Music is a necessity in my life. I can’t imagine life without it. It can inspire us, motivate us, or even make us cry. I listen to all different genres, from Classical to Heavy Metal. The genre I play at any given moment is determined by the activity that I’m doing. For example, my workout music (usually a mix of heavy metal) is completely different from my photography music (mostly jazz and sometimes blues). But, there have been moments where my photography has been influenced by the loud sounds I play when I’m working out.
I like to listen to music when I’m shooting, but that doesn’t work too well when I’m doing landscape or wildlife photography. When I’m outside hiking, I like to enjoy my connection with nature – taking in all the sounds it has to offer. Nature is filled with sounds of its own: waterfalls, streams, leaves, in the wind, birds, and sometimes just the peaceful stillness. Having headphones on would disconnect you from the natural surroundings. Additionally – depending on where you are, some of those sounds could also be large animals or falling rocks. So, walking through the woods with headphones on could potentially be dangerous.
If I’m indoors shooting flowers, food, macro, or stuff in my house – there is definitely music playing. It feeds my creative energy. With that in mind, I’ve created several different playlists for my shoots. Here is one of my favorites:
Jazzy Shooting Playlist
- “Easy To Remember” – Roy Hargrove
- “Salt Peanuts” – Dizzy Gillespie
- “Green Haze” – Miles Davis
- “So What” – Miles Davis
- “‘Round Midnight” – Thelonious Monk
- “Alabama” – John Coltrane
- “Ornithology” – Charlie Parker
- “The Bridge” – Sonny Rollins
- “Giant Steps” – John Coltrane
- “Wish” – Joshua Redman
- “Straight No Chaser” – Thelonious Monk
- “A Night In Tunisia” – Miles Davis
- “Yardbird Suite” – Charlie Parker
- “Take Five” – Dave Brubeck
