Interviews with Photographers

Stephen McGill

This is a continuing series dubbed “Interviews with Photographers”, in which I will be interviewing many great concert photographers such as Frank YangPete NemaMike BaxIgor Vidyashev, Sarah Rix and Arthur Mola. While the actual shots are always the most important aspect of a photographer’s body of work, the story and technical craft in bringing those photos into reality also deserves attention.

Today I am absolutely honoured to feature long time Toronto concert photographer Stephen McGill. I was actually inspired to pursue music photography myself by looking at Stephen’s photos on the now defunct We Go To Shows (WGTS). Virgin Festival 2007 is when I met Stephen face to face for the first time. And I recall running all the way across the Toronto islands to catch Moby’s set in the Bacardi stage. As you can tell, I hold Stephen’s opinions in high regard and it was great to have him shoot for LiL for a between 2010 and 2012.

Sean Chin (SC): Hi Stephen. Thanks for taking part in this series. Where did you grow up and where are you based now? 

Stephen McGill (SM): I was born in Southampton, England but emigrated pretty early. I grew up in the Toronto suburbs, namely Aurora, and despite a brief stint in Ottawa, am now based in Toronto.

SC: When did this love for live music begin for you? 

SM: I was very lucky in that my parents from a young age were taking me to shows, it started off with a lot of Oasis & Tragically Hip shows but gradually grew from there. Once I got into punk rock towards the end of high school and started going to smaller shows in the York Region things just sort of took off from there. I got hooked there and haven’t stopped since.

Chromeo-stephen

SC: Did you ever take formal photography classes? If so, did it help you in anyway? If not, do you ever wish you took some courses? If so, do you feel it was instrumental in your current status? 

SM: I just started shooting on my own, and largely just figured it out. After a few years when I entered Journalism school I got a small amount of formal training, but by that point I wasn’t learning too much on top of what I know. I feel that there is a benefit to learning by doing, but I’m sure some formal training would have helped me through a few flubs in the first couple of months.

SC: Who and when was your first officialgig with a fancy photo pass? 

SM: The first band I was ever accredited to shoot was Art Brut at the Mod Club, which was a little bit of a nightmare with dark reds and not much light. But I endured, the biggest gig in the first year was probably shooting Ottawa’s Bluesfest.

SC: How many gigs do you currently shoot in a month? 

SM: It usually varies from somewhere between 15-20 shows a month, though festival season tends to throw that off slightly. At the moment I’m taking things a bit slower while I try and figure out my next steps.

SC: Who and when was your most memorable gig to photograph?

SM: I think one of the most memorable shows I’ve ever shot was Slipknot on Mayhem Festival. Between the terrifying stuff happening on stage, and the people coming over the barrier coming in blood, it was certainly memorable.

SC: Who is your dream gig to shoot and why? Current and/or disbanded. 

SM: I’ve been lucky enough to shoot most of my dream bands, most recently being able to cross Nine Inch Nails off my list. However with their recent reunion, I’m now very excited to hopefully, finally shoot The Blood Brothers in New York in October. I’d also love to one day have the opportunity to shoot Pulp who put on one of the best shows I’ve seen in recent memory.

Edward-Sharpe-The-Magnetic-Zeroes-stephen

SC: How would you describe you style of photos?

SM: I try to keep my photos as straight forward as possible, I edit them as minimally as possible, and prefer to have the subject sharp and centered in the frame. It may be my journalistic background showing through.

SC: What is the stickiest concert assignment situation youve been in? And How did you resolve it? 

SM: If we’re going to talk about literally sticky situations: I was recently shooting Pouzza Fest in Montreal, and the band Dillinger Four were about to take the stage. I had positioned myself towards the front of the stage but what I didn’t expect was that everyone in the audience was going to lift their $3 PBR’s into the air and spin them around until everyone in the crowd was soaked through with beer. I managed to keep my camera dry, and then somehow not get annihilated in the melee that ensued.

SC: What do you love the absolute most about shooting concerts? 

SM: There is nothing that compares to the thrill of live music photography for me, there is only so much preparation you can do for a show. Once the band is on stage, all bets are off and all you can do is try and capture the show before your eyes as best you can. It is an absolute thrill, and when you have the shot there is nothing that feels better.

