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Why did you choose your particular photography niche?

From Radio to Photography: Capturing the Magic of Live Music

Hi Cynthia. Great question why did you choose your particular photography Niche? And the answer is I've been in radio for over 40 years, it was over 30 years. When I first started live music photography and in the old days of radio we used to get backstage for meet and greets. The meet and greets were all industry people radio and record company people. And so we used to get backstage to meet artists. In today's world that doesn't happen, the meet and greets now are sold. As part of VIP ticket packages but back in those days when I would get backstage to meet artists, I went to my boss at the radio station once and I said, you know, we get backstage for these meet and greets. I've kind of gotten into photography. Now I was photographing my son and high school band marching on a football field and I fell in love with that act of photographing at night in very, low light with the band moving very quickly. So low light action photography and I looked at my boss at the radio station. I I dunno if we can, we can get in to take photographs of concerts and his response to me, was, I don't know, go ask somebody. So I said to him, I'm probably going to need a business card to prove. I work for KCAL. I'm a DJ salespeople, have business cards, we don't have business cards as DJs. He said, no problem sent me the logo, made a business card. And two weeks later, I was photographing Def Leppard and heart at the old Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. That doesn't happen for most people. Most people People start photographing in bars and nightclubs, I just happened to be a traditional media being in radio that kind of gave me a leg up, but I've always been around music and so live music photography was the normal extension of that.

I chose live music photography as my niche because of my experience in radio. Backstage meet and greets gave me the opportunity to photograph artists, and I fell in love with low light action photography while photographing my son's marching band. My experience in traditional media gave me an advantage over other photographers who started out at bars and nightclubs.

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I chose my particular photography niche of live music photography because of my background in radio. Over 30 years ago, when I first started in radio, I had the opportunity to attend backstage meet and greets with artists. In those days, these meet and greets were primarily attended by industry professionals like radio and record company personnel.

During these backstage encounters, I discovered my passion for photography while capturing moments of my son's high school band performing on a football field. I fell in love with the challenge of photographing in low light conditions, capturing action shots of the band in motion.

Excited about my newfound interest, I approached my boss at the radio station and asked if we could get access to concerts for photography purposes. He encouraged me to pursue it and suggested I obtain a business card to establish my affiliation with the radio station. Despite DJs not typically having business cards, he supported my request and helped me create one.

Within two weeks, I found myself photographing Def Leppard and Heart at the old Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. This was an extraordinary opportunity that doesn't usually happen for most people. While many photographers start in bars and nightclubs, my background in traditional media gave me a unique advantage.

Given my lifelong connection to music, live music photography was a natural extension of my interests and experiences.

As an expert, why are you interested in using AnyQuestion?

Experts share insights on using AnyQuestion - a powerful tool for clarity and varied perspectives.

As an expert. Why am I interested in using any question? And really, it comes down to when I got started, I had so many questions and I didn't really have an outlet for them. I finally ended up using Twitter which I consider to be the ability to text message. People, whose phone number you'd never have. And I reached out to two people, I admired in my genre, like Adam L Micaiah sir. Christy good one and David Bergman and I reached out to people in other genres like Rick salmon and they answered me. Me and the ability to have somebody either that, you know, and respect answer your question or in some ways people that are not even in your genre, that you may not know. Just give you a different perspective on an answer to your question. Excuse me, is such a powerful tool, right? I mean, it is so amazing to be able to as as somebody just starting out get those answers. But it's also interesting for people that are not just starting out that already have experience to be able to go to other pros and get a varied opinion on something they're doing. Are they doing it the same way as other people are there other Concepts may be that they hadn't thought about. So again to me it's just the ability to help somebody, that is looking for clarification on a question or a concept. And I think it can do wonderful things platforms like this for the photography Community as a whole

Using questions is a powerful tool for people just starting out to get answers from experienced professionals, who can provide varied perspectives and help them find clarification. It also helps established professionals gain insight into different concepts they may not have considered. Question-asking platforms are an invaluable resource for the photography community as a whole.

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As an expert, my interest in using AnyQuestion stems from my own experience of having numerous questions without a proper outlet to seek answers. When I started out, I turned to platforms like Twitter as a means of reaching out to people I admired in my field. I contacted individuals within my genre, such as Adam L Micaiah, Christy Goodwin, and David Bergman, as well as professionals from other genres like Rick Salmon. It was incredible to receive responses and insights from these respected individuals, as well as gain different perspectives from those outside my immediate circle.

The power of being able to have your questions answered by someone you admire or even by individuals you may not know, but who can offer a fresh perspective, is truly remarkable. This is especially valuable for beginners seeking guidance, but it also benefits experienced individuals who can gain varied opinions and discover alternative approaches to their work.

For me, using a platform like AnyQuestion is about the opportunity to help others seeking clarification or guidance on specific questions or concepts. I believe that such platforms can have a positive impact on the photography community as a whole, fostering knowledge sharing and collaboration.

What was your scariest moment as a photographer?

