Comments on: How Do I Take Band Promotional Photos?

By: pkdawgs

pkdawgs — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:12:24 +0000

As someone who presents concerts, I want something that represents their music and will attract an audience. I don’t want a photo that tells a story so much as asks a question and invites speculation. I like something that pays attention to what’s going on around the edges, without focusing there, makes me look at the eyes, and gives me a sense that the music is going to be even more interesting than this really spectacular photo. That can still happen with train tracks or a brick wall, a stairway, a parking lot, etc., etc.

Failing the mystery and evocativeness, I want some good performance shots – no mics in front of the face, no stands coming out of heads, no gaping mouths. I would rather have a good close-up of one artist than a lousy, cluttered shot of the entire band.

By: Diane Hapke

Diane Hapke — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:31:34 +0000

So, I’ve got my first amateur gig tonight. It’s a 14!!!! piece Jazz band. I’m very excited. It will be in a small dark venue. Hopefully there will be good lighting. I don’t intend on using a flash – with all the brass instruments that could backfire. I’ll also be getting there at the same time the band will so there won’t be an opp for staging a group shot. Here are a few things I’ll be considering:
1. I won’t be able to shoot in RAW since I’m limited to a 4 gb card. :(
2. as little flash as possible
3. when I will use the flash, I plan on throwing on an 8 pt. star filter (hope to get some cool shots of the brass)
4. The lights should play really well of the group so low shutter speed to pick up the mood
5. hope to focus in on the soloists and get some captivating shots.

I’ll let y’all know how it turns out!

By: Lauren

Lauren — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:23:51 +0000

My husband’s in a band with the same problem. They all know that within a few days of the gig, they get a cd of my good shots for them to use. While I’m no professional, I do have a few good hints:

Get to know the band members, especially the behaviorisms of each one on stage, often times, the best pictures are the one of them doing their “signature move” while preforming.

Test your white balance/shutter speed while they’re setting up/tuning. So you have your practice shots out of the way BEFORE the music starts.

The best photos are often unposed (or appear to be unposed). If they’re looking for the “album cover shot” then pose them, but don’t make it look like it’s everybody standing in front of a white wall, that’s boring and it’s been done.

If there is a way to adjust your focal point (which there should be on a higher-end DSLR) then focus on the PEOPLE. I know it sounds dumb, but I have many of great shots that were ruined because the camera focused on the microphone in front of their face instead of their face.

If you have a top-mounted flash, don’t point it directly at them, you want the shot to look as natural as possible, not a washed out face (that and flashes going off when you’re preforming isn’t the best experience). Make it about a 45 degree angle and see what happens. One of my husband’s shows was in a white tent so I used the tent’s roof as a reflector and pointed the top-mounted flash straight above and it worked beautifully.

If you’re shooting with digital, just click away and edit them later, the beauty of digital is that you’re not wasting money if they don’t come out. Shoot in RAW if you can so white balance can easily be adjusted later. Don’t be afraid to edit them, sometimes the shot is great but there’s half a drum head in the background, edit it out if you can, nobody will know but you (and you’re not telling, right?)

I can do about 250 pictures during an hour long set and about 20-30 of those come out well enough for publishing. Especially if they’re in a dark room (which seems to be the favorite setting for musicians), there’s going to be blurry shots, turn your shutter speed down (mine’s often as low as 50 with an ISO sometimes as low as 100-200). Keep extra batteries close by (that’s what pockets are for) especially if you’re using a flash, that will kill the battery faster than anything.

Hope that helps!

By: Randy

Randy — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:24:40 +0000

By the way the Abbey Rd pic of the Beatles on this page is the perfect example of a bad publicity shot for a band to send to a magazine or newspaper… look at the pic honestly and you will see the main focus of your eyes will be looking down the road about 50 yards towards the two cars in the distance…..the beatles look like 4 guys youd never recognise, crossing the road while your pulled up waiting. Youre eyes will be looking past them, down the road towards the horizon…..Its a fine album cover, etc but for a small newspaper article you want it to be more of a closeup of the band….which will also make a great pic for show posters..

By: Randy

Randy — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:14:17 +0000

all these ideas are great for websites..

when youre asked for a promo pic for magazines and newspapers always have several band pics taken in B&W with a totally white background.. That is the professional standard for Band promo pics for the press. Once you have top quality pics like that you can add in any background you ever wanted, if you want to…
When you get that pic in the mag/paper they want it to clearly show the band members, no distractions… you want the band to be the center of attention, not the lightpost or the car or the old building, brick wall or the countryside in the background….
B&W with a white background.. the industry standard…
you can take the pic in color and convert it to B&W but when u send it, especially to a newspaper always send B&W…

By: Art

Art — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:53:02 +0000

Here are some very different takes on the usual run of the mill band shots:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendanoshea

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:40:55 +0000

Biggest cliches to avoid – and I’ve unfortunately done both in my day:

1) band in front of a brick wall.
2) band on train tracks.

rockandrollconfidential.com has a “hall of douchebags” that pretty much defines what *not* to do. It’s also hilarious although I live in perpetual fear that I’ll find my band up there someday.

By: Bill Bensen

Bill Bensen — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:45:10 +0000

This is the shot my band used. Being a photographer and a band member; I knew what we were looking for in the shot.

http://surfthisphotography.com/images/bcr/bcrjsmyspace.jpg

Bill

By: Gregory

Gregory — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:31:48 +0000

Dont let the band dictate the shoot, because the bands idea of “cool” does not reflect the photography community.

Cliche shoots are on railroads, in front of a brick wall or with instruments (instrument shots could be cool… i saw a band get some good album artwork with shooting with their instruments… of course it was all underwater, very creative).

Its ok to have promo shots of the band close together… a promo shot is about the band and not the surrounding area. Of course artistic shots of surrounding area is ok for artwork… but for press, a good head shot is nice to have (or from waste up).

Go in with a plan and work on composition, be unique and have fun.

By: Erica

Erica — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:08:12 +0000

That sounds like a fun assignment. Here are some questions to answer to help you find the answer to your question:

1) Who are their audience made up of?
2) What is their focus or mission as a band?
3) Who do they admire?
4) What do they aspire to?
5) Do they have any hit songs that lend imagery to a photo shoot?
6) Would the band look better photographed during daylight or at night?
7) Is there a lead instrumentalist or all musicians equal?

Have fun and post your pics so we can see!