Concert Photography - Part I: Billy Preston
By Joe Valencia
@WanderPhotog (143)
United States
March 3, 2017 12:09pm CST
There was a time I had aspirations of being a photographer for Rolling Stone magazine and working beside Annie Liebovitz. This was back in the late 1980's and I was shooting 35mm. I had some great shots of The Turtles (Flo & Eddie) which made me think I had a chance.
I saw that Billy Preston was playing at The Bottom Line in Manhattan and got myself a ticket. I was alone and they sat me right at center stage, I was just a couple feet away from him when he was playing. This is one of my favorite shots of the night, though I have a few others. I actually got to shake his hand when the show was over.
What a thrill it was to see him in concert - but to shoot him and shake his hand made it that much better!
Note: The quality of the image isn't great - it is a scan of an old 5x7 enlargement.
3 people like this
4 responses
@JudyEv (364874)
• Rockingham, Australia
4 Mar 17
That's a really great photo. Nice lighting especially.
@JohnRoberts (109842)
• Los Angeles, California
3 Mar 17
That's great. If you have enough shots of different people, you can make a book.
@WanderPhotog (143)
• United States
3 Mar 17
The idea crossed my mind but I don't have nearly enough.
1 person likes this
@luisadannointed (9453)
• Philippines
3 Mar 17
I think so you are right nothing beats it when you meet them up close. Rolling Stones is one of the most longest running magazines right? I heard it from a quiver show in the 90s. God bless... Did you ever try to apply to it again? Or did you pursue photography in a different magazines?
@WanderPhotog (143)
• United States
3 Mar 17
Rolling Stone has been around since November 1967 (John Lennon was on the first cover) and is still being published. I don't think it is nearly as good as it used to be but that is just my opinion.
I never actually applied for a job - I was building a portfolio (which is quite expensive) but got side-tracked and eventually chose to get married and raise a family instead. The other dream I had was to work for National Geographic but I never felt that I was of sufficient talent to try getting in there. I submit work from time-to-time but haven't been published yet.
@WanderPhotog (143)
• United States
3 Mar 17
Well, not really. It was something I was thinking about back in the late 80's but never fully pursued. I did some concert photography and shot musicians/performers at local events but not a lot.
1 person likes this
