Meet Burbank Photographer: Renee Silverman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Renee Silverman.

Renee, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
The arts have always been a big part of my life. While studying theater at the University of California at Irvine I spent time writing and composing songs on the piano, which ultimately lead to singing and performing in bands all over Los Angeles. It was a whirlwind adventure of music, spandex, lace and lots and lots and lots of hairspray, and it was hard work and dedication with no guarantee of success. As the years went on my time performing with bands dwindled. I started writing band and club reviews for publications like Music Connection Magazine and although I found the work appealing, a hyper-critical side I didn’t like emerged. Eventually, I put this aside in pursuit of something more meaningful.

Without any goal or objective and only some rudimentary training, I decided to try my hand at photography. Jumping in head first, I took workshops and classes at Santa Monica College and quickly found myself photographing anything and everything. I experimented in nature, landscape, and architectural photography, while I learned the ins and outs of exposure, lighting and composition. Feeding my innate desire to create, photography allowed me to instantly capture what my eyes saw and my mind visualized.

Having studied a little bit of fine art in school, I considered myself a “doodler” of the human face and form; I entertained the idea that I could merge the two, which lead me to portrait photography. I was thrilled to find out that I not only enjoyed the one-on-one connection with my subjects but found the creative process appealing to my artistic side as well, and with my own background in performance I found it easy to connect with my artistic clients.

While attending a series of concerts one summer at the Greek Theater I became fascinated with concert photographers. Without much information to go on, I made arrangements with some of my music contacts to shoot the bands Grand Funk Railroad and America. Not too shabby for starters. Like I said before, diving head first and controlled by motivation and desire, I was amazed how well my early attempts at live concert photography were. From there I began shooting local bands on the Sunset strip, bars, and nightclubs – basically whatever club would allow me in with my camera. Almost immediately, my work received accolades from bands, managers, and fans. In 2013, I began working with AXS.TV shooting “The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands” series hosted by Katie Daryl at The Roxy Theater.

As I great as a concert photographer, I started contributing to other publications and online magazines, leading to 3-years as the SoCal music beat writer and photographer for AXS. Through my connections with bands and managers, I began shooting artist headshots and band promos. It was amazing what could be captured in a studio setting and I am beyond thrilled with the opportunities I’ve had.

Has it been a smooth road?
For me it started out a smooth road, especially since I had not any idea where I was going, but once I honed in on my expertise and my goals, it became more difficult. Some of the struggles, for me, has been gaining access to the best concerts, sharing the pit with many, many photographers and not having the time to be creative but most of all trying to mesh creativity with business.

Who, or what, deserves a lot of credit for where you are today?
Not really , well not yet at least. I’ve learned my craft from taking classes & from my peers.

What kind of work do you look forward to most?
I have several upcoming promo projects I’m very excited about. I will be shooting different types of bands and artists producing promo images. This is also a personal project for me, as I will be exploring different lighting styles in-studio and producing images I will use for marketing my services to musical artists, bands, actors and comedians.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I can’t say I would have done anything differently, because the course I took got me to where I am today, but I will say that I would have started at a much younger age.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://reneesilverman.smugmug.com/
• Phone: 818-253-1070
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reneesilverman/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReneeSilvermanPhotography/