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Post by steveternal on Jan 22, 2008 15:52:57 GMT -5
I couldn't find any info on these, so I hope y'all can help. My wife is a professional freelance photographer, and she was looking to apply for a photo pass for this year's Bonnaroo.
1) How does one go about applying and acquiring a photo pass?
2) What are they looking for? Is it even worth doing if you are not affiliated with a media outlet?
3) What does a photo pass allow you to do, exactly?
You fill out a media pass to apply for both press AND photo passes...BUT photo passes ARE very limited. You MUST be on assignment for a publication to get ANY media pass (press or photo) for most festivals, including Bonnaroo. No freelancers...
Most of the photo passes go to professional photographers that are on assignment for either national media outlets or a select few regional and local media outlets. I was VERY lucky and got both a press and photo pass for VooDoo...tho I doubt that will help me for 'Roo...I only got a press pass last year and expect the same this year.
Without a photo pass, you can only bring fixed lens cameras.....no SLRS or DSLRs with interchangable lenses (unless you can sneak them in.... ...but I suppose you take a chance on getting them confiscated tho I can't see 'Roo KEEPING them....probably just till the Festie was over...but STILL...I wouldn't want my Nikon out of my hands for any length of time... )...but still you can get some good photos...
With a pass...you can bring professional camera equipment and shoot from the pit for the first three songs....last year they escorted all the photogs into and out of the pits for the What and Which stages....the rest were just show up and shoot....
Hope that helps a bit....the media pass applications are available from the website usually soon after tickets go onsale....
Post by steveternal on Jan 23, 2008 12:20:21 GMT -5
That does help, thanks girl! But for the record my wife has never really had trouble bringing in her Nikon D200 DSLR. She was turned away once because she had it, but then she just passed it to me over the gate and then went in. I think that was '06, so considering all the times we've gone through the gate with the camera(s), we're never really worried about it.
Were you able to go backstage and stuff with the photo pass? Watch the interviews and stuff?
This is more of a comprehensive media pass response, but...
Last year, I was shot down for a photo pass even before I asked for one (I wasn't going to ask). Ken said that photo passes are on very short supply at Roo. Thinking back, I think there may have been a pack of 30-40 photographers with passes. They'd all be corralled in the media area about 20 or so minutes before each set, and go over together to the photo pit.
We're in the process of having our website (TheMoeTrain.com) redone by Camp Bob Saget's.. Mr. JMKM (Thanks again bro). With the new format of the site, we plan on introducing much more multimedia interactivity, including more concert pics, interview videos, etc. Hopefully with the building of our internet presence, we can procure a photo pass for Roo 08.
With a regular media pass, you can definitely see all of the interviews going on in the media area. Most of the interviews are done right out in the open back there. (The interview with Clutch's Neil Fallon was done at a picnic table out in the open. Our interviews with Bobby Weir and Ziggy were done in private areas though...) As a matter of fact, Bonnaroo's had the best media set up by far, and they treat their media VERY VERY well. At any given moment in the media area, you can see several of Bonnaroo's artists milling around, eating, doing interviews, etc. On the first night, we were messing around in the batting cage with a couple of the bands who were just blowing off some steam before their set. Kinda cool.
You could only go in certain areas with different levels of passes. The media/radio area where we had access to was certainly more than enough. It's a great place to network. Since we work primarily with audio (artist interviews, on-site audio commentaries, interviews in the crowd), we ended up clicking really well with all of the radio people.
One thing I did notice about a good amount of press people was the fact that they were always seemed to be camped out in the press tent. I know we were on different coverage plan then most, but it seemed that it would be hard to truly cover Roo from just backstage.
LOL... I guess that's why we've chosen to be behind mics and get out and mingle with everyone. It's more fun that way! It's fun, but we're still very much and focused on a work agenda. Some podcasts and interviews take 15+ hours to produce when we get back into the studio. Transcripts? Good God. We're still working on our Girl Talk interview transcript. It's probably going to end up at around FORTY pages. (We had a lot to talk about, especially since we partied it up at Roo and before his Philly show)
Bottom line... It's a VERY exciting time to be involved with the music scene.