GA to Back Stage: Chronicles of an Aspiring Photojournalist
Flash back to the first full weekend in June: as I sit here, Saturday night of Bonnaroo 2018 watching and taking photos of STS9, a stranger comes up to me and asks how I got my DSLR and big 70-200 mm lens past security and into the main venue. I quickly flash him my photo pass and explain, as I have several times throughout the weekend and as I will several more, that I write for an online publication and was fortunate enough to be able to get the pass through them. We then go into a conversation about how amazing it is, and I beam from ear to ear as I snap and talk about the amazing time I’m having attending Bonnaroo as a member of the media and how great of a time he is having as a first-time attendee.
Flash forward a few weeks, and I am still in awe, and every time I pull my camera out, I flash back to the amazing year that I have had and realize that for once in my life I have stuck with a New Year’s resolution. This article and its subsequent companions are meant as a sort of explanation about how the journey from never having used a professional camera before to attending major festivals as a photographer and writer happens. Some of the details will be left out for legal reasons, but I intend to chronicle as much of my journey as I can, so buckle up and follow the title GA to Backstage, if learning more about what it is like to get the ultimate front-row experience for all of your favorite bands is something that intrigues you.
Let us flash back one more time to November of 2017. I had purchased a camera several months prior, nothing special; actually, it is one of the cheapest DSLR cameras you can buy brand new. As with many good intentions, I had not touched it since then and had no idea how to use anything other than its Auto mode. I was ready for a change of scenery in my current day job, and my true inner millennial began to show as I questioned what I was truly passionate about and what I was interested in doing with myself. The only thing I could think of as a true passion was attending concerts and music festivals, and how I wanted to attend as many and as often as was feasibly possible. I started looking around at the options for how to become a part of this arena, and the only answer I found that seemed to be something I could do and fit within my skillset was writing.
Fortunately, I had the contact information for someone who was already deeply engrained in the industry and had just enough guts to ask for a chance. I did not ask for a ticket, however; all I asked for was a spot, an opportunity. I already had my tickets to see Bassnectar for his annual New Year’s Eve show and simply asked if I could slap together a review of it and send it over. If he and the powers that be felt like it was hot garbage, then I would look for another path, if not, then we would move forward and see where I fit in their little world.
Luckily, the gang here at MusicFestNews liked my article enough to publish this, and I began a rapid tumble down this magical rabbit hole. That hole has included four different music festivals, several local concerts, writing and learning about some of the most amazing festivals in the country that I never knew existed, and meeting and becoming friends with some of the most amazing, hardworking and hard-partying people in the entire music industry. Check back next week when I talk about teaching myself photography, gear-buying regrets and appreciation, and my first show I got into for free as a photographer.
