Award Nominations
Finalist, Young Business of the Year, Association of Scottish Businesswomen Awards, September 2011.
Finalist, Event Photographer of the Year, Scottish New Music Industry Awards, September 2011.
Listed in Top 100 Freelancers, The Drum Magazine, May 2011.
Tag Archives: event
Alexandra Burke, Carrie Mac and Parade
There were no fiddles, pipes and bodhrans to be found at the Armadillo on Thursday night! A big departure from the other gigs I’m shooting this month, I photographed Alexandra Burke, Carrie Mac and new girl band Parade on the Glasgow leg of their ‘All Night Long’ tour. Click through to Flickr to see many more photos: Alexandra live, Carrie Mac live, Parade live, and backstage.
Posted in event, glasgow, music, photos
Also tagged alexandra burke, all night long, backstage, carrie mac, concert, fans, gig, glasgow, live, music, parade, photos, pictures, pop, pop stars, scotland, show, signing, soundcheck
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Celtic Connections Photos
Four days in and I’m shattered already! Oops. That’ll be all the photo editing until the wee hours of the morning. Anyway, I’m conscious that a few people are heading here to see my Celtic Connections photos so I thought I’d just do a quick post to point you in the right direction.
All of my pics are on my Flickr site, with more being added after every gig. So far I’ve photographed the Torchlight Procession, Opening Concert featuring Zakir Hussain, Treacherous Orchestra, Fia Na Roca, OqueStrada, Cheikh Lô, Rachel Sermanni, Nuala Kennedy, AJ Roach, Ziggy Campbell and Rick Redbeard.
I’ll do a proper blog post in the next couple of days – so much to tell, so little time! Goodnight, folks 
Posted in event, glasgow, music, photos
Also tagged aj roach, celtic connections, cheikh lo, festival, fia na roca, glasgow, media, music, nuala kennedy, oquestrada, phantom band, photos, press, rachel sermanni, treacherous orchestra, zakir hussain, ziggy campbell
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Celtic Connections 2011
And so it begins. Celtic Connections is here for its 18th year and it brings something special to Glasgow every time; the city fills with happy faces, whether they’re performing or spectating… or getting hammered in the legendary festival club till the wee hours of the morning 
I’m ashamed to say it’s pretty easy to tune out the music when you’re staring through a lens, conscious of your three song limit and trying not to feel the pain in your knees (Concert Hall + wooden floor + crawling around in front of the audience = ouch) but the atmosphere at Celtic gigs is always a treat and there are always a few musicians who grab my attention.
I photographed Celtic Connections gigs for years for the BBC, and a few photos have been picked up by press or used for festival promotion. One of my pics is in this year’s brochure (page 22, fact fans) and I’ve just learned the same shot was used in The Drum a few months ago to celebrate CC’s win of Best Traditional Event at the Scottish Event Awards! These things please me and I hope they bode well for this year – it’s my first time as a freelancer and it’s a whole new world.
I shot the Torchlight Procession this afternoon – that involves running backwards through George Square, trying to frame a decent picture from a marching pipe band, a promotional banner that’s at waist level, and an endless sea of flames. Many of those flames extinguished themselves en route today, which didn’t make life easy, but there was a bunch of fire-jugglers waiting at the Concert Hall to amuse me and the gaggle of photographers.
Just as I’d recovered from that exertion, it was time for the Opening Concert: ‘The Pulse of the World featuring Zakir Hussain’. On went the knee pads and I crawled into that wee space in front of the audience, smiling politely and assuring the poor folk we wouldn’t be there for long. I didn’t hear a thing cos there were far too many people on stage to concentrate on. 
You’ll find all my Celtic Connections photos on Flickr and some of them will be published elsewhere tomorrow (oh dear, it’s actually today) so I’ll add links to them when I get them. And there are plenty more photos to come so please watch this space.
Posted in event, glasgow, music, photos
Also tagged bbc, celtic, celtic connections, concert, connections, festival, fire, flames, flickr, freelance, glasgow, glasgow royal concert hall, GRCH, media, music, photos, press, scottish event awards, the drum, torchlight procession, zakir hussain
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Pat Elliot Book Launch
I spent Thursday evening photographing a very wise woman, Pat Elliot, at her book launch. Pat has years of experience in law and psychology, and her book details attributes and techniques to increase awareness, confidence and self-esteem. She’s also a dab hand at knowing how to deal with stress! Her book is available on Amazon and you’ll find more information about her on mindcircles.co.uk.
