Photography with a Conscience

I was asked a little while ago to shoot some photos for a charity event. A bunch of musicians were getting together to support Oxfam and their fight against global poverty, and one of the musicians, who I had shot at a previous gig, asked if I wouldn't mind donating my time to come and give the event some exposure.

My diary was free, so I was in.

I don't know about you, but ultimately I want my photography to mean something. By that I mean 1 of 2 things.

Either:

I want to use my skills to directly raise money for people who need it more than I do.

Or:

I want to use my abilities to tell the stories of people who need the exposure in the hope that it will draw the kind of attention which makes their lives better.

This charity event is an example of the former. It certainly didn't give me shots which I was that proud of. The lighting wasn't great and I just had to make do with a bad situation. From the moment I walked in the door I could tell this wasn't going to give me much, but then that wasn't the point. The shots were going to be used in the media to create exposure for Oxfam and it's cause. It's useless trying to measure the monetary effect these shots had at the end of the day, but for me it's enough to know that it could help redirect some funds towards those who desparately need it. I wasn't directly telling an inspiring story, but my work would hopefully help regardless.

If you're going to shoot these sort of events I think it's important just to go in to serve the cause and leave the results to others. Hopefully you are shooting for a charity you know and trust with the outcomes in the first place.

As for the latter; it is my dream job to shoot for a charity one day. More than portraiture, more than food photography, and certainly more than product photography, which just aids rich people in buying more things they likely don't need, I would love my photography skills to have a conscience about their use. Shortly before coming to London I applied for a job here to shoot for a Catholic Charity who run orphanages and homeless shelters the world over. The role would have been to travel to these different centers and visually tell the stories of the good work being done so as to help raise funds. I cannot think of anything more fulfilling to do with my camera than create this kind of exposure.

I didn't get the role, but I am always on the look out for my 'Holy Grail Job'.

Fredrick Buechner put it best when he said that, "Your vocation lies in the intersection of the world's great hunger, and your great joy."

I know this could easily be taken advantage of, but I am always looking to help a good cause, if I have the time to give. When they do present themselves I have to remember to go into these situations unselfishly. I'm shooting to tell a story, not with my portfolio in mind. If I hit two birds with one stone that's great, but the story comes first.

Take a look at the link to "The Give Back Project"  in the menu above to see an initiative I started where I challenge people out there to fund short films for worthy Charities.

Here are some of the shots from the night I mentioned at the start of the post:

And here are a couple of videos I have produced for charities which I felt needed the exposure:

I was sponsored recently to go along to the iThemba Camp in KZN, and shoot them a promotional video. It was such a great weekend and I have always found what they do so inspiring. The challenge was to shoot something which would make you feel what these camps are like for the kids, rather than the traditional promotional video which just fires info at you. I shot with x2 Canon 550D's (Prime lenses 24mm, 35mm and 50mm) and a Go Pro which I used for the bus shots and the underwater footage. It was edited and graded in Final Cut Pro X (which as a first time FCP user I'm actually enjoying). The music was purchased from SmartSound through Express Tracks. Enjoy.

My Life My Africa are doing some amazing work among the young people in Zandspruit squatter camp, Johannesburg. I shot this video to be used at the launch of their new project in a month's time, and to be taken around local companies in order to get funding for future work. I shot mostly with my Canon 550D, using my Canon HXA1s for the interview shots because of the better audio quality. I threw together a simple logo to use for the bottom right corner of the interview piece, but the client wasn’t happy with it so it was dropped from the final edit.

Shooting at Big Gigs

I have followed Jamie Cullum's music since his 'Twenty Something' DVD  grabbed my attention, and then stayed on hard rotation in my DVD player for weeks on end back in 2004, much to the annoyance of my roommate at the time. He is one of the most talented musicians and dynamic entertainers out there today, in my humble opinion.

So when they advertised limited tickets for his pre-album launch show here in London, I immediately applied; and was lucky enough to be selected for a ticket in the second round.

I usually don't take my camera to big gigs, partly because of security issues, partly because I am unlikely to get good shots unless I wind up close to the stage, and partly because trying to shoot in those crowded situations can get in the way of enjoying the show.

But a few days before the gig Jamie's people sent out an email asking people to bring their cameras along because he wanted to film a crowd sourced video of one of his songs. The idea was that he would prompt the crowd to pull out cameras for a particular song and get them to film the entirety. Everyone would then head home after the gig and upload their footage to 45sound.com. The venue would upload their sound from the desk (likely post mixed) and fans could then view the song from a couple of hundred angles around the venue.

Great idea.

Mostly because it gave me an 'in' with my DSLR.

I arrived early to get a good spot in the front of the cue, but as we were being ushered through the security check point I was still pulled aside because I had a big camera bag on me. I found myself waiting in a pit off to the side, with a growing group of DSLR users, all pulling out our phones to show the 'Gig Nazis' the emails which had asked for us to bring cameras, all the while the rest of audience are streaming in ahead of us. I saw one guy head through with a Leica M9. I asked the security guy why he had let him go through and not me. He said, "Because he's only got a small camera. Yours is a professional one." He obviously had no clue what a Leica was and that it took much better pictures than mine. Got to get me one of those.

