You’re standing there sweltering, clinging onto your gear whilst being jostled by competing photographers.

You’ve got three songs to get ‘the shot’ then you’re out – on a deadline to download it, process it and fire it off to the agencies.

There’s a baying crowd at your back and a band with their amps turned up to 11 in front of you. If you’re lucky, it might be a band you actually like…

It’s only rock & roll – do you like it?

Live music photography is an attractive proposition for many – and it’s easy to understand why:

- you get to go to loads of gigs for free
- you’ll get up close and personal with real live rock & roll people
- your shots can end up on the covers of magazines and CDs; and attract considerable sums of money

And it can be those things- sometimes it’s the most satisfying and exciting form of photography there is.

Sometimes however-

- you have to go to loads of gigs by bands you wouldn’t normally cross a very small street to see
- you realise that – up close and personal – many real live rock and roll people have terrible skin and untrimmed nasal hair
- your shots will end up attracting a couple of ‘not bad’ style comments on Flickr; or attracting considerable amounts of dust on your hard drive

Still interested? Great – read on…

Stairway to heaven

So, how to get started?

Like most photographic fields, you need a portfolio of suitable shots before you’re able to turn up at a gig with a camera and not get thrown out by security.

Chances are you already know where local unsigned bands play. Go to all the gigs you can; get to know the bands and – more importantly – their managers, PR people and the venue owners.

Ask them if it would be ok if you take some shots. Offer them to them for free. Be nice, be polite, be professional.

Learn the camera settings that work best for you (it’s all about speed and low-noise settings).

But for pity’s sake, leave the flash at home.

Some small bands and venues won’t mind if you behave like a portable strobe lighting unit, but if you use it at a professional gig you’ll find yourself on the pavement outside with your camera lying beside you. In several pieces.

Once you’ve got the shots, send them to everyone connected with the industry you can think of. Local papers & magazines, the nationals, press agencies, record companies – prepare for a lot of rejection letters, but you only need one to say yes.

Shooting stars

Remember that live music photography can be as stressful, competitive and demanding as any other kind of job.

But, when it all comes together: when you see one of your paid shots of a band you love in print or online, there’s no feeling to match it.

So put in the earplugs, strap on your armour and prepare to enter the pit…see you there (and sorry if I jostle you – it’s nothing personal).

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This post was written by Keith D, freelance web designer & photographer. Find out more here.

For all you designers out there, NEoN is running a competition to win £100!

Whether you are an industry professional or a closet doodler NEoN wants to see your designs. Download the template and submit your designs for a chance to win NEoN conference tickets, exposure on our marketing and a chance to see your design on a Teetonic tee-shirt.

Winning designs will be used on NEoN printed materials, 2% of which will be available for you to keep. All entries will be seen in the online gallery.
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Full terms and conditions can be found on the entry form. The closing date is October the 8th (5pm).

All part of the service? – when exceeding client expectations is the wrong thing to do

You’re only as good as your last job. So naturally your tendency is to do the best you can.

Sometimes, this can result in you over delivering.

They asked for 20 photos? Give them 30, they’ll love you!

They needed a simple website that seldom needs updating? Why not chuck in content management capabilities, they’ll think you’re really clever.

Yes, sometimes this can be a good tactic – if you exceed a client’s expectations in this way, they’re more likely to return or to refer you to their friends.

But is it always a good idea?

Can I have some more?

Your response to the client’s brief was impossible for them to resist. It was detailed, clear and competitively priced. You even went fixed cost for the whole job, after carefully defining the scope in precise detail.

You’re excited and itching to get going.

You start the job. Soon, you’re on fire. You’re racing through the work; it’s up there with your best. You’re on such a high and so far ahead of deadlines, you decide to throw in something a little extra, just for the heck of it.

You let the client see it and they love it. You both do happy dances in your heads.

Then, a couple of days later, you get a phone call.

“Thanks so much for that flashy gizmo / extra 50 photos / whistling bell!” they say, gushing with excitement. “Can I have some more please?”

You pause before replying. It didn’t take that long, after all. It won’t hurt, surely? They’ll love you even more for it…

“Of course!” you reply. “It would be my pleasure! Extra charge? Don’t be silly…”

You roll up your sleeves and dive in. After a few minutes, an aching realisation dawns: this extra piece you’ve just taken on – for free – isn’t quite as straightforward as you first thought. In fact, it’s going to take almost as long as the rest of the job put together.

You slave away, burning the candle at both ends, trying to make the extra piece fit. The outstanding work you still have to do sits there, grinning at you impishly. Your dreams are filled with marching clocks and scary laughing clowns.

The next morning, when you wake up slumped across your desk, there’s an email waiting from the client.

“Hello,” it reads.”We expect the job to completed today, as agreed. Please have it delivered by 5pm to avoid incurring penalty clauses.”

Stick to your scope

Defining your scope in detail is the most important part of your response to a brief. You and your client have something you’ve both agreed to; something you can refer back to politely and professionally when you get one of those “can I have some more” type demands.

Stick to the scope and you’ll deliver exactly what the client expected. They’ll be happy; you’ll still have your hair. And – if you really want to exceed expectations – do it in a way you can easily manage, such as providing excellent customer service, responding to emails quickly or just making sure periodically that the client’s happy.

