That was over so quickly and I’ll remember every second of it for some time. Weirdly I felt a sense of calmness and a feeling of ‘you got this’ washed over me.

Talking with fans and the security staff helped occupy my mind in the build up, it was nice to hear what the band still mean to people and also some rather funny inside stories from the staff at the venue. Seemed like a nice bunch! A crowd member was even nice enough to oblige and take some action shots of me doing my thing. (If you’re out there, thank you Kunwar!)

I’d done some research for stage positions, potential tracks that’d be played etc. Said research went right out the window with the opener, typical! However, I came away with a fair amount of shots I’m over the moon with. It’s good to plan but be ready to adapt.

My main issues is currently shifting settings on the go to compensate for light, position and smoke. This will come in time I’m sure and I have a base range of settings that seem to work for me, but I found myself wasting ten seconds here and there adjusting and concentrating on my settings rather than the actions on stage. This is a key element of my photography that I’ll be looking to improve on going forward.

Over all though, pinch me! Did that just happen?!

So this morning I packed, checked, double checked and then checked my camera gear again. Bought a ticket and got on the train to Edinburgh to watch Thom Yorke’s new band The Smile (3rd time so far this year), for anybody that knows me, they’ll tell you I’m borderline obsessed with anything Radiohead related. Anyway, the reason I’ve packed my camera gear is because I’ve somehow managed to get on the guest list and grab a photo pass to officially photograph the band live. Mainly thanks to my super amazing girlfriend and her networking contacts.

This got me thinking, all fellow photographers out there, how did you feel or still feel when you get to photograph an artist you admire? Right now I’m filled with excitement and an overwhelming sense of dread. I feel incredibly lucky to have landed such a gig early on in my photography career.

Did you experience this first time around? If so, reach out and tell me.

I keep telling myself to just enjoy it and take it all in, which I WILL do. The proof will be in the pudding as they say.