Photographer's Heart-Stopping Crowded Concert Pit Experience

What was my scariest moment as a photographer while I've got a good one for you. But let me start by saying I'm a music photographer and there's not generally much risk to me. I'm usually right in front of the stage, photographing a band. And that's pretty much it. Now, the band may be getting crazy on stage, but they normally don't pose any risk to me and behind me is the front row of the audience. And again, they don't put me in a lot of danger, usually, I mean, now and then you have a crowd surf, or coming in for some strange reason crowd Surfers or a always wearing boots and We always come to the photo pit feet first. So if you're not watching, they can end up, kicking you in the back of the head as security catches them. But other than that, there's normally not much risk in what I do. But there was this one time at Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino. If you look at this photo on the right hand side, you can see the stage on the left hand side, you're going to need to look closely, but if you look in the left hand side, you'll see some hands hanging over the barricade. In fact, up a little bit towards the middle of the photo from those hands, you'll see a white teacher, that whole row of people, is the front row, at the barricade, separating the audience from the security pit and photo pit before you hit the stage so that people can't climb up on the stage. Well, That you see in between those are photographers and there must have been 70 people in this photo pit originally what their plan was was to divide us into two groups group, a would shoot songs, 1 and 2 and Group B would shoot songs, three and four but they decided let's just put them all together. This is the only time at a photoshoot at a concert where it got so crowded in the photo pit that it felt unsafe and I almost left. But luckily music photographers have this kind of Unwritten respect for each other. In the photo pit, we all understand were there to do a job. We watch out for each other and it ended up working out. Totally fine. Thanks for the question.

My scariest moment as a photographer was at a concert at Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino. The photo pit was so crowded that it felt unsafe and I almost left, but luckily photographers have an unwritten respect for each other in the photo pit and it ended up working out.

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One of my scariest moments as a photographer happened at Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino. Typically, as a music photographer, there isn't much risk involved in my work. I'm usually right in front of the stage, photographing the band, with the audience behind me. However, during this particular event, the photo pit became extremely crowded.

In the photo, you can see the stage on the right side and if you look closely on the left side, you'll notice hands hanging over the barricade. That row of people represents the front row at the barricade, separating the audience from the security pit and photo pit. There were about 70 photographers squeezed into this small space.

Originally, the plan was to divide us into two groups, but they decided to put everyone together. It became so crowded that it felt unsafe, and I almost considered leaving. However, music photographers have an unwritten respect for each other in the photo pit. We understand that we're all there to do a job, so we watch out for each other.

Fortunately, despite the initial concern, everything turned out fine. Thanks for asking about this memorable and somewhat nerve-wracking experience!

Which concert venue have you found the most difficult to shoot in, why, and how did you work around the issues?

Conquering Difficult Concert Venues: Tips from a Pro Photographer

So the question is, which concert venue have you found the most difficult to shoot in why? And how do you work around it? And I love this question because there's no easy answer here. Every venue that I've shot in has things that you got to work around and it also has strengths, right? Some venues, you're shooting from front of house or soundboard, instead of right in front of the stage in a photo pit if you're shooting at soundboard. Yeah it's more difficult your farther away. But at the same time your angle is been cut down. You're not shooting up on people's faces. Sometimes you're in the photo. It, but it's too narrow or too crowded or dangerous other times. You have to be way the far left or far right of the stage. So in my case I'm going to do two picks. One of them is when I photograph the Roger Waters, the Wall tour at the LA Memorial Coliseum, and it's the LA Memorial Coliseum. It's huge stage was set up at the 50-yard line and it's the wall. So it's a huge wall that they build. And at times Roger Waters in the band is way up high. The stage of X was 20, 30 feet high, And you're shooting almost straight up on them. So if they backed up, you had stage cutting him off here. If they move forward, you were shooting straight up on their face. It was very, very difficult. But again, the the fix for that is to understand that the angles the geometry of it move to the sides and try and cut the angle down the problem here. Was, when you move to the sides, you increased the presence of the stage, that one was a really difficult one. Other than that, I'd say where I used to be the house S photographer, which was San Manuel, Indian, Bingo, and Casino. It's now called Yamaha and still owned by the same, San Manuel tribe, but I loved shooting at that place. The stage was amazing, the sound was amazing, but it was also their bingo room. And you know, that where the audience was and they would change that into a three Sout, 3000 seat, concert venue. And the problem with that is, if you're shooting from the crowd, everybody's at the same height, it's not tiered, and there was no photo paper. So, the tribe members, the owners would sit in the front and you had to kind of work around them, dancing and singing, that was probably the most difficult. And again, it all comes down to angles. Craig, thanks for the question.

The most difficult concert venues I've shot in are the LA Memorial Coliseum for Roger Waters's the Wall tour and San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino. In both cases, the geometry of the stage and the crowd made it difficult to get a good angle and shot. To work around this, I moved to the sides and adjusted my angles accordingly.

