Irish photographer and art director Sean Hayes has been an avid fan of mobile photography for a number of years. In the summer of 2015, he attended a number of music festivals but left his camera gear at home. Virgin Media invited me to be the Instagram photographer for their 'live feed' from the V Festival music feast held in Chelmsford, UK, this summer," he explains. I was given the opportunity by co-sponsors LG to shoot the festivities over a two-day period with LG's new G4 smartphone."
Music festivals present many challenges for photographers. Light can change dramatically in the blink of an eye. From photographing music fans in bright sunlight one minute to overcast conditions the next, to shooting the headliner acts on the main stage in brilliant sunshine to capturing the pumping and pulsating lighting of the House Party venues. You are looking at capturing very passing moments, so you need a camera that is quick and flexible to accommodate very different shooting environments in myriad stages and venues," says Hayes. Put through its paces at the V Festival, the LG G4 performed admirably."
With a fixed f/1.8 lens, taking pictures in low light environments delivered exceptional results with very little 'noise' visible as the phone automatically calculates optimal ISO and shutter speed in challenging and changeable light. In manual mode, the LG G4 transforms into a pocket-sized DSLR, giving complete control over exposure compensation, focus, ISO and white balance. Additionally, you have the option to save in RAW as well as JPEG, allowing for further refining of images later in Photoshop or Lightroom.
The V Festival presented me with a perfect opportunity to indulge in my love of photography and music," says Hayes. The artists and fans delivered an unforgettable experience and the LGG4 captured it all in perfect detail." Some of the photos can be seen on the LG blog.
Sean Hayes is an avid mobile photographer. His mobile photography has been selected for exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Milan and Brussels. He received an honorable mention in the landscape category of the Mobile Photography Awards 2012 and 2nd place in the people category of the 2013 edition. In addition, Sean publishes a [photography blog](http://seanhayesphotography.com) dedicated to celebrating the best in photography and cinematography past, present and future.
Sean lives with his Belgian wife and children in Brussels and works as a freelance advertising art director and photographer.
