Donna-Marie Smith Visits Section 36 Music!

Donna-Marie Smith is a fantastic photographer focusing on concert photography. And she focuses extremely well. I'm so excited she was willing to visit with us so we could all learn a little bit about her. I'm sure you'll love to hear what she has to say.

So, let’s see what happens when Donna-Marie Smith visits Section 36 Music!

When did you realize that photography was something that you loved?

I've always had a love for taking photos since I was a kid. My aunt used to give me her camera just to keep me busy. Then getting older taking photos and videos helps me remember the moments I was in, it helps especially that I don't have the best memory sometimes. 

How did that lead to specializing in concert photography?

I love going to concerts and just capturing the moment of things, whether that's photos or videos. Like I said I like remembering the moment of things, and watching a video or looking at photos from the show helps me remember what that day was like.

How would you describe your photography style?

My style is raw photos. Maybe because I haven't learned 100% how to edit my photos yet but they come amazingly unedited. I would like to know how to fully edit photos soon. 

What has been your favorite photography experience thus far?

I have a few; capturing Tate McRae at her last Boston show, getting my first paid gig for a small artist I met at another show and making friends with his opener and hanging out with them both and the band after the show. Lastly, going to a show on my birthday this year might have been the best because I was in my element on my birthday and it was the best birthday ever. I have too many memories from shows, it's hard to pick just one.

What would you say are your biggest photography career challenges?

Some of the biggest challenges in this career in general is just trying to find gigs, and finding that one person that will take a chance on you. Another one is learning how to edit photos so they come out cool but that's something I'm not worried about right now. 

Do you have any specific photography career goals?

Learning more about how certain cameras work, finding that one artist that will take a chance on me and it working out in the end. And just living the life I dreamed about; working as a photographer for an artist. 

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That would definitely be a great opportunity!

As always, I want to thank Donna-Marie for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview. 

I'm sure you’ll all want to follow her and see what she has going on. Here's the best place to find her:

Instagram

Thanks again Donna-Marie, and good luck reaching your goals!

Skylar DeFazio Visits Section 36 Music!

Skylar DeFazio is the incredible photographer behind SkyDProductions. While she has built her portfolio of portraits (family, couples, graduation, etc), she has recently branched out into concert photography. I can say with certainty that was a good addition. I'm thrilled she was willing to visit with us so we could all learn a little bit about her. I'm sure you'll love to hear what she has to say.

So, let’s see what happens when Skylar DeFazio visits Section 36 Music!

When did you realize that photography was something that you loved? 

Photography was always a big part of my life even before I picked up a camera. I was always taking pictures on my phone. However, my photography journey really started in high school. I had taken a college level photo class where I learned all the basics and even some fun editing techniques in photoshop. Eventually, my senior year, a friend of mine at the time and I started an Instagram account together. I kept building up my portfolio by offering up photoshoots to my friends and eventually took the account over and made it into SkyDProductions! 

Would you say your photographs have a specific style? 

If I were to label my style at all it would be warm and natural. I love a good warm toned picture, I feel like it brings life to the photo. I also like to keep things natural and capture moments, but I am always willing to experiment around with my style. 

You’ve recently added concert photography to your portfolio. How did that come to be? 

Concert photography was always a dream of mine. I love music so finding ways to incorporate that and my love for photography gets me so excited. I did my first concert shoot about 4 years ago. A local CT band, known as Mandala, was performing at a venue that was set to close for good, so they had one final show. At the time I had a Canon Rebel T6i, which wasn’t super ideal for a concert scene but I made it work! Three out of the four bands responded to me and loved the pictures and I felt so accomplished. Recently, I wanted to get back into it since I have upgraded to a Nikon Z6iii since then. I had DMed other concert photographers for some advice on how to really get into that world and they said just to reach out locally. So, I gave it a shot with another local band I listened to known as Similar Kind. I DMed them on Instagram about a show they were performing at, asking if I could take pictures and they replied saying they could get me a photo pass. I felt so official since this was my first official pass! I had gotten to the venue right when the doors opened. Similar Kind was an opener for headliner Noah Richardson. Once I was inside the venue, Noah was roaming around and came up to me asking if I was taking pictures for the openers, and in that moment I offered to take some for him as well! Throughout the whole show I had so much fun capturing these performers in the moment. I even got to go on stage and take a photo of Noah Richardson and the crowd. The “family photo” as he called it. Long story short, it was such a great first pass experience and I would love to do more of it! 

