Live Music Photography (aka How I Become A Pro, Part 1)

I'm often asked by my clients how I became a professional photographer. It was actually a drawn out process - I didn't wake up one day and know that I was destined to be a wedding and portrait photographer!

When I went to university, I wanted to write for the music section of the student paper, Varsity. There was a lot of competition for writing jobs but I could take pictures so I ended up photographing the gigs that we featured in our live reviews. One thing lead to another and I ended up working for a picture agency while I was still at university before starting to accept commissioned jobs once I'd graduated.

I don't do much live music photography these days unless I'm commissioned by a band or publication, but here are a few of my favourite images from the last few years.

Courtney Pine:

PJ Harvey:

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead... :

Low:

Brett Anderson & Bernard Butler playing together as The Tears:

Coldplay:

The Subways:

The Dandy Warhols:

King Adora trashing the Astoria:

The Vines:

Crowd-surfing at The Junction: