GALLERIES

LIBRARY

CONVERSATION LOUNGE

INVITE OTHERS

JOIN NOW!

You are not logged in. Access is limited. Login or see membership information. • MyPhotoMentor

Cherie's Fresh Perspective

Blog Entry

The Invisible Photographer

Monday, May 24th 2010 @ 2:04 PM post viewed 186 times

I love music of all kinds, especially live music. It's probably no surprise, then, that I am the official photographer for many choruses & orchestras (and some small combos) in my town.

Photographing a concert is fun and also challenging, because I want to capture creative images without impacting the audience's musical experience. I have a few rules that I follow:

1. I NEVER use flash. Using flash during a performance is never acceptable.

2. I don't impede anyone's line of sight.

3. Because my camera 'click' is noticable, I wait for louder sections of a performance, rather than clicking away when the orchestra/chorus is whisper quiet. Even so, it can be heard, so I don't stay in one place very long, so that audience members can concentrate on the music, not on me.

4. I quietly walk up and down the side aisles, and go into the wings at the sides of the stage. I've been complimented on my 'invisibility', so I'm pleased that my efforts are successful!

The way I behave in a concert affects the way photographers are perceived in general, so I try to model behavior that will encourage people to love us.

Comments

rNeil Haugen
Apprentice

rNeil said on Wednesday, May 26th 2010 @ 1:22 PM:

That whole quiet and invisible trick is both so IMPORTANT and SO difficult. You DO do it well! You've done it by carefully choosing the trade-offs along the way. Your camera is not as amazing at high-ISO as my D3, but it is amazingly quiet for its capabilities. My D3 ... well, it's more of a canon-shot, say, a Civil-War era 3-pounder when it fires! I could use if for this type of work during a dress-rehearsal, but NEVER a performance.

Wwell ... during the canon-fire sections of "The 1812 Overture" or the full chorus/orchestra sections of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Ok, so it would work at a ZZ Top concert too ... but not the groups and venues you perform so carefully with and within.

Your choice of timed moments, so carefully planned as to catch a performer at the penultimate end of a motion, so there's the best chance of sharpness to the shot, is wondrous. I KNOW how hard timing that shutter click is! This is an anticipatory night-mare.

Your choice of location, and the direction you point your camera, and the spot you focus it on so that you are ready ... this has to be carefully chosen to "find" these ultimate moments of beauty and grace you capture.

This is a task that requires so many thoughtful and timely decisions and choices, and is "made" by the person, not the camera. This is what being a photographer at a high level is all about.