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The most difficult concert venue I've shot in is the LA Memorial Coliseum during Roger Waters' Wall tour. The stage was set up at the 50-yard line, and the massive wall created challenges in capturing the performers. At times, Roger Waters and the band were positioned high up on the stage, making it difficult to capture their faces without the stage obstructing the view. Shooting straight up or having the stage cut off the performers was a constant struggle. To overcome this, I had to adjust my angles and move to the sides to minimize the impact of the stage and capture better shots.

Another challenging venue was the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino, where I used to be the house photographer. The stage and sound were fantastic, but the venue was also used as a bingo room. When transformed into a concert venue, the lack of tiered seating and a designated photo pit made it difficult to shoot from the crowd. The tribe members and owners would sit in the front, requiring me to navigate around them while they danced and sang. Again, finding the right angles was crucial in working around these obstacles.

In both cases, the key was understanding the geometry of the venue and finding ways to minimize the challenges posed by the stage setup or audience layout. Adjusting angles and positioning myself strategically helped me overcome the difficulties and capture the best shots possible.

What band, in what year, did you first photograph?

Capturing the Electrifying Energy: My First Band Photo with Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience

So the question is, what? Band in what year did you first? Photograph in the answer would be Jason Bonham's, Led Zeppelin Experience, I think it was 2010 and it was at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside, California. I have photographed that show a number of times since then and highly recommend it. Jason Bonham on drums is something else, the entire band actually, super tight. James Dylan on vocals is just absolutely amazing. Now, the first probably well-known International bands or show that I shot was shortly thereafter. It was He's probably also 2010, maybe 2011 and it was at the now long gone Universal Amphitheater in LA, and it was heart and Def Leppard most Peterson. Thanks so much for the question.

Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience was the first band I photographed in 2010 at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside, California. The first well-known International bands or show that I shot was Heart and Def Leppard in either 2010 or 2011 at the Universal Amphitheater in LA.

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The first band I photographed was Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience in 2010 at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside, California. I've had the opportunity to photograph that show multiple times since then and highly recommend it. Jason Bonham on drums is truly impressive, and the entire band is incredibly tight. James Dylan's vocals are absolutely amazing.

Shortly after that, probably in 2010 or 2011, I had the chance to photograph Heart and Def Leppard at the now-gone Universal Amphitheater in LA. It was a memorable experience.

Thank you for the question!

How did you get the idea to start a podcast?

Discover the Inspiration Behind 'Behind the Shot' Podcast!

The question is, how did you get the idea to start a podcast? And if you don't know my podcast, it's called behind the shot. It's it behind the shot TV. And the reason for the podcast was, I've been in radio. Now at the time, I'm recording this about 43 years and I love radio. I love doing this type of thing, but I was also into photography and I listened to a lot of Photography podcast. The problem was a normal interview podcast, I'd get to know the person not the photographer. Right. They talk about how they became a photographer and stuff like that but it didn't I didn't see the work at to understand the work or they would talk about the work but still they talk about the work as work and not as you know the photographer themselves and me getting to know that photographer. So I started thinking myself, I wish I could interview the photograph if I could interview the photograph to better understand the photographer, the choices that they made. The way I describe the podcast is it's trying to get inside the mind of a great photographer by taking a closer look behind, one of their shots. We take one shot, we dissect that shot conception to completion. And every challenge that I can think of when I'm asking the questions that happen in between and there's occasions, somebody will leave me a comment going, how come you didn't ask this? I didn't think of it. But anyway, that's really was the Inception of doing behind the shot. I wanted to know. The photographer side of that person. Why? And how they made the work that they did. That made them unique compared to other photographers. Thanks for the question, Andre.

The idea for my podcast, Behind the Shot, came from listening to many photography podcasts and realizing that they focused on getting to know the person behind the work rather than the work itself. I wanted to focus on the photographer's side of the story and understand why and how they created the unique pieces of work they are known for.

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The idea to start my podcast, Behind the Shot, came from my love for radio and photography. Having been in radio for about 43 years, I wanted to combine my passion for both mediums. I listened to many photography podcasts, but I found that they often focused more on the person behind the camera rather than the actual work they produced.

I wished for a podcast that would allow me to interview the photograph itself, to understand the photographer's choices and get to know them on a deeper level. So, I created Behind the Shot with the goal of getting inside the mind of a great photographer by closely examining one of their shots. We dissect the shot from conception to completion, discussing every challenge and decision along the way.

Sometimes, I may miss certain questions or aspects, but the podcast aims to explore what makes each photographer unique and understand why and how they create their work. Behind the Shot provides a platform to showcase the photographer's perspective and delve into the story behind their images.

Thank you for the question, Andre.

Steve Brazill answers your Photography questions. See all the advice Steve Brazill has and get answers to your own Photography questions.

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Steve Brazill is a music photographer based in Southern California. He is also the host of the Behind the Shot Podcast. Music has been a special force in Steve’s life for as long as he can remember. As a radio host, emcee, and voice actor, he’s been around the music and entertainment industry for many years. You can find him on air at KCAL FM where he also handles their concert photography. Steve is one of the photographers at Toyota Arena where his goal is to combine his love of music and photography and tell viewers a story about the show. 