Musicians aren’t the only ones who help Warped Tour run smoothly; the crew is just as important. Ryan Watanabe is an up and coming photographer who hopped on his very first Vans Warped Tour with persistence and dedication to the love of music and his craft. I was so happy to be able to speak with him a little bit about his experience on the tour as well as the work he did while photographing bands such as Oceans Ate Alaska, Sleeping With Sirens, and many more
How did this experience affect your career?
Ryan: It’s hard to put into words how much Warped changed things for me. Before this tour, I had no connections within the scene, I had very little social media reach, and I was fairly inexperienced. I now have some amazing friends who work deep in our scene, have a much greater reach on my instagram and shot nearly 60,000 photos over the course of Warped. If you shoot 60,000 photos in general, you’re going to improve. This tour opened countless doors for me and I’m so grateful for it.
What made you want to get into photography, especially concert/music photography? What made you target Warped Tour as your first tour considering the fact that it is said to be one of the hardest tours to work/ go on?
Ryan: Honestly, I got into this field of work by accident. I go to Berklee College of Music and I just had a basic-beginner DSLR and it wasn’t until my sophomore year someone asked me to just take photos of their show. It was a small school show, but it was fun! I started to really love it and invest in better gear/lenses and come my junior year (last year) I dove into it as a business while being a student. I worked entirely with my local scene and occasionally would get a photo pass for a House of Blues show. Getting on Warped wasn’t even a realistic goal, it was pure dumb luck. The day the lineup was announced, I was extremely jet lagged, couldn’t sleep and thought, why not? I sent a few emails offering to do certain days for certain bands and I got no’s mainly because bands were full on their crew. Most were really nice and said they enjoyed my work so once I realized it was a possibility I sent an email or facebook message to nearly every band on the tour, and it worked! Thank god for Oceans Ate Alaska!
Who was your favorite band to watch live during your free time?
Ryan: That is a hard one, but I would say Broadside. I didn’t work for them, but I have a lot of love for those boys and I love their music so I shot them as much as I could. There weren’t really many bands I had the, “free time” to just watch, I figured with any of that time, I could be shooting a client, or editing. I would also watch The Maine if I ever had the free time.
Favorite band to shoot?
Ryan: Again, such a hard choice. It would have to be a tie between Sleeping With Sirens and Oceans Ate Alaska. Oceans Ate Alaska are my boys and so we’d always have fun backstage before and they’d play to the camera. It got to the point where I had their set nearly memorized so it was fun to find new ways to show people how great they are. Sleeping With Sirens are extremely fun on stage and they were always unpredictable. They would jump, go in the pit, go in the crowd, bring members of State Champs and We the Kings on stage, and their crowds were so huge.
Favorite photo you took this summer and what’s the story behind it?
Ryan: My favorite photo would have to be my Good Charlotte group shot. I was really lucky to have had the chance to work for Good Charlotte for a few days and I remember I was so nervous but I asked with a shake in my voice, “can we do a quick group photo?” and it came out like a dream. I wanted to head back to the bus immediately and edit it.
What bands/people influenced you the most throughout the tour? Or what was the best advice you received while on tour?
Ryan: Personally, Tarina Doolittle (photographer) was basically my tour mom. She kept me sane, showed me the ropes, and was there for me with whatever I needed. I learned that you can’t make everyone happy, but just be a good person, keep doing you, stay grounded, and continue to explore your craft.
Was it hard to adjust back to home/normal life once tour was over?
Ryan: It’s definitely an adjustment. I’m getting ready to head into my senior year but all I want is to head back out on the road. I swear touring is an addiction.
I know you wrote on twitter/your blog that you are not a photography major, so what sparked your interest for this? Do you see yourself making photo full time rather than part time after the experience you just had on tour?
Ryan: Like I said, it was accidental and I fell in love with photography itself through travel. I fell in love with music photography when I started shooting my friends for fun. I’d like to tour more, see how far I can take this, make connections in the industry, and make something special. I always knew I wasn’t a top musician but I love our industry so photography has been a great way to work within it.
How has the response been to your photos after tour?
Ryan: It’s been great and grounding. For people who know what Warped is, they’re stoked and tell me to take a break from school and just tour but for people who don’t know what Warped is, they say nice things about the photos but that’s about it. It’s a reminder that our scene is still smaller than it feels like when we’re out there. Overall, people have been very supportive and I’ve gotten a lot of helpful feedback post-tour.
Describe your best day on Warped tour and your worst day. How did these emotions during those days effect how well you did your job/how many or what kinds of photos you took that day?
Ryan: My best day was the day Nick Martin called my boss and asked me to come back and work with Sleeping With Sirens for the summer, without an end date. I came on for just a small instagram video but they took a liking to my work and me I guess, so he asked me to come back. That was incredible, I was bouncing off a wall all night.
My worst day on tour was complicated, it was a lot of things building up but I essentially just felt alone. I didn’t know anyone when I started this tour and it was quite cliquey; bands knew other bands they toured with or that they are on the same label with, so being just another photographer with no connections made it a bit lonely. I was working really hard and it isolated me from some people and so I kind of just broke down. I never let it affect my work though, I realized that I had this incredible opportunity, no one would slow me down.
What kind of camera did you use and how did you edit your photos?
Ryan: Canon 5DmarkIII and 6D! All in adobe lightroom.
Any advice for up and coming photographers hoping to get involved with music photography as well?
Ryan: Put yourself out there! Really, put yourself out there and prepare to get rejected, prepare for a long plateau. Things can happen really fast, but they can also come to a halt just as fast. You just need to keep working, keep networking, and never fearing rejection.
Final thoughts/anything else you would like to add?
Ryan: I’m constantly saying put yourself out there and reach out, and you have to, but be careful. I made unprofessional errors early on and I’ve tried to push past them but no matter how instant social media and emails can be, remember managers and bands are busy people. They have a lot to deal with. We as photographers, I believe, are great members of a team but we aren’t usually, “essential” crew. By that I mean, we don’t make the show run or the music play. So, we may be the last to know if we’re going out. Don’t be pushy if someone’s willing to take a chance on you, be patient, don’t over call/email because to work with professionals, you have to be a professional.
Make sure to check out more of Ryan’s work in the links below!</p style=”color:white”>