SC: What do you absolutely dislike the most about shooting concerts?

SM: Unfortunately, more and more I’m running into problems with the people who are working in the press in this city. Over the past few months I’ve been put in the position where I am constantly forced to either tell off people I’ve been shooting with for displaying an appalling lack of professionalism, or deal with editors who show a stunning lack of integrity. There are some good people working in this industry but more and more they’re being drowned out by the bad ones.

SC: Over so many years of taking photos, what are two important lessons that youve learned? Technically and/or philosophically

SM: Two things will take you where you need to go. The first is hard work, it’s incredibly hard to respect people who don’t put the time and effort in before expecting the world to be handed to them.

The other thing I find incredibly important is to show respect and courtesy to everyone you work with. More and more I’m running into young photographers who feel a sense of entitlement towards the people around them, and act like the rest of us working need to bend to their needs.

July-Talk-stephen

SC: What gear do you currently wield? 

SM: I use a Nikon D700, with a Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, and a Nikkor 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 for when I need a longer lens. I find I generally do not need anything more than this.

SC: What gear would you like to have and do you feel equipment matters? 

SM: I’m fairly happy with what I use in the field, although at times I feel like I could use a wider lens for some occasions.

Equipment really is secondary to the skill of the photographer, in the right hands any camera can get you great images.

SC: What are some tips and tricks youve learned over the years to obtain the best concert photos possible? 

SM: You just have to be paying attention, if you can do a bit of research before hand it helps to know what you’re getting into. Best trick is honestly just practice, the more you shoot the better you know how to get “those” moments.

Lindsey-Sterling-stephen

SC: Are you a Mac or PC? 

SM: I work on a 4 year old Macbook.

SC: What is your typical workflowfrom start to finish? Ex. Taking the shots, picking out the best shots, post-processing etc. 

SM: I download the photos to my computer, go through them in Lightroom, delete any I don’t need, and then edit the ones I do. After which I export them and email them off. I try to keep the whole thing as simple as possible, I generally have a turn around time of under 12 hours.

SC: Where and how do you discover new music? 

SM: I use streaming music services a lot to see what’s coming out each week, in the end though nothing can really beat going out to shows. Todays opener is tomorrows headliner.

SC: What makes for an amazing concert photograph in your opinion? 

SM: The best anyone doing this can ever hope for is really getting a photo that absolutely captures the essence of a band. Every band will have a different energy, and a different thing to capture.

SC: You must have a lot of photographer friends as well. Who would you like to give a shout out too?

SM: There are so many incredible photographers in this city that are a huge inspiration to me and my work. From the people who inspired me starting out like Frank Yang and Carrie Musgrave, through to the photographers and friends currently working like Riley Taylor, Amanda Fotes, Sarah Rix, Tiana Feng, Atsuko Kobasigawa and Dave Logan who are all spectacular photographers.

SC: What are some ways that you market yourself? 

SM: I generally don’t push that aspect of it to far, I prefer to be recognized for the work I do organically rather than forcing it on people. In the end, it’s probably taken a bit longer for people to clue in, but it means that when they find you, it’s because they start to recognize your work.

The Hives

SC: What is your dream? Where do you want this path youre on to eventually end up? 

SM: Honestly that’s not something I really know anymore. I’ve been working very hard at this, but I’m not entirely sure where this road will take me. I’ve made a consistent effort not to compromise my own beliefs to get ahead, and I’ll follow the road to the end, wherever that happens to be.

SC: Thank you for joining me Stephen! 

Where can readers find you online? Twitter etc. 

SM: @steve_mcgill on twitter and instagram.

About author

Chief Editor & Founder of Live in Limbo. Host & Producer of the Capsule Podcast. Sean is an award-winning photographer and Nikon Professional Services member. His work has appeared on the CBC, Pitchfork, and MUCH. He is an Academy Delegate at the JUNOs (CARAS) and has been involved in the Toronto music scene since 2005. He is also an endurance and CrossFit athlete. You should follow him on Twitter @SeanChin.