Live music is a very specialized area of photography. To start with, penetrating the wall of PR to obtain a photo-pass is a major obstacle in itself. Generally press photographers are allowed into the 'pit' between the stage & the audience for the first 3 numbers only. Flash is usually prohibited & photographers have to work with the stage lighting as it is. This means coping with constantly changing multiple light sources including strobes. In pre-digital days there was no chance to review images until the film was developed. Furthermore the performers are constantly on the move making focussing & composition difficult. Then there's the crowd behind throwing beer & worse! . The lecture includes almost 400 projected digital images of jazz, blues & rock stars ranging from Sonny Rollins & B.B. King to Elton John, Mick Jagger, Madonna & Barbra Streisand. The photos were taken in a wide range of venues from small jazz clubs to the Royal Albert Hall, the O2 Arena & festivals like Glastonbury.
(Digital projection equipment provided)