Photographer Notes: Taylor Swift
Many people who enjoy my concert photography work like to ask “How do you prepare for each musician you shoot?”
My answer usually involves a little research online with YouTube clips of recent live performances and even other publication reviews.
But before I grab my gear and head to the venue, I typically have a summarized post-it note of what I can expect and will be doing.
However, things do not always go 100% as planned. You will notice that I made notes about Swift doing a duet at the end, but I almost forgot that! By the time I realized and made it to the end of the stage, she was done that brief segment. C’est la vie.
Excerpt:
Photographing Swift was a little crazy as all of the accredited media were put into the pit just left of the main stage with all of her most adrenaline-fueled fans. Trying to take an exceptional photo while avoiding all of the glittered waving hands and signs was tricky yet fun as I could really see how much these people loved her. We were allowed to photograph her during “Holy Ground” and “Red”. In the first song, Swift was sprinting spontaneously around the stage and onto the narrow bridges bringing her even closer to the crowd. She picked up her sparkling red guitar for the feature song “Red” and hair-rocked out with it while working her charm on with everyone holding a camera. She is incredibly photogenic I must say.
You can read my full review with photos on Live in Limbo.