My First Time Shooting All Together Now: The Mud, The Blisters, & How to Survive Ireland's Best Festival
Photographed at All Together Now, 2024.
It’s one thing to attend a music festival and blissfully forget your worries; it’s an entirely different beast to photograph one professionally, especially when you bring the photographic equivalent of a leaky colander. As a beginner, stepping onto the lush, but inevitably muddy, grounds of Curraghmore Estate for All Together Now was both exhilarating and an instant course correction. The sheer scale, the unpredictable Irish weather, and my own comical lack of preparation meant I had to learn the cardinal rules of festival photography faster than a mosh pit breaks out. This post is a chaotic, comprehensive guide sharing the expensive, painful, and very real lessons I learned while photographing the best Irish music festival - All Together Now.
Pre-Festival Prep—The Anti-Survival Kit
The biggest lesson is this: success starts with preparation, and failure starts with a cheap tent and a prayer.
1. Logistics & Comfort—Lessons from the Mud
My All Together Now experience started with a comedy routine. I hauled a tent onto the historic grounds of Curraghmore and discovered, about 30 minutes of flailing later, that I did not know how to set it up. Cue a significant day one delay that caused me to be late for my media pass collection. Don't be me. Practice your tent setup.
The greatest physical hurdle was my footwear. My single pair of 'kind of waterproof' boots were a catastrophic error. I grossly underestimated the sprawling scale of the Curraghmore Estate, clocking 40,000 to 50,000 steps each day. By Day Three, my feet were bruised and actively bleeding. I could barely walk, but I got the shot! As a rule for festival photography, never compromise on comfort and support.
2. The Right Gear (and the Necessary Redundancy)
You don't need a massive kit, but what you bring must be reliable. Rain and mud are existential threats. My final recommended kit includes two camera bodies if possible (one as backup is crucial), a weather-sealed mid-range zoom (like a 24-70mm f/2.8), and a long telephoto (like a 70-200mm f/2.8).
I learned this the hard way by trying to get by on minimal gear.
Power is Paramount: I shot with a Sony a6100, but only had its single battery. I spent half my weekend frantically searching for a functional outlet—a nightmare since the battery died quickly, and you cannot compromise on battery life at this scale.
Post-Production Pitfalls: My processing setup included a truly shitty laptop that would run out of battery in about an hour and frequently freeze during transfers. A reliable workflow demands reliable hardware, especially when shooting high volumes.
Protection: Even if the Irish weather looks good, pack rain covers. You can find some great tips on festival photography gear and settings that emphasize protection against the elements.
3. Getting Your Foot in the Door
If you're aiming to shoot officially, gaining access is your first challenge. The process for securing a media pass for a large music festival like All Together Now often requires affiliation with a publication. Start early, months in advance. For those just starting out, remember you can take incredible images with just your smartphone if you focus on composition and lighting.
On-Site Tactics and Creative Focus
Once you’re in, the game shifts from logistical chaos to creative capture. The key is to capture the story of All Together Now, not just the headliners. This is how you build authority and make your festival photography work stand out.
4. The 3-Song Rule and Pit Madness
The '3-song rule' means you are only allowed in the photo pit for the first three songs of a main act's set. It’s a 10-minute scramble where you have to be fast, efficient, and politely aggressive. I learned a lot from this advice from a veteran photographer who stressed respecting the rules and the people around you. Turn off your flash—it’s banned and distracting.
5. Beyond the Main Stage
The soul of All Together Now lies in its side stages and the general crowds. This is where I found my most rewarding shots.
The Crowd: Turn around and capture the reaction and the costumes. Focus on spontaneous moments—people laughing, dancing, or embracing—which are the true narrative of the event.
The Golden Hour: Schedule your portrait and wide-angle scenic shots around sunset. The lighting as the sun dips over Curraghmore Estate is legendary. That warm light gives life to every picture, whether you are shooting digitally or even if you use film photography.
The Venue: Don’t forget the art installations, food stalls, and the general ambiance. These environmental shots sell the unique character of the music festival. Check out the official All Together Now website to understand the layout before you arrive.
Post-Event Workflow & Final Takeaways
Beyond the shooting, the workflow was a massive learning curve. I didn't know how to batch edit efficiently, which turned hours of fun into days of painstaking post-production work. Learning to use programs like Lightroom or Capture One for quick, synchronized edits is essential to managing the thousands of photos you will inevitably take.
My overall takeaway is that while the schedule is grueling, the payoff is worth it. I look back and see that I utterly understated what it takes—from logistics (that stupid tent!) to comfort (the bleeding feet!) to gear redundancy (the dying laptop!). Despite the chaos, I still managed to take some absolutely amazing photos and successfully deliver on my first festival photography opportunity.
The comprehensive advice available, such as a full list of 25 tips for shooting music festivals, confirms that the challenges are universal. By treating the experience as a lesson in endurance, technical proficiency, and creative storytelling, I grew immensely as a photographer.
What’s the single most important piece of advice you’ve received about photographing low-light conditions? Share your best tip in the comments below—especially if it helped you capture a difficult moment at a festival!
