'Surreal' and 'crazy' are words I seem to use to describe the things that happen to me. I've gone from not expecting to be at any festivals this summer to having photographed my fourth in two months (with one more to come in just over a week). It does feel both surreal and crazy but it's been good.

In terms of knowledge and skill level I feel like I've really thrown myself in at the deep end and have probably been punching above my weight this summer. It's not been easy but I've tried a lot. It's really changed my outlook on photography and the way I shoot and go into photographing an event. I think I see things very differently now.

I shot Truck Festival last weekend and it definitely brought me back down to Earth. I had to miss the first day and similar to Wireless and Hard Rock Calling, I had to go in a day behind and hit the ground running which I wasn't able to do. The whole weekend was definitely a struggle for me. I've gone into the last few events feeling like I have a lot to prove, especially to myself. I wanted to be able to prove that the people who have put their confidence in me were right to do so and that I was taking steps forward. There's a load of reasons why but they aren't worth going into. I found myself very frustrated with my equipment and what I could do with it, also felt trapped as I didn't know what I could do to produce better photos and get myself out of the rut. The rest of the team was really on form and I was convinced I was letting them down. I can only hope that this hasn't screwed my chances of shooting other events like this.

Going into Hevy Fest in a week or so, I am probably equally more determined to nail the photos as well as being very nervous about being in a similar situation.

Outside of my own personal problems and dramas, Truck was a nice festival to be at. The staff were amazing, super friendly as well as the festival being seriously relaxed and well organised. It was also great to work as part of a DPG team of photographers again.



The rest of the gallery is here.

Through a strange set of circumstances and a very generous person I was able to photograph Ellie Goulding at Somerset House. I shot her when she performed near Trafalgar Square for The Big Issue but I've really wanted to shoot one of her shows for quite a while. I was pretty damn excited but nervous too.

Considering how long I've lived in London, I'm ashamed to say that I've never been inside Somerset House before but it was a really stunning setting for a show.

It really wasn't an easy show to shoot, there were a lot of other photographers, it was quite a high stage and the lighting was pretty strange. The support band The Knocks were cool but they were quite hidden behind their keyboard set up.

I was hoping to get some photos of the rest of Ellie Goulding's band to have a bit of variety to the shots but apart from her backing singers the rest of the band were set quite far back. It was an amazing opportunity and really happy I got to do it, I left feeling pretty defeated and worried about my shots but I'm fairly happy with what I got. Just wish I could have got more.





You can see the rest of the photos from the show here.

Before the Japanese Voyeurs gig I met up with a mate of mine, Tom, who is part of a band named Optimus Motherfucker. I photographed them during one of their rehearsal sessions before they record some demos and then did some quick portraits with them afterwards.

It was definitely surreal but a hell of a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to them getting some stuff recorded.




The rest of the photos are here.

So this is my new blog! It feels weird to move away from Blogger after a good couple of years on there but it's time for a change. I'm going to try and keep this updated as much as possible and especially when I have new work up on the site.

After shooting three festivals in the last month, I'm just about getting back into normal life and but am trying to carry forward all the things I've learnt from the experiences. I'm trying to be a lot tighter on my shot selection and trying to pay more attention on some of the small details of my edits.

The first show I've shot since the festivals was an album launch show for Japanese Voyeurs debut album. It was at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen and the last time I photographed them there, the shutter broke on my camera. Thankfully it didn't happen this time. It was so strange going from larger stages and big lighting rigs to a more intimate setting.

Needless to say Japanese Voyeurs killed it, the album is superb and well worth checking out.

You can see the rest of the set by clicking here...