Danny Ayers has 20 years of professional photography up his sleeve, with the last 10 years concentrated on taking concert pictures. As a much-sought-after concert photographer, he’s taken award-winning photographs of famous artists such as Madonna, Mick Jagger, Britney Spears, Elton John, Justin Timberlake, Van Halen, and many others.

I have always wondered what it’s like to take pictures of artists as they perform; all that adrenalin from the screaming fans and the rush that you get from seeing artists do their stuff on stage. Lucky for me, Danny became a member of FresnoArts.net and he gave me the opportunity to have a sneak peak on what goes on behind the camera.

Note: This is the short version of Danny’s amazing interview. If you are interested in knowing more about Danny as I was, visit this link.

Please tell us something about yourself.

I’m originally from the Bay Area but I arrived in Fresno in 1989 to further a bowling career as a professional. I turned pro as a Professional Bowler and became a member of the PBA in 1991.

I bowled in a few professional tournaments until a wrist injury stopped my professional career. Although my professional career ended I’m still a league bowler and enjoy watching the tour on Sunday mornings each week.

What do you do when you are not taking or processing photos?

There’s not a lot that I do that doesn’t involve some sort of photography. I’m working on a couple of photo projects currently that have been taking a lot of my free time.

How did you get started as a photographer?

I’m a passionate person and as a former athlete, I think all athletes are passionate people. I’ve been into photography my entire life but my love for athletics was first and everything else a distance second until my bowling career ended.

I took up photography once again in the early nineties when I started traveling as a professional bowler. I really enjoyed it and photography started to replace the passion I had for athletics. I didn’t really look to it as a career but it just seemed that I fell into it. I began college at Fresno State University and a friend encouraged me to apply for a photography job with the college campus newspaper.

How was life like when you were just a starting photographer?

My very first assignment was a student union meeting and my job was to take photos of some of the speakers. These images were to run in the paper in the next edition of the college paper which was the very next morning. I had lived in darkrooms as a youth so the aspect of developing the film, processing the film—creating photographs from the magic of agitating a plastic pan were not daunting to me.

What frightened me was using computers to scan, upload photos to email addresses and just navigating myself through a computer. I had no clue what I was doing and it took hours to get one simple image over to the right source for printing.

I laugh nowadays because it seems so simple. Those were the early days of what is the norm today when it comes to photography and computers. As time passed and I aggressively pursued photography as a new career, I began to take on new photographic challenges.

What made you center your passion for photography on taking concert pictures?

People started asking me if I could photograph their wedding, a sporting event, a quinceanera, etc. My time in photography began to be too mundane and my patience started to wear a little thin with the scope of what I was doing photographically. At that point in my photo career I had photographed everything I wanted to and I felt there was just nowhere else to go in photography.

I was in line at a grocery store and overheard two gentlemen talking about a local music gig that they were doing that weekend. I started to talk to them about my photography and asked them if they had any photos of them singing. They said no. I offered my photographic services for that Saturday night and as they say, the rest is history.

What major concerts have you taken pictures of?

I know what most people would say to this question and that is, “there are so many I just can’t name them all.” But the reality is, this is what I’m saying. There are just so many that I really can’t remember them all.

I can name some of the memorable ones. I’ve photographed, at best guesstimate, at least 1,000 concerts and events in my career. Some memorable concerts I’ve covered have been KISS, Britney Spears, Dolly Parton, Cher, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Gwen Stefani, Taylor Dayne and, of course, Madonna.

What difficulties do you often encounter when you take concert pictures?

To be honest there are not a lot of encounters when I’m taking photos at concerts. Everything is extremely regimented and you’re escorted wherever you go. Once the concert starts they cut you lose in a confined area where you must take your photographs.

The only two problems that a concert photographer encounters are the audience and maybe the performers themselves. Depending on where they allow you to photograph, people may get in the way; or if you’re shooting from the sound board, people’s heads or bodies can get in the way making it necessary to change the nature of the image.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that there is trial and error with everything you do. Problems will always present themselves. Life is about repetitive movements or motions, and just by doing it many times you will become better at it by default.

The difference here is whether you possess the skills to be better than most. My advice is to expect the worse and hope for the best.

What preparations did you make for your award-winning-shots?

This might sound mellow-dramatic and its very cliché, but every picture must tell a story. It’s as simple as that. For me I try and take that to the next level and with every picture I take, “can I win the Pulitzer?” I never, ever take photos for me, just me, but always for the viewer, the audience.

I try and compose, conceptualize each and every shot…in terms of concert photography it’s difficult to accomplish this since by the very nature of it, it happens at such a fast rate of speed. First of all you have to be confident that your settings in your camera are correct for a concert environment. Once you know this and you’re comfortable with that, everything should prepare you for an award-winning photographic art piece.

Concentrating in a concert can be hard. How do you psych yourself in order to get that perfect shot amidst the chaotic, screaming fans and the fabulous artistic performance of famous artists?

Concentrating in a concert environment is not really as hard as you think. I’d rather photograph a concert than a football game or an event that utilizes a very large playing field. You have to look at your subjects or the players that you have to photographically document.

First of all, it might be difficult to photograph a group like the Rolling Stones or KISS because of the simple fact that each individual person is famous in his own right. Acts with solo artists like Shania Twain, Dolly Parton, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Britney Spears or even Madonna don’t present these problems to concert photographers.

