I've been reading a pair of rock and roll photography books over the past month. Jo Wood's Stoned, which is an insider's look at the life on the road with the Rolling Stones by Ronnie Wood's ex-wife, and the amazing Elton John by Terry O'Neil.

Both books offers a unique insight into the worlds of these famous musicians and their entourages.

Wood gives the viewer insight via wonderful candid snaps of everything from the backstage riders to the banality of travelling with the band as the 'Stones toured the world.

O'Neill acts as a guide to Elton John in a way that only a trusted photographer could.

There's images of the flamboyant star onstage, in the studio, kicking a soccer ball before a concert and another of Elton in full stage persona reading a newspaper.

These books, that manage to hold your attention for hundreds of pages, are a testament to the trust a photographer must build with their subject to truly make memorable images.

As a newspaper photographer we don't get the luxury of years working with one or two subjects, instead we must be able to quickly ready someone's body language, explain what we're setting out to capture and put them at ease as quickly as possible.

If we're lucky, we might come across the subject again down the track, and their experience of being photographed is just as important as the actual photograph itself when it comes to how they remember their experience of being in the paper.

Sometimes we see these people once a year as they return from sporting endeavors overseas, sometimes it's our local politicians who we encounter on an almost weekly basis, and sometimes it's a quiet achiever in the community making a difference to the lives of the people in our region.

I'm lucky that some of these working relationships have resulted in friendships and opportunities to make some memorable images.

My Steel Vignettes series of images with blacksmith Pete Mattila was a long term project that was built off the trust I'd formed not only with Pete, but also with the organisation sponsoring his work and QVMAG where the project was taking place.

So the next time you're thinking about how to make the most of a photographic opportunity, don't think about the camera settings, but think about your subject and how to build up that level of trust.

- SCOTT GELSTON