. Since you can't control anything that's happening on stage, you need to have a big pool of photos at the end from which to make a selection. There are no rules about how many photos you should take at the gig. But more photos probably means more keepers.

All of a sudden the band leaves this day And the concerts over. Although it feels like they only played for 10 minutes. When you're shooting concerts, time flies by and the only recollection you will have of the last hour will be focused on your memory card. The audience will start to move towards the merchandise desk and the band will have disappeared in the backstage area. But not for long, because they reappear a couple of minutes later and hanging out, talking to the fans and signing their albums. This is the beauty of shooting in small clubs.

The more famous the band gets, the less they'll connect on a direct level with the fans. You want the AC DC at the merchandise table after the concert, but you're in a small club and this will give you the opportunity to connect with the bands directly. Wait until the band is back in the venue and asked him for an email address to which you can send your photos. The aim of this strategy is to get your foot into the door and to build relationships. With the bend. So there is no management, no club owner not organized involved, just a direct wire to the bend.

And that's what you want. So congrats, you've completed your first constitute, you can be proud of yourself. But unfortunately you're not done yet. So what should you do next? After the concert once you get home, copy the files to your computer and open them in an application which can easily manage the huge amounts of photos you will have. I use Adobe Lightroom and I will talk about my post production workflow in Module Two.

But now here's the hard part. Select 60 of your best photos. I know this can be tough, but you have to learn how to find this throws punches, skip through your photos and once you feel you found a good one market and carry on after the first editing round, do a second round very select only 20 to 30 photos out of the 60 The aim of this method is to build a strong selection of the concert. Try not to lose too much time going through this process. With practice, you'll get faster and the selection will take just a couple of minutes. Nope, no.

Negative. Ooh, nope. Yes. No, no way. What the? Nope.

A useful tip when choosing the final images, go with your gut feeling. It's hard to explain. But if you see a photo for the first time and you think, Wow, this one's great. It's often my keeper shot. I normally find two to three read keepers and 10 to 20 photos that reflect the concert in a good way. You want to send the band a selection of your best shots, and it doesn't make sense to send them 150 photos 20 to 30 shots gives them a good overview and have more of a chance of being chosen to be shared at the social media channels.

Because I advise you to only shoot in JPEG format at your first concert, you don't have to deal with the raw format. So the easiest way to get your concert photos developed in post production is to install my Lightroom presets and use them and they will be available as a download one click and you're ready to go. But the guys in my photos look like blue, red and green creatures from another galaxy you might say. Yes, this can happen in small clubs and depends on the lighting equipment and delight technician at the venue. So here's the secret. Have you ever wondered why a lot of concert pictures are converted into black and white?

Bingo. And that's the reason. Not only do you get rid of the awful color casts, but the noise from your high ISO setting, it's a lot less distracting, and adds a raw, sweaty and sexy look to your photos. So use my black and white presets to convert your photos and musicians will look awesome. Again. Export photos at 72 DPI and 950 pixels on the longest side Put your logo on them, you're automatic, and email them to the band.

Say thank you again for the great opportunity to take photos at your awesome gig and explain that they can share your photos on social networks for free, as long as the credit you if they like your photos, they will also mention you in the comments and boiler, you have your first concert shot with free advertising out on the web. The aim of this module is to get you started and run through the different steps of shooting concerts in small clubs. Take it as a guideline and not rules to follow. Other things can always happen to of course, maybe there's almost no light and you can get cool shots. Maybe you visit a hardcore concert, and it's impossible to shoot in front of the stage without being in the middle of the mosh pit. Maybe the band doesn't reappear from backstage after the concert.

Or maybe they don't answer your emails anymore, and don't share your photos. Therefore, it's important to shoot and practice often. If you only shoot one concert per month in the beginning, you will probably need a long time to get your portfolio together because you won't get great shots from every concert. So concentrate on the learning process. Everything is new to you, and you have to get used to your new job. After some concepts, it will feel natural, and you will know what works best for you.

Even if the circumstances are hard to manage. I would highly suggest studying out in these small clubs. You have no photos to show. You have no experience as a concert photographer, and therefore no one will hire you. This might sound rude, but I'm being painfully honest. If you want to become a rock concert photographer, you have to start somewhere and small clubs are a great playground in which to learn