Covering a lot of athletic events in my career, football is the most challenging because first, you’ve got a lot of real estate to cover. Then you’ve got 4, 5, 6 or maybe 7 different players who all can be superstars. It’s been said that if you can become a good sports photographer the rest is a bit easier. Having started mainly as a sports photographer, I think that statement bares some merit of truth.

You can’t do anything about the audience or the noise, but I can control what I think the performer will do on stage. One such event involved Gwen Stefani of No Doubt. I was in the “Pit” [where] you are as close to the performer without actually being on stage with them.

During Gwen Stefani’s first song, Gwen jumped off the stage onto one of her very large speakers that was placed within the pit and her shoe brushed the side of my face. I wasn’t hurt but this is one of the unforeseen actions that can take place. I’m sure it was generated from adrenalin or the rush of the crowd.

Also, I’m always very nervous before a concert event. I think it’s the “not knowing” that makes us nervous about our performances. I never want to go into an event without being a little nervous about my pending performance. The day that it becomes too routine is the day I will leave the arena.

What changes did you have to go through in order to become the Danny Ayers that you are now?

I’m dealing with some health issues. I had neck fusion surgery within the last year that was unsuccessful and the long delays in treatment and dealing with a lot of entities pertaining to hospitals and doctors and lawyers have presented a whole new set of challenges that I’ve never faced.

You cannot change what has already happened; certain events in one’s life happen for a reason. You just have to make peace with those events. It’s just that simple. I recently lost my bowling mentor and the one person who has meant the world to me. His loss has taken a toll on me and I live to one day see him again.

He taught me the value of living every day to the fullest; he taught me patience. I know he’s looking down at me and saying dobar djecak which means “good boy” in Croatian.

You have a photography show called In the Round set for December 2nd at the Fresno City Hall. Can you give us a teaser on what photos to expect and other events happening during the show?

Please, you can’t expect me to give away all of my secrets, can you? I’m kidding. The majority of the show will focus on my concert photography but I may add a few surprises that your readers of this article will just have to show up to view in person.

You know Christmas is just around the corner; maybe your readers can get an early Christmas surprise by viewing one or two of my special photographic pieces. I did officially invite Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the event but he may be packing up his office and heading back to LA to start up his movie career once again.

Outside of that, food, fun, talking about photography, maybe music, and we’ll also have Twin Pomegranate Wine Company pouring wine that evening.

How were you able to take photos of Ground Zero in NY?

Well, my trip to New York City just after the events of 9/11 were some of the most gratifying and gut-wrenching experiences in my entire life and photo career. Nothing compares to those short 4 days that I spent in New York.

It’s a very long story but I will paraphrase my trip to and from. I was coming home from a photo job in Stockton, California, when I heard on the radio about the Twin Light Towers that were to honor the souls lost on September 11, 2001. I’ve had such a strong feeling of how I needed to get to New York by any means necessary.

With little funds to make the trip there and back I turned to business people I knew who could sponsor my trip. [and] I was able to get the necessary funds within 3 days. Of course my first thought after getting off the plane was, “What in the heck have I just done?”

The following morning I woke to beautiful blue skies to start my assignment. As day transitioned into night, the faint sight of the Twin Light Memorial presented itself. It was truly beautiful and with that I turned my attention to my camera and what led me to this remarkable city.

The following day I made my way over to the platform of Ground Zero. The mood was very sad; it was extraordinarily quiet in the middle of Manhattan and a city that occupies over 8 million people. This is what struck me initially.

As I made my way near one of the corners of the 16 acres, a female New York City police officer inquired the reason I had so much equipment with me, and I told her the story of why I was in New York City.

She took an interest in what I was doing and told me to wait a minute that she needed to speak to her sergeant. When she returned, she said she wanted to take me to a location where I could get the images I needed.

I was not told by this officer where she was taking me until we got into the elevators. Then she explained that she was taking me to a room reserved strictly for family members of all those who were lost in the attacks.

When the elevator stopped and we entered the room, no one else was there. “Have at it,” was all she said. Twenty minutes into it the officer informed me they were in the middle of pulling out a body.

I was shocked and dismayed by this news. I really hadn’t felt an enormous amount of emotions until that moment. I left a piece of my heart in that room, and I’ve never been the same.

What inspirational message can you give to artists, both beginners and veterans in their crafts?

Respect your craft, respect the men and women who came before us. If you know what you want and you’re good at it, be aggressive in attaining your dreams. I hate the phrase, “fake it until you make it.” Never fake anything in life; be true to yourself and the craft you decide on. If you’re good at photography or anything else in life, you’ll never have to fake anything. Love and be passionate at what you do, everything will take care of itself.

I also want to thank Donna and Victor for giving me the time to talk about myself and the work I do. A big thanks to Maria Franco, Cindy Dunn and Angela at Fresno Arts Council in believing in me and giving me the opportunity to show at the Fresno City Hall.

Danny Ayers

Danny has several photos uploaded in his FresnoArts.net profile. However, I still believe that pictures are warmer and more personal when in print, so I recommend that you attend Danny’s show in order to feel the energy shared by both photographer and artist.

"There is nothing more exciting to a photographer than photographing a live concert,” - Danny Ayers

Donna Paulino covers most of the topic for the Fresno Interactive Network, including interviews, profiles, and articles that inspire our readers about our local community. She is the social media manager and web producer for Socient, a Fresno web marketing agency that helps non-profit and community benefit organizations thrive with social media marketing, search engine optimization, and web design.

Follow her on Twitter:  @donnapaulino

(0) Comments | (0) Trackback | Permalink