Hi I'm Ruth Medjber and in this episode
of our festival special series I'm going
to be discussing what to shoot went
down at a music festival.
I've shot hundred festivals over the years big
ones with hundreds of thousands of
people and tiny ones with just about 600
guests. I've also shot for a wide
variety of clients.
I spent years working
for a music magazine when I first
started and then I transitioned to
shooting for a newspaper, for corporate
clients, brand, sponsors and now I mostly
shoot for the festival organizers themselves.
As you can imagine each
client will request a very very short
list from you.
Music magazines will usually
request that you shoot a heavy
proportion of musical acts. They'll then
use these images for years to come
whenever they reference that act in
their magazine. For them their audience
wants to see the musicians.
To some extent you can shoot what you want,
but most of the time you'll be working with
a team of photographers and you'll divvy
up the bands between you ensuring most
of the acts on the bill are covered.
Don't be surprised if there's a few
unknown acts on your shot list.
The editor might know something
you don't know.
When shooting for a newspaper
things will change slightly they'll also
want to see some of the main acts but
they'll also want to get a feel for the
crowd too. They love to see crowd shots
of people enjoying themselves preferably
when it's nice and sunny if it's raining
they love to see people enjoying the mud
covered top to toe is preferable.
Some newspapers mainly the more cultured kind
might run a nice scenic shot of the Sun
going down on the main stage, so keep an
eye out for the artistic type of shots
too, when they happen
to present themselves.
If you haven't gone down the
traditional press route of getting your
pass for the festival but instead have
been hired by one of the corporate
clients or brand sponsors like a drinks
company, things can be a little different.
Your shot list might not feature any
musical acts at all.
You'll usually find
at large festivals that certain
companies might have their own dedicated
areas. Some of them will have little
stages, some will have bars, some might just
have DJs or maybe a games area. Some might
just be giving out hula hoops there is
always a lot of mad stuff at festivals,
paid for by big brands and they always
need their own photographers.
Usually they pay more than magazines
and newspapers so they're a great option
for professional photographers
to earn a bit of cash.
If you're shooting for these
you'll nearly always get an extensive
shotlist which you'll need to stick to.
It can feature shots like candid shots
of people enjoying products people
interacting with the product and games.
Close-up shots of the product at the
festival. Posed social shots of named
people with the product in their hand.
There could even be brand guidelines
to follow; like the product cannot be shot
from below or anyone featured must look
over 24. I've even had one request where
it said people need to have clean clothes
and shoes, which is very difficult in a
total mud bath. Shooting these types of
gigs isn't always the best fun in the
world but you're a professional
photographer. You're here to do a job and
get paid. You can book another festival
with your mates another time to have
the LOLs. If you've been hired by the
festival organizer and it's a large
festival you can expect a massive shot
list if it's a small festival with a
more casual agreement and you haven't
been given a list then here's what I
think is almost essential to shoot.
Really the festival is going to want
to update its social media channels
regularly throughout the day over the
whole weekend so normally they require a
couple of drops a day with a mixture of
images so in your mind if you're
thinking that you can dedicate from like
12pm to 4pm in the afternoon shooting small
stages of bands you love? You can't
really, you have to do what the brief
says. When it kicks off the festival
organizers will want photos of people
arriving with their backpacks all smiley
and happy. They'll want to see the
campsite too so prepare for a wander into
there. They'll want to really show how
much fun it is and instill a massive
amount of FOMO to anyone watching at
home. The festival will always have an
aesthetic that it wants to promote.
It'll usually be sunshine and happiness
but it's best to familiarize yourself with
its brand aesthetic before you head down
by looking at their site, their social
media accounts and shooting with all of
that in mind.
If you're in 'newbie' to the team
don't be shocked to find some
pretty boring shots on your shotlist like;
'sustainability'. Capture people using
the recycling bins. Now that's not going
to end up on the Instagram
of the festival,
but they could use it as proof that they're
a green conscious festival when applying
for their license next year, so it really
is a vital shot.
Overall shoot everything
when you're shooting for the festival. If
it's a small festival without a shotlist
maybe ask if you can have a
production meeting with the organizer in
advance to ensure you really capture
what they're after,
and remember the photos of
people who are in a bad state falling
over looking ill etc. might make
great documentary photographs
but sharing them online will most certainly
ensure that you get your press pass
revoked next year.
That's all for me for this episode.
Join me again next time where
we're going to talk about what to do
with the images after the festival.
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Thanks and I'll see you again soon.