Often when I have a bit of time between certain types of photography job, I get sentimental and start to go back over previous jobs. With music-related shoots, its often a case of reminding myself of the buzz I get when rushing around trying to get the best shots that I can manage. I also use it as a way of personal critique. Many of the music shoots I do are very time-sensitive. Images are captured, edited and handed over on very tight timescales and I normally don't have the time to revisit the images after the event. Consequently I often feel as though my images are rushed and I dread going back over them too soon in case I am struck by the feeling of "darn, I could have done so much better". After a while though, I think it's beneficial to reassess the images. I find I am able to judge the images impartially without the nagging feeling of missed shots. I am also able to use the extra few months experience of editing images (and perhaps even utilise new software) to reprocess the images to a higher standard. Through this process I have managed to dig out some real gems which would have normally just sat undiscovered on my external hard drives!

Oops! Got a bit side-tracked there didn't I?! The original point of this post was to re-post a music-related shot from a few years ago. With my next BBC Radio 2 In Concert not for another week, I wanted to go back and look at the first few shoots I did for them. Keane was the very first, way back in May 2010! Three years later and I have covered more than 50 In Concert events.

Looking back over the photos from that show, I know they aren't great! I managed to get the photos that were required for my commission but most of the performance shots were taken from too far back and are composed entirely wrong! A combination of being nervous and not having the courage to move far enough forward to get the best images. Despite that, there are a handful of images I really love from that day. But it's this particular shot that I wanted to share today - it shows a very empty Radio Theatre with the band undertaking their soundcheck. It's not very often that I shoot the Radio Theatre with seats any more and I love what they bring to this particular photo. Not to mention that it shows a much more relaxed side to the band than you get to see when an audience is filling those seats! 

* Images MUST NOT be used without permission*