Shooting UNDERCOVER: My Day Behind the Lens in Newport
There is a particular kind of nervous energy that comes with pointing a camera at a stage for the first time and realising it is your job to capture the moment. That was me at UNDERCOVER Festival, the debut edition of Newport's newest techno and hard dance event, held at Rodney Parade and put on by Undercover Events UK. I came in as a volunteer photographer, and I left with a memory card full of frames I am genuinely proud of and a much better sense of the photographer I want to be.
UNDERCOVER landed at Rodney Parade for a full day of world class techno and hard dance, running from mid afternoon into the night. Being a first edition, there was a real sense of occasion to it. A new event finding its feet, a Newport crowd ready to go, and production that punched well above what you would expect from a debut. Arriving while there was still daylight meant I could shoot the site before the sun went down. The funfair rides and food trucks around the edges gave the whole thing that unmistakable festival feel, and the early light was kind for portraits.
The main stage lineup featured Caroline Roxy, Charles B, Daniella da Silva, David Rust, Jamie Mullins, Olly James, Sonny Wern and Space 92, a run of names that pulled serious energy out of the room. Lighting wise, this is where festival photography gets both brilliant and brutal. The colour washes are gorgeous but they change constantly, and a DJ set is mostly one person behind a booth, so the challenge is finding variety: the wide "here is the whole spectacle" frame, the tight portrait, and the shot from behind the decks looking back at the crowd. Getting up behind the booth changed the whole perspective. Shooting out at the crowd, with decks in the foreground and a sea of hands beyond, tells a completely different story to the front of stage angle, and these ended up being some of my strongest frames of the night.
The second stage had its own flavour and its own crowd, running SO/SH, Samurai, Pedz, Oblivionz, MC Shocker, Floydzy and Deezy D. Smaller stages are honestly a photographer's gift. You can get closer, the energy is more intimate, and the connection between artist and crowd is right there in front of you.
If there is one thing I took from the day, it is that a music event is not really about the stage. It is about the faces in front of it. The crowd shots are where I had the most fun, and where I think the day really comes alive. A big part of festival photography is just being approachable, because people want their moment captured, and the candid but aware shots are gold. Shooting from the pit looking back, catching the reaction rather than the stage, gave me some of my favourite images. Even the bar staff were having it, and the people who make the event run deserve a frame too.
Volunteering at UNDERCOVER was exactly the kind of experience I hoped it would be. Real conditions, a real brief, and no second takes. Fast changing light taught me to anticipate rather than react. A packed crowd taught me to work angles and be patient for the moment. And a full day on my feet taught me how to keep my eye sharp when the energy dips. Huge thanks to Undercover Events UK for having me, and to everyone who threw their hands up, pulled a face, or let me grab a frame. If you are building a portfolio, I cannot recommend volunteering at events like this enough. You learn more in one day on the floor than in weeks of theory.
