07.10.09
Looking up at the stars
Daniel Norton spends his days photographing products for a major food producer. He spends Evenings and weekends shooting bands for fun, and to progress his career. One of those weekends, he headed to Glastonbury, with a valuable ‘pit pass’ in his pocket. After a week’s recovery he compiled this diary for us.
LET’S GET STARTED
Everyone has to apply for accreditation for Glastonbury through the official website or by emailing the press office. You fill in an application form, providing all your personal information and telling them why they should give you one of their valuable front stage passes. They also ask if you have covered the festival the year before and to see examples of your work. It’s not easy! After sending the form off and waiting a couple of weeks, I received confirmation via email that I have been successful and will be granted a press pass. Yes! I had to confirm this and send a cheque for £200. A package duly arrived in the post with my press pass kit, including the press ticket to get me through the gates and a yellow area parking badge. So all that left was to get the tent and my wellies out of the attic!
THURSDAY
4.30am I’m up out of bed. I’ve charged both camera batteries for my Canon battery grip, which will keep me going over the next few days. Checked lenses and sensors are clean. Put a few clothes in my backpack, whilst keeping it as light as possible. The tent and sleeping bag are in the car already. Quick bite to eat and a big mug of coffee and I leave home at 5am to try to miss the traffic.
7.45am I’m here, no traffic! Only thing is, the caravan where I need to get my wristband to access the actual site is shut. It doesn’t open until 9. So I snooze in the car.
8.50am Go to the caravan to see if anyone is about; luckily someone is. Pass my ticket over and am given my gold hospitality wristband to get me into the actual festival. Find a nice little spot. Time to pitch the tent.
10.00am Take a walk to the press tent, which is in the heart of the festival backstage area, between the Pyramid Stage and the Other Stage, to get my press pass, which will allow me access to the pits.
11.30am Receive the press pass to hang around my neck. This is really important; without it, there is no access to photograph the bands. You must show this every time you go into the photo pit. Starts to rain.
12.30pm Rain has stopped and the sun is out now, really warm. A good time to take shots of people arriving; you want to tell a story of the festival as well as just shooting the artists.
“You have to get your photographic skills together when you’re in the pit, as you only have the first three songs to shoot in”
Daniel Norton
2.00pm Walk back to the press tent to have a coffee and charge my phone up. My iPhone battery isn’t doing very well as I’m on Twitter all the time. Journalists and photographers are looking a little hot in the press tent. It can be hard to find a spot as people tape their names to tables and chairs and then leave their computers there all day. Luckily I’m not shooting for a publication, so I don’t have the pressure of uploading images straight to a publication after shooting a band before rushing off to the next act. You have to get your photographic skills together when you’re in the pit, as you only have the first three songs to shoot in, with no flash, and then get ready to catch the next artist. You’re there to shoot the band and not to get in the way of others. Some get pushy, especially when a big act is playing; they haven’t got much respect for their fellow photographers.
4.00pm Head back to the tent to take my wellies off, it’s really hot and my feet are sore already. Put my trainers on and go to get some food and a beer. Today there are no bands on. I have a booklet with times of bands for Friday, Saturday and Sunday so have a quick look at what bands I’d like to shoot and start to narrow them down.
6.00pm A storm has come upon us. Haven’t heard thunder like this for a while and the lightning is getting a bit too close for my liking.
FRIDAY
7.30am Awake early to the sound of rain. I want to be ready for the first day of the festival. There are some amazing bands on today: Fleet Foxes, Neil Young and Lady Gaga. There is a special guest slot at the Park Stage at 6.45 so will have to listen out for who it is. It’s important to plan the day. You have to be at the stage 10 minutes before the act starts and you have to beescorted by security to the pit.
8.30am Have a wash and then need to go and find some plasters for my heels as they have blistered pretty bad.
10.00am Off to the Other Stage now to shoot Mr Hudson.
