Download Festival Sydney… the first heavy festival I’ve covered since Soundwave 2015 was still a thing, and it was damn good.
Whilst this style of music is not my usual photo gig, it’s actually where most of it began for me. My live music photo life was defined by unknown, small and some decent sized heavy bands playing in a local venue, and me photographing. I was that girl in the corner with a camera, sticking out like a sore thumb due to my non-black outfits of choice. Some of my greatest nights have been around this kind of music, including some of my best photography stories. My most notable being in the early days getting stuck on the outskirts of a circle pit and being knocked out against a wall - that was not so fun, but made for a great anecdote.
Download Festival began for me with a damn early flight to Sydney, a kerfuffle to collect my hire car, and my first attempt of driving around inner Sydney (side note: Sydney drivers are awful). Throughout the festival I saw so many faces from all around Australia that I hadn’t seen in years, and met some wonderful new ones. The night ended with me stoked on the high of shooting and exhausted from the actual shooting, eating salt and vinegar chips as I drove back to a friends brothers (who I’d never met before) house to sleep the night. I’m eternally grateful for that wonderfully comfortable couch-bed these kind hearted people put me up in.
ENJOY SOME PHOTOS OF THESE SICK BANDS!
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Photos taken with a Canon 5Dmkiv & Canon 5Dmkiii.