A new season brings new challenges

Hello and welcome to my new blog!

This is something I have never done before but hope that it will be enjoyable to read and give you the opportunity to follow me behind the scenes.

So it is now September and for many people like me, this is the start to the new year. Since school I have always found it difficult defining the new year by the 1st January, as to me September felt like the new start with moving to a new school or starting back to work as a peripatetic teacher. January 1st always felt like a massive anti-climax! Even though I have finished with school, university, music college and being a full-time music teacher September still feels like a new beginning. Being a music photographer means that I have to run with the musical seasons too.

"But surely music is all year round?", I hear you cry!

And you would be right, most music is. But a substantial amount of my work does involve classical musicians who have working seasons. Most orchestras work from September to June. It may involve some touring over the summer period which hopefully means taking a photographer along with them to document their concerts, but for a lot of musicians it means a long sought after rest. And for me? A very quiet few weeks.

But as I said, September is now upon us. As I write this rosin is being applied to bows, oil is being dripped on to valves and batons are being sharpened to an even finer point as the finest musicians prepare for the first concert of the season.

This is an exciting time for me as I start receiving emails from groups whom I have worked with before asking if I would document their next concert, to hearing from new players who have been passed my way looking for new headshots etc. So far I have been asked to document a brand new orchestra who's first concert is this autumn. Nothing is set in stone but still quite the exciting prospect. I have been commissioned to make 3-4 videos advertising musical businesses by two clients, one new and one I have worked with before. I have also been asked to do a lot of headshots by colleagues I worked with musically but not photographically. I always enjoy working with fellow musicians who have never seen me the opposite side of the camera. For many of them it is a talent I kept hidden from them for many years.

So you're now probably thinking where in that comes the challenges?

In this part of my work it isn't a challenge as it's a world I know too well. I have been on all sides of the orchestra and I know how it works. I know who to respect and how to behave. I know the music and how the rehearsal works and how to move around a concert venue unseen. What I really need to do now is push myself to shoot in concert situations that I am unfamiliar with. What I would quite like to do is get in to the rock scene. I would love to shoot a rock or pop gig where there is decent lighting and that the sound of my shutter wont offend anyone. To have an actual area (photographers pit) where I can move around freely without blocking someone's view or get up on stage with the musicians and get a shot of the bands view out to the audience. All things which are most unlikely shooting a symphony orchestra. I have some experience in this field when I have had shoots on jazz nights and with function bands, but they weren't the authentic gig experience I was hoping for. Either the venue was so cramped that I could barely move to get interesting shots or the venue was so crap (bad lighting) that the band looked like they were playing in the corner of a canteen. I just yearn to be in that hot & sweaty gig venue, stuck between the band and the crowd where the emotion is at it's most intense. Yes, it would be different from what I'm used to but I think its something I could do well.

The hard bit is breaking in to that world. There are so many tips on the internet on how to become a concert photographer; speak to a venue, approach a band, contact a concert promoter, work for free to name but a few. So far I have tried all of these but have got nothing in return. This side to music photography is just saturated with other photographers that there is almost a waiting list to get your first gig. But this is a challenge I will conquer! By next September I would have hoped to have one rock gig under my belt and if it goes well, hopefully it will lead on to more. If you're reading this and you know of a band looking for gig photos please pass on my details.......pretty please!

It's not just work challenges that have to be faced this quarter but also changes are being made at home. My wife is expecting our first baby in December! We are both thrilled and cant wait to meet the new addition to the family. We have decided to keep the sex a surprise so do not be alarmed if I refer to the baby as 'it' in future blogs.

Apart from the usual upheaval of sorting out the nursery, NCT classes, prams and how we are going to pay for all this stuff it is all going rather smoothly and hope we are going to make great parents. I am curious though how it will affect my work life? Lots of my colleagues who are self-employed seem to make it work but everyone's circumstances are different. Luckily I work from home a lot (editing photos and video etc) so child care on those days will be fine. But what happens when I get work come in last minute (which is often the way when it comes in)? After my wife finishes her maternity leave she will be going back to work, though we are not sure if it will be full/part-time yet meaning one of us might have cancel work that day. We do have family near by that would love to do some baby sitting duties but we don't want to become a nuisance or that other people have to put their lives on hold for us.

If you have been in this situation before I would love to hear your thoughts? Any tips for young first time parents trying to juggle bringing up a child and professional careers?

It is certainly a daunting task but one we are both looking forward to.

That's all I'm going to say for today. I hope this topic will evolve in to a conversation and we can talk about it some more over the months. I'll give periodic progress reports on 'it' and how the photographic work is coming along. And I'll be sharing images and stories with you too.

Thanks for stopping by,

Adrian.