How I Got My ALL ACCESS day with Gavin DeGraw

Have you ever wondered what it was like to have all access to an artist that has sold millions of albums? Well I have had the pleasure of having that access for many artists at this point and recently spent the day with Gavin DeGraw.

I am sure some people out there think you need to know some special secret to get access like Gavin afforded me that day. That really is not the case, there were no secrets in me getting this access and I will tell you how I got it.

I started following a certain person on twitter and instagram who works with many bands and is always on the road. From time to time I would see an opportunity to interact and put my two cents into the mix. Every once in a while I would get a response and at some point they started to follow me on twitter and instagram.

The great thing about instagram for many artists and people is that their following is smaller there then on Twitter or Facebook. That means you will have an easier time getting seen. But because you can get seen does not mean you should ask for the sale or try to close right away.

This is something that takes time, you have to build up credibility of months of interactions until the time is right. When the time is right that is when you make your move and try to make something happen.

That is exactly what I did, I spent months interacting back and forth and engaging with this person. One day I got my chance to speak one on one with this person and I made a simple statement. I said if you know of any artists who would like to give me all access to capture some great behind the scenes images please keep me in mind. Right off the bat they mentioned that I should reach out to Gavins manager and see if we could make it happen.

Obviously you see that I got to spend the day with Gavin and all of the results are above in the YouTube video.

I was shooting with the Nikon D4, Nikon 14-24, Nikon 24-70 and the Nikon 70-200 2.8.

Lets take a look at how the interaction with Gavin started. I showed up early to the venue and got set up with my passes and introductions to the tour manager. Once Gavin arrived at the venue we were introduced and spent the next hour sitting at dinner just chatting. Did I pull my camera out at this point, absolutely not. It is way more important to just talk and get to know each other before you ever whip it out.

This is the feeling out stage and once you both are comfortable in a situation and the boundaries are set, you can start shooting.

The 27 images I chose represent what I think are the best images that tell the story of the day. They cover everything from hanging out on the bus to doing an interview, prepping for the show, performing and finally winding down.

My feeling is that a group of images will be more effective then having just one image attempt to tell the story.

I had a fantastic time photographing and interacting with Gavin and hope to find myself on the road for a few days soon.

To check out Gavin’s music and for tour dates please click here.

Let’s play spot the FRO