Need advice on making money with concert photography

[robolepa]

IMHO, I think your Ghostface Killah shots are pretty good. You metered them perfectly.

That being said, please don't beat me down you guys! Pleeeease!

 

[Kerbouchard]

Bump for updates

How about you post 3 or 4 that you are especially proud of and perhaps you can get some more meaningful feedback?

 

[Josh66]

Clicking on outside links is generally something most people won't do.

Which (though true) seems completely insane/paranoid to me. Especially when you can see the address the link is pointing at.




Sell drugs. That's the quickest way to make the most money at concerts.

 

[o hey tyler]

Sell drugs. That's the quickest way to make the most money at concerts.

Best advice so far.

 

[photoentrepreneur]

Hi

Ok so you would like to know how to start making money from your shots. Firstly check to see if you have the right to sell you images. Different in most countries, if you have a photographers pass at the concert, there must be some terms and conditions with that.

Assuming everything is ok with that, your next step is to start setting up niche micro websites which cover each band or artist. Call them for example www.ghostfacekillahtour.com to be found. Then metadata your each image, make them able to buy. Add in a review and free newsletter for more concert news (data collection of interested emails) Also put on google ads and links to your other micro sites.

That's one way. It's quite a bit of work but if you have 50 of them it should start drawing some revenue.

Try and get back stage and arrange a shoot with the band. You only need to ask. Once you get the first yes, use that to convince others.

Check out Terry ONeil who used to do Elton Johns backstage photography. You could do ebooks of band tours if you want to self publish.

Good luck

Olly

 

[EnjoyPhotoSfl]

Bump for updates

You bet!

1.......... I SAID IV BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO DO ALL MY SHOWS WITHOUT SIGNING ONE.

You're clueless. Not signing a contract is exactly the opposite of being lucky. You're lucky you haven't been dragged into court. Yet. You still could be, since you didn't sigh any contracts.
Photographers that have only a modicum of business savvy know it's better to have your own contract that the client has to sign, than to sign the client's contract.

Did you get model releases signed by the band members? Did you license the photos you made, or make then available to a stock agency so you could have ongoing income from them?

I agree with imagemaker 46, your attitude will pretty much kill any chance you have of actually making money doing concert photography.

Wow!

Thank you ker and cgi,.....

I don't even need to look at any of your photos. Your lack of attention to the details when you typed your post tells me you're probably even more inconsistant at doing the much more detail oriented task of photography.

I wouldn't quit the day job, and hope you can avoid being fired from it.

No doubt, the attitude can be changed and you can learn that to be in business for yourself attention to the details is a primary requirement to success.

Here's hoping you're able to do so. Good luck :thumbup:

This is the point of my post to learn, i appreciate that you just like image maker haven't really said anything other then just point out flaws in what i typed other then what i asked about

Can you explain to me how not signing a contract to shoot a concert is bad? Dont worry about the lack of attention to the way type it seems lie your concerned about bashing me and defending some one other then helping. I know what contracts are for but im talking about photo rights grabs for LIVE CONCERTS NOT MODELS

To answer your question, im not sure the band members need to sign a model release for a live show -_-

Also if you are not going to look at my photos and help out why would you bother to write up a bashing comment? Thanks for your help


Seriously i understand you think i have an "Attitude" but the one i have is the one where im asking for help and knowledge unlike yours where you come and show off what im doing "Wrong", complete opposite of what you should doing to help out others. i know what im doing wrong, WHY DO YOU THINK IM HERE ASKING TOTAL STRANGERS FOR HELP?

 

[EnjoyPhotoSfl]

Sell drugs. That's the quickest way to make the most money at concerts.

Best advice so far.

Right behind Photoentrepreneur lol

 

[EnjoyPhotoSfl]

Hi

Ok so you would like to know how to start making money from your shots. Firstly check to see if you have the right to sell you images. Different in most countries, if you have a photographers pass at the concert, there must be some terms and conditions with that.

Assuming everything is ok with that, your next step is to start setting up niche micro websites which cover each band or artist. Call them for example www.ghostfacekillahtour.com to be found. Then metadata your each image, make them able to buy. Add in a review and free newsletter for more concert news (data collection of interested emails) Also put on google ads and links to your other micro sites.

That's one way. It's quite a bit of work but if you have 50 of them it should start drawing some revenue.

Try and get back stage and arrange a shoot with the band. You only need to ask. Once you get the first yes, use that to convince others.

Check out Terry ONeil who used to do Elton Johns backstage photography. You could do ebooks of band tours if you want to self publish.

Good luck

Olly

For all the shows where I've received my Media pass i never had to sign a rights grab. They were given to me upon request and space availability. So from other music photographers iv read that is allows us full credit to us, unless we other wise sign something correct me if im wrong though. Thanks you ill make sure to check out terry

 

[photoentrepreneur]

Also check out Mick Rock (that's his name) very famous rock photographer.

Good luck

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Its this simple, go to bestbuy and pick up a body and a few lenses. create a huge watermark. announce yourself as "pro photographer" on facebook, and post up a few pics.

you're set~!

