1. Hiya, what's your preferred name and pronouns, and whose country do you live on?
Mark (he / him). I'm on Wangal country, but originally from Dja Dja Wurrung
2. What's your rig rundown?
I've been a Canon shooter ever since Uni. Main setup for gigs is Canon RP and RF 28-70 f2.8.
When I need a second body or longer lens I bring my Canon 70D (which has the nicest grip I have ever used) and 70-200mm f2.8, which is a beautiful lens. If I could shoot with that all day I would.
I rarely use flash even when allowed.
Personally I’d love a Canon R6 Mark II for the mechanical shutter alone (Hello Canon? Anybody???!)
3. How did you get in to shooting live music?
By accident really. Over the COVID years I stepped back from taking anything serious on the DSLR and doing any editing. As things started to open up, I started going back to gigs for the first time in many many years and naturally found myself taking pics on my phone, capturing the lights, the ambience, the crowds, etc.
Initially I just had a plan to combine the pics into a short video but put it into Instagram as a visual journal (hence the tag @from_where_ive_been) when I had enough pics.
Around the same time Nikon put on an event "Capturing the Energy of Live Music with Michelle Grace Hunder". It was affordable and Total Tommy was the band you got to photograph during the session, which was a band I had been trying to see for awhile. I signed up, and it reignited both my passion for photography, and for editing, and the rest is history so to speak.
4. What/who are some of your influences in photography?
Where do you start?
Perhaps the biggest is Andreas Gursky. His photo, 99 Cent is amazing, and shows what you can find in the ordinary. I'm not sure how much that has influenced my gig photography, but I do take a lot of photos of man hole covers or other quite ordinary things as I walking around!!! Interesting hey!
As to live music photographers, there are so many fantastic gig photographers out there and everyone has their own unique style or interpretation of what they are shooting, both for the type of music and type of venue they are shooting in, so I tend to follow mainly Australian shooters. The four that I always look at their work are:
Ruby Boland. Her work is so eclectic and really captures the energy of the performance, both the crowds and the band, both big stuff and small.
Alex from The Underground Stage. Is he the hardest working unpaid photographer in Sydney? Probably. Look at Alex's photos and you definitely see his style come out. He is a great example to all photographers of just getting out there and taking photos to practice, build a portfolio or just have fun. I can't believe how many gigs he goes to in a year.
Gabrielle Clement, another Sydney based photographer, her work is stunning in how sharp it is, combining both creative and technical execution. I often wonder how she has done some of the things she has achieved, which is great to push my skills further.
Further afield, in Naarm / Melbourne, is Chris Kroll. If you want to see pics that get up and close to the band, use a flash and just blow your mind, his are them. I'd love to be able to take pics as good as that. They are raw.
5. Do you have a favourite show that you've photographed, or a favourite memory from a gig you've shot? Or maybe a particular favourite photograph that you've taken?
Ha, it is like asking a parent if they have a favourite child! Definitely the favourite gig I've photographed was the Downgirl gig last October (2025) as part of Murray Cook's Residency at The Metro. It is one of the top 5 gigs I've ever been to. It was mad and was probably best characterised when Skarlett, the drummer, climbed up the rigging for the lights and just hung there. I couldn't wait to get home and edit the photos that night.
Otherwise nearly every gig tends to pop up a new favourite pic that when you see it on the night, you can't wait edit and share.
But my favourite pic is from the recent LOUD WOMEN Fest in Sydney at Crowbar of the lead singer, Sophie, from R.U.B. Up to that point in the day I hadn't taken many pics on the 70D and I'd kind of forgotten the difference in shooting with a DSLR and mirror less camera. When I took the photo I thought "meh", but when I looked at it I realised how good it was.
6. What else do you like to photograph outside of live music?
I love sports photography, especially around my other passions of cycling (road, track and mountain biking primarily - you can see a bit of a portfolio here - Sport Photos Portfolio), as well as rugby and skiing.
I like doing portraits, it is a different technical challenge to trying to understand and predict what is going to happen in sports and gig photography.
7. How can folks reach out to you if they'd like to get in touch?
The fastest way to get a hold of me is via email, photo@emailross.com, or via my website: www.markrossphotos.com which has all the links to my portfolio, latest gigs, and contact email. Of course I'm also on Instagram, my handle is @from_where_ive_been.
