Gig Photography - What it means to me

Dan Turner
May 6, 2020
6 min read

I miss live music, I also miss taking photos.

I am not a confident person. Never have been and to an extent, I never will be. It's just in my nature.

I've had more than my fair share of issues in the last couple of years and as such I had become a bit of a recluse, rarely venturing out. Definitely not getting out to gigs. Back in the day you would find me at The Twist regularly along with the odd gig at the Arts Centre. These were THE places to be back then. God I sound like an old fart! (Back then was mid 2000's)

For anyone too young to remember The Twist, it was on Military Road in Colchester and is now an office for Love It! magazine. It was a sad day when it closed. I played there many times and saw some incredible bands, both local and touring. A couple of highlights were Frank Turner supported by local legends Street Light Youth and the mighty Reuben supported by the equally mighty Engerica (who are kind of local, Southend is in Essex at least)

When I started writing music again I felt like I wanted to get out and perform but the nerves were too much. I knew CODA had the open mic night but I had never been to the venue and that in itself was causing anxiety, not that it takes a lot!

I had heard the local band Blooms, largely from knowing Wayne who owns Unit One where my old band The Monroe Connection had practiced and recorded in the past. I liked what I heard and having seen Wayne drum and the professionalism behind Lianne's videos on YouTube I was pretty sure they would put on a good show so I was keen to check them out.

Not long after I had heard their music I saw that they were playing at CODA. It felt like the ideal time to see some live music and check out the venue. I decided to go alone, this really is unlike me but it felt like a challenge. I knew I would at least say hi to Wayne at some point in the night but I was aware that I would often be in my own company. Because of this I took my camera along, i'd only had it a few months and figured it would be a new experience taking photos in low light and it would also be something to hide behind. An excuse to be there alone if you will. As it turns out I managed to chat to a few people I didn't know but it was nice to have the security of the camera.

I love the colours in this one, clearly captured at a time when the band had slowed the tempo. The light coming in from the right hand side, by the bar matches the light hitting Lianne, there is also some nice depth of field. I particularly like the lights shining off the frets on George's guitar

As well as Blooms headlining there was support from In and Out of Sleep. Ady Johnson and Elephant Jane.

It was definitely a learning curve! I played around with the camera a bit before any of the bands came on and got a bit of a feel for the lighting. When 'In and Out of Sleep' came on I was a little nervous, I took some photos but unfortunately the majority of them weren't very good, I was still adjusting the settings somewhat and getting used to shooting a moving target! up until this point most of my photography had been still targets and abstracts. By the time Ady came on stage I was a little bit more comfortable, slightly less self conscious in what I was doing, and I had a better idea on framing. Also given the nature of Ady's music it was a more relaxed affair so slightly less movement to worry about.

Elephant Jane burst onto the stage with their matching suit jackets and loud, frantic songs. I did struggle to capture everything I wanted to but I ended up with some nice shots overall, making use of the depth of field my 50mm prime offers and the Christmas lights that were still on the wall behind the stage. By the time Blooms came on I had learnt a lot and as such I managed to capture a lot more that I was happy with. With more practice I certainly could have done a lot better but to my mind I got some nice lighting and some cool action shots. Not always 100% in focus unfortunately though haha.

To me, the colours in this photo are incredible. That's not me tooting my own horn, just an observation. I'm lucky that the Christmas lights were still up. This photo is slightly abstract given that the mic stand is the only thing in focus but I like the framing and Bokeh. Overall its not something you see everyday.

For me, I found that photography does this amazing thing to a performer, It humanises them. The nature of taking photos in a fast moving environment means that you will take some bad photos and some pretty unflattering photos, when the singer is reaching for that high note and distorting their face or the guitarist is gurning while playing that solo, etc. Taking photos in a situation like this makes me feel less intimidated by people I respect. It reminds me that we are all imperfect and that is OK. We so often strive for perfection but rarely hit it, or more accurately never hit our perception of perfection. I am often guilty of putting performers on a pedestal, ignoring the things in them that I hate about myself. I think social media also plays a large part in making us feel bad about ourselves. Showing us "perfect" snippets of somebody's life rather than the reality. My point here is that we should all stop being so hard on ourselves.

Life can be fun, see! This is definitely not the best photo I took but I do like the interaction Lianne and Charlie and the fact that it is more light hearted. A lot of the photos I captured were much more serious. It has some nice touches though, the green on the cymbal and reflecting up onto Lianne's hair is a nice contrast again the red in the skin tones and the darkness of the background.

My second, and up until now, last experience with gig photography was at the CODA Open Mic night on the 14th March 2020. I managed to convince myself to go down and perform some of my songs and of course, I took my camera. Because of the nature of an Open Mic night many different people performed and I was happy to be able to capture some of the moments. I did feel however like I was stepping on the toes of Rosalind Harniess who is the host of the open mic night as well as the official photographer for Art Not Apathy. Sorry Rosalind!

I think there were around 10 performers that night, actually perhaps it was 11 including myself. I have picked three photos from this night to share here, there are more on my Daniel S Turner Music Facebook page if you want to see more.

I like the way this one is framed and the depth of field. There is enough detail preserved in the bass player to see who he is but the focus is soft enough to make the singer pop.

This is my favorite photo from the night. Rosalind Harniess performing with two of the three members of her band, The Wangs. There is a certain amount of calm captured here which to my mind relates well to her style.

I like the greens and blues in this. You could perhaps say that this is a bit under exposed but I like to keep the blacks nice and dark and I think the colour of the guitar and the skin tone pop enough.

As it stands it is impossible to go to a gig and take photos, normal life has been cancelled for the time being while we are all locked away. I hope that we can get back to normality sooner rather than later.

So what did I learn from these experiences? Well, many things.

I need to get out more! (Eventually)
Never forget my camera.
I am capable of much more than I give myself credit for.
I should never stop trying to learn.

In terms of photography I definitely need to move around a bit more. Finding the balance between variation in shots while at the same time not getting in the way.

Thanks to Blooms, Elephant Jane, Ady Johnson and In and out of Sleep for the great night at the start of March and to Rosalind Harniess and CODA for hosting the open mic night allowing me to get my first taste of playing solo for 15 years.

When CODA re-opens you will find me there, with my camera (and my guitar if it is open mic). Hope to see you there and remember. Create more, worry less.

Cheers,

Dan

Here are some links to the things mentioned in this post. Colchester has some fantastic musical talent. Be sure to check it out.

CODA - https://www.facebook.com/CodaUk/

Blooms - https://www.facebook.com/bloomsbanduk/

Elephant Jane - https://www.facebook.com/elephantjane/

Ady Johnson - https://www.facebook.com/AdyJohnsonUK/

In and out of Sleep - https://www.facebook.com/inandoutofsleep/

Rosalind Harniess - https://www.facebook.com/RosalindHarniessMusic/

Daniel S Turner - https://www.facebook.com/DanielSTurnerMusic

Art Not Apathy - https://www.facebook.com/artnotapathyuk/

Essex Rocks - https://www.facebook.com/essexrocks/