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Think of all the great photos that have been taken down through the years of musical artists—stretching from old schoolers like Sinatra, Elvis, the Beatles, Prince, and Nirvana to current artists like Finger Eleven and Regina Spektor. In fact, great promotional photos are almost as important as a killer bio. When done well, they forcefully communicate the essence of your artistic identity in a way words can’t.

And that makes a great goal for your own promotional photos—capturing your artistic identity on film. This of course assumes you’ve already defined your identity, perhaps through the process of writing your bio. If you haven’t, now’s the time.

Your artistic identity is going to determine the setting for the photo, what you wear, how you do your hair, the pose you strike, and more. All of these should support the identity you want to communicate.

One popular concept is that photos are like a single frame of a movie. Movies tell stories and each frame suggests action in previous frames and action still to come. Take the photo above. Where is the woman in woman in front going that she would be wearing a costume flower? Certainly not Walmart. Why is the other woman looking at the man? She seems a little perturbed, no? What about?

It can take real talent to capture a band’s essence in a photo, just like doing so in words for your bio. Maybe someone in or connected with your band has the knack. If not, ask around. As your career advances, you’ll likely turn to professional photographers who’ve honed their skills in this regard.

In talking with potential photographers, let them listen to your music. Talk with them about your artistic identity and ask how they might capture it. See if they’re inspired. If they are, trust their vision and instincts.

An experienced photographer will usually take lots of photos at a shoot in hopes of getting just a few that are just right. This requires patience on the part of the artists and an ability to strike the same pose convincingly a number of times. It can be fun, but it can also be taxing physically and consume quite a bit of time.

If you want to try taking your own photos, first exam a number of professional promo photos, especially of successful artists who make music like yours. As with bios, you’ll find a lot of variety but also a number of common traits. Here are some of the more common ones.

Common Traits

The face and eyes are usually the important elements, as in the photo above. These can’t be seen well if the subject is at a distance. It really becomes a problem when the photo is reproduced in small size and at a lower resolution—as in a newspaper.

Of course, these are just suggestions, not rules. For example, you can't see the artist's face well in the photo to the left, but the sole of his shoe nevertheless makes a strong statement that seems to suggest a story.

Promo photos seldom show musicians actually performing, although they may hold instruments or microphones. Perhaps the reason for this is that we all pretty much look alike when we’re actually performing—like we’re concentrating on making music.

A busy background can also mar a photo, taking attention away from the subject and not reproducing well in some media. Also, try to avoid photographic cliches, like standing in front of a brick wall.

So you’re not surprised, a professional photographer will likely want to keep the masters and the copyright to the photos her or she takes of you. This may seem odd at first, but a photo to a photographer is like a song to a songwriter. Just because a person inspires a song, doesn’t mean you’d necessarily give him or her the copyright to it.

Finally, you may want to use to a photo duplication house to reproduce your promo photos. A company like Precision Photo can do so more cheaply than your neighborhood drugstore and even print your band’s name and contact information in the margin.

For More Info

Be sure to check out Young Guns' other Hints & Tips pages on these important subjects:

Great Songs

Hot Demos

Winning Bios