JPG Magazine: Stories: Photo Essay: The Leeds Festival 2007.

The Leeds Festival 2007.

By andy sunley

15 May 2008

In 2007 my interest in photography was very much in its infancy. I had been an enthusiastic festival goer for a few years and saw the upcoming Leeds Festival (or Carling Weekend as it was then known) as an opportunity to indulge my new hobby.

Previous experience had taught me that it would not be wise to take my main camera so I set about looking on e-bay for a substitute for my Fuji Finepix S5600. I eventually bought a Konica Minolta DiImage Z2 for a price so reasonable that I wouldn't mind too much if it died in a mosh-pit covered in over-priced larger.

On the first night I left my friends by the campfire, packed some beer into a backpack and set off with my tripod to get some night shots. The fairgrounds provided some excellent opportunities for some long-exposure shots, as did the various promotional tents and bars outside the main arena.

I spent the rest of the weekend photographing fellow revellers and trying to capture the atmosphere of the festival. I had decided not to try to hard to get pictures of the bands as the results are generally photos of the back of people's heads; however I was lucky enough to get some OK shots of Dinosaur Jr due to the fact that I was close to the front.

By the end of the weekend I had over 300 images, some good, most disappointing but, as I said. I was little more than a beginner at the time.

I can't wait for this year. My only dilemma is which items from my now sizable camera collection to take.