January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

I chose this photo as my favourite from the month. It was a photo of the FAUNS playing Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen.

But I also liked a few I took at the Hinds gig. They’re a fun band and I think these photos capture the atmosphere of their performances.

February

I love crowd surfing photos. I rarely catch good ones as I’m usually using a pocket camera. But this one came out okay.

Public Service Broadcasting featured heavily this year. But because of their stage setup, I didn’t get many great photos of them. But this one I thought came out really well.

March

My best photo from March was a mini technical triumph. The Spectres played in near darkness at the Lexington. With only a pocket camera it was a challenge to capture anything. But using the flashes of some of the photographers with big flash guns and my camera set to long exposures, I managed to capture a few ‘ghostly’ images of the band.

Another photo where I was pleased to get something despite the limitations of the technology I had with me. A room filled with smoke and back lit, isn’t easy to photograph.

I also photographed a Daylight Music in March and managed to get some reasonable shots, this one I quiet like

Bo Ningen are interesting to photograph because they always put so much energy into their performances. I took quite a few decent photos at their Hoxton show.

April

At the time I thought April was a bit of a poor month for photos. But looking back, despite my position in the crowd for the Wolf Alice gig, I managed to get some interesting shots. But this shot of Saint Saviour was the photo I selected as photo of the month.

But I think if I’d spent some time processing these Wolf Alice gigs, these could have come out better than they did.

I noticed later in the year that the band had posted this photo to Facebook, generating a massive amount of likes. I suspected it was more for the singer than the photo

May

May featured lots of gigs, the Great Escape Festival and Primavera. But as often happens at festivals, I was limited by my position. So I didn’t get many decent shots. I gave the photo of the month to a shot of God Damn. Loking back, I’m not sure if this was the best shot. I think shots of Baby Godzilla were better. I think at the time, I was impressed that I’d managed to a get a shot of a band member in the crowd at the Shacklewell using a pocket camera.

But looking at these Baby Godzilla photos, I think these are better shots.

And despite the limitations of my pocket camera, there were also some decent shots from the Great Escape

June

June saw a good few chances to take some interesting photos as I saw a number of my favourite bands who always put on good shows. My photo of the month was this one of the British Sea Power gig. There were quiet a few decent shots taken at this gig, despite being limited to a pocket camera.

Bo Bingen who provided support, also provided a number of decent photo opportunities

The BSP B-Side’s special in-store gig a few days later also provided lots of opportunities to capture interesting photos.

The Field Day Festival featured several bands I’d seen before. One, Spring King hadn’t impressed me on a big stage a the Great Escape but on a small stage they were so good to photograph 

For some reason, the Lexington has been a difficult place to photograph this year. They have the lighting, but just don’t seem to want to use it. So I’ve struggled whenever I’ve photographed bands using only my pocket camera. But I liked this photo of Kikagaku Moyo relaxing before playing.

The local Rhythms of the World festival was also a decent opportunity to capture some reasonable images from the crowd

I also love these images of Wolf Alice and the mosh pit at Rough Trade! Something I never expected to see.

Another shot with a pocket camera that came out remarkably well and has been used by Daylight Music of their most recent flyer was a shot of a dancer at a Daylight Music in June

I also took some nice shots of the Riddles at the Shacklewell.

July

August

August was a quiet month with a switch away from indie to classical so photo opportunities were scarce. It didn’t help that the gig I did have, was at the Lexington with it’s eversion to lighting. So I gave the monthly award to this photo. Taken without a flash, it’s ‘grimyness’ I felt reflected Girl Band.

September

September was a busy month and a pretty decent month for photos. I gave the monthly award to this photo of Black Honey, but there were numerous other photos that could have won this month.

Bo Ningen headlined Stolen Records Anniversary gig and as usual provided ample opportunities to get some great shots.

Kingsley Chapman is always good to photograph and his gig in September was no exception.

Torres, possibly my artist of the year, also played in September and put on a good show

Despite only being two of them, the Picturebooks were also really interesting to photograph

October

Another busy month and some reasonable photos. I thought this photo of VANT’s young crowd captured the enthusiasm of their fans.

Black Honey have been one of my favourite bands to photograph this year. Great band with an expressive lead singer

November

My favourite photo from November was from a Daylight Music session. I was using a 30 year old manual focus lens and managed to get loads of interesting lens flare.

December

This shot of the lead singer of BSP on drums was my photo of December, but there were several good shoots during December. A new camera contributing to the improved quality as it’s capability in low light is so impressive that even the poor lighting in the Lexington offered little resistance.

My Top Photo

My favourite photo of the year was this one of Black Honey. I just love the colours and the expression on Izzy’s face.

January

Evil Blizzard supporting the Teeth of the Sea at Electrowerkz (Sony A7 – 50mm f1.6)

February

Drenge at Scala (Sony RX100) – Lucky to capture this lighting effect.

March

John J Presley at Green Note (RX100) – John is really interesting to photograph. He’s got a good expressive stage presence. Probably not the best shot of him I’ve taken this year, but I like this one the most.

April

Ella and the Blisters at Hanwell Hootie (Sony A7) – Really like this photo, taken with a Sony A7.

Black Mekon (RX100) – Black Mekon put on a good show. Really wished I had my Sony with me as the low lighting in Shacklewell Arms meant I struggled with my compact.

Diane Cluck (RX100)

May

Dum Dum Girls at Scala (RX100)

The Subways at The Horn (Sony A7 35mm f2.8)

Bo Ningen (RX100)

Daylight Music (Sony A77 90mm)

Daylight Music (Sony A7 35mm)

The Minutes at the Black Heart (RX100 with flash) – Like the way the drummer is hanging in the air captured by the flash

July

Teen at the Lexington (Sony A7 50mm)

Hey Sholay at the Garage (RX100M3)

August

Delora at Rhythms of the World (Sony A77 70-300mm)

Alvvays at Birthdays (RX100M3)

DZ Deathrays (RX100M3)

Swathed (A7 50mm)

October

British Sea Power at Brownsea Island (Sony A7 16mm)

November

Daylight Music 1st Nov – Rachael Dadd (Sony A7 35mm) – Photographed the soundcheck at Daylight Music. I managed to get some really interesting candid shots

Daylight Music 1st Nov – Rachael Dadd (Sony A7 90mm) – Photographed the soundcheck at Daylight Music. I managed to get some really interesting candid shots

Honeyblood at Dingwalls (Sony RX100M3) – It’s rare that the lighting’s good enough, and I’m close enough to get a close shot with the RX100. Think this one came out well.

Paper Aeroplanes at the Union Chapel (RX100) – Sometimes you’re just too far away to get anything interesting. Sometimes, you get something interesting because you’re far enough away. This is one of the few shots I’ve taken from the back of a gig.

December

Kingsley Chapman at the Lexington (Sony A7 70-200mm F4) – Rarely have a big zoom with me at gigs. But I was playing with a new (second hand) lens on my Sony. Pleased with some of this photo. Think it captures the ‘brooding’ nature of a Kingsley performance.

Vaulted Skies at the Horn (Sony A7 70-200mm)