Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Miller.
Nick, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My whole life I have been interested in cameras and photography. Over the years I have dabbled in other subject matters, things like landscape or wildlife, but nothing ever really clicked for me. I was never happy with what I was creating, so I shelved the camera for a while to pursue other interests.
Fast forward to 2023, my girlfriend had started a local pop punk band in Salt Lake City, and they were playing a show at a dive bar in Las Vegas. I noticed one of the other opening bands had a photographer taking photos from the crowd, and I thought to myself that I could try doing something like that for her band.
A few weeks later I dusted off my camera, took it to one of her shows, and had an absolute blast covering all the artists performing that night. Since then I have been regularly attending local shows around Salt Lake City for various bands across all genres.
It has been an extremely rewarding experience to get to support the local scene and try and help bands grow through my photography.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The largest obstacles I face as a concert photographer are venue camera restrictions and media passes for shows. Unfortunately concert photography is one subject that is fully dependent on venues, bands, or promotors allowing you to attend and cover a show.
Early on it can be extremely difficult to get into any shows because of a lack of portfolio and experience. Luckily I was able to meet with a lot of the smaller local bands at shows and ask to cover their sets at bars and smaller venues. Making an effort to attend shows, networking with the local scene, and getting to know the artists was the biggest step I took to get where I am today.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am most known for my work as a concert photographer in the Salt Lake City music scene. I have covered bands from all over the valley across many genres.
I mostly specialize in covering the smaller local shows, typically in dive bars or smaller DIY venues, but I have also been lucky enough to work with some local promotors and cover larger touring bands at major venues as they pass through town.
What I try to do the most is help the smaller local bands grow by providing them with a higher level of photo coverage than they typically get at their shows. Cell phone photos from the crowd can be great at the bigger venues, but most of the bars and smaller venues do not have the lighting production you’d see on a bigger stage. In photography the lighting is key, so I pride myself on being able to work around these constraints to deliver quality photos to the bands that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Salt Lake City has an amazing local music scene that is full of incredible artists. I wish more people throughout the valley would start attending more of the small local shows and growing the local scene, instead of only focusing on going to see the largest touring bands.
I have attended a number of shows that have a local opener supporting a larger touring band, and almost every time I hear people asking who the locals are and where they are from because they were so good.
I have also overheard multiple people at larger shows complain that Salt Lake City has no local scene anymore, and yet I have never seen them attending any smaller local shows.
I think if more people started branching out and taking a chance on the local underdogs they would be surprised at the quality of music coming out of the local scene.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wasatchgumbyphotos.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wasatchgumbyphotos/