Stray from the scope and you run the risk of a night-time visit from those scary clowns.

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This post was written by Keith D, freelance web designer & photographer. Find out more here.

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There was a time I would spend a few months building an online folio that I would have up and running then after a year or so redo it, I don’t do this anymore.

I’m finding that rather than building a site from scratch I’m picking and choosing readily available resources together that suit my needs. It’s not really a unique way of working as there are plenty of artists & designers using the same approach for their online presence. I use a combination of the following

• ⁃ flickr to host my pictures
• ⁃ a portfolio – cargo, indexhibit or maybe behance network
• ⁃ a blog – WordPress, tumblr, posterous
• ⁃ a shop – Etsy, Folksy, Big Cartel, Society 6
• ⁃ twitter
• ⁃ Facebook & linkedIn (although I’ve never quite got the hang of these)

The bonus is that they all have social networks as an integral part of their functionality. Before it would take time and effort to build an online audience and now it leaves you with time to focus on getting your work out there and become part of your own tailored scene or peer group. It feels as if it’s changed from

You > publishing > the world

to:

You > friends, acquaintances, people in the same or similar fields, clients, people you admire + your world

So your site becomes a single launch off point to bring all these elements together, it’s easily updatable and you can change it whenever it suits, while the bulk of your assets remain elsewhere. You never really have a redesign as such as you’re basically organising existing elements. People can also choose how to view your content via the format that suits them.

Using this approach for commercial clients becomes interesting. I talked one of my clients into starting a Facebook account to let people know of events and what’s going on including videos and photos. Within two months they became part of a network that has grown to a huge success- providing a much more effective way for letting people know what’s happening than a news section or e-newsletters ever did. (I always felt that people never really liked e-newsletters). Many museums and Art Galleries are making great use of flickr to host a selection of artefacts and companies such as the BBC and Scottish Ballet have created Youtube channels to showcase their videos.

It feels like a basic shift to be who you are online as to how you are in life. The need to have endless pages describing what you do and who you are become redundant and allows commercial sites to be focussed on what they do by actually doing it.

As a result web design becomes more open and less rigid in structure. Instapaper and Flipboard look like they’re heading in this direction by-

• ⁃ Displaying content in a specialised stream (like RSS feeders but easier friendlier and better designed)
• ⁃ Have the option to display good size photo/illustrations and videos. The benefit of this will be more commissions for illustrators, photographers for online work. At the moment web pictures are just so small, the joy of decent sized photographs are well served by Boston’s Big Picture.
• ⁃ More emphasis on single page design and the freedom this allows, gregorywood.co.uk is a great example of this.
• ⁃ Loosening up of the grid, allow design to breath, a focus on larger formats i.e. tablets like iPad or small screens on smart phones
• ⁃ Choosing how to view content
• ⁃ Integrated feedback i.e. comments, ‘like’ buttons, share…
• ⁃ Ease of use and implementation, web design shouldn’t be difficult

Any thoughts on what our roles might be in the future? I’ve found these elements easy to implement for our own personal sites but some clients still want a big web build as it’s become a standard. How will we change our clients perception of what’s possible and is it a realistic business model? I think that it’s difficult to charge for services which are free and readily available.

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Find out more about Wil Freeborn here.

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Abbeynursery.co.uk

Role: Logo Design + Website Design & Development

URL: http://www.abbeynursery.co.uk

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Role: Website Design & Development

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Role: Logo Redesign + Website Design & Development

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19th August
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Glasgow

What is Podcasting?

Podcasting at its core is ‘on-demand’ radio. It’s a way for you to get your message out in a new and creative way. This is separate from vodcasting, which is video

What are the Benefits?

Depending on what you’re looking to achieve, podcasting can be very cheap and can reap substantial rewards. You don’t have to produce an all-singing, all-dancing podcast like Chris Moyles’. It can be a short, five-minute sales pitch where you wax lyrical about how good your latest product is. You don’t require masses of expensive equipment. You can do it with your laptop and some free software. Remember though, your podcast will reflect your business, so keep in mind that you shouldn’t say/do anything which might harm your image.

It allows you to reach the ‘iPod Generation’ directly by cutting out the middleman and the so-called advertising guru.

How do I create a Podcast?

As I’ve already said, you can create your podcast very cheaply indeed. If you have a laptop or a computer with a microphone attached, you’re halfway there. The next thing you need is some software to do your recording. You may find that some suitable software came with your computer/laptop. If not, there are plenty of free downloads to help you on your way. I recommend Audacity for the beginner.

If you want to create something with a little more polish, there are production companies such as audioninjas who will take down a brief from you, script it, get you to approve it and then record it. You’ve then got the benefit of an end-to-end service as well as a top quality product. If you go down the professional route, then you’ll find that production companies have access to all kinds of voiceover talent. If you fancy a celebrity voicing your podcast, it can be arranged, but be warned, this can prove expensive.

Tell us a bit about your Podcasts.

I’m working on a number of podcasts at the moment, including one for a local asthma charity. Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be shrunk and allowed to walk around inside the human body? Through the power of podcasting and your own imagination, we can take you inside the lungs of an asthmatic and explain the biology of an asthma attack from the inside of the body. Creative, eh?

Where can we find out more about what you do?

You can find everything at www.audioninjas.eu and www.stewartpriest.com