If you're a newer music photographer or just someone working in live events, it's exciting to receive credentials. Whether it's a photo pass or a tour laminate or a festival credential, it's probably a natural impulse to share photos of the achievement on social media. Here's why you shouldn't.

Event credentials are a security measure

Passes are a security measure. They are intended to ensure that only authorized people are allowed in restricted areas. This includes not just sensitive areas like dressing rooms and backstage areas, but the events as a whole as well.

Passes are not just given to authorized people, they are intended to be known primarily by security and event organizers. This siloed information is to ensure safety for event staff and also attendees.

People are actively trying to forge passes

The reason you should never post photos of photo passes, tour laminates and other event credentials is that people are actively trying to forge these credentials to gain access to events.

A TikToker made headlines in 2021 when he faked a pass for a Kanye Donda event. He's seen bragging on camera about getting a better view of the show than Kanye's own family. He found a post on social media of the passes, he recreated a rough facsimile and swaggered his way in past security.

There are whole Reddits dedicated to faking passes and wannabe influencers who fake passes to concerts and other events for clout.

Forged passes make it harder for all of us

Practically every photographer has had experiences where they were told one thing from an authority and security had other ideas. Limiting access, time, and more, despite given rules to the contrary.

When people forge passes it makes it more difficult for everyone. Whenever there are security risks, security is heightened and scrutiny of everyone increases.

Photographers – particularly women — are already harassed. Sharing photo passes on social media only exacerbates this issue by making security more critical.

Posting photo passes is a security risk

The more sober reality is that we have seen countless mass shootings and other horrific acts of violence at concerts, clubs and festivals in recent years.

Credentials allow for access into secure areas and it goes without saying that only people who should be there should be in those areas.

The very worst case scenario of posting credentials online is one I do not even want to detail. Please, keep the music industry safe. Keep your peers, the fans and artists safe.

Do not post photos of your music credentials online. Not your photo passes, not your tour laminates, not your festival badges.

When is it safe to post passes?

So, when is it safe to post photos of passes? The best time would be the tour is over. Credentials are changed from tour year to tour year for the very reason of safety. When one tour is over, the next tour from the same artist will have entirely new sets of credentials that look distinct.

If you do choose to post a pass online, please wait until the tour is completed or the festival is over.

Best practices for sharing photos from events and tour

If you do want to share photos of your photo pass or when you're working, it's best practice is not to show it at all. Take it off, put it in your pocket, whatever. Next best is to make sure the pass isn't readily identifiable or turn it over to a blank side if possible.

You can paste emojis over the photo. You can draw over the photo pass or put a GIF or sticker on it. Literally anything is better than showing a pass.

Summary

To summarize why you shouldn't post photo passes online:

• Passes are a security measure
• People are actively trying to forge passes
• Fake passes and attempts to gain entry make it harder for everyone
• Fake passes are a massive security risk
• If you do post passes, wait until the event or tour is over
• Hide passes in photos, or cover them up before posting

If you are new to music photography, welcome. We are happy to have you. Share your photos – just not your photo passes.

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If you're a music photographer who is wondering what they can do to confront the misogyny and gender inequality in music photography, here are some actions to consider.

A few notes:

First, women are not the only group that faces inequity in music photography, but they are the largest single group facing discrimination. Women of color, trans women, queer and non-binary or gender non-conforming people face even more inequality. I hope you will consider that these suggestions can be applied to all groups that face forms of underrepresentation, discrimination and unequal access to opportunities despite the ability, talent and drive to succeed.

Second, this post is directed primarily at men. Simply put, men are in positions of power at every level of the music industry and as a result, the burden is on men to change a horribly flawed system.

Acknowledge inequality and prejudice exists

The first step of confronting the inequality and prejudice against women is listening to them when they share their experiences and believing that we as a music photography community can do better.

Stand with women

It's a common experience for women music photographers to meet harassment from security personnel at festivals and concerts. Examples of this can include security assuming that women music photographer's credentials are fake, borrowed, insinuating that they are a “groupie” or a girlfriend instead of a working member of the crew, or that they simply do not belong.

The most blatant examples are security questioning women tour photographers with AAA laminates, but extends to photo passes and more. In extreme examples, women colleagues have told me that their artist's tour manager will specifically talk to security, introduce them as the tour photographer, and security will still question their right to work during the show when the TM is gone.

Men are very rarely questioned in this same way or to the extent that women are in identical situations. This is misogynistic to the core.

If you witness any of these exchanges, it is your duty to stand with your fellow music photographers. I have always said that everyone wearing the same photo pass is equal, regardless of publication, regardless of gear. It is maddening that it has to be stated, but this is regardless of gender identity, race or presentation. Stand with women and confront authority when they are actively attacking us.

Stand up to security and those who would harass your colleagues and peers. Protest when their credentials are questioned. Insist to security that they belong. Protect your peers. Stand with women.

Evaluate your teams

If you're in a position to hire — from festival media team directors to brands to venues to publications, take a look at your teams, freelancers and go-tos and the make up of your roster and those you hire. Look at the last team photo you took. How are you doing? Be honest.

Consider how you can build the teams you think represent what music photography should be. Which leads us to the next point.

Hire Women

If you are in a position to actively hire, what does your roster of talent say about your priorities and preferences? Who are you giving opportunities to? Examine your biases — and fix the disparities that you see. 

If you’re a photo editor, media team manager, or anyone in a position to hire music photographers, what does your hiring data say about you? 

Women Photograph tracks gender representation in photojournalism. 2022 was the first year since tracking began in 2017 where representation of women in lead photo bylines dropped, from a high of 21.9% in 2021 to 21.5% in 2022.

Women in music photography have the talent, the skill and the creative vision. Full stop. What's clearly not equal is the access to opportunity.

If you're in a position to hire music photographers, what changes can you make to ensure equal opportunity exists?

Refer women

Most photographers may not be in a position to hire directly, but many of us are in a position to refer. If you're a man, reflect on your go-to referrals. Have you referred women in the past? Why or why not? Consider your own history honestly.

Referring fellow photographers is a huge act of trust. It's a representation of yourself. If you have not or do not refer women, you have to look at yourself and what this says about your peers and those you hold in esteem.

If you're not actively referring women for music photography jobs, you're part of the problem facing the music industry today.

There is an abundance of talent, creativity and skill in the music photography community. I've said it before and I'll say it now: The best music photography that's ever been made is being made right now. And much of the very best in music photography is being made by women.

Mentor and actively support women

Finally, look to mentor and actively support women. If you're an established music photographer with the experience and knowledge to do so, look at who you are giving your time to. Look at who you are raising up.

A great example of this is Inhaler tour photographer Lewis Evan's mentorship opportunity for the band's 2023 tour, where he presented an opportunity to photograph the shows exclusively to women, trans and non-binary photographers.

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When it comes to supporting women, if you're a conventional man in the photo community, are you actively following and supporting women on social media? Are you listening to them and amplifying their voices and talent the same way you do for male peers? Who's in your group chat?

You've seen the posts on social media by creatives, “supporting my work is free.” It's absolutely true. Supporting the work of your fellow music photographers with likes, follows, retweets and more is the most basic part of being in the music photography community. Look at who you are lifting up and cheering on.

For those we celebrate in the music photography world — are we doing so for the opportunities they have, the images they make, or what they are doing to make our space better?

The music photography community is what we make of it. It is in those we support, those we promote and who we champion. Confronting misogyny and gender inequality in our own community starts with the actions we undertake each and every day.

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As I always say, music photography is all about “low light, fast action and high ISO.” All these challenges mean that your camera gear can matter a lot more than in other genres of photography. This especially includes the right lenses for concert photography. At the very least, having the right gear makes the task of music photography much, much easier.

Do you have the right lenses for concert photography? Here's my recommendation on the essential lenses to photograph live music.

Choosing the right lenses for concert photography can seem like a daunting task. In this article, we'll cover the main lenses used by professional live music photographers. With this focus, this does exclude faster prime lenses, which can be extremely useful if not necessary for small, dimly lit clubs.

This list of lenses covers zooms exclusively, due to the fact that the utilitarian nature of a zoom lens has massive benefits for music photography, where the photographing positions, access and time are often extremely limited.

