Photographer

P!NK SUMMER CARNIVAL TOUR JUNE 2023

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It’s been some time since i’ve sat down and wrote a blog; sometimes life gets in the way and other times you just forget to keep things updated so here is my effort to play catch up on some of the things i’ve haven’t posted about.


Back In 2012, 20 year old Sophie wrote a list of artist/bands she’d like to photograph (im sure most people do this or have goals in their mind who’d they like to shoot) with a Top 4 that were my main goal. Back then I used to tell people when asked if I get anywhere doing this photography thing I’ll have achieved what I wanted if I could cross these top 4 Artist off; They were Anberlin, Bring Me The Horizon, Paramore and P!NK.


Now I’ve been lucky enough since creating that list to photograph some amazing artists and bands. In doing that I managed to Photograph Anberlin in Manchester on their Farewell tour in 2014 , Paramore in Manchester and Birmingham on their After Laughter era, Bring Me The Horizon all in Birmingham From the O2 Academy to Arena Level but but now one remained and I can cross her off my list as I got the opportunity to Photograph P!nk’s summer carnival tour when she played Aston Villa Stadium.


Now I won’t lie when the Confirmation email came through I sat there in disbelief and cried my eyes out that I was finally getting the opportunity to Photograph P!NK as I adore her for years and had always attended her concerts when she came around and it just didn’t feel real to me this was happening, Thankfully I managed to hold myself together at the show, well until the end then I cried again and it was such a overwhelming moment for myself and the show she had just put on was amazing as well.


I am PROUD! I finally did it! as back in 2019 the opportunity did arise for me to go to Liverpool and photograph her but I had recently broken my wrist and was out of action and it upset me then as I didn’t think i’d ever get the chance again but having that little bit of faith and telling myself “NO! you will get to photograph her, You Will get another chance” it finally Happened.

Even now as I sit and write this a month on from the event, I still haven’t processed it it all but i’m so grateful it happened.

SKINDRED AT THE O2 INSTITUTE BIRMINGHAM [01.10.2021]

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Back in 2020 I brought two tickets to see Skindred for my younger sister’s Christmas present, as she was desperate to see them after hearing myself go on about previous shows I had attended. A year later we’re finally getting to see Skindred live on their “Show Time” tour.

The week running up to this show all I had in my ear is my sister going on about the “Newport Helicopter” and could she do it at the show; Safe to say she did the Newport Helicopter and had the best time overall.

Skindred never fail to amaze me, they always put on a brilliant show and the stage presence and banter Benji Webbe has with the audience makes it a feel good evening with laughter and great music.

Below are some of the photo’s I captured from that evening.

BRING ME THE HORIZON AT THE UTILITA ARENA BIRMINGHAM [25.09.2021]

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It was the 25th September which meant it was Bring Me The Horizon day; Now it had been 580 days since I last photographed a live event due to the global pandemic or even attended a live performance; Due to the long absence the excitement and nerves were pretty high that evening but I couldn’t of asked for a better event to return back too.

It was great to see fellow photographers and catch up, but it was also a great feeling just to see people letting loose and really being in the moment again.

Overall for me this was by far the best performance from the band I’ve seen and I’ve seen them 20+ times, yeah I know it’s alot but from the production to the performance they have really raised the bar and it was an amazing night.

PORTRAITS WITH JON MAHONN [MAY 2021]

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It’s now May 2021 and lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease with normality returning [whatever normal is now].

This is my second photoshoot since restrictions have lifted for the umpteenth time over the passed year and a bit and it feels so good to be back out shooting, seeing and meeting new people; also letting creativity flow once more.

Originally this photoshoot was planned for outdoors and we had some great concepts in mind but with the glorious weather we have here in the UK [ Absoulte downpour of rain ] I had to make some quick minute changes and organise a studio [Thank you River Studio, Richard Battye]. As this was a last minute change in plans the shoot was very off the cuff, a smidge chaotic with plenty of laughs in-between.

Jon Mahonn - @jonmahonn

If you dont know already Jon Mahonn is a DJ/Presenter who you can catch weekdays on Kerrang! Radio from 10am till 1pm. You can also catch him on The Heavy Network Wednesday at 7pm talking all things wrestling and Thursdays on Rock Of The week from 8pm.

ISOLATION CREATION 2020

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During this lockdown I haven’t felt creative at all, so my camera has just been gathering dust but over a week ago I brought some roses and now they were starting to die. I decided to try and put the wilting flowers to good use and try and create something; with no one to model I stepped in front of the camera myself and here is a couple of frames from the shoot.

This image is a cropped version of the original photograph, Whilst editing I accidentally hit the zoom key in Lightroom and liked the cropped version it created and I couldn’t decided which variant I preferred so here are they are.

As you can probably guess these photographs were taken in my bathtub and believe me it wasn’t the easiest self portraits to shoot. I’ve seen people in the pass using shallow kids pools and filling them with milk to create something similar but being in lockdown and not having access to a pool the bathtub it was and i’m happy with the result that came from it.

M.U.A: Izabelle Watkiss

CKY AT THE O2 INSTITUTE BIRMINGHAM [04.02.2020]

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Towards the end of last year I really slacked on posting blogs. This was due to the fact I had a broken wrist and going through that whole progress of surgery and recovery; I’m still recovering and the progress is a very slow and long winded (God! help me) but i’m going to try and do my best to post more blogs on here throughout the year.

