Role of a Music Photographer | Guest: Phoebe Fox 🦊

4 min readNov 18, 2020

Talking software advice, building your portfolio, and more.

Ep 29 — Music Photographer

This is a subject I’ve been looking to chat about for some time. A photographer friend Aron Klien (who I met when I was at Vevo) introduced me to the lovely Phoebe Fox who is my guest for this week’s episode on Music Photography.

Phoebe and Aaron are on the same agency (Trapdoor), and I love that Phoebe never actually studied photography, but taught herself through trial and error and hustling her way into gigs!

🎧 LISTEN TO PODCAST HERE 🎧

Photos of Pheobe in the asset taken by @ ohalfin

What we talk about.

✨ How every day is different. Some days on tour with an artist, some days on press shoots

✨ We talk the love of sad music, Phoebe Bridgers, Arlo Parks, Elliot Smith

✨ Software advice

✨ Building your portfolio

✨ What big commissioners are looking for from a photographer

✨ The difference between working freelance and working at an agency

✨ Shoutouts include photographers, vocal coaches, producers + NEW ARTIST/ MUSIC RECOMMENDATIONS

My guest.

Phoebe Fox

Music Photographer
Instagram @ shotbyphox

Photos of Pheobe in the asset taken by @ charlottealex_

✨ Studied Music Marketing at University and graduated a year ago

✨ Started full-time freelance work last year after finishing university

✨ Handed in the dissertation, went home, had some food, packed her bag, and got on a tour bus with Anne-marie for 6 weeks.

✨ Now with an Agency called Trap Door, founded by Dan Harris and Dave East

Photos Of.

✨ HAIM ✨ Maggie Rogers ✨ Black Middi ✨ Lily Moore ✨ Two Door Cinema Club 2019 ✨ Grace Carter✨ Anne-Marie ✨ Pale Waves ✨ and more….

Kit.

Software

Adobe Lightroom — Phoebe recommends Adobe Lightroom, it is so cheap comparably to other software and you learn so much through using it. She advises getting the classic one as you can edit in more detail and have more control

Adobe Premiere — for video edits

Camera

Phoebe just moved from Nikon to a Sony camera. The benefit is a lot of jobs ask you to shoot stills and videos now and the Sony camera is great for this

Advice.

✨ Hustle to build your portfolio. Bit by bit, as you go to shows, you meet different artists, and people who recommend you and your portfolio builds up naturally from this

✨ Be respectful of the artist, make them feel the shoot is collaborative and exciting (as it is)

✨ Utilise Instagram — most of Phoebes work comes through her Instagram account

✨ A good photo is less about the type of equipment you use. As long as you know your camera inside out and you feel comfortable with it, you will end up with something cool.

✨ Do not compare yourself to others as what you see online are the highlights. The photo may make the photographer look like they were part of something huge; chances are they were just in the right place at the right time.

✨ Work on your own thing, photograph the people around you that you have fun with and the bigger jobs come from all of those smaller shoots you had the most creative freedom doing

✨ The main thing people who are commissioning those big jobs are looking for is so simple. Stuff like; have you got a good relationship with the subject, can you make people feel comfortable

✨ Don’t think you need a large list of famous people in your portfolio, you just need to show that you are passionate and excited and a nice person that can take a good photo