We've been the official video and photo team for the Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Festival for two years now. Eleven nights of live music, hundreds of deliverables, and some of the best artists in jazz and blues playing under the Florida stars. Here's what goes into capturing a festival like this.
Why Fort Mose Matters
Fort Mose Historic State Park isn't just another venue. It's the site of the first legally sanctioned free Black settlement in what is now the United States, established in 1738. That history gives the festival a weight that goes beyond just good music.
When St. Johns Cultural Events, Inc. brought us on to document the festival, they wanted more than highlight reels. They wanted content that honored the significance of the place while capturing the joy of the performances. It's a balance we take seriously.
The Artists
Over two years, we've shot some incredible performers:
- Gary Clark Jr - raw energy and guitar work that's impossible to look away from
- Samara Joy - Grammy-winning vocalist with an orchestra backing her up
- Ledisi - pure stage presence, every single second
- Robert Cray - blues legend, smooth as ever
- Ruthie Foster - voice that cuts right through you
- Don Was - watching a producer of his caliber perform live is something else
Each artist brings their own challenge for shooting. Gary Clark Jr moves constantly and the lighting changes every few seconds. Samara Joy is more controlled, which means you're hunting for those perfect moments of emotion. Ledisi is all energy, so you're just trying to keep up.
Shooting Live Music: What Actually Matters
Festival photography and videography isn't about having the best gear. It's about being in the right position at the right time and knowing what to look for.
Position is Everything
At Fort Mose, we work the photo pit for the first few songs, then move to different spots around the venue. Stage left, stage right, back of house for those wide crowd shots. Each position tells a different part of the story.
The Crowd is Part of the Show
Some of our favorite shots from Fort Mose aren't of the performers at all. They're the audience members losing themselves in the music. Hands in the air. People dancing with strangers. That woman laughing so hard she's doubled over. That's the festival experience, and it needs to be documented just as much as what's happening on stage.
Low Light is the Reality
Festival lighting is dramatic and beautiful, but it's also constantly changing and often pretty dim. You need to know your gear well enough to adapt on the fly. There's no time to check settings between songs.
What We Deliver
For a multi-night festival like Fort Mose, our deliverables typically include:
- Nightly highlight reels (2-3 minutes each)
- Full festival recap video
- Short-form clips for social media (vertical and horizontal)
- Performance photography for each artist
- Crowd and atmosphere shots
- Raw footage archive for future use
The turnaround depends on the scope, but we typically have social clips ready within 48 hours and full highlight reels within two weeks.
Gallery: Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Festival
A selection from two years of shooting:
Working with Cultural Organizations
Fort Mose is one of several cultural and nonprofit clients we work with in St. Augustine. These projects are meaningful to us because the content actually matters beyond marketing. It's preserving history, documenting community, and supporting organizations doing important work.
If you're running a festival, cultural event, or nonprofit program in Northeast Florida, we'd love to talk about how we can help document it.
"The best festival footage doesn't just show what happened. It makes people wish they'd been there."
Diego Cerquera, First Sight Films
Book Festival Coverage
Planning a festival or large-scale event? We recommend reaching out 2-3 months in advance so we can properly prep. Multi-day events need coordination, and the earlier we're involved, the better the coverage.
Check out our full Fort Mose project page for more details on our process and deliverables.
