Adam Elmakias is one of the most popular concert photographers in the world. Most known for his work with punk-style bands and touring with the Vans Warped Tour, he has a bigger following then a lot of the bands he works with. In this point-of-view video, we get to see how Elmakias shoots an entire show while he talks about his thought process and explains the many intricate details that go into this type of photography.

The video was taken from a GoPro camera mounted to the top of his DSLR, and because Elmakias wanted to show the entire process, there are some very bumpy spots in the video as he runs from location to location. The benefit to this though is that we get to see how he moves from center stage to the second floor balcony and then down to the photo pit. The most interesting part to me was hearing him explain the thought process behind each shot. Because Elmakias normally travels with a band for an entire tour, he doesn’t actually try and capture the entire show in one night. Instead, he plans out key moments he wants to capture, and he will then sit and wait for that moment to happen. Once he gets the moment, he doesn’t need to worry about capturing it at the next show and can then concentrate on the next moment. Due to this, there is a decent amount of downtime in the video, but Elmakias does a good job at keeping it entertaining and educational. I was able to get through the entire hour and half without getting bored and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire video.

For a shorter POV look at Elmakias shooting a show, you can also watch this 30-minute video where you can see how he shoots Pierce the Veil at the 2015 Warped Tour:

[via Adam Elmakias]