2016 IN CONCERTS.

I've always loved taking photos at gigs. I used to sneak my DSLR into venues - sometimes even with my giant zoom lens - and never once got caught. One time I was fifth row at the Radio 1 Teen Awards and ended up with some great photos of One Direction and Taylor Swift. It seems funny now, because multiple times this year venue staff during bag-check have told me that my little Olympus E-PL7 isn't allowed because it has a detachable lens and that deems it 'professional'. (What does that even mean, anyway?) Nonetheless, because I am me, and am remarkably persuasive when I want to be, on every one of these occasions I managed to convince each staff member to let me bring the camera in regardless (mostly I exasperate them and they just give up, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do). With that, allow me to present to you some of my favourite photos from the various gigs I attended this year (fifteen in total, but only nine of them feature in this post), taken with the aforementioned ~forbidden camera~.

USA & CANADA 2016: PART V.

Here we are - the final photos of my summer trip! After Chicago I flew to Florida, where I stayed with Marisa and her family (including three adorable dogs, one of whom is featured). Most of the photos I took in Florida are at the same beach, including a photo shoot that Marisa and I had on said beach, because what else do you do when it's raining a little and you're right next to the ocean? If you're curious, I captured the photoshoot images by setting my camera on a signpost and using my phone as a remote control. Ah, technology. After Florida I flew back to Hamilton, NJ and the very next day Steph and I took a train to Obamatown Washington D.C. We met up with our friend Jelena, who I hadn't seen since early January 2014. Jelena studied abroad at King's in my first semester of university (as did Steph) and it was so much fun to be able to hang out with her again, even if only for a weekend. We stayed with Jelena's sister and fiancé and they showed us the sights, amidst an unfortunate 100-degree (PLUS) heat. Anyway, let's hit it.

Redington Shores, FL - 02.08.16 - 12.08.16:

USA & CANADA 2016: PART IV.

My penultimate summer photos post is going to feature all of my favourite pictures from Chicago! I arrived in Chicago on the 25th July and met up with my friend Libby and we both left on the 2nd August, with one day within that spent in Milwaukee (which I posted two photos of in Part III) and one evening in Tinley Park, which is about forty-five minutes outside of the city. We stayed in a hostel in a really cute part of the city and it wasn't as bad as the previous hostel experience we had shared (I don't wanna talk about it) - in fact, I'd maybe go so far as to say I'd stay there again if I ever returned. (Maybe I'd get a private room though.) (I just really like my own space.) Contrary to what you might believe from these photos, the weather wasn't actually too great, and it rained pretty much non-stop for a few days, but hey, you get to see the nice sunny sparkly side of my trip, so enjoy it. What you don't see is the hours we spent in this one particular Dunkin' Donuts that somehow became our sheltering-from-the-rain place. (I'm not complaining, we loved our special Dunkin'.) Prepare yourself for a lot of skyscraper photos. LET'S GO.

Chicago, IL - 25.07.16 - 02.08.16:

USA AND CANADA 2016: PART III

Here I am with the third part of my USA and Canada photo series. In this post you'll see my favourite photos from Syracuse, NYC, Milwaukee and a few spots in New Jersey. I also went to Philly at the end of this section of my trip but if I'm honest, for some reason all of my photos from Philadelphia are really bad, so you won't be seeing any of my pictures from there. (I posted a few of them on Instagram if you're desperate to see, but you probably aren't.)

Syracuse, NY - 14.07.16 & 15.07.16:

USA & CANADA 2016: PART II.

Today's post will feature a few pictures from when we visited a small, unknown waterfall called Niagara Falls, and a whole load of photos from My New Favourite Place, Toronto. O CANADA! For just under a week this summer I was in Canada and I had such an amazing time there. I don't know if it was their funky money, the polite people or the snazzy apartment we stayed in, but it stole my heart. Let me tell you RIGHT NOW that I love skylines, and I took a ridiculous amount of photos of the view from our Toronto apartment balcony and I'm including a lot of them right at the end of this post. I hope you like them, even though they're all quite literally of exactly the same thing.

Niagara, ON - 09.07.16 & 10.07.16:

USA & CANADA 2016: PART I.

Around two years ago I decided that in the summer I turned twenty-one I would go on a trip to America. I'm happy to say that I followed through on this promise to myself, and it was better than I could have ever imagined. Between the 3rd of July and the 16th of August this year I spent time all over the east coast of the US, and then also a little bit of the midwest and Canada. For the most part I stayed with friends; friends I'd made at uni, in high school, on the Internet and through bands - it was really cool. I had never planned such a big (and fairly ambitious) trip alone, so it was definitely a big thing for me, but I really did have the best time. Instead of rambling away at you with ridiculously long descriptions of the places I visited and the things that I saw, I'm going to show you some of my favourite photos from the trip.

AUTUMN? MORE LIKE AUSUMN, AMIRITE?!

How's that title for a pun, huh? I've been trying to think of a title for ages and that was the best I could come up with so for that I do apologise, I admit that it's not my best work.

Anyway, allow me to preface this post with a little bit of contextual information. For most of my life I've said that summer is my favourite season. After all, it's got my birthday/no school/warm weather etc., but somehow over the past few years this title has slowly shifted to autumn. 'Why?' I hear some of you ask. My dear friends, I am about to tell you exactly why. Enough with the dilly-dallying, let's get to it. I present to you: A Celebration of All Things Autumn (and the very beginnings of winter, but not The Deep Dark Depths of Winter, because that feels like a frozen hell on Earth and none of these points apply at that stage because I am verging on hypothermia). (I'm just saying 'autumn' for now because it's slightly catchier.)