Stephen Crocker Photography: Blog

GOFUNDME

Fri, 17 Feb 2017 15:58:40 GMT

Well I had a terrible accident with my camera slipping off my shoulder and my best, most expensive lens hitting the concrete and getting damaged. Being the starving artist I am right now, I decided to start a go fund me campaign to get my lens fixed or replaced. Hopefully I will get some donations from those who I have shot over the years pro bono and or those who just like my work. If you feel like donating, here is the link and thanks!

gofundme.com/stephens-photography-fund

Photo Etiquette

Mon, 05 Dec 2016 22:18:42 GMT

This is the first entry into my blog which has been blank for over a year. Up until now, I wasn't sure if I had anything interesting to say or not (and still don't), however, I'm just gonna write what's on my mind and see where it goes from here, so buckle up for the ride of your life or perhaps only yawn and move on to something much more interesting! I'll try to keep you entertained with cunning wit, dry English humor and a healthy dose of sarcasm as much as humanly possible but I make no guarantees, nor issue refunds for wasted time reading this spiel.

Well as most of my friends and people who I associate with know, being a music lover, I shoot a lot of performance photography, you could easily call it my passion border line obsession. When I go to a gig, I always have a camera whether it's authorized or not. The few times that I haven't had one in tow, I felt naked without it. I recently saw Chrissie Hynde do a in store acoustic performance at Criminal Records and it was posted with an over abundance of posted signs that photography/ video was FORBIDDEN! That being the case, I respectfully complied. And while I enjoyed the performance, I couldn't help feel somehow I was denied a chance to document this event. I was easily two feet away from Chrissie almost looking directly eye to eye with her. That would have been awkward (but photographically amazing), however, if they had allowed photography, i would have positioned myself to give the artist some respectful distance. I'm very self conscience about not distracting the artist as well as bothering attendees who are just enjoying themselves for the moment. The real problem stems with cell phones. All this technology has really let the "genie out of the bottle." Not everyone is a professional photographer and that's ok. Yet we all take photos for different reasons, mostly because we want to document a special time and place. It's a bookmark we want to turn back on in the future to reflect on or perhaps share with family and friends. And I'm all for expressing oneself creatively. The problem for me and increasingly for the artist, such as Chrissie Hyndes is that most people are very selfish when they whip out their phones at a show. In the darkened venues and clubs, you see cell phones everywhere dangling in the air like a swarm of fire flies, usually blocking the view of the people directly behind them and distracting the artist, whether it's self conscience or not. The worst of the offenders are those capturing video, and not very well I might add. Holding their devices high above their heads, waving them back and forth, indifferent to the artist and attendees, and the people who have their "flash" mode turned on... That really drives me nuts. Such as life, there is a right way and a wrong way to do things.

"Photographic etiquette" is something we all should observe if we decide to pull out a camera at an event or music show. In fact, the phone companies should include it in their user manuals, not that anyone reads them. Photographic etiquette is not to be confused with rules so much as it's seems like it should be common sense guidelines to observe when photographing.

High Praise

Mon, 05 Dec 2016 20:54:22 GMT

Shooting bands for me is a process. It begins with picking the equipment to be used which for me is dictated by the venue, some places allow DSLR cameras and some don't and some venues just don't allow any photography. For example most clubs allow DSLRs and bigger venues like Phillips Arena don't. I have a number of different cameras which i use depending on the situation. Positioning is always crucial. It's best to be as close as possible but also to be able to move around to capture different angles. Sometimes I'm free to move around and other times I'm stuck and have to work within a given space. Lighting or lack of (which I plan to talk about in a different blog) is also extremely important and to which is almost exclusively out of my control. A good or great photo is dependent on a moment in time when the action and lighting are ideal and the ability to anticipate that moment or just guess. Lady Luck plays a role in that aspect as well. In this age of digital, I shoot a lot of shots and it sometimes takes around 200 or more images to find 40 or fifty I end up publishing. Definitely the most time consuming of this process is editing. I usually spend between 8 and 24 hours in photoshop, cropping, color correcting and tweaking my work on a shot by shot basis.

It's a long process that most people don't realize I go through (or any artist for that matter) and that's ok. They're not suppose to be conscience of that, but hopefully an image I shot and worked on will stir an emotion or positive reaction and it's always rewarding to get positive feedback from people who enjoy your work. I'm no exception. High praise feeds the ego and is the fuel that keeps the creative juices flowing and the incentive to strive for the best work you can do.

Normally after I shoot a band and publish the gallery, I send a link to that particular artist so they can take a look as well and I have been lucky enough to get a lot of positive praise. Normally it's short like "Great Photos!" "We love this shot," "Very Nice," etc. Recently I got a really great email response I want to share.

On December 2, 2016 I shot James Hall and The Steady Wicked at The L5P Community Star Bar for a record release show. James is a extremely talented veteran of the Atlanta Music Scene and he and his band gave a charged and explosive performance on Saturday Night. The energy level of the band and the crowd who were feeding off it was incredible. As a result, I ended up with some really nice images which I posted a few days later (and a link to the band of course) and then I got this email response from James:

Message: Stephen,
Thank you for your valuable work and eye for detail on Friday night. You really captured the Star Bar as a living, breathing entity. The photos you took of each of us have an electric quality, and the ones of the full band deliver the spirit right from the stage to the screen.
Sincerely,
James Hall

When you get a response like that, coming from another (and well respected) artist, it just stirs the soul and reaffirms all the hard work and dedication that goes into creative photography.