If you're a music photographer, you know that we wear our photo passes like literal badges of honor. Just about every concert photographer I know collects their photo passes. Sure, you could peel off the backing and actually stick it to your shirt or jeans like a plebeian. Or you could tuck your pass into a bonafide pass holder like a fully-fledged photographer dork — just like me.
Here are a few options to hold your concert photo passes.
Clear Passport Holder
A transparent passport holder is a cheap and super functional option. At 4″x6″, the holder is large enough for most standard tour passes.
The fact that this holder is entirely clear allows for security to quickly and ID you. One downsize is that these pass holders are not tremendously durable, so you may go through several holders if you're an avid concert shooter. For over-sized passes, you may need to fold the pass (I know, the horror), but this should be unnecessary for most photo passes.
ThinkTank Credential Holder
The ThinkTank Short Credential Holder is a much more durable solution for hold a credential, but it comes with a few caveats.
Unlike the passport holder above, this style of lanyard features a clear plastic window, but includes a large velcro flap that can cover a portion of a photo pass. To verify credentials, you might need to take the pass out of the holder to show the full pass when using a holder like this.
On the flip side, the ThinkTank credential holder will last far longer and put up with much more abuse than your standard plastic holder. In addition, there is an additional pocket on the back side of the holder that you can use to stash business cards or tickets.
ThinkTank also makes a tall version of this pass holder, which has a larger window, but may require that you fold very wide passes.
Other Options
Aside from the options above, I've seen some photographers or venue staff use a hole punch on a photo pass, then simply attach it to a lanyard clip.
If you attend photo trade shows, you also might have the opportunity to grab a credential holder as swag. I have a really nice Nikon credential holder that has a big window for a photo pass that was picked up from an expo.
