Concert Photograpy: How to Shoot and Sell Music Business Photographs [Paperback]

Tom Mulhern (Author), Jon Sievert (Author), Tom Wheeler (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Anyone can combine a love of photography and music for a fulfilling and rewarding career by photographing their favorite musicians (and seeing their byline in print!). Concert Photography provides detailed information on getting started regardless of where you live, securing photo credentials, working backstage and in the recording studio, producing publicity and CD cover photos, finding markets to sell and lease your photos, protecting your legal rights, the ins and outs of performance photography in venues ranging from tiny clubs to stadiums, and choosing the right camera system, lenses, lighting, and film to meet concert photography's unique demands. Concert Photography is the comprehensive, "how-to" reference book that should be read by every aspiring photographer seeking to break through into a professional status and a rewarding career. -- Midwest Book Review

Jon Sievert's Concert Photography is a delightful and informative book, one that transcends the stereotypical, predictable "how-to" tomes we all know and hate. His book is a marvelous marriage of word and image that manages to weave practical and technical concerns with aesthetic and journalistic ones. Clearly, the book works well on a number of different levels. At ground level, it's a shooter's handbook to pragmatic photography. Indeed, its basics humble the work of many standard texts I've read on the subject. Among other things, Sievert details nuances of lighting, film, camera systems, lenses, and deftly applies all of the above to the concert experience. What's more, his examples are drawn from over 25 years of living what he articulates: concert photography. On still another level, Jon Sievert's book serves as a comprehensive resource for aspiring and established professional music-business photographers. He offers a veritable storehouse of non-technical information on a wide array of things such as legal mentoring, securing credentials, marketing, freelancing and selling photographs, even insights on backstage shoots and etiquette. In addition, Sievert provides the names and addresses of music publications (organized by category), music book publishers, tour merchandisers, color labs and a very hip bibliography via a series of appendices. Finally, there is the photography itself - the work of Sievert and colleagues, the likes of Jay Blakesberg, Lynn Goldsmith, Jim Marshall et al. Many of the images are classic and stories that accompany them make good points. The photos are well reproduced and the book is tastefully designed and printed. The writing is terse, interesting and understandable, and Sievert's style is engaging and personal. Along with being a celebrated photographer, Sievert has worked as an editor and a feature writer. His work has appeared in Guitar Player, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Relix, Musician and dozens of other publications. This is a book I strongly recommend, not just to those interested in concert photography, but in photography in general - neophytes and veteran photographers alike. -- From Independent Publisher

Product Details

• Paperback: 334 pages
• Publisher: Humble Press; 1 edition (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964700913
• ISBN-13: 978-0964700918
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #746,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This was great info 10 years ago, now entirely outdated, May 2, 2009

By 

Laura Lea Nalle (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Concert Photograpy: How to Shoot and Sell Music Business Photographs (Paperback)

This book presents a very thorough overview of shooting live music, but all of the information is dated to the mid-1990's - and LOTS has changed since then, particularly in terms of photographic and publishing technologies. The author continually refers to the 'emerging' trend in desktop publishing and makes only vague reference to digital technologies. All of the technical info assumes one is shooting film and mailing slides to prospective buyers, and the author mentions burning cd's with your scanned images as an up and coming 'new' option. The appendix offers a pretty exhaustive list of music publications, but who knows if any of that info is actually still valid, and it doesn't include any online resources. Plus, it's missing all the great publications that have emerged in the last 10 years, plus all the online blogs and music-oriented sites that could be useful for photographers shooting music in this century. Also, the chapter on legalities must be approached with due caution as some of those laws have changed or been augmented in ways that can impact photographers. The only info that is still marginally useful should already apparent to anyone who has shot any live music before, and that's the info on developing relationships with bands/venues/publications/etc, proper etiquette at shows, securing press passes, etc. That stuff hasn't changed so much, but it should already be pretty apparent to any halfway resourceful, observant, and intelligent photographer.

I'd really like to see the author revise and update this book to include relevant information about live music photography in the 21st century. He provided great info the first time around, and the only real fault is how drastically outdated most of the information is now due to the rapid development of new technology in the field over the last ten years. It would be a fantastic book if it was updated to include information on digital photography and techniques, marketing and publishing your photos in this digital age, navigating the influx of mediocre publishing outlets, making your work stand out in a flooded niche market, current legal issues, up to date appendices and online resources, etc. Unfortunately, as it is, this book is not worth the time or money unless you're just feeling nostalgic for the good ole days.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Working in the Trenches, June 12, 2002

By 

Lorri Markum (Indiana - USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Concert Photograpy: How to Shoot and Sell Music Business Photographs (Paperback)

A friend of mine gave me this book as a gift to fuel my desire and passion of live music photography. That was four years ago ... for the past 3 1/2 years I've been successfully working in 'the pit' for every major and up and coming artist and band that tours! The book is GREAT for BEGINNERS who are just trying to figure out where to begin and how to go about securing credentials for gigs. The book is very well written and covers all the aspects of questions within the music industry regarding imagery and credentials ... it also does well in covering the brick walls that you find yourself faced with in pursing a career in this very fickle and spur of the moment change the music biz throws at you. CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY is a MUST HAVE for any who wish to give this path a 'go'. My copy has a VERY worn cover and it's one I will treasure in my library of music info permanently!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable resource, April 3, 2000

By 

Phil W. Ellis (Columbia, Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Concert Photograpy: How to Shoot and Sell Music Business Photographs (Paperback)

Anyone interested in pursuing a career or even hobby as a music-business photographer should buy and read Concert Photgraphy by Jon Sievert before exposing their first roll of film. It is that fundamental. But the beauty is, the book will remain an exceptional resource even to working professionals with years of experience because it is also that thorough. I had photographed friends' bands in small clubs, but was not confident in my techniques, nor did I have the slightest idea how to progress to the next level -- gaining access to photographing known bands in larger venues. I discovered Concert Photography, and quickly realized that it was exactly the resource I had been wishing for all along. It was largely due to the immensely practical advice Sievert offers that enabled me to confidently pursue a gig as house photographer at a club that hosts national touring acts. I have now been shooting there for 6 months, and things are going great. I continue to refer to this book for advice on technique, and am just now starting to go back to it for advice on marketing my images. I expect similar success. Aside from the fact that this is the ONLY book I know of that is devoted exclusively to Concert Photography, it is hard for me to imagine that any book on this subject could be more intelligently organized, more clearly and entertainingly written, or more complete. I felt as if I had gained months (years?) of experience after just one reading. And Sievert's photographs are awesome -- they provide all the accreditation he'd need, even if he didn't have some 30 years under his belt as a working pro.