Music fans have had a disappointing 18 months with festivals and gigs cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Yet with lockdown restrictions predicted to fully lift on July 19th, the industry is once again opening up. Finally, it’s time to pencil in some live music plans.

PastBook – a global platform for one-click photo products – share their expert tips to ensure you get the most out of your camera phone, from major stadium concerts to intimate venues and outdoor festivals.

Capturing the live atmosphere:

After 16 months without live music due to the coronavirus pandemic, why not try capturing the atmosphere of the event – take photos of the venue, who you enjoyed the performance with or of your tickets. This way you will have valuable images that will transport you straight back.

Flash photography is usually prohibited:

During live music events, we are often stood in the dark, out in the audience. Yet the stage always has super-bright lights. In these moments, make sure you turn off your flash. Flash not only distracts the crowd around you but it also won’t reach the stage anyway.

If the performer is moving, use burst mode:

Taking an action shot can be challenging, particularly whilst your favourite act is singing and dancing on stage. Burst mode is perfect for these moments. When capturing a subject in motion, simply enable ‘burst mode’ on your camera phone and you will be able to capture exciting shots with minimal effort.

Don’t forget the selfie:

Amidst the chaos and excitement of live music events, fans should always remember to take a selfie. By capturing a selfie, fans have a tangible way to look back at their experience of the live performance, whilst also having evidence that they were actually there.

Get a wider shot of the outdoor stage or major stadium:

When photographing an outdoor stage or major stadium, a wide shot will capture the entire scene. Normally, a camera phone shoots a 4:3 ratio, giving you black bars on the side of your phone. But, by changing your ratio to 16:9, it switches to widescreen shooting – making it the perfect way to capture the action, fans and major stadium.

Make unusual angles and perspectives work for you:

Often we capture our images at eye level, yet at a live music performance, this is never easy. Capturing an image from an extraordinary perspective can bring uniqueness to even the most basic images. So, Why not experiment with a combination of eye-level, high-angle, and low-angle shots when enjoying the performance.

Crooked shots be gone:
Composition is the way elements in a scene are arranged within the frame. You can activate the compositional grid on your camera phone, which will give you an onscreen guide to centre photos, create symmetry, and balance the image. During concerts, you can use this grid to include the crowd or to crop them away in your images.