Midwest Book Review
Anyone can combine a love of photography and music for a fulfilling and rewarding career by photographing their favorite musicians (and seeing their byline in print!). Concert Photography provides detailed information on getting started regardless of where you live, securing photo credentials, working backstage and in the recording studio, producing publicity and CD cover photos, finding markets to sell and lease your photos, protecting your legal rights, the ins and outs of performance photography in venues ranging from tiny clubs to stadiums, and choosing the right camera system, lenses, lighting, and film to meet concert photography's unique demands. Concert Photography is the comprehensive, "how-to" reference book that should be read by every aspiring photographer seeking to break through into a professional status and a rewarding career.


From Independent Publisher
Jon Sievert's Concert Photography is a delightful and informative book, one that transcends the stereotypical, predictable "how-to" tomes we all know and hate. His book is a marvelous marriage of word and image that manages to weave practical and technical concerns with aesthetic and journalistic ones. Clearly, the book works well on a number of different levels. At ground level, it's a shooter's handbook to pragmatic photography. Indeed, its basics humble the work of many standard texts I've read on the subject. Among other things, Sievert details nuances of lighting, film, camera systems, lenses, and deftly applies all of the above to the concert experience. What's more, his examples are drawn from over 25 years of living what he articulates: concert photography. On still another level, Jon Sievert's book serves as a comprehensive resource for aspiring and established professional music-business photographers. He offers a veritable storehouse of non-technical information on a wide array of things such as legal mentoring, securing credentials, marketing, freelancing and selling photographs, even insights on backstage shoots and etiquette. In addition, Sievert provides the names and addresses of music publications (organized by category), music book publishers, tour merchandisers, color labs and a very hip bibliography via a series of appendices. Finally, there is the photography itself - the work of Sievert and colleagues, the likes of Jay Blakesberg, Lynn Goldsmith, Jim Marshall et al. Many of the images are classic and stories that accompany them make good points. The photos are well reproduced and the book is tastefully designed and printed. The writing is terse, interesting and understandable, and Sievert's style is engaging and personal. Along with being a celebrated photographer, Sievert has worked as an editor and a feature writer. His work has appeared in Guitar Player, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Relix, Musician and dozens of other publications. This is a book I strongly recommend, not just to those interested in concert photography, but in photography in general - neophytes and veteran photographers alike.

SYNOPSIS

Concert Photography is a comprehensive how-to text for photographing musicians both on and offstage for fun, recognition, and profit. It is the only book that addresses the issue of producing and marketing photos to the specialized world of the music industry. Chapter topics include getting started, getting established, securing credentials, shooting in performance, controlling exposure, sharpness, shooting offstage, protecting your rights, selling and leasing, and selecting the proper film and equipment. Extensively illustrated with more than 100 outstanding photographic examples.

About The Author
Jon Sievert is an active music-business photographer with 25 years experience, 17 as the staff photographer for Guitar Player, Keyboard, and Frets magazines. His photos have appeared on more than 100 magazine covers, dozens of album/CD packages, and in countless books and publications worldwide, including Rolling Stone, Musician, People, Acoustic Guitar, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Guitar World, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, and Fachblatt.

FROM THE CRITICS

Midwest Book Review

Concert Photography is the comprehensive 'how-to' reference book that should be read by every aspiring photographer seeking to break through into professional status and a rewarding career.

Philip Elwood - San Francisco Examiner

In 14 sensibly organized and cleanly written chapters, all wonderfully illustrated, Sievert covers his whole subject. More than 100 beautiful black-and-white prints by Sievert-and a few by Jim Marshall, Herman Leonard, and Jay Blakesberg-are included, with subjects ranging from Jaco Pastorius and Jimmy Reed to Cheech & Chong and Michael Bloomfield. One thumb-through of Concert Photography, and you'll buy it.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Beautifully produced and extremely readable. A significant contribution to the body of photographic literature. Bound to be the definitive work. (Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle)  — Joel Selvin

Technically, the book is exhausting, providing how-to advice from the simplest pointers ('stay out of the musician's face') to the most darkroom-oriented ('the concept of 18% gray'). From directories of potential buyers for your images to chapters on buying camera equipment, this book is an imperative read for its target audience, and an unusual look at the music industry for the rest of us. (James Sullivan, BAM) — James Sullivan

A fabulous, well-written book that covers every aspect of music-business photography. Required reading for anyone who wants to photograph musicians and see his or her work published. Even experienced photographers will learn from it. (Baron Wolman, Rolling Stone's first Chief Photographer)  — Baron Wolman

If you've ever aspired to be a concert photographer, Concert Photography is the reference of choice. This 334-page tome covers everything you need to know about shooting live performances, from f-stops to earplugs. Sievert is a Bay Area photographer who has worked for numerous national magazines, and he knows his stuff.

But if you are a music fan, and not an aspiring photographer, this book still has something to offer. It's extensively illustrated with some rare and moving examples of rock photography at its best. Perhaps the most stunning photos-and ones that are well worth the price of the book-are a series of studio portraits of a 16-year-old Courtney Love that say more about the singer than any biography yet written. ( Charles R. Cross, The Rocket) — Charles R. Cross

I really can't say enough about this book. It is well-written, nicely organized, has a straight-forward and pleasant design, and contains some great photos of legends. Sievert, former staff photographer for Guitar Player, Keyboard, and Frets magazines, takes you step-by-step through the process of becoming a music celebrity photographer.

If you like popular music and idolize certain contemporary musicians the way I do, you must get this book. Even if you already know everything there is to know about shooting rock concerts and the like, this book is worth getting just for the photographs. (Sam Winch, News Photographer)  — Sam Winch