Photography Beyond the Concert Pit : Steve Brazill
I’ve known Steve Brazill for about seven years and even took a Live Event / Live Music workshop that he put on several years ago. He is an outstanding live music photographer, educator, podcaster, photography competition judge, and much more! He has been in radio for forty six years, right up until five days before this podcast & blog post went live, at which time, the station he worked for, KCAL FM, changed to an all-automated, DJ-less format and he, along with all the other on-air personalities were let go. This happened after the recording, so our discussion does not cover it. Sadly, this has been a trend across the industry for many years.
Our conversation examined how skills from one photo genre can be useful in improving a photographer’s skills in other genres and in particular, how the skills of live music / concert photography, align with skills in many other areas. Steve’s ability to make photos in extreme conditions, that tell a story, is something all photographers can learn from.
This episode is a little different format than the earlier ones, as Steve talked about each photo he was sharing as it was shown, so those on the audio only feed couldn’t see them, and thus, I will include them all here, in the order that Steve brought them up.
Earth’s moon as photographed by Steve
Steve has tried many genres of photography, including this moon shot, which he made with a telescope. The moon is actually quite bright and moves fairly quickly, especially when viewed through a telescope, which makes it much more challenging to capture a sharp, detailed image like this.
Sometimes you just have to stop traffic to get a great shot
When Steve got seriously into photography, he was exploring landscapes and had to pull over on this road going through a famous tree tunnel on Kauai. He discusses the difficulty with getting the shot he pictured, with no traffic, as every time he tried, one car would disappear and another appeared. As you can see, he found a way to make it happen!
Taking it all in from above provides a unique view of the city at night
This photo came about as a photographer from a local group was also a member of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s helicopter unit and offered Steve the chance at a ride-along. Steve was using an older camera with much inferior high ISO performance than modern cameras are capable of, yet with just a little denoise applied, it came out looking great! I missed the opportunity to ask Steve, with his radio / music background, if he had “I shot the Sheriff” or maybe “Bad Boys” song going through his head during the flight. Of course, there was a little more drama that he describes in the episode.
Event photography is not always just about the show. This photo was looking from the top of the grandstands in the opposite direction that they faced.
Having done astrophotography, landscape and aerial, we moved on to the main body of Steve’s work, live action / live music photography. This photo at the Five-Point Amphitheater and he wanted to get shots for the venue. There is a large dynamic range in involved in this shot and many aspects that directly apply to landscape photography. It should be noted that this panorama is a stitch of five photos, which adds to the complexity.
Outdoor concert photography presents unique challenges as can be seen here
When photographing an event, the photographer can’t pick the best time of day, or the perfect crowd, band, etc. They have to find a way to make it work given the conditions they have. While this is true to a certain extent with any photography genre, often in others, the photographer can pick the time of day, wait for better conditions, pose the subjects or come back again and again. Steve talks about these challenges and more while discussing this photo.
An action shot of a beanbag toss in challenging lighting conditions
Finding a way to get an interesting shot in challenging conditions is something almost all photographers face. Here, the mid-day, August sun shines brightly and Steve used one of the two men in the foreground, who are nicely framing the game board, to block it out so the image wasn’t blown out. He nicely timed the photo to have clear separation of the beanbag and the trees, while showing the tossing motion of the woman playing the game.
To make a photo like this, the photographer has to think quickly, know their camera well and be able to react on instinct
Steve’s quick reaction and instincts allowed him to make a photo like this, as is so often necessary in live music photography. Good photographers, and great ones like Steve, do so much on experience and instinct that they don’t always realize everything they are doing or creating in their photos. I think the bright sun between the hands really make this photo stand out and that it wouldn’t have been as impactful without it. It was something Steve said he hadn’t realized at the time, but sees it now. Without it, the mountains in the background would have intersected the hands in a way that could have taken away form the image and left it feeling far less dynamic. I think it adds to the feeling of being there in the scene.
Great photos can still be made in extreme lighting situations when you know creative ways to adapt
Once again, harsh lighting at an outdoor concert present challenges that are difficult to deal with. In this situation, Steve knew that if he exposed for the background the singer would have been lost in the image, so by letting the background blow out, but keeping enough colour in it and only having the singer in focus, the singer’s white shirt still stood out from the background and the details of his tattoos, facial hair and expression are clearly visible. Had Steve moved to a different position and exposed differently, the singer would likely have only been a silhouette.
Using the central Summer of Loud banner to block the sun
Knowing where to position himself and taking things into account like the movement of the sun, allowed Steve to creatively use the large banner at the back of the stage as a sunblock, which kept the stage and crowd visible.
Quick reaction and exposing for the subject, the singer/guitarist, was key in making this photo
When a singer jumps into the crowd, with the harsh mid-day sun directly overhead, its hard to make a flattering photograph, but with her head tilted up and properly exposing the singer, while not worrying about the crowd or sky, Steve nailed it here. The sky was a little blown out, but with some gentle adjustments, he brought the blue back to complete the image.
Catching both performers in the air while playing guitar is great, but a good photographer will consider the background as well
It’s not always possible to have everything you want in a photo, like when the sun is blowing out the background and you have to ignore that to make sure you get the subject clear and sharp. When it is, you can use techniques from other genres, such as here, where Steve was consciously thinking of the foreground, mid-ground and background. The layering effect the singers, in sharp focus, the crowd in softer focus a little behind them, and the trees (and sky) in the distance, which are the furthest out of focus, give depth to this photo, tell a bigger story and still let the band members stand out.
Getting a great feel for the event with the band, crowd surfers and dusty haze in this photo
Working in the elements can present challenges to any photographer, especially if they have to change lenses. The dust seen in this photo can really play havoc with camera gear, but it also adds atmosphere and provides separation, making the crowd surfer stand out more. Steve also captured the line of photographers shooting the show and another photographer facing the crowd to catch the crowd surfing action. Notice how all the photographers are wearing black clothing. This is intentionally done to keep them as unobtrusive as possible, as they aren’t the show, the band is.
A shot like this is used for the venue rather than to promote a band or specific event
As mentioned, Steve sometimes does photography for venues, and this is an example of that. He was walking around the venue, when he saw the couple taking a selfie, and thought it would make a great photo for the venue to use. While much of the photography he does is journalistic, or close to that, when shooting for a client like a venue, it doesn’t have to be and in this case, he asked the couple if they would allow him to photograph them taking a selfie, and used a flash to provide some fill lighting.
We actually talked about a lot more, but you’ll have to check out the episode to learn more. It’s available on:
Thanks for checking this out, I hope you have the chance to catch the episode and if you like it, I’d really appreciate a like, follow and share!
Now grab your camera and hit the trail in search of a great photography adventure!