No Rules, No Roadmap, Just Grit: My First 3 Years in Music Photography

My first night as a music photographer. May 10th, 2022

White on stage, ripping through a set of bluesy distortion and manic energy—and I’m floored. I don’t know it yet, but something permanent is about to shift inside me.

One year earlier, I had picked up a camera for the very first time. I wasn’t thinking about music photography then. Honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about photography as a path at all. I had a connection—a professional drag queen—who needed photos. So I borrowed a camera, showed up, and started snapping candids in black and white. Their friends became my subjects. I didn’t know what I was doing, but somehow, I had a natural feel for it. For the angles. For the light. For the moments in between.

Day One with Bella Farrow, Instagram: @bellafarrow75

That small taste of creativity stuck with me, even when I didn’t have a clear direction. It wasn’t until that Jack White show—surrounded by flashing lights, pounding drums, and the unfiltered pulse of a crowd—that I realized: This is what I want to capture. This is what I want to do with a camera.

I didn’t wait. I found a used DSLR, slapped on a 24–70mm lens, and just started. No formal training. No mentorship. No access. Just instinct, curiosity, and YouTube tutorials late into the night.

My first official night in the pit—or close enough to call it one—was May 10, 2022. I reached out to a local band, French Mouth, who were playing at a bar in Hollywood called Harvard and Stone. I messaged them on social media, asked if I could come shoot their set, and to my surprise, they said yes. That night was gritty, sweaty, unfiltered—and it felt electric. I was hooked.

with French Mouth, 2022

That summer, I started building my own path. I shot whoever would let me. I cold messaged bands on Instagram and DM’d local venues. I found myself in corners of LA like Zebulon, The Troubadour, and The Roxy, camera in hand, learning as I went. I had no idea what “three songs, no flash” meant until I was already in the thick of it. I blew a lot of shots. I got lucky with a few. But with each show, I got a little better. A little faster. A little more confident.

By the end of 2022, I wasn’t just practicing—I was evolving.

Then 2023 hit, and that’s when everything started to accelerate.

I linked up with Get Some Magazine, and that gave me my first real platform. Suddenly, I wasn’t just hustling on my own—I was part of something. My first official assignment with them was Better Lovers at The Roxy. It was wild. Sweaty crowds, flying limbs, unpredictable lighting—everything I had been craving and more. I thrived in the chaos. The kind of chaos that would throw someone off if they weren’t ready. But I was ready.

Better Lovers at The Roxy, 2022 for Get Some Magazine

From there, it snowballed. I started covering larger bands—Ice Nine Kills, Megadeth, Marilyn Manson, Pierce the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens, and more. My access grew, but so did my expectations of myself. I didn’t just want clean shots. I wanted storytelling. I wanted my images to feel like the music sounded.

Every show became an opportunity to refine my instincts, sharpen my eye, and push myself creatively. I stopped relying on luck and started trusting my timing. I started treating every pit like it mattered—because to me, it does.

Now, three years in, I’ve got one of the biggest personal milestones ahead: photographing Bush, a band I’ve loved for years. That moment will be a full-circle reminder of how far I’ve come—and how far I want to go

Parkway Drive, Summer of Loud 2025

This world is filled with talented photographers. Some have formal training. Some have deep connections. Some grew up backstage. I didn’t have any of that.

What I had was a borrowed camera and a stubborn determination to figure it all out from scratch.

I didn’t go to school for this. I didn’t have a mentor showing me the ropes. I learned by shooting in unpredictable lighting, dealing with harsh LED colors, getting bumped in tiny photo pits, and staying up till 3 AM editing and re-editing the same set until it looked how I felt it should look.

I’ve built this with no safety net, no shortcuts, and no handouts. Just hustle, love for the music, and a camera that I’m still learning to master every single week.

And I’m not done yet.

The next chapter is about growth.

I want to shoot festivals. I want to go on tour. I want to expand into promo shoots, portraits, and commercial photography within the music industry. I want my camera to be my full-time tool—on the road, backstage, in studios, and in pits around the world.

This blog is where I’m documenting that transition. Every week, I’ll be showing the real work behind the scenes—what I’m shooting, what I’m learning, and what it actually takes to go from self-taught photographer to full-time visual artist in the music world.

If you’re reading this, thanks for being part of the ride.

I’m Stephen Brownlee.
And I’m just getting started.