Its 2009 and we are rehearsing for a gig that that WE had to pay for. Can you image that ? Teenagers trying to be upcoming artists, and we had to pay to play at a gig. Listening to myself saying that makes it seem as though we where terrible, but we where actually good musicians and great song writers with a decent following.
I wish I could remember the name of the promoters who created these gigs so I could now tag them and shame them for the terrible work they done but I cant remember at all. It was something along the lines of us needing to buy a bunch of tickets to the show in order to sell the tickets ourselves and any tickets we didn’t sell we had to return without a refund.
Skip forward eleven years and we have Steven McCann creating WE-BLOOM. Particularly on this opening night we where threated with a sponsor from Dingle Gin with a free drink and also free entry into the show. These sessions showcase some of the best artists around Ireland and it’s created by musicians, for musicians. McCann is 100% musical talent! with a huge passion and love for it that any one in close contact will notice straight away.
Hosted in the new Lost Lane off Grafton street, it was a pleasure to be asked to take some snaps of the event.
I haven’t done gig photography in a good while now, and I have to admit, I was a little nervous. Especially when the first thing I notice as soon as I arrived was two other photographers straight up the front ready to shoot. Felt almost like they where preparing to shoot me right outa the building. I sometimes feel like I leave my confidence out in the laneway when attending these events, and when I see another photographer, its like I never had any in the first place.
With all that said though, I popped the flash on and start mingling with the crowd. Im not really a huge fan of event photography any more but I love the finished product. Seeing all the smiling faces I capture throughout the night is pleasing known I was able to capture that moment for them.
The most exciting part though is getting the camera home, popping the SD card into the laptop and seeing what stills I have created from the gig itself. Whilst shooting, and especially events like this, I am always thinking that I am not doing a good job. I have know idea why I do be thinking this way. Maybe its a good thing though as it perhaps makes me work harder during ? I know in the back of my head that I am getting paid for this work and i’m so anxious that i’m not going to have a good finished product.
But I have Just finished editing the photos about 2 hours ago and I am so so happy with the images I have taken.
One image in particular.
A moment of silence almost.
A moment for breath
You can almost feel the air, the wind blowing over the top of her head and her breathing in.
I am still trying to capture the perfect split second here. The same way Im trying to capture it on the streets. There is no difference, in my mind, between the stage and the street. In a cheesy way, they are both one big stage to our lives.
The above image is of Ciara Lindsey AKA KYNSY. There is not much of her online in terms of listening material, but there is something about that which I like, because it means 1, I will certainly be looking out for her next live performance and 2, I cannot wait to have the chance to purchase her possible releases in 2020.
This girl was amazing. Brought me back a few years for some reason. The vibes and sounds I was getting made me feel like I was with my friends again being stupid and watching some skate videos. A garage, Sk8 free living type rock vibe (if that makes sense). The below image was another of my favourites and seems to have been hers too as she has now used it as her social network profile images which is a huge compliment in itself.
Thank you @carlforanphotography & @webloomsessions.
The night was full with great faces and you could tell that everyone was there to soak in the music. It has been a while since I attended an event like this. A space where everyone is in it 100% for the music.
Check out some more of my favourite shots below.
Photos are of FARAHELLE and ST BISHOP.
The crowed are always what makes the night.
If it wasn’t for the crowd, the night would not exist. You could see the happiness in Stevens face when the place start to fill up. As mentioned previously, this crowd was full of excitement for the music. Full of concentration. People even sitting on the floor listening intently and just staring in awe at the flow of the music in the air, it’s great to be apart of that, and even better to photograph it and capture that feeling.
Check out the faces below which made the night what it was, and i’m sure I can say on behalf of the bands that played, that the crowd helped fill the room with an entanglement of colour, good buzz and love for Irish talent.
