Ross Halfin

The following is a brief study of the world famous photographer Ross Halfin, this study showcases some of his most prolific pieces of work and gives an insight into his introduction to the industry and also the equipment he uses.

This was the first ever published issue of Kerrang Magazine. Ross Halfin explains on his website how he was the photographer who took the image of Angus Young from AC/DC, which featured on the front cover.

' Geoff Barton, who was a writer at Sounds, came up with the idea of doing a one shot magazine called Kerrang! (which was his idea of the sound of an open chord being struck on a guitar). Geoff asked what I'd shot in colour that week. I'd done ACDC and that became the first cover, and because of shooting covers for Geoff I became a rock photographer. '

During the 1970s Ross began sneaking a camera in to watch his favourite bands to take action shots of them on stage, he eventually started to send his images off to music magazines such as NME and Melody Maker, this kick started his career as a Gig Photographer.

The following outlines Halfin's equipment arsenal, this will give you an idea of what types of lenses and focal lengths are best to use when photographing at live events.

Medium format:

Mamiya RZ67 body / 50mm, 90mm, 140mm, 180mm, 250mm lenses.
35mm:

Nikon D2XS, Nikon F5 body / 16mm, 18mm, 28mm, 35mm, 85mm, 135mm, 180mm, 300mm lenses.
Film:

Fuji Provia 100 and 400asa (pushed a stop for live photos to 800asa).
Kodak EPP, cross processed through C41.
Black and white, Ilford XP2 and HP5 400asa.
Ilford FP4 120, 100asa.

All of the information on Ross Halfin in this blog can be found on his website along with his extensive portfolio in which he showcases some of the biggest names in the music industry, some of which are shown below.

www.rosshalfin.com