The shoot is mostly won in the seven days before you get to the pit. Get these settled while you're still at a desk.

• Accreditation confirmation in writingSave the email or PDF, screenshot it for offline access on the day.
• Press-pass pickup locationPress office, artist liaison, or gate. Get the exact spot and the time window.
• On-site contact: name + phonePlus one fallback. Save in your phone before you leave the house.
• Setlist research: first three songsLook at recent shows. You shoot song one to three. What looks the best in those?
• Three visual references from this artist's recent shootsNot to copy. To know what's been done and what the lighting looks like.
• Transport and parkingPress lot? Shuttle? Drop-off zone? Festival access road can close hours before doors.
• Dress code: dark, quiet, weather-appropriateFestivals: dark and breathable. Theatre: quiet shoes. Outdoor day: layers.
• Weather forecast for shoot day and load-outRain cover, lens warmer for cold, sun position for outdoor stages.
• Cards formatted in-camera, batteries chargedFormat in the camera that'll use them. Charge the night before, not the morning of.
• Backup drive packedIf you ingest at the venue or hotel, the drive comes with you. Two copies before bed.

Pack it the day before. Lay it out on the floor, photograph it, then load. The photo is your insurance.

• Primary body + strap
• Backup body with second lens mountedIf you have one, take it. When the main one fails, you don't fumble for a lens swap in the pit.optional
• Wide zoom (24-70 or equivalent)
• Tele zoom (70-200 or longer for stadium)Especially useful when you've got a FOH pit.
• Fast prime backup (35mm or 50mm f/1.4)
• Two or more memory cardsSmaller cards spread the risk: one failure costs you a set, not a show.
• Two or more batteries, fully charged
• Lens cloth + rocket blower
• Earplugs (Loop, Alpine, or musician-grade)
• Harness or dual strapThe strap the camera came with is not a working strap. Two bodies all night will tell you why.
• Rain cover or large dry bagEven if the forecast is clean. Festival weather changes in twenty minutes.optional
• Power bankoptional
• Snack and water bottlePress catering is rare. Pack like you won't see food.optional
• LaptopIf you want to edit on the spot. Handy at multi-day festivals where you're on site days in a row.optional

Every camera has its own quirks and works slightly differently. These are general starting points, not laws. The light will tell you the rest, but you want to be reading the light, not chasing the camera.

How we approach exposure when the lights are doing the work. · coda.photos/front-row/exposure-when-the-lights-are-doing-the-work

• Shoot RAWAlways. Even if the delivery is JPEG, you'll want the raw for the cover frame.
• Continuous AF, single-point or zoneSingle-point for one subject. Zone for moving subject and you can keep up.
• Back-button focus armedIf you don't use it, skip. If you do, double-check the assignment didn't reset.
• Highlight or spot meteringStage light eats average metering for breakfast.
• Short bursts, 3 to 5 framesHolding the button is how you fill a card in song one.
• Buffer test before doorsBurst once on the wall. Make sure the card writes fast enough.
• Cards formatted in the body that'll use them
• Camera clocks set + matched across bodiesFuture-you sorting two bodies into a timeline will thank present-you.

You signed in, you have a pit pass, the band starts in twenty. This is the order.

• Sign in at press desk, collect wristband or pit pass
• Pit briefingMost of the time security or the press desk will walk you through it on the spot: three-songs rule, no-flash policy, where you can stand. If there's a written briefing, even better, read it.
• Walk the pit once before doorsLight fall-off, monitor positions, exit routes, where the security gap is.
• Keep an eye on security and follow their instructionsThey run the pit. The faster you respect that, the more room they give you.
• Test exposure on a stage hand or pre-show wash
• Check the stage and your shooting optionsWhere you can stand, how it's set up, which side has the best monitor backdrop. Pick before song one, not during.