Photographing a Music Festival: What to Bring, What to Expect
Shooting a music festival is not a walk in the park (actually it literally might be a festival held in a park but you get me.) Think of this more like packing for a trip vs. what you'd bring to just shoot some portraits. Since I just finished up a week at SXSW and I've been getting a lot of questions about this, I figured I'd give a comprehensive list of my favorite products to bring and what to expect when photographing a music festival!
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS | MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY
Warner Bros Records was having a contest on their Facebook page where you should post in the comments why you should get to photograph RHCP in your city. So I posted one of the photos from Jazzfest and explained my experience and how I wanted to properly shoot them from a photo pit. A few weeks later I had a notification that I won!
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY | FOOTBALL | SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY
I recently started contributing Instagram content to 225 Magazine and InRegister Magazine here in Baton Rouge, so I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph the first game of the season against Jacksonville State in Tiger Stadium. It coincidentally also become Les Miles' last LSU game to coach, so it's pretty cool that I got to document it.
PIERCE THE VEIL, NECK DEEP, I PREVAIL | MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY
In September I got to photograph some of my FAVORITE bands ever. Words cannot explain how much Pierce the Veil and Neck Deep mean to me, the fact that they were on tour together and came through New Orleans was the most perfect thing ever. I was also introduced to their opener, I Prevail, who also put on an amazing performance.
AARON CARTER | MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY
I've been excited to post these for a while! I had the opportunity to photograph Aaron Carter.. yes you heard me right.. in January at the Roux House, which is right next door to where I work in downtown Baton Rouge.
CHRISTIAN | SKATEBOARDING
It was super fun for me to be with my best friend hanging outside while also photographing something just for the heck of it, which I don't do a lot of these days. Also, I realized that skateboard photography is not as easy as it looks.. so this was also a healthy Saturday afternoon challenge.
HANGING OUT WITH 35 PSI | MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY
Last Saturday, I was able to meet 35 PSI and check out the studio they practice in! They have this awesome storage unit in a warehouse in New Orleans that's like something out of a movie, so I brought my camera and snapped some shots while Evan and Christian jammed with 2 of the actual band mates, Chris and Colin. Their friend Adam was there too with his professional stage lighting setup and fog machine, which made photographing them feel like an epic arena concert. Y'all know I'm obsessed with lighting and silhouettes, so I had a field day.