I started covering music shows when I was working at a startup music studio back in 2001.  I didn’t do it out of love for photography.  I wasn’t even really into photography at the time.  We just need photos of some of our artists and I turned out to be the best qualified.  So, I dusted off my Nikon 6006, bought a few rolls of the highest ISO films I could find, and went at it.  I got what we needed and went back to music business as usual.

It wasn’t until 2006 when I started to cover music shows again.  It had already been several years since I left the music studio, but I still had a lot of friends in the industry.  The main reason I shot the show was to get to know my newly purchased D200.  I had agreed to cover a wedding the following week with my friend Tim Kang.  We were planning to use a mixture of film and digital, and I didn’t want the wedding to be the first time using my D200 on a job.  Tim suggested shooting a band that was playing a coffeehouse and I agreed.  Little did I know that one of the guitarists there would end up being a repeat client four years later.

I went on to regularly cover shows by Eden a.d., Ryness, and numerous other bands including Yellowman.  Yellowman is a pretty informal cover band, but it definitely does not lack talent.  Many of the members come from Ryness.  I’ve seen them perform with anywhere from one to three vocalists.  They cover a lot of rock songs by bands like AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses, and play exclusively (as far as I’ve seen) at Refi Rock Shows which are fundraising events for the Boomer Esiason Foundation (that helps fund research aimed at finding a cure for cystic fibrosis).

I’ve had the privilege of covering three of their shows now, and each time has been better than the last.  Since they play at these BEF events, they get really amazing venues.  I’ve shot them in the USS Intrepid, Terminal 5, and now at the Central Park Zoo.  But the greater privilege is that I’ve been hired for each of these Yellowman gigs by someone who really appreciates my style and work.  John Ou is the guitarist I met back at the coffeehouse in 2006.  Each time he’s hired me, he keeps it simple.  He confirms the date, makes sure I have everything I need, and gives me the freedom to do what I need to do.  He’s told me on numerous occasions how much he likes my work and trusts me to get the job done.  And though we discussed pricing for the first gig, he’s never haggled or tried to lowball me because he values what I do.  He’s the type of client that every photographer wants.  So to John Ou, and all the other photography clients like him out there…thank you.  It means a lot to us photographers.

Here are some from the Central Park Zoo.  All photos were taken with existing light.  I never use flash for music shows.  Flash usually kills the lighting of the venue, which adds to the unique element of each show.  Flash can also be distracting to the band.  If you want to shoot music shows, I suggest fast lenses wide open, shutter around 1/100s, and adjustment of ISO accordingly.  That’s just my 2 cents.