As such, the utility and convenience of zoom lenses is almost universally embraced by professional music photographers. If you're interested in seeing my full kit for music photography, visit my Concert Photography Gear Guide.

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Now, with that out of the way, let's get to the lens recommendations!

The Holy Trinity of f/2.8 Zooms

For professional music photographers, there's really only three main lenses that everyone seems to agree on: the “holy trinity” of f/2.8 zooms. An ultra-wide zoom, a midrange zoom, and a telephoto zoom.

In my kit, this set includes:

• Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8
• Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8
• Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8

You have everything from ultra-wide at 14mm to telephoto at 200mm covered in three lenses in a constant f/2.8 aperture. This three-lens kit covers nearly everything you could reasonably be expected to photograph as a live music photographer.

For professional music photographers, these three lenses are the ones you'll find in everyone's kits, almost without exception.

Now, let's look at these individual lenses and their uses in music photography, but slightly out of order. Instead, I'll cover these lenses in the order that I recommend you buy them as you build your photography kit.

24-70mm f/2.8 — The Midrange Zoom

A 24-70mm f/2.8 is called a midrange zoom because it covers the middle range of focal lengths, from wide angle to short telephoto. For most general concert photography from a photo pit, where you're not very close or very far from your subjects, this lens is often the most used. The 24mm to 70mm range is simply super useful for general music photography.

While a 24-70mm lens may not have the visual impact of an ultra-wide or a tighter telephoto lens, its often a single “do it all” kind of zoom range. The exceptions to this are for very large festivals where you have photo pit access, but when the stages are so tall that a 70-200mm f/2.8 becomes more useful.

For most photographers, the 24-70mm f/2.8 is the first zoom lens you should buy. It will excel in all but the very smallest venues right up to arenas and amphitheaters.

70-200mm f/2.8 — The Telephoto Zoom

After the midrange, a 70-200mm f/2.8 is an essential lens for live music photography. For most music photographers, this is the second zoom lens you should buy to round out your kit.

The telephoto range here lets you easily close the distance between you and performers, allowing for isolation and beautiful close-ups.

A 70-200mm is most useful for larger venues such as arenas, amphitheaters and festival setups. In addition, a telephoto zoom will be perfect for photographing individual performers and especially members of the band who may be further back, such as drummers. Remember: Don't forget the drummer!

14-24mm f/2.8 — The Ultra-wide Zoom

Lastly, the 14-24mm f/2.8 is the final zoom lens that most concert photographers will want to add to their bag. This is an extreme wide angle lens that gives dramatic perspective distortion.

An ultra-wide lens like the 14-24mm is ideal when you can get very close to a subject or the front of the stage, as well as for capturing atmosphere of a venue and the scale of a crowd at concerts.

My Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8S is the perfect lens for photographing a massive crowd in an arena or amphitheater. It's also one of my favorite lenses to use to photograph drummers when I have stage access.

The reason I recommend buying an ultra-wide lens last is that due the extremely wide perspective, the ideal situations for using such a lens are more limited than the midrange and telephoto zooms we've detailed above. In addition, the look of an ultra-wide lens is very particular and even with the ideal circumstances, the effect can come off as more one note

Summary of Essential Lenses for Concert Photography

These are my recommendations for the essential lenses for concert photography. Almost every single image of my photography portfolio has been made with one of these three lenses.

Of course, there are exceptions to these recommendations. Read by article on the Best Lenses for Live Music Photography for more options including prime lenses, as well as a lot of examples of images made with each lens!

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Drummers are one of the most challenging subjects in live music. They're often at the back of the stage, dimly lit, surrounded by a wall of kit and in constant motion. If you struggle with photographing drummers, you're not alone.

However, for all their challenges, drummers are also some of the most rewarding subjects on stage and one of my very favorite subjects in concert. Here are a few key approaches I use to make great images of drummers.

DON'T FORGET THE DRUMMER

As I've mentioned before, one of the very first pieces of music photography advice I ever received was simply this: “Don't forget the drummer.”

