(Music Photography) CYS Mixtape

kfish2oo2

I volunteered to take some video and photos of the Clare Youth Space Mixtape Extravaganza (Volume 1). Here are a few of my favourites:


2 by Squishy Fish, on Flickr


5 by Squishy Fish, on Flickr


9 by Squishy Fish, on Flickr


11 by Squishy Fish, on Flickr


15 by Squishy Fish, on Flickr


19 by Squishy Fish, on Flickr


21 by Squishy Fish, on Flickr

And finally, drummers need some love too...


22 by Squishy Fish, on Flickr

Any C&C, please share!

kfish2oo2

100 views and no feedback? Help me improve guys!

AnCatDubh

Glad you bumped, I'm no authority on music photography or what it is supposed to be, but i find these a little bit of a mixed bag tbh. That's not particularly bad by the way - some good and some that don't particularly appeal to me.

I think (at least for me) there is a trend. The ones which you have engaged with the subject, gotten up close, *invaded* their space (both physical and emotional) which for musicians is probably about 3 meters rather than the 18" which a normal individual would have - you get a sense of the spirit of those individuals and that is good. For me (again not knowing music photography), you almost have to smell their spirit (could be their BO ) or experience the atmosphere through the photograph to attain a good standard in music photography.

For those which are slightly/somewhat distanced from the subject, I think (imho) that you lose the sense of connection to the subject. It becomes diluted. I think in such instances you lose the nity gritty of the musical experience. Now, you don't have to lose the atmosphere - consider The Clash's seminal image of London Calling. Explain that one. There are probably many facets.

Those I think which are quite good would be the last one #22, #21#, and #15. The others don't do much for me for the reasons stated. Also, I would suggest that those I don't warm to are more incidental than with 'photography with purpose'. Photography should *mostly* have purpose (again imho).

All of the above is probably an attempt to rationalise something which can't really be rationalised (so please don't take it to heart).

Hope that's an insight which is useful for you to consider.

Cheers,

EDIT: Oh, and also your subjects weren't quite smashing their guitars off the ground. Sometimes you can only do what you can do.

And, also should have said that technically most are not bad at all, quite good really - so just concentrate on catching 'the moment'

thebaz

kfish2oo2 wrote: »

100 views and no feedback? Help me improve guys!

for music photography to work , for me anyway , there has to be something special - 11 and 15 stand out , and make me think - the others don't work for me - try to get something different, which 11 in particular has - make no mistake getting something special is incredibly difficult - if it was easy everyone could do it :-)

Scarlet42

I agree 11 and 15 stood out for me most..get in as close as you can...also what about shooting at an angle..makes shot look a bit more dramatic

kfish2oo2

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback! Personally I liked 9, 19 and 21 the most, so your responses kind of took me off guard - but thats a good thing I was a bit limited in terms of angles - it was in a very small, seated venue and having all 6'3" of me wandering around in front of the stage would have upset a lot of people. The next gig I'm at, I'll try to get the better up-close shots. I'm thinking of asking for a 28-75mm f/2.8 Tamron or a 85mm f/1.8 Canon for my birthday/Christmas... I've been really feeling the need for that bit more reach. I'm leaning towards the Tamron simply for its versatility... but the Canon is tempting because I just love that razor sharp f/1.8 aperture...

That said, the CYS guys were very happy with the photos, so all in all it worked out well. Now I'll know what to look out for next time Thanks guys!