We have all seen it. As we wait patiently for the indie band to take the stage, we start to look around for other things to focus on other than that boring empty stage, and there it is, the staple of all live shows; the live photographer. For most of us, we just look, we acknowledge, and we move on to thinking about something else; which is fine, but the problem is that the band is has the same faded outlook on the important documentarian.
If you are a musician, you most likely want to operate at your highest level, and you obviously want others to see that what you do is truly professional; so why are we constantly assaulted with terrible live and promotional photography? The answer is simple, the band or musician is focused on their music, and their music alone. They are not taking into account that every live image acts as a calling card to potential fans and future labels. They result to a one-dimensional attitude about their music journey, and as such they accidently leave a trail of disappointing and lackluster free press.
There are a lot of great photographers with high end gear that know how to capture a live performance image, and know how to create a killer and promotional photo; and all you have to do is take a moment to look at their online portfolio to find out who these talented photographers actually are. As a professional photographer myself, I can tell you that not all of us are looking for a major paying gig; throw us some swag, offer us photo credits, and perhaps a small tip for our time, and many of us will show up with our time-stoppers to capture your event; properly.
No one likes to look at a bad photo. They will send you a “like” on Facebook as a friendly courtesy, but don’t expect anyone to share that photo; which means right there you stopped one stream of free press from happening. You are in the music business, and this means that you have to look at your music as art yes, but you also have to see the brand that you are creating, and you have to care about all aspects of that brand. Look around for proof, the professionals operate at such a hyper-aware level that they understand the importance of keeping it all professional.
It is not fun to kill your darlings, but you must.
Perform a social media cleaning, and get rid of any photos that are simply unflattering, blurred, uninspired, and not worth sharing. Then make sure that you start getting to know your photographer’s and artists, and start collecting images worth sharing; and you know what? People will start sharing them.
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