Interview with music photographer Danny North

Recording and releasing a couple of albums doesn't sound like the work of a photographer but that's exactly what music photographer Danny North was doing right up until he turned to photography full time. He did have intentions of going into photography straight away and he went to Dewsbury Arts college to study a BTEC in photography but dropped out to play in bands. He left for LA and continued to follow his desires to be a musician but after a year of study he returned to the UK.

"Right up until picking up my camera again a few years ago I was playing in bands, managing a band, promoting gigs, and working as stage manager in a nightclub, all in the great city of Leeds," explained Danny.

He started to photograph the bands he managed on a 2Mp point and shoot camera and this revived his interest in photography. He soon upgraded to a DSLR and it only took a few months for Danny to start shooting for the local music zine, Sandman.

"I never really made a decision for it to be a career until NME called me, I guess it wasn't  until that point that I realised I had a bit of talent.  I still worked a day job for the next year, but it was getting harder and harder to fit both in, and a year after starting out I went full time pro."

Danny turned pro in January 2007, when he became a contributor for NME. From there he's had a residency with the magazine Front and had work displayed in magazines across the globe. He's designed and shot photography for album covers and, if that wasn't enough, he's also the official tour photograher for the Kaiser Chiefs.

"I landed the cover of NME last May with a photo of the Kaiser Chiefs live. I have another one coming up and I'm extremely chuffed to have done them both."

A career in music photography was a natural step for Danny who's life has always had music in it. For nineteen years he played in bands and progressing to photographing them around the world was an obvious transition. His work has taken him across the Atlantic and to a few places in Europe, including Barcelona. He's also visited most of the British cities and hopes Australia and Japan may be on the cards one day.

"My favourite location is Spurn Point on the east coast of Yorkshire, if I had my way I'd shoot there every other week but my favourite photograph changes all the time. I'm never 100% happy with what I do so I battle constantly to better myself.  But if I had to choose right now, I'd say the Kaiser Chiefs at T in the Park shot with Ricky's microphone flying through the air was my favourite live shot I've done this year.  The setting, the sky, Ricky's pose and the placing of the microphone and composition make the shot great."

Getting a great picture isn't always easy as drunk fans, aggressive security and even thieves can cause real problems for a photographer. Danny has an endless list of people who've made capturing a band difficult. From people planning to steal his gear, been in pits with aggressive security guards and having full water bottles thrown at him all create frustrations and difficulties. Another frustration can be the costs. Danny has spent over £10,000 on gear over the last few years and his expenses from hotels and travel can be £1000 or more. His main pieces of kit are Nikon bodies and lenses and he uses Bowen lighting.

"The main lenses I use are the 10.5mm fisheye, 24-70mm f2.8, and 70-200mm f2.8.  I just got a new Lowepro bag too, one with wheels.  That makes travelling with all the gear so much easier.  For portraits I use Bowens, I know my colleagues swear by Profoto, but they all hire as it's too expensive to buy.  But I'm not in London and it's a 2 hour round trip to my nearest hire store, besides I've never assisted anyone, so when I first wanted to get into shooting band portraits I went out and bought the cheapest Bowen set and taught myself.  I still use the same lights, and I love them."

For portraits Danny uses strobes most of the time as it gives him the chance to be creative and for live work he looks for a good light that will create atmosphere. "You get a better account of the show that way," explained Danny.

A live show is often impossible to plan for: "It's impossible to plan in advance for the live stuff, I mean with the Chiefs I have an understanding of what the band will do on stage, so it's quite intuitive.  But even then there are no plans, just reactions to the environment and the bands movement on stage."

Getting close to the bands in the first place is not an easy task and it can take a long time to gain their trust. Danny shot the Kaiser Chiefs at three different festivals in the summer of 2007 and forwarded the shots onto the bands management but it wasn't until he met the band at the Leeds festival that he had a chance to ask them about tour photography.

"I asked if they needed someone for the job on their upcoming MASSIVE UK tour, 3 days later I got a call from their manager and I was on board.  I think it was the Glastonbury shot that got me the job."

Danny aims to give the viewer of his work the experience of being at the gig by making the photographs as exciting as possible. "It's almost hyper real, I mean when a performer jumps through the air it lasts a spit second, capturing that moment makes it last forever."

Gigs can take place anywhere, from a small club to a huge site like Glastonbury and they all need to be approached differently. The environment of a festival is nothing like shooting in a venue. At festivals the weather effects you, you have a mixture of light sources and you need different lenses too.

"Most of the time in small clubs I'll be on the 24-70 and most of the time at a festival main stage I'll be on the 70-200.  You also have to bear in mind that you're going to end up with a mixture of light sources and you can literally be walking for miles in muddy fields with all your gear, surrounded by drunk people, and working 12/14hours days. I think my technique shifts towards the Ray Mears survival hand book here."

A musician is an entertainer and this means they move, as Danny said: "like an extra from 28 days later" which means your composition, white balance and exposure has to be revised for every frame you take, which can take a lot of practise.

Practise conversations too as negotiating your way backstage and getting on the right side of security is very important. Knowing how to deal with tough tour managers means you have to be good with people and most of all patient.

"Practise a lot.  Because of the digital camera revolution everyone and their dog calls themselves a music photographer, so to stand out from the crowd your going to have to be good.  There are gigs in every town across this country, there are no excuses.  Practice practice practice."

You can see more of Danny's work by going to Danny North.