Jessica's Travelogue

I recently had the opportunity to go to my first Korean hip hop concert. I grew up listening to mostly Korean ballad and pop songs so I didn’t have much interest or exposure to Korean hip hop songs.

But I have been really into concert photography lately, so I decided to try to get a photographer pass for a concert or go to a concert that allows cameras to get some pictures to build my portfolio. After some google searches, I found that Sik-K was going to have a concert soon. Sik-K is a popular Korean rapper/hip hop artist who appeared as a contestant on Show Me the Money 4 (SMTM 4), a popular South Korean rapping competition show. He was signed to H1GHR Music but recently left the label. To be honest, I didn’t know much about him. I only knew the opening artists, HAON and JMIN.

HAON was a contestant and winner on High School Rapper 2 (고등래퍼2). The show was really popular with youths in Korea. And his first 2 performances on the show really left an impression on me. I knew JMIN after he featured in the song “No Numbers” with JAMIE and appeared on DIVE Studios. But other than that, I didn’t know much about the artists.

I actually ended up sending messages to the artists and concert organizers for a photographer pass but didn’t get any response. I wasn’t going to go but then I found out that the venue allowed point and shoot cameras. Since the concert wasn’t expensive, nearby, and I could bring my Canon g7x; I decided to go.

The concert was surprisingly really fun to attend. The artists gave a lot of fan service and crowd interaction. And, to my surprised, I found some songs that I really enjoyed. Maybe because the venue was smaller and more intimate, I enjoyed it a lot more. And I also think because I was working and testing new concert photography skills that I learned from YouTube, it was a lot more fun and enjoyable for me. It was really just fun being there as an outsider and testing my skills.

For the technical parts of the concert, I tried shooting in Av mode (aperture priority) but it was proving hard to get focused shots of the artists since they were rappers and moving around the stage so much. So I ended up changing to Tv mode (shutter priority) to do most of my shoots. I didn’t have my video setting set up in Tv mode so I had to keep turning to Av mode to use the settings that I had set up before the concert started. I am so thankful that I saw a YouTube video talking about shooting in shutter priority mode before I went to the concert. Because I wouldn’t have known how fast to put my shutter, where to set my ISO, etc. if I hadn’t watched that video beforehand.

I’m actually really happy that things turned out the way they did in the end. I was able to work freely with no pressure. Especially since this was my first time doing concert and low light photography. Since I got there early and was close to the stage, I was able to take great photos. I was able to utilize the skills I have been studying on YouTube and that really helped me improve my photography. Also, I didn’t have to worry about the “first three songs” rule that most pit photographers have to abide by. I ended up taking photos and videos for most of the concert. I really learned so much from YouTube and I am so proud of the quality that came from it.

And I am also happy that I went to the Sik-K concert. It made me more interested in Korean hip hop/rap/r&b music. I also found some really great songs.

Would I do this again? Yes. But I think I will give myself a little break. It was tiring going early, waiting in line, and coming home late.