I’ve been threatening to start photography again for a long time. I’ve said it several times over social media, posting in the hope that I will feel accountable and actually start doing it. Thus far it hasn’t happened but lately I’ve really been feeling the urge to create again and nothing scratches that itch for me quite like photography does.

Yesterday a friend asked if she could have a copy of one of my images (you know who you are, thank you!). She’s intending to not only print, frame and hang it on her wall, she also wants to do the same for family christmas gifts. I was genuinely floored by this (and definitely flattered) and I think it’s helped to give me that kick up the arse that I needed.

So today I’ve ordered a couple of new camera batteries. On 7 December I’ll be going to my second gig on The Skinner Brothers tour and I’ll try my hand at some concert photography for the first time. Keeping in mind that my skills are extremely rusty as it’s been 10 years since I used my DSLR, and also my camera isn’t the latest and greatest, I’ll be thrilled if I get one or two good images!

Past experience in low light settings has been minimal too, but I’ll just push the ISO up as far as I can, prioritise shutter speed and shoot in burst mode. Then hope for the best! The band are very dear to me, so I’ll be over the moon if I do manage to pull off some good shots.

If it’s a complete disaster and I end up with no useable images, it’s still valuable experience and I’ll know better for next time. Also the gig is in Liverpool, so I may spend some time in the city the next day doing some street photography which is much more within my comfort zone.

The only other snag is editing software. I’m really only familiar with Lightroom but am hesitant to become trapped in their god awful subscription model! That said I don’t have bundles of spare cash to lay out on a full license for other software either, so I may be forced into the hostage situation that they call their monthly plan.