It’s the biggest arts festival on the planet, turning the centre of Edinburgh into an even busier cultural metropolis filled with fascinating acts, stunning art and hilarious comics for three weeks. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival starts today, so here are five tips for photographing at this busy event.
1: Plan your days
With over 300 venues and over 55,000 performances, the Fringe is an exceptional celebration of arts and culture. It means there’s a lot of potential photo opportunities for you, so it can be a daunting task getting started.
Try to plan your days out, look up what’s on, what you can get access to, and try to plan a photography route through the city. This means you can go from event to event and capture some fantastic shots of the street acts and the crowds along the way!
You may not stick to your plan as the day goes on, but it will give you a starting point each morning and add a bit of structure to your day whenever you’re feeling a little lost or creatively stuck.
Make sure you have everything you need: A change of lenses, extra battery packs, a tripod (if you’re choosing to use one). This means when you set out for the day, you’re as prepared as you can be. There’s no need to run back to the hotel room or car to get your gear and you can be set for any surprise photo opportunities out there!
2: Try to tell a story
If you really want to capture the feeling of the Fringe, try and tell a story with your photography. The city will be even more vibrant and bustling than usual this week, so take this opportunity to document the colours, the acts and the spectators.
Make sure your photography doesn’t just get lost in the crowds. People love to see the small, special moments in amongst all the craziness. This will give your viewers a sense of place and portray the cultural and personal significance of the Fringe.
3: Approach people
This festival is all about culture, so get involved and see where interacting with acts and spectators gets you! It could give you fantastic opportunities to get up close and personal to capture some unique images, or lead you to new and exciting venues and sights you didn’t anticipate.
Having the courage to go up to people and ask if you can take their photograph will give you wonderful chances to capture a wide selection of images. People from all over the world travel to Edinburgh for this festival, so it can be a fantastic opportunity for portraiture, urban or event photography.
4: Remember where you are
As much as you should get involved in the festival and try and immerse yourself as much as possible, remember the spectators are there to have fun too. Be aware of your surroundings and try not to impact spectators’ views or experiences during shows or acts.
Street spectators will give you some leeway, but try to not stay in the same position for a long time, in case you’re affecting people’s views. It’ll also mean you have good opportunities to freshen up your shots, trying different angles and perspectives.
5: Don’t forget to have fun!
You’ve brought all your gear, you’ve got your daily itinerary, you’ve prepared a brief for the types of photographs you’re looking to capture, now all you have to do is meet your goals and have fun! You’ll notice a visable difference in your photography if you’re enjoying the process.
If you’re day isn’t going well or you’re having a stressful half hour, move on to something else that you find more fun. Your photography will feel the benefit and viewers can tell when you’ve captured an image just for the sake of it and when you’ve appreciated the spectacle and captured something you truly admire or appreciate.
You’ve got your images, now display them
Loxley Colour are here to help you find the best way to showcase your images. If you plan on selling or creating an exhibition of your Fring photographs, we would recommend the Gallery Print as a great way of displaying your work.
Key Features:
- Custom sizing
- Photographic Lustre with Satin laminate
- Ready to send after five working days
We have so many more different ways for you to display your festival shots. Check out our full product range and discover a range of products perfect for selling or showcasing your work.