The art of shooting concert photos
I was 10 when I heard Scorpions for the first time. This was in 1982 and I listened to that band A LOT during the rest of the decade. They were easily one of my top five favourite bands. I never saw them live though. Living in Finland (and especially since I did not live in Helsinki) opportunities to attend rock concerts with international artists were rare back then.
Hence I was happy and surprised to learn that Scorpions would visit Jakobstad (Pietarsaari in Finnish). That's just 20 minutes away from me! I had to see them. And so I did on August 1 2015.
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| My best advice for any concert photo shoot is to use the maual exposure program. The stage lights pointing straight into the lens would make exposures vary too much had I used an automatic exposure program. |
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| Intense spotlights sometimes make quite nice lens reflections. |
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| Remember the audience is also a part of the concert. Don't concentrate exclusively on the artist. |
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| I love the hands reaching into the photo. |
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| The dramatic clouds made a beautiful backdrop. |
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| Matthias Jabs is into his music. Bright stage lights make high quality photography possible. It's like half the job is done already, you just have to point and shoot. |
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| Klaus Meine of the Scorpions. |
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| You gotta love the amazing light show and the big screens. |
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| Rudolf Schenker is a true showman. I got him to point straight into my lens. I'm very proud of this picture! |
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| I can't help it. The security guys make me think of another German band. Hint: NOT a hard rock band. Wir sind die Roboter... |
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| The crowd in focus. |
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| The acoustic part of the set. |
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| “… and listen to the wind of change.” The 14th best selling single of all time! |
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| Spotlight shadow. |
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| Drummer James Kottak is a huge showman. He would probably steal the show if he didn't have to sit behind the drums. |
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| Album covers appearing during the drum solo. |
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| You've got to love that guitar! |
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| Like most concerts photographers had access to the photo pit only during the first three songs. The rest had to be shot from the crowd. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. Klaus Meine appearing between waving hands. |
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| Although shooting from a distance of maybe 30 meters Matthias Jabs seems to look straight at me. He probably didn't. |
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| It can't be easy to throw a pick more than a few meters but Matthias Jabs really does his best to try. Luckily I captured the pick just below the upper edge of the photo. The rain that finally came at the end of the concert looks quite cool too, I think. |
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| Thank you and bye bye! |
