Festival photography - Tips from the community

We're now squarely into festival season, with thousands of festival-goers will be preparing for weekends filled with music, mud, and plenty of memories. For photographers however, it can be a different story. They're still in for an incredible experience but it can also be a stressful one, especially if it's their first time shooting. There's a lot of questions, and luckily we have some answers.

We asked photographers who had shot festivals big or small to share their experiences, top tips, and their dreams festivals to shoot, and have compiled it all into this handy guide.

Thank you to everyone who got involved with this piece and let's get into it!

Maryleen (@maryleenphoto)

"Hi, I’m Maryleen, photographer based in the North West of England. I’ve shot Slam Dunk North two years in a row and No Play Festival so far, both festivals were a one day event.It is a busy day shooting, and it can be very tiring depending on the goals you set for yourself. You might want to try and catch as many bands as you can, but also remember you are there as a music fan too so making sure you have time to breathe and enjoy a full set or two of bands you really like is important.

You’ll find yourself walking all day, carrying your gear everywhere, and changing lenses because stages are of different sizes and heights. You have to be versatile and patient - sets might be running late and clashes will happen so I make sure I always make my personalised spreadsheet with bands and stage times beforehand, and try to work out in advance who I’m going to shoot and possible plan B if an artist ends up not showing up or getting kicked out.

Shooting your first festival can be intimidating and imposter syndrome might crawl out of its cave and start haunting you, but remember that if you’re there you deserve it and you’re equal to everyone else, no matter the experience. Make sure you’re friendly and treat everyone with respect, especially in the press tent and in the pit. A festival is a great opportunity to meet new people in the industry. Expect punters in the arena to stop you and ask you to take their photo while you make your way from stage to stage, be patient.It might sound obvious but remembering to eat and drink at least twice during the hectic day is vital or you’ll end up feeling like a zombie when it’s finally time to shoot the headliner.

The pit is going to be very busy. Always be self-aware of where you are, and where other photographers and security are. The goal is to take your shots but never get in the way of other people’s shots. It’s going to be challenging at times and you probably will accidentally get in the way of someone else. That’s ok, apologise and keep going, it happens. I have experienced people who do not care about others and act like they’re the only ones in the pit, chances are you’ll meet a couple of those at every show, just make sure to you’re never one of those people.

Shooting a festival is dramatically different than shooting a show in a venue. You’ll most likely be outside exposed to all weathers. Last year’s Slam Dunk was a sunny and dusty hell, this year’s was a thunderstorm mud bath. You’ve gotta be built to embrace the challenge.

And finally, make sure you’re ready for days of editing dozens of bands. If you think you are built to endure such a day, then go for it! It’s definitely an experience I’d recommend to any photographer. As for me, my dream festival to shoot is Download Festival. One day… see you in the pit, yeah?! :) x"

Kevin (@kevinashburnphotography)

"So I’ve been lucky to shoot a few festivals. As press I’ve been to AMFest, ArcTanGent, Portals, and Radar festival, and worked with bands at Download and 2000 Trees. Most recent was ArcTanGent last year.

It’s incredibly stressful, but a lot of fun. I think you have to realise that those days are long, right? It’s more than just turning up at 7pm and doing three songs for two or three bands and then heading home. And the turnaround is way quicker if you’re working with bands or with press as it’s very much a here and now kind of situation.

The key advice really is just to have fun. Get a feel for every stage and what you might need before hand. Take all your gear and whittle down depending on whether it’s your first time or not. That way you can be prepared for every possible scenario.

I’m doing Download with Number of The Beef and Defects this year, and hopefully back to 2000 Trees, and ATG. The dream festival for me is Roadburn so Becky Laverty, if you’re reading, gimme a call!"

Sabine (@sabinedgphotography)

"The first festival I photographed was Reload Festival in 2023, this was also in a different country of which I barely speak the language. I didn't know what to expect, so booked a hotel nearby (10/10 experience having a normal bathroom, bed and a nice breakfast every morning). Within 5 minutes of being on the festival grounds I already met another photographer, for who it also was her first festival. She was German, so could greatly help translating things. Met another photographer later in the day and the three of us stuck together for the rest of the weekend.

It is definitely a bit chaotic and tiring, at Reload bands were on from 10AM until 2AM so very long days of being on your feet and not having a lot of sleep. Most festivals are outside and a big part is during the day, so as we would normally be used to shooting dark places, we now have plenty of light to work with. It also depends on the outlet you're there for if you need to edit on the spot or if it's not too rushed and you can get a bit more time with it.

Bring snacks, don't forget to have fun and definitely make friends with the other photographers. I have made some great friends at festivals and we still try and go to concerts together. Also make sure you have enough SD cards and batteries. Personally I like to have two camera bodies at a festival with my two most used lenses on (24-70 and 70-200). One of my cameras had a few errors, so it is way less stress to know you still have a second body to shoot with.

Do you think people should try to shoot a festival if they can? Yes! You get to see so many artists in one weekend and not only is it great to work on your skills, but also nice to maybe find new artists to add to your playlists.

Nothing confirmed yet for this year, manifesting I can do Reload again.

