So, what’s this blog going to be about?

In the past I’ve fallen into a pattern of reporting ‘ I shot this gig’, or ‘I shot that gig’, or ‘here’s a site update’. Which, let’s face it, is terminally dull (she says, hoping that this one will not fall into the same trap). I’m really not sure where this is going to end up, but I’ll start at the beginning. ‘Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away’, or words to that effect.

You often see statements on music photographers’ websites along the lines of ‘It all started when I decided to combine my two great passions, music and photography’. I have been guilty of starting an ‘about me’ page with this sort of thing, and I still think that it sounds really cheesy, no matter who it comes from or how true it is.

In my case, I got off to a very, very slow start, and I’d be lying if I said photography was always my passion. I started going to gigs as a teenager – my first one was Frehley’s Comet at Hammersmith Odeon, the day after my 16th birthday. I first remember taking a camera to a gig when I was a student in about 1991, the purpose was simply to have something to remind me of the night. Every single one of my early photos was taken with a really cheap slimline plastic camera, chosen simply because it fitted down the side of my cowboy boot – I’d have a night out without a coat, bag or a need for pockets, as my keys and purse went down one boot, and my camera down the other! For the most part, the photos were completely unmemorable – the camera had a built-in flash that couldn’t be switched off, and the viewfinder was *really* dodgy (I’d have to point the camera about 18 inches to the left of the shot I wanted – it took me a few rolls of film to figure that out!) and if I didn’t get to the front of a gig the camera would stay in the boot all night, as I wasn’t tall enough to see over people’s heads.

It was all good fun, but the idea that concert photography could be a profession had never even occurred to me. My interest in art and any confidence I may have had to pursue it formally had been utterly squashed at school (long story), though I’d always kept up with creative hobbies – customising picture frames, a bit of silversmithing, a bit of jewellery making and design, a bit of pottery, painting leather jackets…photography had never come into the picture though. I could blame being skint and put off by the costs of equipment and printing, but the truth was, that little light bulb above my head just never switched on.

After I left University I hardly touched a camera for the best part of a decade. Then, not too many years ago, something changed. I’m not entirely sure to this day what the main catalyst was – usually I attribute it to a number of things. My husband being in a band (=willing guinea-pigs), me wanting something to do that would get me out of roadie or baggage handling duties, the convenience of digital photography, the nagging feeling I’d been having that I should be doing something more creative, and a whole lot of navel-gazing – whatever it was, it prompted me to pick up a decent camera and learn how to use it, and that’s what I’ve been up to for the last four years.

That’s all for now! Until next time….