Notice: This post is made out of frustration and you can leave your thoughts and anger here too.
I am 25, female, german and a freelance photographer. Since a year I am trying to get into concert photograpy with pay. The first 10 concerts I did of course for free to build my portfolio but now I reached the point where I want to get real jobs and some respect for my work.
But as many fellows know it is a hard world out there and you have to give 200% effort to get 2% chance on landing a job. So one of my strategies were writing pm‘s to concert photographers on instagram with the question if they could be so kind and spill the tea about experiences in the business.
Guess what? The answers were vague and short or you would get ignored. Further it would stop at telling the simple thing of which lens they used. I get it that everyone has their own style and tries to protect it but you can nit be replaced that quickly by just helping one out with some info.
Can someone tell me about similar experiences? Is there someone who is not afraid of giving informations about this photography sector? I would really like to not feel alone anymore with this behavior.
Thanks guys!
Summary: Freelance photographer trying to get into concert sector but struggles to get paid jobs. Succesfull photographers won‘t have a conversation about their experiences. Hence their the biggest gatekeepers in my opinion!!
It’s not quite clear if this is ranting or question. Please make it little more clear about it.
If it is question, what is your main focus here? Getting income through concert photography? Getting income through any photography? Getting access to bigger concert despite no income? The know-how of how to be a good concert photographer? How to make other photographer answer you in more personal level? Would be great if you can rephrase the question so it can be a bit more clear.
It’s reddit here. If you rant, you will hear the rant back.
It’s hard to see the whole picture from your description but this is the way I see:
10 concert is not much. Did you make portfolio as a concert photographer and is it good quality and unique enough to the level that the host would specifically hire you for that specific look?
Don’t ask what lens other pro use. They usually use whatever that gets the job done. Focusing on gear gives the amateur vibe and they will take you as a beginner. You should know your tool by heart and you should know what parameters of lens make what features. On top of it, most of characteristics are added in post process. Also, you can always rent lenses for few days from camera shops if you are curious of some lens.
Time is money. I don’t think it’s weird that pro photographers gave half baked answers.