They say a picture is worth a thousand words…

Along with making sure you never miss a concert again, a core part of our mission here at Songkick is to be the ultimate place to relive and capture those awesome concert experiences. A great concert photo can bring back fond memories, encapsulate a special moment or just make you insanely jealous if you weren’t there to witness it in person!

We’re privileged to have a bunch of great photographers who regularly use Songkick to share their talent and live music memories. One of those is bobunderexposed, who’s been adding photos to the site for a year and a half now. We thought it’d be interesting to have a quick chat with him about his passion for photography and hear about some of his top concert moments (including getting told off by the legendary Nick Cave)…

1) How did you get in to concert photography?

I was going to lots of gigs with my wife and around 2001 I bought my first digital camera. We were seeing so many great bands and no one was documenting what was going on so I decided to resurrect my interest in photography and combine it with my new desire to build a website of my own. I’d done some concert photography in the early 90s for The London Student Newspaper but was using film and a darkroom and it was such a pain and so time consuming. Digital photography was a revelation for me. I could get the photo I wanted in minutes rather than spending days in the darkroom.

2) What do you shoot on?

I started out with a 3megapixel Nikon compact and have worked my way up to a Nikon D700 DSLR with some nice fast lenses. They say that it’s the skill of the photographer and not the equipment but a £1500 camera certainly helps you get the shots you want.

3) What is your favourite venue to shoot in?

I don’t have a favourite venue to shoot in. The bigger gigs tend to have better lighting and if I have a photopass I get to shoot first three songs from the pit so it’s easy to move around  - the Astoria was a nice place to shoot. But I also seem to get good photos in the tiny, cramped Buffalo Bar which virtually has a 60 watt bulb for lighting – though I have to use flash.

4) Most memorable concert you’ve photographed? And why?

Taking photos of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at their first UK show in the tiny Metro venue in Oxford Street was probably one of the most memorable gigs for me. I don’t think many people there would have foreseen how big they’d get. Getting told off personally from the stage by Nick Cave for not leaving immediately after 3 songs was quite amusing too. Inadvertently being at a guerrilla babyshambles gig and trying to take photos from a throbbing mosh pit was also memorable but not fun.

Photo by bobunderexposed: www.underexposed.org.uk

(Featuring Yeah Yeah Yeahs from Yeah Yeah Yeahs with The Beatings and The D4 at The Metro Club (29 Mar 02))

5) Top tip for other concert photographers?

Less is more: learn to edit your shots. Buy a fast 1.8 lens. Be nice to people – don’t turn up at a gig 5 minutes before the band comes on and push to the front and stand in front of my wife because she’ll punch you. Sometimes I feel a little self-conscious at the front of a gig as I’m over 6ft tall but then I’ve usually been there since the doors opened so if you can’t see past me you should have got there earlier.

Lastly – learn how to process your shots properly using photoshop or the like.

One last thing! Don’t give away your photos to magazines and newspapers (and some websites) for free just to see your name credited (which they invariably leave out anyway) – value your work or no one else will.

Photo by bobunderexposed: www.underexposed.org.uk

(Featuring Babyshambles from Babyshambles at The Metro Club (04 Jun 05))

Massive thanks to Bob for answering our questions. You can check out his great concert photography on his Songkick profile, or visit his website: www.underexposed.org.uk.

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