Dream festival: Rock Am Ring"

Focus Productions (@photosby_focus)

"So I have shot Stone Free Festival (indoor) London, Trveheim in Germany, Muskelrock in Sweden, Up the Hammers (indoor) in Athens and most recently Wide Awake in London. Wide Awake was the largest I have shot.

The experience is amazing! You get to see lots of different artists and be part of the experience however in terms of photos festivals are demanding and tiring. There are several stages to shoot with overlapping bands. Rather than going to the stage and back in the venue you have to run across fields most of the time in the mud or under the sun. The environment makes shooting difficult as it could be sunny or rainy and you are exposed. The distances between stages are also massive. While a gig is 2-3 hours max festivals are 8-9 hours per day and could be several days. The end result is amazing but they are physically exhausting.

Key advice would be to be well rested and prepared for the weather. You need to be prepared for both rain and sun and to navigate between large crowds and people who are drunk and might be careless. Make sure to wear suitable clothes and drink lots of water as well as eat!

Dream festivals would be Reading, Glastonbury, and Coachella!"

Centreline Films (@centrelinefilms)

"We’ve shot Lytham Festival for the last 10 years and seen it grow from 12k people up to 25k. We also look after The Piece Hall in Halifax, Scarborough Open Air Theatre and this year we take on Summer Sessions festival (with sites in Southampton, Plymouth, Chepstow, Derby and Bedford.)

I love Festivals and I love shooting them. They’re not like any other gig. The location weather, acts and crowd all have an effect. We are often on site working for the organisers and promotors so we get to see and shoot the whole thing, from food offerings, to acts on stage - sometimes even on stage with them! The crowd let loose a little more at festivals, they are usually longer days so they have more time to bed in and the excitement really builds up to the main acts. There’s nothing like hearing a huge crowd sing in unison with the sun shining!

The main bit of advice I was given and that I would pass on is to make friend with security staff and catering staff! They are the ones that can make your life easier whilst in site and the catering staff can always sort you out a slightly bigger portion!! Also, festival stages are often much bigger and taller so make sure you carry that telephoto lens. I often shoot from the pit with my 200-600mm as the stages can be 10ft high!

I think that festivals are always bigger than the artist, so make sure that when you’re shooting you turn around a look for the reactions and moments happening behind you if in the pit! If you get the opportunity to get into the crowd to shoot, do! There’s always so much dancing and singing going on and there’s always loads of characters up for being caught on film.

Dream festival has to be Glasto! There’s so much going on and so much to look at it must be a dream to shoot! Defo need a golf buggy to get around though!"

Gracie (@gracroc)

I’ve only shot Slam Dunk North 2024 so far, so i’m definitely still very new to the festival experience.

It was definitely different, I didn’t have photo pit access so shooting from the crowd at 5’3 is definitely a big challenge, but i enjoyed the day a lot and learnt a lot about how festivals work as a photographer. I got to meet loads of super cool people too and it was a sick experience for me.

I think it’s different from normal gigs because of the lighting, especially on the non tent stages. I think you can focus more on a higher shutter speed etc and a lower ISO for once and it’s quite nice actually, though because of the lack of colourful lighting I think it’s slightly harder to be uber creative with your photos - but you can always find a way really.

Key advice would be to meet as many people as you can when you shoot festivals. You get access to the VIP/Guest area usually and you can meet all sorts of amazing people who can help you on your journey or just hold lots of advice for you. Also getting access to shoot a major artist you may have not had a huge chance at shooting before hand is super cool, as well as getting crowd/atmosphere shoots are super important to tell the story of the festival. Don’t just focus on the artists themselves.

My upcoming festival is Leeds festival and that’s actually my dream festival to shoot as it was the first one I ever attended in 2021. I would also love to shoot Coachella or Mad Cool Festival."

Jenna (@jenna.lab)

"Recently I had the privilege of being a volunteer photographer at Sound City Liverpool, a 2 day music festival in Liverpool city centre promoting local, national, and international emerging talent.

The experience was something I’d recommend to anyone wanting to get into the industry, it is such an inspiring opportunity to develop your portfolio whilst connecting with a range of industry professionals - the artists are just incredible and just as excited as you to be there!

Photographing a festival was such a different experience compared to anything I’d done before! I have quite a bit of experience in live music photography so I’m not unfamiliar with shooting in low light settings, however with Sound City being an indoor event, it is important to bare this in mind when taking photos. Also, with the festival being located across multiple venues, it was interesting to figure out how i was going to schedule myself so that I could be present at a variety of different acts and venues throughout the day.

My biggest takeaway from the experience really is to do something you love. It was my first time commuting somewhere completely alone for my photography but I was so so excited and grateful to be there that this excitement completely outweighed the nerves! Always make sure to be friendly and approachable and you’ll soon find other photographers and even interact with the people attending the festival, these make for great connections and some fantastic photos!

I don’t currently have any festivals set in stone to photograph however I definitely plan on attending Sound City again next year for the full weekend. I would love to one day say I have photographed the likes of Leeds Festival and TRNSMT as these have incredible lineups of talent and incredible sets and atmospheres to capture!"