I was hanging out with local band backstage before their gig. The guitarist was noodling around on his guitar. Without looking up, he casually said to me, completely unprompted, “Don't forget the drummer. Photographers always forget the drummer.”

This piece of advice has always stuck with me, and to a certain extent, it's become a small mantra of mine, as I think it can apply to any kind of situation. For me, it means not taking the easy way out — focusing on the less obvious solutions to a problem.

To lean into the difficult subjects. To this end, I try my best to never forget the drummer when I photograph concerts.

How to Photograph Drummers in Concert

Here are 6-tips for how to photograph drummers, one of the most challenging subjects on any stage.

6-Tips for Photographing Drummers:

1. Use The Right Lenses
2. Pick Your Angles Carefully
3. High Shutter Speeds
4. Compose for Movement
5. Shoot The Drummer in Context
6. Be Patient

Now let's drive into the details.

1) Use The Right Lenses

With most drummers set up at the back of the stage, they are often the most distant subjects you'll encounter as a music photographer. A telephoto lens is my number one recommendation for closing the distance and creating compelling images of drummers.

A 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is the industry standard for concert photography of drummers, particularly in larger venues like theaters, arenas and amphitheaters.

On the other end of the spectrum, if you are in a position to have stage access, an ultra wide lens like a 14-24mm f/2.8 is ideal for creating high impact images of drummers. In addition, a fisheye lens can similarly create dramatic images.

2) Pick Your Angles Carefully

With often massive drum kits in front of them, finding clean and clear angles can be a huge challenge in photographing drummers. Factor in other band members, mic stands, and monitors in between drummers and photographers, and the literal windows of opportunity are even more narrow.

Making successful photos of drummers often comes down to finding the right position and angle that gives a clear shot of their face, even if it means scoping out several spots. One trick I use is to use my time in the photo pit after the stage is set but before the band comes out to scope out sight lines for the band for all members, but especially for drummers.

3) High Shutter Speeds

With drummers often trashing away, arms a go-go, high shutter speeds are your best bet for clean drummer shots. At shutter speeds that are enough to freeze the action on other band members, the swinging arm and speeding drumsticks of percussionists need even faster shutter speeds to prevent blur, not to mention their often bobbing heads.

I prefer to shoot at 1/200 as a minimum, but 1/250 or even faster is preferable for the cleanest shots in my book. For big arena shows when you have the light, 1/500 or 1/1000 may be appropriate.

4) Compose for Movement

One thing that's different with drummers is that their range of motion is often greater than that of guitarists and singers. Sure, they're seated, but playing and musical style can dictate a huge range arm motion for drummers. Add in drum sticks, and the arc of motion extends even farther.

Just as you need to choose your angles carefully for clear sight lines through a drum kit, lining up a frame with consideration for the full range of movement will help you plan for the kind of epic gestures and movements that can convey the power of percussion.

5) Shoot The Drummer in Context

One quick tip? Photograph the drummer in the context of the kit, band, and stage. While tight framing can often be the best show of the energy of a drummer, a wider shot that shows their entire kit can be just as impressive, especially for artists who have obviously designed their kit and lighting for visual impact.

6) Be Patient

The best advice I can give for photographing drummers is simply to have patience. Even with the right angle and technical details dialed in, nailing a killer drummer shot simply comes down to capturing a decisive moment. While this is really no different than any music photography, the myriad shooting issues surrounding drummers make having patience even more important.

SUMMARY

1. Use The Right Lenses
2. Pick Your Angles Carefully
3. High Shutter Speeds
4. Compose for Movement
5. Shoot The Drummer in Context
6. Be Patient

There you go. 6-tips for shooting drummers. I'll throw in a 7th tip for free: wear earplugs.

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So whether you're photographing for an editorial publication, an artist/band, or just want to know the standard images to create for live music, here's a list of common images to make as a music photographer.

First off, I'm not saying that you must create the images in this concert photography shotlist for every single client or every assignment. Everyone's vision is different, and concert photography is no different.

I'm presenting this list of common live music photography images as a reference for inspiration if you're a new music photographer or are looking for inspiration to increase the variety of your work.

Setlist

Fans always love seeing a setlist for a tour or show. The diehard fans will always try and score a setlist after the show. The next best thing you can give them as a concert photographer is a photo of the setlist.

