Gig Photography

Zadock: our prime photographer, is also musician!

Zadock has been in a band since he was in primary school, and is highly passionate about his music. Naturally when it came to taking up photography as a profession, getting into supporting the music industry seemed like a good way to go. A lot of Zadock’s friends are in bands which has led to us personally knowing many of the music promoters, recoding studios, referral rooms and live music venues across the West Midlands!

Shooting live concerts is demanding!

The lights are constantly changing, the musicians constantly moving (especially the drummers!) and some of the band members will be well lit compared to others in shadows. It takes a lot of planning and practice to capture great images of live music.

Zadock prefers to use prime lenses, a 35mm and a 50mm. These lenses capture more light and allow the photographer to move quickly from one location to another. The light conditions may be constantly changing, sometime between songs, and quite often during! By a quick manual alter on the camera settings, Zadock is able to compensate for the changes in lighting.

For Zadock, the shoot and the editing are all about capturing the energy of the gig, regardless of if it is a head-banging metal band or a laid back country singer. We post some of our favorite images on our Instagram page @fangorn__photos, because we like to shout out the bands we collaborate with too.

One of the best things about this job for both Zadock and Rob, is being able to get out and photograph gigs. We have collaborated with lots of different bands representing many different genres of music and meeting some incredible people. Many of these bands we probably would never have got to see if it wasn’t for ‘Fangorn Photography’, but every single one has been a phenomenal experience. There is something really special about live music that can never be replicated.