Hello and welcome to the beginning another week of music industry insight and discussion here on the official blog of Haulix. We were so overwhelmed by the response to our initial column on concert photography that we decided to bump up the release of part two to this afternoon. We hope to continue this series every week or two for the foreseeable future, but we need your help to make it happen. If you have a question about music photography, or perhaps want to learn more about the industry in general, please email james@haulix.com and we will use your letters to craft the future of this site. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Hey readers, Nick Karp here! Welcome back to my segment about Concert Photography here on the Haulix blog. I’m glad to see that the last article was received well by you, the readers, as well as the concert photography community at large. I feel as if last article were only the tip of the photography iceberg, however, and have spent the past two weeks outlining a series of posts geared towards providing you with everything you need to begin a career in music photography. This week’s topic: Photo pit etiquette.
So you’ve been approved to photograph a concert. Congrats! It’s the night of the show, you’ve picked up your credentials from the box office and you have been given the privilege to enter the photo pit. I want to emphasize the word privilege. Photographing a band from the photo pit is a privilege. You do not have a right to be in that pit, but rather the permission of someone directly connected to those on stage. Permission can and will be revoked as a result of misuse.
Normal people with stereotypical office jobs have a cubicle or an actual office as their workplace. Concert photographers are not normal. A concert photographer’s office is a photo pit, and we have to share it with everyone else approved to shoot. Sometimes the number of photographers in the pit can be as low as one or two, and sometimes, like at a major festival, the number of photographers can number around 70. I’ve shot with both and the latter is not fun.
There is a standard for concert photography that also serves as the one and only written rule in most pits: “three songs, no flash.” This phrase describes the time allotted to photographers (first three songs of the set) and restrictions place on the gear they are allowed to use (no flash photography). I’m going to say 97% of the time I shoot shows I do not use flash. There are instances when I have and will, but we’ll discuss that during another article.
Even though there are no set rules when shooting in the photo pit, besides the above stated, there are many unwritten rules that photographers need to obey to ensure professionalism and proper etiquette:
Back packs: Put your back pack down under the barricade. I understand you need to keep an eye on your gear, and that’s great, but do so without it on your back. The photo pit is a very small place and I’m no longer afraid to mention this. We need to make as much room as possible, and having your bulky bag near the barricade and not in the way helps tremendously.
iPhones: An iPhone is not professional equipment and you look like an idiot shooting a band with one. Get your Instagram photo after the first three songs.
iPads: Read iPhones and multiply the rage you will cause to stir in fellow photographers by 100.
Point and Shoot: As mentioned before the photo pit is a professional environment. Please do not shoot with nonprofessional equipment; otherwise known as, a point and shoot camera. I’ll take any DSLR camera over a point and shoot. If you don’t have proper equipment, don’t shoot from the pit.
Reaching: This is the most abused unwritten rule here. I understand going for the hail mary and reaching every once in a while, but don’t do it the entire set and don’t do it from in front of the pit. 95% of your reaching shots are unusable, and your camera is getting in the way of other photographers. If you’re going to reach, reach when you’re in the back of the photo pit, that way you’re not in any of the photographer’s way. You’re also disturbing the band and the crowd. Who really wants to see a band with a camera in their face for three songs of the set? It’s disrespectful.
Camping: Much like Call of Duty, staying in one spot in the photo pit is annoying. When you grab the shot you want from that angle, move around, there are plenty of more angles to get. Don’t stay there for the entire set. Let another photographer grab that angle, and you should grab more angles.
Auto Focus Assist Light: Turn it off. You’re ruining everyone’s shots around you by having a beam of light from your camera hit the artist, and it’s a distraction to the performer. The light has its uses, but the photo pit is not one of them. Please be considerate.
Flash: You’re not allowed to shoot with flash. Plain and simple. Your mounted flash is getting in everyone’s way. I’ve noticed that most people that have a mounted flash also reach, so that’s just an extension of the camera to furthermore get in other people’s shots and distract the audience and performer. Put the flash in your bag, and if you must, attach it after your tenure in the photo pit.
Ego: Keep your ego in check. I don’t care how long you’ve known “so-and-so”, and I don’t care how you should have had an “All Access” pass to the show. Seriously, dude, I don’t care and neither does anyone else in the photo pit.
Nick Karp is a professional photographer and freelance music writer. He recently relocated to NYC and dyed his hair bright pink because that is the kind of thing people do in the music business. He was assisted in the creation of this article by Elise Shively.
