Great rock photography is all about capturing the gig buzz – use it or lose it.

Capturing the essential buzz created from an electrifying rock concert on photo can be tricky, but after a few years behind the camera, plus working with superstars such as U2, Slash, Muse and Slipknot, I know how to get into a gig with the right equipment and walk out three songs later with killer shots in the bag on brief and on budget.

My recent shoot with rising rock-dance hybrid stars Pendulum, however, posed a few interesting questions when they performed at the Southampton Civic Hall.

For example, how do you transform a beautiful civic building into a wild anarchic music medley – not forgetting the cracks appearing in the ceiling?

There are lots of high-octane bands around, but not many make the mercury rise as much as Pendulum. Their performance in Southampton was totally electrifying.

In case you are wondering, I shot Pendulum for a front cover of Future Music magazine: a feature and the cover.

Shooting anyone live is a big challenge; there are many factors outside of my control:

• The lighting
• The pyrotechnics
• Where they are standing
• What the audience are doing
  

But it’s a question of being in the right place at the right time, to capture the buzz and the electric atmosphere. So, how do you that? There is no right rule, but following your own instinct for what feels and looks right has always worked well for me.

You know if the shot works, just looking down the lens, because you feel it as part of the gig. It’s hard to explain in technical terms – in comes from years of experience.

And that is what you have to listen to: when the music is cranked up, the audience is going wild, the air is buzzing, and the band is on fire. That’s the moment to capture.

Personally, I like to capture the essence of a gig with the lights; this is like trying to read the mind of a lighting technician, almost impossible – but not implausible.

And to try and get some of audience, too – but the main focus (pardon the pun) is to get the exact shot illustrating the band coming together, building up, before they blow the ceiling off the venue. This is the absolute money shot in rock photography terms.