Today we’d like to introduce you to Haley Killam.
Haley, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Whether its playing guitar, going to live shows or sharing music with friends, I’ve always had this insatiable thirst for music. I moved to Los Angeles in 2016 to be a music supervisor and became addicted to going to concerts and the genuine unity I felt being in a crowd of strangers. I saw concert photography as the perfect medium to share and expand this connection with people the same way I would make a playlist for a friend. Since I had zero education or experience with photography, I started doing extensive research, taking notes and studying them during my lunch breaks at work and in the evenings. After a few months, I pulled the trigger and got a camera in November of 2019.
Just before I got my camera, I started DMing bands and emailing managers/publicists asking to cover their shows. If they asked to see some of my work, which they always did, I used photos I had taken at concerts on my iPhone (please don’t tell on me). Luckily this worked fairly well and once I had a few shows under my belt (and stopped marketing myself with iPhone photos) I was extremely fortunate to cover shows like Louis The Child, Kaskade and Dr. Dog. I then linked up with a great music publication called Concert Updater who took me under their wing and helped me get access to more shows and helped me sell my first photograph for a band’s tour promotion. Since then, I’ve been having a blast just continuing to learn and collaborate with other photographers and artists.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Having just picked up a camera for the first time this past Thanksgiving, the pandemic has been a major challenge and put the live music industry at a complete standstill. I was so excited for the shows I was slated to cover this spring, so when they all got canceled, I felt like the ball that had just really starting rolling had suddenly hit a wall.
However, I was extremely lucky from the start that bands even responded to my DMs on Instagram and were so willing to let me cover their shows. I have Nicolette Cunningham at Concert Updater to thank for believing in me and my ability as a rookie photographer. She worked so hard to get me photo passes to shows because she truly believed in me and saw potential in my concert photography and my gratitude to her cannot be overstated.
With concerts likely being the last kind of event to return, the future of live music is extremely uncertain. In the meantime, I have been focusing on growing as a photographer, getting out of my comfort zone of concert photography and exploring this very strange and unfamiliar world through the lens.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in a suburb of Chicago and despite having two older sisters, I was (and still am) a major tomboy so I was also heavily involved in sports. You name it, I probably played it. I literally did fencing at one point… but music has always been a huge part of my identity and my main way of communicating and connecting with people. I started playing drums in 4th grade, picked up a guitar in 8th grade and dabbled in songwriting during my angsty teenage years. It is probably in everybody’s best interest that I put down the pen and picked up a camera.
Pricing:
- $50 for portrait sessions (includes 45min of shoot time and 10-15 edited photos)
- $15 – $35 for prints (sizes vary)
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/haleykillam_photo
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/haleykillam
Image Credit:
Haley Killam
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