Getting a start in concert photography is arguably the toughest part of the genre. Somebody has to trust you with a media pass whether it be the venue, the artist, or a local publication and know that you’re going to deliver killer images. But if you don’t have a single concert shot in your portfolio then what do any of those people have to base that trust off of. It’s the classic conundrum of a hiring company asking for two years of experience for a starting position and the kid fresh out of college being left to the wind, frustrated that no one will give them the opportunity. Well last year I was frantically emailing anyone in Tampa that I thought would be able to give me that opportunity when I found out about the Gasparilla Music Festival. Gasparilla is an institution in the Tampa area and they put on this festival as a non-profit event to raise money for music programs dedicated to kids, and as a bonus, the lineup was amazing. So I sent a cold email to its director of photography, Dan Schuman, who told me about this program he had implemented in the previous years that gave university students a chance to photograph the festival along side someone on the actual media team. This gave them a low pressure way to explore concert photography with a weekend full of shows to shoot and a mentor to use a soundboard through it. I had just finished school a few months before that conversation but he didn’t need to know that, so I gladly took advantage of the opportunity he was offering and shot my first music festival. Within the next year my concert portfolio grew exponentially and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing dozens of shows front and center, camera in hand! All because Dan gave me a break.
When Dan asked me to return as a member of the events media team I obviously accepted, excited by the opportunity and excited to help Dan and the rest of GMF. Shooting the event would be the same as last year or any other concert I’ve photographed, but the accolade of being on the official media team is what really excited me. It meant working with a team of people towards a common goal, making sure I was organized enough to deliver photos on time, taking on specific assignments from Dan, and taking on any other obstacles that such a hectic weekend of photographing can bring up. All challenges that fired me up as a concert photographer.
Everyone was assigned specific artists to shoot to make sure there was sufficient coverage for all of them, then in between acts we were asked to shoot things like families hanging out, big crowd shots, and anything that would help promote the festival’s sponsors (Shout out to Cigar City Brewing for keeping us “hydrated” all weekend). Everything was being posted on social media in real time to promote the event which meant the Social Director needed shots as quickly as possible, so there was a lot of running back to the media table to upload images and run quick edits throughout the weekend. Then it was off to my next assignment to start the process all over again. It was a non-stop adrenaline rush that only my fellow photo nerds could understand. Anything that wasn’t submitted the day of still had a 24 hour deadline on it so after running around in the Florida sun for 10 hours, I woke up at 5 am the next morning to edit my little heart out before heading back to the festival for the first performance of the day.
The weekend was an experience I won’t soon forget as one of the most fulfilling challenges I’ve taken on as a photographer. Once again blending my affinity for music and photography, this time with a great cause motivating me to do the absolute best I can. This is the work that I love.
-Tyler
