Who: Anna Brödel, photographer
Anna Brödel is a 25 year old photographer from Germany. She has been living in Finland for about 2 years now and is currently living in Tampere. Anna is doing mainly gig photography under the name Scarlet Memory Photography and over this topic we made an interview with her.
1. How did you get into photographing? Are you doing it currently for a living? If not, do you plan to do so in the future?
I started photographing when I was around 14, of course only with a small pocket camera first. I like to go to concerts and at some point I started taking pictures there as well. On one gig I spotted Matt Bischof, a colleague from work, in the photographer’s pit. He gave me some tips and helped me get in contact with the web magazine for which I’m shooting now most of the time when I’m on gigs.
At the moment I’m a photography student at Voionmaan Koulutuskeskus, so I’m not yet doing photography for a living, but hope to do so in the future.
2. What kind of gear do you use?
At the moment I’m using Nikon D5500 and sometimes Nikon Coolpix P900.
3. What kind of photoshoots are your favourite? Do you like to take photos at gigs, outdoors or in the studio?
My passion is concert photography. I also still like to do street and landscape photography, as well as animal photography with which I originally started, but nowadays I’m only doing those occasionally. I just started with studio photographing. I think it’s really interesting and I would like to do that more often.
4. What are your strenghts in photographing? In what issues do you want to get better at?
I think I’m pretty good in seeing the right moment for a picture, but especially when it comes to composing a picture myself I feel like I still have a lot to learn. I actually want to improve in pretty much everything, as I think that you should never stop learning.
5. Do you do other art stuff, like drawing or painting also?
I tried drawing and painting, but figured it’s not the right way for me to express myself.
6. What tips would you give for someone who is into photographing and would like to do it more and more professionally?
Never give up and always try around with new subjects or ways of shooting.
7. What are the challenges of taking photos at gigs? Do you need special gear to get good pics in dim places? Are you able to enjoy the music while photographing or does it take all your concentration?
You don’t necessary need special gear, but it is much easier to take good pictures in dim light if you have a lens with big maximal aperture. The main challenges are the very limited time you have, especially when you shoot from the photographer pit, because you usually only get three songs for that. When shooting from out of the crowd, the challenges are getting a good place to shoot and still keeping your camera save.
I still enjoy the music as well when I’m taking pictures, but it’s a different feeling. A lot of concentration goes into the pictures and even if I put the camera away I cannot completely get lost in the music and show as I still need to keep my equipment save. On the other side I feel like I get to feel energy of the show even more intense, when I’m shooting there, than just as s fan, as I’m forced to concentrate much more on every little detail of the gig.
8. After a photoshoot or taking pics at a gig, do you have still lot of work to do afterwards with editing etc.?
After a studio shooting I don’t have much work afterwards, but after shooting a gig I need to do a lot of work. The basic editing I’m doing on every picture I’m going to upload takes about 15 minutes and for some pictures the editing takes up to 2-3 hours. Also the viewing and sorting of gig pictures takes quite a lot of time, as I usually take a lot of pictures of which only 30 to 50 percent are usable in the end.
9. As a photographer,are you able to enjoy other people’s work without the professional eye noticing all the technical and photographical issues or are you wired to do so automatically? Do you have any idols among photographers or artists?
I’m always analyzing other people’s technique in pictures. It’s just a way to improve my own work. In matters of photographer idols I have to mention Matt Bischof again, who has been a great influence for me. Also worth mentioning are Raisa Krogerus and Jaakko Manninen. I really like their style of pictures. They are able to transport a part of the atmosphere of the concert within their pictures and that’s something I miss in many concert pictures, as well as still in many of my own ones.
10. What are your favourite bands?
My favourite bands are Brymir, Frosttide and Battle Beast. Maybe also Everwave. I think they have a lot of potential and if they still grow a bit as bands, they have good chances to become my favourite ones.
Free word:
Change the world and don’t let the world change you.
Web-magazine for which Anna is usually shooting for: http://www.music2u.de/
Thank you for the interview!