10.45am In the pit waiting for Mr Hudson to come on and start. Earplugs are a must when entering a pit at a festival. And they are strict on this, without them you’re not allowed in the pit. Check settings on camera to get lighting right, using my Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens, which is a festival essential.
11.15am Mr Hudson photographed, now walking to the John Peel Stage where Dan Black is playing.
11.45am Waiting to photograph Dan Black. The John Peel Stage is in a huge tent so I’m going to use my Canon 50mm f/1.4 for the first song and switch to my zoom after. The 50mm f/1.4 is one of my favourite lenses to work with and gives a beautiful blurring motion around the focal point, perfect for low-light photography.
12.15pm Dan Black photographed, now off to get a quick bite to eat and some water. Sun is out and lots of smiley people looking drunk already.
1.30pm To the Pyramid Stage to photograph Regina Spektor.
2.00pm Regina photographed, now off to the other stage to shoot the Maccabees.
2.30pm Just been told by another photographer that Nerd are the special guests on the Pyramid Stage at 3.10.
3.10pm In the pit waiting for Nerd with a fair few photographers and a big crowd. Sound check is taking a while. Crowd are starting to get fed up and booing. Pharrell (Nerd frontman) comes on stage while they are still sound checking – there are technical problems – the crowd cheer up a bit. The technical issues are still not solved so the crowd keeps on booing. It isn’t
looking good for Nerd. They eventually start and I get some good shots.
4.10pm In press tent, charging phone and having coffee. Looking at some shots I have taken and deleting some images to keep space free. Even though I have another 4GB memory card in my bag, it’s always good to save as much space on your card as possible, don’t want to run out half way through a set and miss a killer shot.
4.30pm Back at the Pyramid Stage waiting to shoot Fleet Foxes. Heard Nerd got the plug pulled on them as they were playing over their set time and they started to play an Oasis track.
5.00pm Photographed Fleet Foxes, great. Just heard the special guests at the Park Stage are The Dead Weather – Jack White’s new band – so have to shoot them. Park Stage is quite a walk from the Pyramid – and uphill – so need to get a move on.
6.40pm That was a challenge. Walked all that way through the crowds, boiling hot weather with heavy camera bag, just managed to get here. Even the security guys look like they are going to pass out. Not many photographers in the pit.
7.00pm Trek back down to the Other Stage to shoot Lady Gaga. Only problem is The Specials are playing at the same time on the Pyramid Stage. I’m thinking Lady Gaga would be good for my portfolio.
7.55pm Lily Allen is in the pit to watch Lady Gaga so most photographers take the
chance to take some snaps of Lily.
8.15pm Some good shots of Lady Gaga, she does wear some odd things. Another marathon, as I have got to get to the Jazz World Stage before 9pm to photograph The Streets.
8.50pm Found it – just. Manage a quick sit-down before being escorted into the pit.
9.15pm The Streets photographed, the sun is setting and I have one more act to shoot,
Neil Young on the Pyramid Stage.
9.50pm This is going to be a squeeze, every photographer is waiting to get into the pit. We have been given instructions to split into two groups, one group shoots from the right of the stage and the other group the left as Neil doesn’t want people in front of him. We can’t change sides so I will have to move quick to get a good position on the left side of the stage. Big rush in the pit and packed in like sardines, this is probably the most photographers I have ever seen in a pit all at once.Here we go, lights off, cameras out.
10.15pm Brilliant. Enjoyed photographing Neil Young and he sounds amazing. Despite being so packed in, managed to get some good shots and no elbow in the face. Result!
SATURDAY
8.45am Weather is looking promising.
10.00am In the press tent charging phone and looking at photos I have taken so far and deleting ones I don’t want. Card is getting full so will put another in later. So hot in the press tent.
10.50am Photograph VV Brown.
2.40pm Photograph Spinal Tap.
3.00pm Waiting at the Other Stage to photograph Pete Doherty. Hope he makes it on stage!
3.10pm Good shoot of Pete Doherty. The sun wasn’t too harsh and some nice lighting
behind him.