Eventually, after frantic conversations over walkie talkies, the 'misunderstanding' was cleared up and we were allowed into the venue with our gear.

The crowd had now filled up a 3rd of the room, but I managed to pull a sneaky maneuver via the arches and through the bar area to the left hand side of the stage. Why the left? The first thing I looked for when I walked into the room was to see which way his piano would be facing. Knowing I wouldn't be able to move around much, and that I would have to pick my angle from the start, I wanted to have a clear, over-the-shoulder-shot of his hands on the piano. The last thing I wanted was to be stuck on the opposite side of the piano and be shooting just the top of his head the whole night. 

So with some sneaky elbow work I made my way into the perfect position between his piano and his keyboard and was able to capture some great action. If there was a media pit that night, I would have been standing in it, so good was my position.

The other joy about big gigs like this is that the lighting does all the work for you. I could lock my settings into manual for most of the time and rely on the professional lighting rig to create some interesting mood changes. All I needed to be aware of was that I was never losing my exposure when the brightest lights hit his skin. Other than that I let the chips fall where they may. With gigs like this you can't be afraid of shadows, because you're not looking for even exposure of the whole scene. You're looking for good skin tone, and then you can allow the shadows to create mood and negative space.

I must admit that this is a once off for me. I don't enjoy shooting at big gigs, and unless you have a press pass it really isn't worth bringing your pro camera along to fight security and get frustrated over the shots you can't get because you can't move. Rather just enjoy the experience and forget that you're a photographer for a evening.

On this occasion I got lucky.

Here are some of the shots I got:

This is the video I shot from my prime location:

My view at the recent Jamie Cullum show at Heaven, Under the Arches in London. New album Momentum coming out very soon!

Respecting the Room

I love going to quiet, intimate gigs and listening to acoustic music by solid song writers. I'm really lucky here in London to know people who organise some amazing evenings on a regular basis where writers and performers of insane quality pedal their melodious wares.

I went through to one such gig at The Old Queens Head in Angel on a recent public holiday.

I'll be honest and say that I find shooting at these gigs quite challenging. It's often difficult to strike a balance between moving about and getting interesting shots, and making sure I am no distraction to the artists, or those enjoying the music. The fact is though that you have to move around because, at the end of the day, you are shooting the same individual, in the same sort of pose, against the same background. So you have to find ways to mix it up, whilst being respectful of everyone else in the room, and not making a nuisance of yourself.

I have made a few simple rules that I follow:

1. DISCRETION: I don't move during a song. I find a spot during the applause break and stay there until the next one. This often means having a quick look around the room before the gig kicks off and picking a couple of angles I'd like to shoot from. I also make sure that if I stand in those spots which will give me the shots I want, that I'm not obstructing anyones view. I don't have the right to ruin someone else's experience of the gig, just because I have a camera in my hand.
2. TIMING: Once I've chosen a spot for the song, I wait for a moment. I use the timing of the song, and the structure, to anticipate highlight moments where the artist will hit a high note or do something interesting with their instrument. Don't just fire continuously. I was at a gig recently where this guy was running around the room, standing in front of the patrons and blocking their view, whilst shooting away on burst mode with his camera which obviously made for a huge distraction. Don't do that! Respect the room. Your shots will also be better if you are deliberate about when you click the shutter, rather than just adopting the 'spray and pray' approach.
3. APPRECIATION: I always make sure to enjoy the song. I feel personally like I am doing the artist a great disservice if I am just concentrating on the shots I'm taking rather than enjoying the moment they're creating, especially in an intimate venue. In that moment I attempt to be present and soak up what's going on. I came to listen to music, and shooting the musician is a bonus. I never want to end up going to gigs TO shoot musicians (unless it's a job). I am there to appreciate the work the artist has put in. I see too many photographers shooting gigs and I think to myself, "Wow, you missed that entire set because you were obsessively shooting and chimping." Be a fan first! I think it will come through in your images.

This particular day I shot everything with my 50mm and 85mm primes, and I tried to use the afternoon light coming in through the windows wherever possible. I often shoot in these venues at night so I was keen to have these photos stand out from the rest by making the most of the sunlight coming in.

Here are a few of the shots I took. I have added links to the artist's web pages below the images. Be sure to look them up. They are all very good at what they do.

(Some of you may recognise the second shot is a Bokeh Panorama made up of 12 stitched shots.)

Antonio Lulic and John Parker

www.antoniolulic.com

Kal Lavelle

www.myspace.com/kallavellemusic

Russell Swallow

www.russellswallowandthewolf.co.uk

...and for a giggle, this was the impromptu media pit including the talented duo from Mid Tea Sessions. A very respectful group of photographers who shoot music professionally:

Mid Tea Sessions

midtea.com