In case you need any encouragement, I would love to hear about "music blogging... so what" (as I write about music mostly for myself, since the prog fanbase is a quiet, forum-oriented bunch) & "live music photography" (i am possibly not even an amateur at this point).

I haven't even considered trying to understand how to get a bigger artist/venue to let me bring my camera in. I have no idea how it works. So far, I just take pictures of bands with low enough profiles that I can just email them and ask.