Derivative is where an image has been abstracted to a form that doesn’t readily resemble what would normally be considered a photograph. Sometimes it is to make the image look like a painting whether it be pen and ink, pastel, oil or watercolour. Sometimes it is deliberate use of photographic technique to create a more surreal image – something we wouldn’t normally see with the naked eye. I could have called these ‘creative’ but a creative image can still be recognisably a photograph and so ‘derivative’ is perhaps a better description.
Also included here are some infra-red (IR) images. Our eyes don’t see IR so it fits the category well. Monochrome IR could resemble a photograph but the spectral response is such that tones don’t match the colours we expect to see – a blue sky is usually almost black and vegetation is almost white. Some IR images here are left in colour – the limited colour palette and perhaps a little post-processing of the image can result in some quite artistic interpretations though maybe not to everybody’s taste.
Stage photography is not easy to do especially if photographing a live concert. The performers are moving, the lighting levels are low and constantly changing and unless you have a press pass and permitted some free space to take shots, it can be very difficult to fight through the crowds at music festivals to get close enough. With formal seated concerts, it simply isn’t permitted to take photographs anyway and so you need to ask if you might attend a rehearsal of some kind.
It’s useful if you have a portfolio of good images available to back up your credentials as a serious photographer when seeking permission. Getting permission is always a good thing but also think about safety – if you’ve got a long lens and are in the crowd, your lens might get damaged or you might damage somebody else with the lens! For best results, use a long, fast lens, high ISO on good digital SLR and maybe take a monopod as well.