3.50pm Made my way back down to the Pyramid Stage to shoot Crosby, Stills and Nash. Kasabian hanging around backstage doing interviews before their set at 8pm.
6.15pm Photographed Crosby, Stills and Nash. Hearing rumours Bruce Springsteen made a special appearance on the John Peel Stage. Don’t think there were many photographers to capture that as it was out of the blue and not the biggest crowd. The worst thing is news that we might not be able to photograph him tonight as he doesn’t want photographers there. We have to wait until there is a decision from a meeting with his management.
7.50pm Waiting for Kasabian to come on the Pyramid Stage. Lots of photographers for this one and the crowd is huge. Lots of flags in the crowd, couple of bottles being launched towards the front too. A photographer gets one in the side of the head, laughing it off though.
8.15pm Good fun shooting Kasabian. My body is still vibrating from shooting next to the
speakers, very loud. Just got into press tent to find out if anyone can photograph Springsteen.
Had a feeling this would happen: only a few selected publications are allowed to shoot his
set. They are only allowed to shoot from each side of the front of the stage, which is quite a
way from the usual position to shoot from in the pit. I’m off to shoot Jarvis Cocker.
10.55pm Waiting in the pit for Jarvis, changing lenses to my 50mm f/1.4 and setting
ISO 800 as it’s very low light. Big crowd and quite a few photographers, lights are dimming
for his arrival on stage.
11.20pm That was awesome. Great lighting so some really atmospheric photos. Great end to a tiring but fun day. Head back to the tent as I want to pack it away in the car in the morning.
SUNDAY
8.00am Last day of the festival dawns. No sound of rain on the tent, so might be nice weather again today.
9.00am Tent packed up.
10.30am Check if I have enough space on my memory card and delete some photos to make
space yet again. Could have brought my laptop, but that’s just something else to carry.
11.00am In the press tent. There is a list up with new times on the Other Stage. It’s good to
keep coming in as new timing information arises throughout the day.
12.15pm Photograph Status Quo
1.00pm Photograph Tony Christie.
3.00pm Waiting to photograph Enter Shikari. Never photographed them before, but they usually put on an energetic set and move fast so shutter speed up.
3.25pm Fast and testing band to photograph. They move fast, needed lots of shots to make
sure I got some in focus and sharp. Next, Yeah Yeah Yeahs on this stage.
4.45pm Coming out of the pit, happy with my shots of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Go round to jointhe crowd for the rest of the set, before shooting Bat for Lashes. Nice to be able to catch some of the bands you like in between photographing.
5.50pm Bat for Lashes will be on stage in a minute. Sun has gone in so changing settings and doing some test shots before they come on.
7.00pm Next up for me, Nick Cave at 8pm on the Pyramid Stage.
8.00pm Back in the pit, Nick Cave is about to start. This is going to be loud.
8.20pm Yep, that was loud. That’s why you have to have earplugs, definite damage if not.
8.50pm Rush to the Other Stage to photograph Glasvegas.
9.20pm Can’t stick around for too long to watch as I have to make it to see the headlining
band, Blur. Don’t want to miss them.
9.45pm Get to the gates early to be escorted to the Pyramid Stage’s pit for Blur. This is the last band I am photographing before making a run for the car to miss the traffic.
10.00pm Blur will be on stage in a minute. A mass of people with flags and a very cramped
pit full of photographers and security, can hardly move, managed to get a good spot though. The crowd just can’t wait. The lights are off and the crowd’s going ballistic, photographers move forward even further to get the best position possible.
10.20pm Just got out of the pit. Ribs are battered but got shots I’m happy with.
10.45pm Back at my car, taking a quick, last glimpse of the view of tents and lights beaming
everywhere with the sounds from the stages. It’s been a good Glastonbury, with some brilliant
acts that I feel lucky to have captured.
1.15am Back home, missed the traffic. Off to bed now. Got to be up again at 6.30am for my day job, shooting food for Cottage
Delights.
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