Destiny seemed to shape Portuguese photographer Gonçalo Delgado's career before he knew himself. “I grew up in a family of photojournalists”, reminisces Gonçalo, “and my brother was also a musician. I was surrounded by good music and photography at a very young age. I still remember picking out what album I wanted to put on my Sony Discman.”

With the influence of his family, the next natural step was for Goncalo to head out with his camera, photographing local bands. “I connected with the underground world of rock and metal, focusing on photographing underground concerts with packed stages in small venues. There were no photo pits so I would be standing in the middle of the mosh pits!”

Since 2004, Gonçalo's music photography has evolved alongside camera technology. His first Sony camera was the original Alpha 7, which he loved using with vintage manual focus lenses “throughout the years I've shot with pretty much all the cameras from Sony and currently I use the Sony Alpha 1, the Alpha 7C II and the Alpha 9 II.”

The global shutter of the Alpha 9 III has been particularly significant for Gonçalo's work. “Back in the day, we always had issues with frequency flickering of lights with mirrorless cameras, and even DSLRs. All the lights are now LED, and the frequency is complicated to work with. The Alpha 9 III, especially the global shutter, is a gamechanger.”

While the Alpha 9 II is his is go-to camera, Gonçalo values the Alpha 1’s high resolution, especially when shooting the band on stage from the crowd. "I love the Alpha 1,” he explains, “because I can shoot at a distance with the FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II or the FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lenses, and I can crop even more if needed.”

Although he always has a telephoto lens to hand, Gonçalo loves shooting with prime lenses, particularly those with a wide-angle. “My preferred concert photography lens is the FE 14mm f/1.8 GM. Being tall helps me shoot the stage from uncommon viewpoints. I like to capture the feeling of being on the stage. Other photographers rely on the 70-200mm, which is great for bigger stages, but my perfect kit is the Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM, FE 50mm f/1.2 GM, and FE 135mm f/1.8 GM.”

However, the new FE 28-70mm f/2 GM has left an impression on Gonçalo. “I'm in love with that lens! Recently, I shot a show using the Alpha 1 with the 14mm for wide shots and cropping flexibility alongside the Alpha 7R V with the 28-70mm. Its versatility blew me away.”

It’s natural to assume that photographing a live performance is a reactionary process, but preparation is key to Gonçalo’s work. This even comes down to the lighting in particular venues, “when I know a venue doesn't have good lighting, I usually carry my f/1.2 and f/1.4 lenses, so I always have light.” He also knows that he can push the ISO Sensitivity of whatever Sony camera he is using, “I can push my Alpha 1 to ISO 12,800 and the Alpha 9 III to ISO 51,200 without issues.”

But the real planning comes from watching and knowing the artists’ behaviours as Gonçalo knows this makes the image great. “When I don't know a lot about the band, I tend to research them to understand how they move on stage and how they perform” he explains.

“One time, I was going to photograph an Australian band called Airborne and from my research, there were video clips showing the vocalist going into the middle of the crowd. When I got there, I heard that we were only allowed to photograph the first four songs, which is unusual as usually it is the first three songs. So, I had a suspicion something was going to happen during that fourth song.”

And Gonçalo’s intuition paid off. “I positioned myself when the third song was ending, which meant I was there when the singer climbed onto the shoulders of a roadie. I had the FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM and was right in front of him. Meanwhile, all the other photographers were behind. I was walking backwards, with the lens at 12mm, and placed him perfectly with the sun right behind. He then smashed a beer can on his head and everyone, including me, got soaked. But I still got the picture.”

When capturing a concert the goal for Gonçalo is more than just photographing performers on stage - it's about feeling the music and telling a story. “To me, I want to feel the music through photography,” he explains. “I'm experiencing this feeling and sensation throughout the concert and that drives me to take better pictures to capture that.”