What has been your favorite photography experience thus far? 

This is a hard one. I have had so many fun experiences during my photography journey. However, I think I might have to go with my recent concert work. Being able to capture the passion of these performers and even fan reactions filled me with so much joy. Similar Kind even posted some of my pictures on their account and I honestly wouldn’t shut up about it for the rest of the day! 

What would you say are your biggest photography career challenges?

Besides my sometimes struggle to pose clients, I’d say one of my biggest challenges is getting myself out there. I’m still building myself up in this world and usually when people go looking for photographers they probably go for the ones that are a bit more well known. However, I think I’ve been getting better at it! I’ve been posting ads on local Facebook pages of different towns around me and I’ve been gaining some more clients through those! 

Do you have any specific photography career goals? 

I believe my specific photography career goal would be to make a living out of it. Photography is something I am very passionate about and I can see myself always doing it, even if it just ends up as a side gig. A dream would definitely be to be able to work in the concert and music field for sure!

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That seems like a solid goal!

As always, I want to thank Skylar for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview. 

I'm sure you’ll all want to follow her and see what she has going on. Here are the best places to find her:

Instagram

Website

Thanks again Skylar, and good luck reaching your goals!

Angelica Whitney Visits Section 36 Music!

Angelica Whitney is an incredibly talented photographer who specializes in concert and musician photography. Her talents definitely cover all areas, though. I'm thrilled she was willing to visit with us so we could all learn a little bit about her. I'm sure you'll love to hear what she has to say.

So, let’s see what happens when Angelica Whiney visits Section 36 Music!

When did you realize that photography was something that you loved?

I began doing photography in eighth grade, and it honestly happened pretty randomly. I was the Business Lead of a local robotics team, and when I found out that some robotics competitions allowed each team to have a designated photographer to take photos of their team’s robots during each match, I was fascinated. In high school, I did some basic photo and video editing during classes. I also had experiences with photographers and videographers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic since I was heavily involved in making and donating PPE to frontline workers, and some grants that I won to support that effort required me to have professional photos or videos taken. While in college, I rediscovered my passion for photography by editing old concert photos from when I had been close to the artist. I started an independent study with the University of Connecticut Department of Animal Science, which led to me upgrading my camera equipment and researching more about photography and editing. With this new camera, I began reaching out to find ways to get into concert photography, and am enjoying it a lot so far!

How did that lead to specializing in musician photography?

I’ve loved music for as long as I can remember. As a fan, I’ve attended many concerts and always enjoyed chatting with photographers before the artists came onto stage. I also have loved connecting with other fans, such as through a pop culture business I run, and wanted to find ways to support fans, artists, and the music community as a whole. Musician photography was a perfect way for me to combine my skills and passions!

How would you describe your photography style?

I’m still developing my photography style, but overall, I would describe it as dynamic, energetic, and engaging. I focus on editing every photo differently, with some featuring bold colors and others involving motion. I find that I love capturing the pure energy of the fans and artists, and try to showcase that through my photography. I like to find ways to make my work captivating, with varying perspectives and even photos focusing on small details, such as the phones of fans videoing an artist.

What has been your favorite photography experience thus far?

I’ve had so many amazing photography experiences so far, and feel really lucky to have these opportunities! Overall, my favorite experience was getting the chance to photograph Nessa Barrett in Boston, Massachusetts. Since I live in New Hampshire and go to college in Connecticut, I don’t always make it out to shows in Boston, but the fans’ energy is always spectacular there. I loved getting to meet photographers who I may have only seen on Instagram before. Additionally, I loved getting to experiment more with my photos while moving around the venue a lot. I’m looking forward to even more experiences in the future!

What would you say are your biggest photography career challenges?

My biggest photography career challenge is probably time management. Since I’m in a lot of other activities and classes, I don’t have as much time as I would like to be able to continue developing my photography skills. Traveling out to shows is especially difficult during the week due to classes right now. I’m still working on carving out time for my photography though, and finding more ways to keep pursuing it!

Do you have any specific photography career goals?

I’m still figuring out my photography career goals, but overall, I want to continue growing as a concert and music photographer however I can. I’m currently a junior at UConn studying Animal Science on a Pre-Vet track, so I’m planning to attend veterinary school soon and become a veterinarian. This means that I won’t have as much time for my photography career, but I plan to continue it on the side. Mental health is a major concern in the veterinary field, and I’ve found that having the creative outlet of concert photography allows me to continue pursuing my passions outside of animal science. I have some specific goals (like photographing a festival or some of my favorite artists), but I’m just really excited to see where I end up!

