About Me

My name is Caitlyn, and I’ve been a music photographer since early 2019. I’ve studied digital media since my junior year of high school, but my photography studies go back to middle school, as does my love for music.

Where It Began

I was raised on music and making memories. I went to a few concerts as a child, but my mom took me to see All Time Low for the first time in 2011, which launched my desire to join the music industry. I didn’t see myself on the business end of things and had no idea how to play an instrument, so I was at a loss for a while. I bounced back and forth between career paths, hoping to find something that stuck.

After a few years of searching, and attending dozens of concerts with my mom as I grew up, I realized that you didn’t need to be someone super important to pick up a camera and photograph a show- anyone can do it with the right effort put in. It wasn’t an overnight lightbulb-moment for me, but rather something I slowly realized and became super curious about.

At every concert I go to, I think to myself “wow, this is crazy, this is living!! This is more than just existing, this is feeling something with a bunch of other people, there’s nothing like this“, and the idea of being able to capture that feeling in one image for someone to look at forever is crazy to me, but it was so crazy that I just had to make it my career.

How I Started Music Photography

I jumped into it and shot my first show in February of 2019, taking my DSLR into the Voltage Lounge in Philadelphia to photograph As It Is. In the months following I spent my time building up my portfolio, discovering new venues, and falling in love with new music. In May of 2019, I decided to shoot my shot and request a photo pass for Bring Me The Horizon. They took a chance on me, gave me my first real photo pass, and ever since then I’ve never stopped creating.

Everything I know about about music photography was learned hands-on through trial and error. There was some stuff I was able to look up, but nothing I researched compared to what it was really like to be in this industry. I still remember those who answered my questions, were patient with me, and gave me my first chances in this industry, and I want to pay that forward.

Paying it forward has always been a big thing for me. In March of 2019 I launched a music publication to help fellow creatives branch out, and get started in music journalism and music photography.

I don’t sugarcoat the process I took to get where I am today. People will say you need super specific gear, certain connections, or even say that it’s one way it’s really not, and I don’t think that’s fair; that’s part of the gatekeeping culture that made me so scared to even try to be a music photographer. I want to provide an honest story of my journey, and teach people how to avoid the mistakes I made along the way.

So What Can We Expect?

In Captured By Caitlyn, you will get to see how I got my footing in this industry, what I did to get where I am today, the mistakes I made along the way, tips and tricks I use at every show, and tutorials for editing photos and videos. My goal is to teach you how to start out in this industry and how to approach the scarier, professional aspects of it (looking at you, photo pass requests).

In my opinion, the thing that matters most is a passion for what you do. It’s not the gear you have, but how you use that gear to help visualize your passion for your craft.