 

[EnjoyPhotoSfl]

Its this simple, go to bestbuy and pick up a body and a few lenses. create a huge watermark. announce yourself as "pro photographer" on facebook, and post up a few pics.

you're set~!

I already took those steps. >_>

 

[o hey tyler]

Its this simple, go to bestbuy and pick up a body and a few lenses. create a huge watermark. announce yourself as "pro photographer" on facebook, and post up a few pics.

you're set~!

Man, I love how encouraging your posts are. It's really inspiring. :thumbup:

 

[vfotog]

wow, there's some craziness in this thread from all sides. and some people really misinformed about this area of photography. I could tell you to start shooting small and locally and build up your skills and name. but you asked about making a living at this. I'll be honest. The music photographer is under attack, and now more than ever it's an area guaranteed to NOT make you money. Access is restricted more and more; it got cut to just the first 3 songs, and now, there are artists that allow less, and sometimes much less, shooting time. Backstage photography? That's something practically nonexistent now. With the music industry being devastated, artists are looking for new income streams. Some of them and their management have latched on to the idea of photogs shooting and working for free. The rights grabbing releases are becoming all too common, with some artists wanting photo approval, copies of all the images and even the copyright! there's a war going on right now. Hopefully this insanity will end soon. In the mean time, it's definitely not an area I'd recommend if you want to monetize your photography. Yes, you're fortunate to have not been asked to sign any of those toxic releases. If you shoot for publications, you'll face them but I don't recommend signing them because what's the point? You sign and the images won't make any money for you anyway. And publications don't generally pay anywhere near enough to make a living. As for the comment about getting model releases from the band, they must have been confused. Most of the time you're not shooting for the band; it's generally editorial. You don't have anything signed by them and don't need it. Unless you're using the images for commercial, as in product endorsement, you don't need a model release. All those photogs in the pit don't have model releases. LOL. It's a concept that doesn't exist in performance photography. But you may want to supplement your income with shooting bands offstage for promo stuff and something that pays better in addition to live music photography. It's a fun and challenging but really not very fiscally rewarding area, and now with the quality of cameras and fans willing to shoot for free, it's getting even less so. People have a fantasy of the rock photographer lifestyle that just doesn't exist. I'd love to tell you that's it's not overcrowded, that the opportunities are endless, that your creativity and rights will be respected and that people are making piles of money... But I'm keeping it real.

 

[EnjoyPhotoSfl]

wow, there's some craziness in this thread from all sides. and some people really misinformed about this area of photography. I could tell you to start shooting small and locally and build up your skills and name. but you asked about making a living at this. I'll be honest. The music photographer is under attack, and now more than ever it's an area guaranteed to NOT make you money. Access is restricted more and more; it got cut to just the first 3 songs, and now, there are artists that allow less, and sometimes much less, shooting time. Backstage photography? That's something practically nonexistent now. With the music industry being devastated, artists are looking for new income streams. Some of them and their management have latched on to the idea of photogs shooting and working for free. The rights grabbing releases are becoming all too common, with some artists wanting photo approval, copies of all the images and even the copyright! there's a war going on right now. Hopefully this insanity will end soon. In the mean time, it's definitely not an area I'd recommend if you want to monetize your photography. Yes, you're fortunate to have not been asked to sign any of those toxic releases. If you shoot for publications, you'll face them but I don't recommend signing them because what's the point? You sign and the images won't make any money for you anyway. And publications don't generally pay anywhere near enough to make a living. As for the comment about getting model releases from the band, they must have been confused. Most of the time you're not shooting for the band; it's generally editorial. You don't have anything signed by them and don't need it. Unless you're using the images for commercial, as in product endorsement, you don't need a model release. All those photogs in the pit don't have model releases. LOL. It's a concept that doesn't exist in performance photography. But you may want to supplement your income with shooting bands offstage for promo stuff and something that pays better in addition to live music photography. It's a fun and challenging but really not very fiscally rewarding area, and now with the quality of cameras and fans willing to shoot for free, it's getting even less so. People have a fantasy of the rock photographer lifestyle that just doesn't exist. I'd love to tell you that's it's not overcrowded, that the opportunities are endless, that your creativity and rights will be respected and that people are making piles of money... But I'm keeping it real.

I expected more people to understand this side of photography. I want to note, i never wanted to make a living off of it, just earn some money.
Anyway i agree with you with all you said its a crazy section of photography, do you happen to know about my limits of what i can do when it comes to those photos i did not need to sign a release for?

Thank you Vfotog!

 

[SteffJay]

this is what i sometimes don't like about TFP. people get attacked as "inexperienced" or made to feel like crap for asking questions and not already knowing the way things work. EnjoyPhotoSfl might not have the experience, but I don't see negative attitude. I see someone who is trying to learn.

Anyway, sometimes what I do is go to small shows and take photos for free. Then I speak to the band after and offer them a link to the photos and try to set up some promo work. After creating a relationship with the artist, I'm usually the photographer they think of when they want their shows shot. I've made a little money, but not much, because it's not a really good market right now. All I can say is keep trying and do different things. Experiment.

If you have negative comments, just present them in a respectful way. It's called constructive criticism. Key word: constructive. Respect, guys.