anika in london

I remember the first show I used my DSLR with the 50mm 1.8 lens. It was at the Two Gallants show in New Cross, in early September 2008. I was dead chuffed to have gotten this shot:

Looking back on it now, it’s still not a bad shot. When I was first taking pictures it was really fun and exciting and I never really thought anything would come of it. I was new to London and I was new to gigs and I thought you had to be some kind of whiz to get a photopass. I never really thought about the mechanics of how gigs work, either.

Then in December I met a whole bunch of people who I’d end up seeing a whole lot more of. I went along to Bandstand Busking at Arnold Circus to watch Loney, Dear. I met the people in this photo:

The man on the left is Emil; Loney, Dear; the middle two are Christian and Bas, who play in The Leisure Society; and furthest on the right is Rich Thane. Rich would soon become a colleague and a friend. I met him because we had the same camera and he asked if I’d take some shots of the busk for him. It turns out that Rich also runs The Line of Best Fit. Arguably one of the top British music sites, TLOBF covers alot of the bands I love and reviews albums and live shows.

Rich is a massive Swede nut; he loves anything Swedish pretty much. I had just taken some photos of I’m From Barcelona at the Scala and Rich asked if he could put them on TLOBF and also said I’d be welcome to shoot future gigs for the site. On a side note, that I’m From Barcelona gig was a funny one. Pre-sorting photopasses I tried to smuggle my camera into no-camera policy venues. I wore a poncho and ninja’d it in.

So I started getting photopasses via The Line of Best Fit, as well as Ragged Words- a website run by Padraic Halpin, who I met through Bandstand Busking.

I was going to dozens of shows a month and I’d rarely leave my camera behind. The best way to learn is through practice. Lots of people have mentioned to me that they’d like to learn how to take photos. I don’t think I am wrong in saying it’s very easy. I think anyone can take photos. Once you get the basics of how the camera works, you can figure everything out from there. It doesn’t happen over night that you’re suddenly a whiz, but if you practice you can get to know your camera and figure out what works and what doesn’t. Honestly, anyone can take a good picture. Some photographers are quite aloof and act like they’ve got a special gift, but I really think anyone can take good photos with practice.

So that brings me on to another subject: other photographers. You end up meeting them a lot. I’ve been lucky to meet lots of nice photographers who have been encouraging and great company at shows. Too many to try and even list. But there are always some who just want to talk about their agency, who don’t care about the bands, and who will look down at you for having lesser gear. You shouldn’t let them put you off! Some of the dudes at bigger events I have shot wear two camera bodies round their neck and look at you like you must be rubbish because you have a basic kit. I used the 400d up until recently. It’s pretty much an entry level Canon DSLR and I sometimes felt a bit self conscious in photopits with people double my age with gear worth five or six times my own.

But you don’t need top of the line kit to get nice photos. I took some photos I’m still really proud of. In May of last year, I shot Metric at The Electric Ballroom and was super happy the light was so great and I could get these:

Those were with my 400d and a good zoom lens. By then I started taking photos regularly for Bandstand Busking and a whole bunch of other websites. I had a photo in The Independent, a supplement that came with The Guardian, and a whole bunch of other places.

I just kept taking more and more pictures. I love outdoor photography at festivals and Bandstand Busking. I only ever really shoot events where I want to hear the music. Even if I wasn’t taking photos I’d still be at the shows.

By autumn/winter last year I started getting tired of the limitations of my gear. They’re not huge issues, but I just wanted to try something new and to have higher quality images (you can take amazing photos with basic gear but having a fancypants camera will make the image quality better).

So this year I worked lots and saved lots and bought the Canon 5D MK II. It’s a dream! It makes everything so much easier as I no longer have to deal with noisy images when shooting dark gigs. The colours are brighter. The full frame sensor is lovely. I can get hugely wide images. It’s just wonderful. It’s made me feel really excited about shooting shows again, as everything is new again. It’s so much fun.

BUT! I am so glad I took photos with the 400D for a year and a half. It’s how I learned everything. Shooting shows equips you so well for any kind of shooting because the conditions are hard. Light can be dark, unpredictable, subjects can move a lot. It’s great practice, you really learn how the camera works.

I’m nothing more than an amateur photographer, but I really, really enjoy it. I take photos for a bunch of websites and some venues and promoters and it’s just a lovely way to be able to get tickets to see bands I love. I’d really encourage anyone thinking of taking photos, to go for it! It’s fun and not as hard (or necessarily as expensive) as you might think.