# Shooting album artwork



## rob91 (May 14, 2008)

I've recently become intrigued by the photography used for albums and their liners, lots of great work and lots of room for experimentation. Anyone familiar with this business, what it's like, if it's difficult to get into, how to get into it? Thanks.


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## shorty6049 (May 14, 2008)

you want to be an album art photographer??
I would say that you need to be a regular photographer for that to happen. Then you just get album art jobs occasionally along with other things you may be working on.


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## craig (May 15, 2008)

Show your portfolio to some local record labels.

)'(


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## shorty6049 (May 15, 2008)

craig said:


> Show your portfolio to some local record labels.
> 
> )'(



not to get off topic, but what is that thing     )'(    supposed to symbolize? a person?


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## craig (May 15, 2008)

The ")'(" is the international Burning Man http://burningman.com/ symbol.

Love & Bass


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## shorty6049 (May 15, 2008)

ha, i didnt know there was a symbol for burning man...


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## punkmaster (Nov 2, 2009)

i'm a student at brown college and i want to take photos for bands. what should i do? is there any thing out west were i could get a job?


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## Moving Pictures (Nov 4, 2009)

craig said:


> The ")'(" is the international Burning Man The Burning Man Project :: Welcome Home symbol.
> 
> Love & Bass


When I first saw it, I thought it was a moon shot.  My bad.


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## jonnyphoto (Nov 17, 2009)

I recently did a photo shoot for a girl who was in a band, they didn't have a album or anything, they just did covers and stuff at Uni for a bit of fun.

So, I used music as a theme for her portraits and came up with the following shots.







The addition of a few graphics (ignore the copyright watermark) made this shot look like an album cover  






and I copied the back-lit idea for this one from Bruce and Clarence on Born to Run.


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## bigtwinky (Nov 17, 2009)

punkmaster said:


> i'm a student at brown college and i want to take photos for bands. what should i do? is there any thing out west were i could get a job?


 
I'd highly suggest you make your own thread about this and not post in someone else's thread.  Internet forum etiquette calls this hijacking the thread, and is often considered rude. 



To the original poster, I don't think this is a specific line of business, but more of an extra service offered as part of a photography package.

I'd suggest making friends with bands, getting some gigs shooting them live, and then talking with them about album art work, so as to build an actual portfolio of work.

Album art work can consist of so many different things, from portrait work, heavy photoshop work, product, landscapes,... its such a mix bag.  And sometimes, dealing with a band that is trying to get an idea accross may not be the easiest thing... but it can be a great way to stretch your creative wings.

As a start, if you can't find bands, have a go and making your own album artwork for existing albums.  Think of a new way to represent the album other than what was already done.


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