More of my photos from the book launch are on Flickr.
Posted in event, health, photos
Also tagged "7 attributes for success", awareness, book, confidence, elliot, glasgow, health, launch, motivational, pat, patricia, photos, sauchiehall street, self-esteem, self-help, stress, waterstones
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People Being Good And Being Social
Be Good Be Social took place in Edinburgh last night (that’s the charity sector social media event I blogged about last week), attracting delegates from the likes of Oxfam Scotland, Childline, Young Scot, Quarriers, Yorkhill Children’s Foundation and MND Scotland.
One of the joys of social media is the instant feedback – at events like this you’re positively encouraged to post Twitter updates throughout (it’s a delicious feeling, like you’re getting away with passing notes in class) and it adds to the experience to see what people are saying. We used the hashtag #begoodbesocial on Twitter – a useful thing to seek out if you want to learn a bit more about the benefits and challenges charities are discovering in social media. As well as taking ‘proper’ photos, I tweeted a few from my phone to complement the commentary.
I was too busy to pay attention to all of the advice on offer but there was a great atmosphere and a lovely bunch of people – a big enough crowd to feel like a worthwhile meet, small enough for friendly collaboration. Massive congratulations to Ross McCulloch, who instigated, organised and put his own money into the event, and a round of applause to his team of volunteers. I’m not sure anyone’s going to let him catch his breath before he organises the next one
You can see my photos on Flickr and on Facebook.
Posted in charity, event, photos, social media
Also tagged be good be social, charity, edinburgh, facebook, onekind, photography, social media, the melting pot, twitter
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Be Good Be Social
I’m photographing a charity sector social media event next week in Edinburgh. This is my guest blog for their website:
“Social media is great at giving people a voice. It doesn’t matter who you are, there are amazing tools on the world wide web that let you share your views, promote your work, get on your soapbox, or just have a natter. The Media no longer talks at the public, the public is now a very real part of the conversation. I spent years running a TV show’s blog and message board, and learned how important it is to listen to and engage with your audience.
I’m passionate about Twitter, Facebook and the rest. I changed my life a few months ago – left a great career at the BBC to become a freelance writer and photographer. It’s exciting and terrifying in equal measure but one thing has helped my transition more than anything else: Twitter.
I’ve got commissions through it, I’ve met inspiring people who have helped point me in the right direction, and I’ve made great friends. And when I’m working in isolation there’s always a crowd to join… and procrastinate with . Twitter is, in many ways, my office.
As if this isn’t enough to whet my appetite for the Be Good Be Social event, I love being involved with charities. I’ve had the pleasure to work with OneKind and Dogs Trust recently. It feels life-affirming to have new opportunities like these, and it gives me focus. I know that sounds cheesy but it’s a far cry from the world of entertainment that I have inhabited for so long!
I’ll be photographing Be Good Be Social, sending out a few tweets on the night and eavesdropping on all the wisdom you have to share.
I look forward to being a part of it.”
So there you go. A guest blog! Woo! Never done that before. I hope it’ll be the first of many. Now excuse me while I go faff about on Twitter…
Posted in charity, event, photos, social media
Also tagged be good be social, charity, dogs trust, edinburgh, facebook, guest blog, onekind, photography, social media, twitter
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Waggy Walks 2010
Sunday: a day for rest, a day for lying about with a stack of newspapers, or a day for plodding around a muddy park with over a hundred dogs?
Waggy Walks took place all over the UK on Sunday to raise money for Dogs Trust, and I ventured down to Tollcross Park in Glasgow to capture the proceedings on my camera. I’m rarely happier than when I’m surrounded by animals so, despite the teeming rain/drizzle/mud/midges, it was a lot of fun and I’m really happy with my photos. These two are just a taster – you’ll find many more Waggy Walks photos over on Flickr.
Posted in charity, pet paparazzi, photos
Also tagged @thetwiglet, charity, cute, dog, dogs trust, glasgow, mud, mutts, paparazzi, pet, photos, rain, spaniel, terrier, tollcross park, waggy walks
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