Meet Bron Caple | LADIES WITH LANYARDS

Ladies with Lanyards is a blog post I published a while ago that put a spotlight on some of the most talented music photographers in Australia. That blog post had such a good response so I decided I wanted to dive deeper into this and interview these creatives! So, I'd like you to meet fellow music photographer, Bron Caple...

My name is:
Bronwen Caple (bronikon06)

I am based in:
Regional South Australia I travel in to Adelaide to shoot the majority of my shows. A 4 to 5 hour drive each way.

I started shooting live music because:
Music has been part of my life forever, from growing up in a radio station where my dad was a Dj, to teaching myself piano and playing in band through my teens, and spending many nights at live shows. In addition to that I have lived most of my life with a camera in my hand. It seemed perfectly natural to combine the two passions and chase the dream of becoming a live music photographer. Live music, is my favourite place in the world, it’s the one place where you can fill a room with strangers and for those few short hours, we are one, many people from all walks of life coming together to celebrate music and it’s the best feeling. Being able to capture moments, expression, emotion, feeling from those artists and be able to share them with the world is so rewarding and it makes my heart happy.

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A post shared by Bronwen Caple Photography (@bronikon06) on Oct 19, 2018 at 3:31am PDT

My favourite gig I’ve ever photographed was:
Picking a favourite is hard. I am so very lucky to have experienced shooting many of my favourite bands. Some more than once. Narrowing it down to one performance is near impossible. A stand out moment for me is shooting GTM 2016, one of my favourite bands Twenty One Pilots were playing. I was anxious and excited and so very overwhelmed.
During the third song, shooting in an extremely overcrowded pit, there was a moment where I was shooting Josh (drummer), he caught my eye he made faces, poked his tongue out and winked at me. That alone is a moment I wont forget. But to add to it, after the show I waited for a heap of pics the same as mine but didn’t see any in all the galleries I found. A few days later another photographer friend of mine posted a pic from the stage, there’s the photo pit filled with 20 people camera’s all aimed at Tyler (singer), except me… in the middle pointing at Josh. You can just make out in the pic that it was caught at the same moment Josh was posing for me, what turns out was only me.
Most amazing moment ever.

The hardest / worst gig I’ve ever photographed was:
Hardest gig I’ve shot would be one for a friend’s band; it was in a tiny, grungey venue with very minimal lighting. The lights that were there were red, trying to grab focus in such a dark room was near impossible. The pics turned out so bad I was too embarrassed to ever share them. The gig itself was awesome, not so much for shooting.

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A post shared by Bronwen Caple Photography (@bronikon06) on Nov 15, 2018 at 10:52pm PST

My photography style can be described in the following 3 words:
Different every show.

My advice to young women looking to join the music industry as a live music photographer is:
Follow your dream, don’t compare yourself to other photographers, be you. The photography community can be extremely supportive use them.
Learn from those who have already tried, don’t be afraid to ask questions.

If I could tell my younger self anything it would be:
Your life will change dramatically, embrace it and be grateful for every hurdle you have to jump.

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A post shared by Bronwen Caple Photography (@bronikon06) on Nov 25, 2018 at 1:08am PST

The best advice I’ve ever been given is:
Follow your whimsy. If it’s your dream, make it happen. No-one will do it for you.

“Don’t be afraid to do weird stuff. Be bold. Be stupid, if you have to: so long as you don’t hurt anybody, what’s it matter how dopey your dream is? Some folks will try to shame you for trying something outside the norm; the only shame is in not trying to accomplish your dreams.”
― Kevin Smith

The hardest thing about being a live music photographer is:
Social Media! It’s a hard slog, you pics will be shared and not credited, your watermark will be cropped, and maybe a quarter of the people who follow you will actually see your work. Trying to be seen in a sea of millions of mobile phone pics is not easy. It’s disheartening, but you have to remember that’s not the reason you do this job.

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt as a music photographer is:
To continue to try new things, different styles work for different shows; you don’t have to stick to one thing. That and sometimes grain is your friend.

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A post shared by Bronwen Caple Photography (@bronikon06) on Nov 26, 2018 at 11:32pm PST

My favourite live music photographer is:
Adam Elmakias is my idol. He is a fabulous photographer but is also incredibly humble, friendly and welcoming to new players in the photography game. He is more than happy to answer questions and give advice whenever I’ve reached out. A rare quality from some of the more famous photographers. My favourite Australian photographer is Wezzy Cruze, he’s one of the best. An incredible photographer in his own right, he is super encouraging. He pushes me to challenge myself and learn new things. He’s not afraid to tell me if my work is amazing or more importantly... when it’s crap. I am eternally grateful for his guidance and moreover his friendship.

My goals as a live music photographer are:
To grow as a photographer and a person. To experience new things.
To share my work and hopefully inspire others along the way.

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A post shared by Bronwen Caple Photography (@bronikon06) on Dec 1, 2018 at 1:56am PST

I also:
I am a regional project manager in the disability services industry, I spend long hours travelling in my car with music loud and camera by my side.
I taught myself to play piano as a child and still play occasionally.
I’ve studied and have a Diploma in Financial Services but decided it wasn’t where my heart lied.

Excluding camera equipment, in my camera bag you will also find:
Mentos, Mentos, Mentos! I always have some sugar on hand. If I’m at a festival I will also have, rain jackets for my cameras. Muesli bars, bottle of water and sunscreen!

This is the photo I’m most proud of because:
The photo as described from my favourite shoot. Josh Dun at GTM 2016

I shoot with: Nikon, I use a two body set up saving me from changing lenses in such short time frames. NikonD610 with a 70-200 lens. And a Nikon D810 with my 24-70mm. I do also have the 14-24mm and a 50mm that will often come along too.

You can find Bron here: