A recent email dialogue on Gig photography…
Hi Martin,
I hope u don’t mind me emailing you. I was at the last Martyn Joseph concert in Edinburgh where I was doing some photography. Since that gig I have done a few more and my photos seem to be getting picked up and used – which has come as a pleasant surprise. My most recent gig pictures, of an American rock band, are to be used within their annual calendar next year.
I have been doing photography for the last year as a profession and have concentrated on weddings…but I want to move away from this.
I was hoping to see if you had any advice for me as I think covering events etc is more me. IS there a good way to make a living out of this? ( I found it impossible getting any money out of the management firm for the calendar. ) Will magazines or blogs pay for photos from gigs etc?
Hope this doesn’t seem to random, but I am need of some insight into this market place.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Kind regards
Alan
My Response to Alan was:
Hi Alan,
The short answer is, no!, there’s no money in it!!
The only way that i’ve heard of, of anyone making any money from it, is from photographing larger festivals and bigger names and then selling the images to Mojo,Uncut, NME and the papers, etc etc.
But they will already have their preferred Snappers.
The challenge you had getting money for the calendar shots is a typical experience i’m sorry to say.
Stick with the weddings etc for now, keep the music stuff as a hobby and every now and again, something good will turn up.
If you started to make a name for yourself and marketed yourself as a portfolio/photoshoot/promo photographer, then maybe management may be inclined to pay for your services?
It’s getting tougher as more and more people have got cameras now, and good ones at that and the truth (in my opinion) is that photography is a undervalued art form.
I would be interested in putting your email and my response on my website as a blog post if that would be ok with you? If not, that’s fine also… It’s just that i have a thing about the modern media and the sheer number of options available to people which makes it difficult to make any distinguishable progress in a business – apart from contacts and networking, which is a different skill to photography – but again, what you get then is someone who can market themselves really well, but generally speaking, not very good at photography!
I have a full time job selling advertising and in no way would i be able to consider giving this up to persue a job in photography!!
Hope all this info helps!! And sorry ut wasn’t more positive.
Do you have a website?
Also, thanks for your email and if i can help in any way, let me know.
Kind regards
Martin
And Alan’s response to me was:
Hi Martin,
Thanks for the quick reply and sorry for my delayed response! Its been a pretty hectic week with work/family.
Thanks for the honest feedback…it was something I became aware of very quickly. It seems to me that no money is made from gigs – but people use it as a stepping stone for portfolio / portrait shots of the band. (when the payment comes in). To be honest I did that gig in particular because I love the band and wasn’t actually expecting them to take notice of my pics. But given that they are now being used for commercial purposes it doesn’t seem right that the pohotographer doesn’t get any payment from that. People are not making it easy at all to be a photographer.
I am currently rethinking my photography direction at the moment, as weddings are not something I enjoy doing as a photographer. I much prefer portrait / event work as a way forward….We shall see.
I really appreciate your thoughts on the gig side…as it was an avenue I was pursuing…not any more (unless for some fun or the market changes)
My website is www.downtoearthphotography.co.uk .
Happy for you to use my email Thanks again Martin,
Take care
–
Alan Davidson
Photographer