Photos Emeli Sande Royal Albert Hall

It was my huge honour and privilege to take photos of Emeli Sande at her Albert Hall concert this November. I have followed her career in music since 2007 and I have met her at her King Tuts gig, so I knew how much it all meant to her. It was a very special day for me too!  I never thought I’d go to this iconic venue never mind take photos there. I can’t really begin to say what that meant for me. 
Emeli has had the top selling album of 2012. 

Some days are extraordinary days.

Scottish Portraits

Scottish portraits - http://pkimage.co.uk/scottishportraits

Royal Albert Hall

I’ve seen the Albert hall on tv with the Prom nights and for Adele’s triumphant concert there in 2011, and I never imagined myself going to a concert there. It feels very strange to be in such an iconic venue.  I took in the images on the walls – in particular one memorable image of Frank Sinatra as he waved to his enthralled audience, taken from the stage by photographer David Redfern, I was in awe!. I will never forget ascending the narrow steps that entered the arena the theatre’s red and gold lights shimmered above us, where there were the shadow outlines of people on the tiered circle galleries as spotlights hovered and I feel I have now entered a realm of fantasy, folklore, mystique and hidden memories..the knowing that dreams can come true and Sande’s songs of hope.   

Emeli Sande Clyde Auditorium

As her Our Version of Events has gone double platinum and the top selling album of the year in 2012, Emeli (once known as Adele) took to the Auditorium stage as if wrapped in a golden glow from her massive debut year and as if she cant’ quite believe it!  In July she sang the haunting Welsh song Abide With Me at the Olympic ceremonies London

Edinburgh Book Festival 2012

Elaine Proctor

NooSara-Wiwa

Elif Şafak

Tom Benn

Will Brooker

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2012

Romesh Gunesekera

Steve Benbow

Arno Camenisch

Alys Fowler

Debate, Poetry, Novels, Autobiography, Stage, theatre, sport, film, more...

One of the main events this year was the Writers Conference organised by the British Council. John Calder and Jim Haynes discussed their memories of the first Writers Conference held in 1962 in the McEwan Hall Edinburgh and writers worldwide attended. The festivals popular Debates were on Europe, democracy, Scottish Independence and growth. Should writing be political? – perhaps unavoidable?  Is change always a good thing?  Change is neither for better or worse it is simply about the inevitability of change itself.

I walked past great minds such as - Seamus Heaney, Irvine Welsh, Tony Benn, Ian McEwan, Lazlo Krasznahorkai and more.

Elaine Proctor

And PS - many authors said they enjoyed the photoshoots experience at the book festival and some even that it was their favorite experience!

Photography Inspirations

I first got inspired by photography through the amazing images in Life magazine, Vogue and later in Vanity Fair. I can’t remember exactly when, but I don’t remember a time that I wasn’t drawing either fashion, ballet or portraits. I took Art as a subject for Higher and won the Art prize (to my surprise). I particularly enjoyed pencil sketching portraits of my friend Laura. I was also always writing poems and stories in notebooks, it was my way to make sense of the world.

For many years I had little time for art or writing due to work and family commitments. By accident eight years ago I took my first steps in photography at a venue in London. I captured a few interesting shots with a small disposable camera (!) and I realised much of good photography is about having a good eye for it while of course good equipment is like having good tools! I discovered when I got my first SLR in 2006 that professional photography required numerous technical skills to understand how the lens and camera worked and that using automatic is not an option to have more control over good results and difficult lighting conditions.

One of the hardest skills in photography is the organisation and editing of work. Organisation is key. Probably the hardest skill of all is learning to sort and select images quickly, and recognizing what makes a portfolio image. I discovered that 'in camera' selection was very important. And the Big Question – what makes those portfolio images? Some photos might be good but they don’t have that magic quality in them. I also worked very hard at making contacts and studying how the photography business worked and looking at others work.

While I enjoy street and nature photography, my main passion is music and portrait photography. I aim to take flattering images which in my mind is the skill of a good photographer. I hope I have an artistic instinct for flattering angles, good light and the use of soft light.

My Music Photography
Music is the reason I do my photography, music is my passion.

I started out taking small venues and local festivals. My particular interest is Scottish singer songwriters. In 2007 to 2009 I took photos of several up and coming artists here. I received good feedback on my work – I had requests for the use of my images for promotional purposes, I was invited to a live album shoot in Manchester, and I was thrilled to receive a call from no less than the manager for Emeli Sande for a photoshoot.

The two big events for me continue to be Celtic Connections Glasgow and Edinburgh Book Festival. I first took at Celtic in 2008.

What next? To develop printing techniques and my main focus on mono (black and white) images. To submit more and to work more on the business side. To take more photo shoots hopefully. To hope for those magic images!  To paint.

There is really not enough time. 

And it really does take much more than a thousand hours.  http://pkimage.co.uk/

Mythology and Vikings