Blog — Rachael Dowd

Here are 10 of my favorite photos from this past year in date order (I couldn’t pick a #1 favorite)!

All photos were shot on my Nikon 610 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8.

The Neighbourhood l London, England l O2 Academy Brixton l 30 January

I had never photographed The Neighbourhood before this show and managed to get a few of my favorite photos. They are an incredibly charismatic and unpredictable live band which makes for great photo opportunities like this one.

The Neighbourhood l London, England l O2 Academy Brixton l 30 January

Sometimes you manage to get a shot that no one else in the pit has the chance to get. In the case of this photograph, I was the only photographer on the right side of the pit and Jesse came right over and squatted down in front of my camera, giving me the chance to snap this and a few other photos before the rest of the photographers swarmed the area.

Mike Shinoda l London, England l The Roundhouse l 10 March

This was my first time photographing Mike Shinoda and I hope I get the opportunity to do so again soon. From the amazing light set up to his unpredictably that led him to jumping into the crowd at the end of his set, he kept all of the photographers on their toes, an aspect I always look forward to when photographing a set.

Circa Waves l London, England l The Roundhouse l 26 April

This was also my first time photographing Circa Waves. Whenever a band has pyro, I always get a bit nervous about how the shots are going to be framed. In this case, I made sure to try and get as wide of an angle as possible to get as much of the pyro in the shot. I am pleased with the end product as was lead singer Kieran who shared the photo on his socials!

Catfish and the Bottlemen l London, England l Citadel Music Festival l 14 July

I always look forward to photographing this band. I ended up photographing this festival last minute so I didn’t have time to rent any additional lenses, leaving me to shoot the big main stage on just a 35mm. I was a little nervous not having a telephoto lens with me, but ended up being overall happy with the images I was able to get, including this one. Sometimes you have to work with the equipment you have and most of the time it will work out!

Machine Gun Kelly l London, England l O2 Forum Kentish Town l 31 August

I photographed MGK a few years ago and ended up with a few of my favorite photos so getting the chance to photograph him again with a bigger stage production was something I was incredibly happy to do. Although some of the lighting and stage graphics made it difficult to get a clear shot that wasn’t oversaturated or super busy, I am very happy with how this shot came out.

FEVER 333 l London, England l O2 Forum Kentish Town l 7 November

FEVER 333 is my favorite band to photograph. Every single time I get the chance to photograph them, I am left with some of my favorite images I have ever taken. Their incredible energy and stage presence are a dream to photograph, the unpredictability of each of the three members making it near impossible to know what kind of shots you are going to get until you are being thrown out of the pit by security after the three songs are up. I was hoping Jason would end up in the crowd and he sure did, allowing me to capture this photo that I think encompasses the energy that is felt at every FEVER 333 show.

FEVER 333 l London, England l O2 Forum Kentish Town l 7 November

With all of the chaos from the crowd and the incredibly full pit of photographers and security, the moment this image was taken was one of those “point and shoot and hope for the best” moments. As soon as Jason made his way out of the crowd and into the pit, I angled my camera and kept shooting until he was back onstage. I didn’t realise I had taken this shot until I was at home and editing. It was a lucky moment where I was in the right place at the right time and I am so happy I was able to capture this moment.

Sleeping With Sirens l London, England l Electric Ballroom l 9 November

I have been photographing SWS since 2012 and sometimes I get great photos and sometimes I get “meh” photos. I am glad I stuck around until the end of their set because as soon as Kellin jumped off the stage during their encore, I knew I wanted to capture a moment of him interacting with the crowd and am so glad I was able to capture this

Sports Team l London, England l O2 Forum Kentish Town l 5 December

This was the last gig I photographed in 2019 and am very happy to have ended the year on a good note. Sports Team is another unpredictable band where you never really know what kind of photos you are going to get. After being stuck in a not-so-good angle in the pit while singer Alex was stood on the barricade interacting with fans, I knew my chance to get a rare photo that no other photographer could get was going to happen as he was getting back onstage. The overall composition and coloring of this photo is what I like the most, the matching red shirt and roses given to Alex from fans in the crowd adding another element that made both myself and Alex himself really enjoy this photo.