Music Photography + Adam Elmakias

Music photography is taking pictures of bands and concerts.  Although some bands or concert venues stick to the "three song rule" for photographers, some bands will take their own photographer on tour with them.  Often limited press photo passes will be given out, unless it's a big show at, for example, the SSE Hydro.  Music photographers aim to create aesthetically pleasing crowd or lighting shots, or clear pictures of the band members performing.  A lot of this type of photography is based on luck, as well as where you position yourself and if you backlight the stage or not.  Photographers will generally move around the venue and take lots of shots from different perspectives, and they may leave remote control cameras around the venue as well.

usic photography is used by music magazines and websites as well as bands themselves.  Fans also practice concert photography to a certain extent, though not quite to the standard of professional photographers.  Unless you have a press pass, you are not allowed any camera better than a phone, iPod or point and shoot camera.

You Me At Six, 2013 (my photo)

Adam Elmakias is one of the most well-known music photographers in the rock community.  From Madison in Wisconsin, America, he has been taking photographs since 2006 and building a wide network of contacts.  He prefers to cultivate a relationship with bands instead of being a one-off photographer, and has known the bands he tours with for more than five years.  He works a lot with bands such as A Day To Remember, All Time Low and Of Mice And Men, but he also takes clients from other bands etc. worldwide.  I became aware of him in much the same way as Tom Barnes, through magazines and the bands interacting with him.  He's built up his brand well and has even released a DVD of photography advice, which he put up on the internet for free as he wanted everyone to have access to it before it went out of date.

All Time Low on tour (Adam Elmakias)

His live photos are great because they show how how much fun the band and crowd are having, how many people are gathered together under the lights, how intense the moment captured is.  He may rely on luck a lot of the time but his knowledge of where to go for a good photo and how to get one is A* in my opinion.

I really like concert photography, particularly at festivals, because there's so much going on and it really freezes the second in time.

Adam shooting the stage at an All Time Low concert 2015
(Adam Elmakias)

Pierce The Veil, 2012 (Adam Elmakias)

This photo he took shows the lead singer of Pierce The Veil onstage mid-concert.  The fact the photo is in black and white makes it more dramatic and draws your eyes to the centre of the picture, with the help of the beams on the ceiling.  I like that he captured the confetti and the way the singer is obviously connected to the crowd with his arm up.  It's a good photograph and expresses the feeling of standing on stage looking back at the crowd well.  I especially like how the singer's arm lines up with the beam above him.

I also like this photograph he took of A Day To Remember.  It's also in black and white, lending it a more personal feel and providing stark contrasts between the lighting and the surrounding dark.

A Day To Remember singer (Adam Elmakias)

The different shades in this are very nice and it's nice how the people in the crowd become more distinct the more you look at it.  It's a good photograph too and even when I'm not particularly a fan of the bands, I'm always impressed with the photography.  The composition of both is done very well and in this picture I like that the viewpoint is from sidestage as it shows both the singer and the fans raising their arms back to him.

Sources used:

Adam Elmakias
Adam Elmakias II
Alter The Press
Wikipedia
Elmakias Tumblr

We are here somewhere to the right of the stairs
- ATL at Glasgow (Adam Elmakias)