Fans on the Barricade

Fans make live music, full stop. Showing fans seeing their favorite artists, rocking out, and enjoying the set is a great concert photography image to make. As I like to say, sometimes the best image isn't on stage, but right behind you.

Full Stage

Similar to images of fans, setting the context for a concert is essential for concert coverage. Tight images of a band member or artist could be made anywhere. What places it at your specific venue?

Venue/Production

Related to full stage shots, production photos focus on the production itself — lighting, effects, pyro, etc. These are images that capture the lighting design and full treatment, as well as the experience the tour creates.

Full Group/Band Photo

If you're photographing a band, it's essential to make an image that shows every member as clearly as possible. This can be a challenge for larger stages or bands with more than 4 members, but this image can be critical to concert photography storytelling.

Individuals of every band member

Beyond the full band photo, make images of every band member. This is often the easiest kind of image to make and one that you will likely gravitate towards naturally. But don't just focus on the lead singer or guitarist — make sure to create one great image of each band member.

The Drummer!

Drummers are special and sacred. Drummer photos are often the most difficult and challenging, but the exact reason why I'm calling them out now even after the above advice. As I always say, “Don't forget the drummer!”

Multiple Combinations of Band Members

We've covered individuals and we've covered full band images. What's left? Different combinations of members. Drummer and bass player. Guitarist and bass player. Singer and guitarist. You get the idea.

Multiple Angles

In essence this list is all about covering different perspectives, but what I mean here specifically is to make sure you get as much coverage as possible from different vantage points. For example, getting a variety of images from the stage left, center and stage right. This is in addition to images from the photo pit, on stage (if you have the access), front of house, etc.

Multiple Focal lengths

In addition to covering your angles, try to vary the perspectives you make in terms of using different focal lengths. If all your images are made with the same or similar focal lengths, you're going to get a very similar look to your images.

The standards of photojournalism apply to music photography in creating a wide, mid and tight shots as part of the storytelling.

The Reverse from Stage

If you're blessed with all access and the ability to photograph from stage, there's nothing like a reverse shot to make the most of that access. A reverse shot is made from stage, looking out to the audience. Literally the reverse of what the audience sees.

Artist Closeups

I sometimes like to refer to music photography as “low light action portraiture.” Artist closeups are essentially tight portraits of a performer. Instead of studio lighting, these are simply portraits using the existing stage lighting, but which otherwise may fall into a portrait study that creates isolation and insight.

Details

Similar to images of the setlist, it's always nice to have detail shots from a concert to fill out a set. Perhaps it's a closeup of a guitar, or the shoes a performer is wearing. Maybe it's an aspect of the show or venue that gives greater context or place setting. Whatever the detail, these images add variety and depth to the storytelling of your concert photography.

Artist/Fan Interaction

This one is situational and something that's pretty obvious in the moment, but artist-fan interaction photos are one that I live for. Particularly when you have photo pit access, this one is always great to create and gives you that feeling of being right there in the best seat in the house.

Special Effects (Pyro, Cryo, Confetti, etc)

If a concert has any special effects, these are a great element to capture that that help ground your images in a particular tour. Similar to capturing the particular lighting effects in the aforementioned production images, special effects at a concert are often one of the most memorable aspects of a tour or performance.

And more

There are countless ways to approach concert photography and images to make. These are just a few and by no means how you must approach photographing live music. These are just some of the images on my mental checklist when I do concert photography.

In addition this list doesn't even start to get into the more artistic kinds of images you can make in live music photography. From abstracts to silhouettes to motion blur or more stylistic images.

More importantly, don't limit yourself to how others approach concert photography. Photograph live music the way you want to. Take the ideas and inspiration that align with the images you want to make. It's really that simple.

Summary

If you're new to music photography or just looking for ideas on how to approach concert photography, I hope this article gives you some ideas. This is no by no means a complete or definitive concert photography shotlist, but just some standard images you can make as a music photographer.

Your style and how you approach music photography can be as different as you make it. But if you're looking for conventional images to make, I hope this list gives you some ideas. Have fun in the pit.

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