So to start things off here is a small selection of photographs from CKY supporting Backyard Babies and The Wildhearts on their final date of the UK tour at Birmingham’s O2 Institute. Shout out to Chad for sorting this out for me.

THE LEGITIMATE PEAKY BLINDERS FESTIVAL 2019 [SUNDAY]

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This weekend thousands of Peaky Blinders fans came together to attend the TV drama's first official themed festival, where the attractions ranged from ballet to boxing.

The Festival was based a stone's throw away from the street where the real Peaky Blinders' first crime was recorded 130 years ago where the gang returned to reclaim their turf - crowds of them, many dressed in the suits and peaked caps, or tassled party dresses and feathered headbands.

Below are a selection of images taken on Sunday 15th September.

THE LEGITIMATE PEAKY BLINDERS FESTIVAL 2019

RAMBERT
INSTAGRAM: @RAMBERTMUSIC

Rambert is one of the world’s leading independent dance companies and The world’s most diverse group of dancers. Here at The Peaky Blinders festival they had several performances throughout the day and it was defiantly not something to be miss; I was in awe of their performance and nearly forgot to take pictures, so much action going on across the stage I didn’t know where to look. Dressed in their best 1920’s clothing they performed along to Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand which for those that don’t know is the Theme song to the show.

SLAVES
INSTAGRAM: @SLAVES

Slaves are an English punk rock duo who formed in 2012 in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, consisting of Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman; Whilst on stage Isaac said “The reason why they’re a two piece band is because nobody else wanted to join, so f**k them!”. This was my first time seeing Slaves and for a two piece band they have so much energy and such a huge sound.

The main thing that stuck with me from this performance was “F**K THE HI-HAT” it ended up being stuck in my head for the most part of the day.

NO FIGHTING!
I SAID NO F**KING FIGHTING

These are a selection of images from one of many Street fights that broke out spontaneously throughout the day.

FRANK CARTER AND THE RATTLESNAKES
INSTAGRAM: @THERATTLESNAKES

The last time I seen, photographed Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes was at Slamdunk Festival 2018 so I was more then excited to be seeing them this weekend and secretly hoping they would turn up dressed in a “Peaky” fashion; Safe to say they didn’t disappoint!

Frank made sure there was “No Fighting” as he shouted to the crowd “No F**king Fighting” before saying how much it made him happy to see a “Flapper” Girl in the middle of his mosh pit.
Throughout the set Frank made sure everyone was safe and encourage people not to crowd surf “because thats f**king concrete your stood on, It’s going to hurt” and it wasn’t long before Frank Immersed himself in the crowd while the rest of the rattlesnakes controlled the stage.

Overall it was an experience; a journey back in time and one I can’t wait to have again, when hopefully the festival returns next year.

MACHINE GUN KELLY AT O2 INSTITUTE [30.08.2019]

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I haven’t been able to photograph much, if anything recently due to recovering from a broken wrist but I ventured out to see Machine Gun Kelly [MGK] on his Diablo Tour at Birmingham’s O2 Institute. Here’s a small selection of what I managed to capture.

FROM INSIDE " A Winter Without You" UK Tour Part Two [2019]

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It’s the first night of the second leg of this tour and we were off to the Fox & Newt in Leeds. Once we arrived parking was an issue so we were having to be vigilant on making sure we wasn’t ticketed and it wasn’t too long before someone shouted “Ticket Guy” lucky enough they skipped passed our van and got someone else.

 Whilst the guys were finishing off sound check I headed out to get some food with an old school friend who I hadn’t seen in eight years.

 (EIGHT YEARS! don’t time fly) before returning to get back on my photo duties.  

 Leeds ended up being an eventful night for once reason or another and will defiantly be remember.

FOX & NEWT, LEEDS

THE VAULT, LEICESTER

The following day we drove from Liverpool to Leicester to perform at The Vault. Now this was my first time in this venue and quirky is defiantly a word that could be used for this venue; it was right up my street.

Leicester personally for me ended up being the best show of tour, the audience were super into it and it pushed the boys to give it there all that little bit more; the room was buzzing off the energy. Once the show was over loads of people stayed behind to chat and have photos before all piling into the nightclub event they had on and what a throw back that was with some classic tunes from the 90’s, early 00’s. 

Which then inspire the music on the way to our hotel. “PARTY IN THE VAN” even Ben P was lucky enough to get a dance off Booth. (I’m sure you’ve seen the videos on Instagram stories)

THE BLACK HEART, LONDON

Now our hotel was only about a 1hr and half drive away from London so we got there early and loaded in so we could spend the afternoon around Camden. Whilst going around the markets someone tried to rob something out of Georges bag, lucky they didn’t get anything as Bradley caught them trying too.

We spent a good proportion of time walking around trying to decided what food to try, a good percentage ended up getting Chinese; which ended up just being super greasy noodles and most of it went in the bin. I wasn’t feeling great that day so once back at the venue I took up residency on the venue floor sprawled out eating chips from Burger King. 

The show went well evening though we were cutting it close to curfew. Now that’s it the end of tour and end of an era with the band but be ready, be excited for the new music and ventures that are too come