Have you ever looked at shots from a gig and realised you’re not in any of them, in the dark in the background or if they got you, you seem to have a cymbal as a head?!
In the first 10 years of playing the drums, I had 1 shot that I didn’t hate and could use for promo shots, but it wasn’t great, and it was the only 1! In the 10 years that followed I worked out, I could take my OWN shots and not only that, get the most dynamic amazing pictures that I was proud of and depicted me how I wanted!
Showcasing yourself through great photos can be the difference between getting gigs, followers and fans vs just blending into the background – literally.
I want to share with you how to take shots you are proud of, these can be live or set up in a studio. All you need is your phone and a time-lapse app.
Live:
The most desirable setup ideally (at least for me) is live! On any one show, you can often find a little GoPro camera hidden amongst my setup (or sometimes very obviously!) Set up on time-lapse. I set it going just before we go on stage and then make sure I perform the hell out of that gig to give the most dynamic shots possible (not that I wouldn’t be giving that performance anyway!)
Studio:
Sometimes it’s not practical to have a camera set up on stage, or maybe it’s your studio or recording you want to be promoting – if this is more your vibe, I got you! 🙂
The fun thing about this is that you can really do it all in your own time, look at the best angles, get the lighting just so, and maybe even have multiple cameras set up that can be a little more conspicuous! I love my Song RX-100 for this kind of studio shoot (when it chooses to focus properly!) In this scenario, I put some fun music on, hit the time-lapse function, and just play along in a dynamic way (thank goodness the sound doesn’t matter, cause it’s often the worst playing you’ve ever heard!)!
If however, you’re in a situation where you can’t make noise, I’ve got you too – set up the kit in a space, and just hold poses and shake your sticks like you’re air drumming to get that movement. Also, experimenting with just hitting cymbals with your hands for a bit of energy can be interesting too. With this method though, make sure it is an accurate representation of how you play live so anyone who books you off the back of those photos doesn’t have buyer’s remorse! :-p
Once you have a few hundred shots, it’s about sifting through them, and ignoring ones that look like this:
And taking the next step of editing ones like this using a free app like Canva:
Watch my actual process of getting these (and a ton of other shots) on this episode of Emily is Live!
I look forward to seeing your new promo shots!
Join the conversation LIVE next time by signing up:
1 thought on “Drummers! Take Promo Shots Like A Pro”