Music festival season is upon us and this presents the perfect opportunity to experience your first taste of live music photography. Short of donning denim and leather and screaming into a microphone, nothing gets you closer to rockin’ out on stage. You might consider it an inaccessible genre that requires pro access. And while you’ll need to spend a lot of time honing your craft, if you hope to photograph headline acts such as Rod Stewart, Metallica or Taylor Swift, you may find that small venues and fledgling music festivals will welcome your Nikon with open arms.
Some festivals may allow you to bring your camera along and shoot from the crowd. And since daytime shows provide less-challenging lighting than dingy, indoor venues, the learning curve will be lessened. More light will also allow you to shoot at narrower apertures, ideal if you don’t have expensive, fast glass. If you do want to go all out and pick up some fast f/2.8 zooms, Nikon’s pro-line AF-S lenses have plummeted in price on the used market, since the industry’s shift to mirrorless. And since music gear needs to suffer the odd knock, as well as lashings of sweat and beer, you might as well let used gear take the beating.