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I definitely hope she gets to photograph those artists!

As always, I want to give huge thanks to Angelica for doing this interview, and for sending along so many great pictures to be used. 

Assuming you'd like to learn even more about Angelica, I would definitely suggest checking out her website, and following her on her socials: Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn

And, if you ever see her at a show, don’t forget to tell her you saw her on Section 36 Music!

Thanks again Angelica!

Stephanie Larsen Visits Section 36 Music!

Photo Nina Gallant

Stephanie Larsen is a talented photographer whose work you've probably seen on Section 36 Music before. It seemed about time to have her visit so we could all learn a little bit more about here. I'm sure you'll love to hear what she has to say.

So, let’s see what happens when Stephanie Larsen visits Section 36 Music!

When did you realize that photography was something that you loved?

I have loved photos & photography since I was a little kid, my dad always had a camera. He captured our childhood, and before us, his own trips and adventures. I loved looking at photos from a young age. There was so much life in each one and I could spend a long time taking it all in. I started wanting to take a camera to my own young life events like middle school dances, and would eventually start styling my friends and having mini photo shoots. My dad had a coworker that was a photographer and had his own website- this was the early 2000s so that was fancy lol, and I got to meet him and talk to him. This made me realize that I could be a photographer too, and I kept shooting and exploring! That lead me to the doors of photo school and I haven’t really looked back since ☺.

How did you decide to turn that passion into Stephanie Larsen Photography?

The excitement of capturing a feeling, an emotion, a mood/vibe was what I loved from the beginning. That’s why photo school was so fun- learning how to use your fundamentals to tell the story you wanted to tell and getting to experiment, have fun, and see your progress. I’m so lucky that that passion for creativity and experimentation burns on all of these years later and I still do the same thing for my clients. Also- I love teaching this too! I have been lucky enough to teach my own classes at New England School of Photography - MA & Rocky Mountain School of Photography out in MT! Teaching and having even a small part in emerging photographers education is one of the honors of my life!

You’ve photographed several musicians that have been featured here on Section 36 Music. What is your favorite part about working with musicians?

Yes! I started my photo career working with musicians, and then kind of ventured off into the commercial photography / fashion photography world. It is exciting to be back and doing more of it again, it is totally bringing me back to life and re-inspiring me. There is so much cross over between fashion photography and music photography- it is concept driven, mood driven, lighting driven, styling driven. It is so creative. Musicians are my favorite people to work with. I love listening to their music, soaking it in, talking to them about their ideas, and creatively working towards that together. What magic it is to take an album or a song and create visuals for it! I truly feel honored any time I have the chance to work on that with an artist. It is so much fun and so magical. 

Would you say that you have a specific photography style?

I would say creative storyteller! Because deep down that is what I’m doing! 

What would you say are your biggest career challenges?

I am a freelancer, so riding the waves of that can be extremely challenging. There are so many factors that determine the flow of work and there’s a lot that is out of your control, like a global pandemic, a shifting industry & technology, earth-shattering and tragic things like losing your mom and intense grief (that happened to me at the beginning of 2022). Trying to find peace and riding the wave is the hardest but most meaningful part of the journey. Knowing when to push, when to pull, when to pivot- phew it is hard. Learning to trust yourself and love yourself in the process can feel impossible. You just have to keep going, whatever that looks like at the moment. That’s the only way!

Do you have any specific career goals?

I have so many, but to name a few of my dreams:

-Shoot for Rolling Stone!! 

-Work with Miley Cyrus (she’s first on the list but the list is long lol)

-Go on tour with a musician/band

-Have sponsorship by Polaroid, Profoto, Canon etc! 

-Learn how to shoot video and direct- especially music videos! 

-Record my songs and keep practicing my craft with music and build community the way I have with photography!

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Those sound like amazing goals!

As always, I want to give huge thanks to Stephanie for doing this interview, and for sending along so many great pictures to be used. 

I'm sure that after reading this, you may want to find out even more about Stephanie and everything she has going on. I would definitely suggest checking out her website, and following her on Instagram at her photography account. 

And, if you talk to her don’t forget to tell her you saw her on Section 36 Music!

Thanks again Stephanie!