Well damn, y’all. We made it to 2025! Hell yeah for us. As per usual, I’m happily sitting in my home office with my sweet little westie, Ozzy, sleeping on my lap, and I’m ready to recap on the whirlwind we know as 2024. If you want to know what’s up, keep on reading. If you’re just here for the pics, just scroll on and peep them below.
I know, I know… I screwed the pooch on sharing my galleries more frequently in 2024, despite my best intentions to keep up with it. Regardless of my lack of activity on this blog section of my website, I did have the opportunity to photograph some pretty stellar shows over the year, and shot a few super fun press shoots with some cool Edmonton talent.
My recap of the year is going to be all over the place, because there was a TON of cool stuff that happened this year, photography and personal-life wise. A stark highlight for me is of course, covering the epic 2-day banger weekend that the almighty Metallica brought to Edmonton in August. The band did a total Edmonton take-over across the city for the weekend, and brought something like 100,000 visitors to the area for the event. Insane. The cherry on top of this particular weekend? Having Bastardane and OTTTO play The Starlite Room. Why is this event the cherry on top? I’ll lay it out for you in a very cut-and-dried way: Castor Hetfield is the drummer of Bastardane. Ty Trujillo is the bassist in OTTTO. These two talented kats are parented by members of Metallica. With this show happening on the “break night”, James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo came down to The Starlite Room to watch their kids play. Through it all, it was so cool to not only have musical legends in one of Edmonton’s most iconic venues, but to see them supporting their kids and enjoying watching them do their thing. It was just a wild experience all around. My favourite part? Briefly meeting these two legends, and having Robert sign one of my photos that I took of him back in 2017. I have this highlighted on my stories on Instagram if you care to see the shot.
Another highlight that’s certainly nothing to sneeze at, was the wildly successful maiden year of Infest. It was a 3 day banger festival of underground bands that spanned multiple venues in Edmonton, and it was really something to behold. Between the grit of the music and the camaraderie of seeing good friends from other cities, I’d be a filthy liar if I said I’m not already stoked for the next round of fun that Infest throws at us.
Overall, 2024 was a pretty interesting year. For me, it was a year of growth and learning. I had the pleasure of photographing a handful of local and international bands in numerous venues across the city, I made some really great working relationships, kickstarted my own marketing sole-proprietorship, and began to branched out from the typical band photography work you usually see me do. If personal success is a mountain, this bitch is climbing it. Or at least trying to, day by day. There are a ton of things to look forward to in 2025; Growing my reach with music photography, growing my business, getting married to my best friend, and traveling to various places for fun activities. Needless to say, the future looks bright!
It’s January and currently raining outside (which is wack, if you’re not from Edmonton) So ya gurl here is hunkering down for the day in the form of a blanket-burrito. But before I go back into hermit-mode, I’d like to thank everyone who has been a positive contributor to my 2024. Whether you were someone who hired me for your show or press photos, someone who took the time to say hello, or simply someone who likes and follows my posts: Thank you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. So, without further adieu, please enjoy 30 of my favourite photos of 2024, in no particular order, and have a kick ass 2025! Happy (late) New Year!
Best of 2023
Hey y’all! Once again, I’m fashionably late on sharing my yearly round-up. But hey, that seems to be a trend lately, so let’s just get on with it, shall we?
2023 was fast-paced, fun and stressful all at once it seems. It came and went in the blink of an eye and still has my head spinning. Although I’ve fallen off of the wagon of sharing my galleries whenever they’re prepared, I had the opportunity to photograph some pretty sick shows over the year, and knocked out a couple of killer press shoots with some of Edmonton’s finest.
To be totally honest with you, I felt like I was playing catch up constantly in 2023. It was a struggle to maintain motivation to do a lot of things, and maybe that’s because I’m going through a period of burn-out that hasn’t really let up on me. So for everyone who follows along with what I do, and looks forward to the galleries and work that I usually share, I’m sorry that I put you through a dry-spell throughout 2023. Truth is, I think switching gears to focus on myself, my happiness and to take the time to rest has been what’s putting a dam on the flow of photos, but you gotta take care of yourself first before everyone else sometimes. If the shit-assed pandemic has taught us anything, it was that… Wasn’t it?
The goal for 2024 is to cut that shit out. If you want to be an accountabili-buddy about it, you go right ahead. I promise I’ll thank you later! To recap a handful of highlights from the year, off of the top of my head (and this may be the obvious answer for those of you who know me personally) but being able to photograph the final Edmonton performance for KISS was totally sweet. As a big fan of the band, having this iconic quartet in front of my lens for the second and final time was thrilling; If you’ve shot them before, you know what I mean when I say they’re the best in the business. Another great highlight was catching the European sensations in Beast in Black once again as they pummeled the Starlite Room. I mean it when I say this, but these fellows make it so unbelievably fucking easy to get great photos of their performance, and I wish more bands would do it the way that they do it. Plus, they shred, so I mean… That adds to the fun as well. Some of you folks may be wondering: “Hey Dana! What about shooting the Junos?”… Don’t ask me about my experience shooting at the Junos, I have nothing nice to say. Capiche?!
On a more positive note, I also had a whole bunch of stellar locals reach out to me for press photos over the course of 2023, and some of them came to me with super creative visions for their shoots, so that really gave me the opportunity to stretch my knowledge and try new things. Although some of the photos that I’ve shot for other heavy hitters in the scene are still under tight wraps and cannot be shared with you just yet, I promise… Once their announcements have been made, and I get that green light to share, I’ll be plastering them everywhere!
On a more personal note, I turned the big 3-0 this year, and although most people dread this time in their lives, I have to admit that I’m feeling rather apathetic about it. People age, and life goes on, and I mean that in the most positive way possible because life is what you make it! I also bought a new car that I think I might be obsessed with, and am in the thick of wedding planning. I also did a bit of travelling in 2023 and had some killer experiences along the way. From spending 3 weeks running all over Nashville & Memphis, Tennessee to a ripper weekend in New York City to attend the final KISS show, I gotta say… My sense of adventure is totally at the forefront of my mind, and wanderlust may be a difficult urge to fight off in the coming years.
With it currently being -42 degrees Celsius in Edmonton today, ya gurl here is hunkering down with a big-ass mug of hot chocolate and Bailey’s, and thanking everyone who has been a positive contributor to the last year. Whether you were someone who hired me for your show or press photos, someone who took the time to say ‘sup, or simply someone who likes and follows my posts: Thank you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. So, without further adieu, please enjoy my favourite photos of 2023, in no particular order, and have a kick ass 2024! Happy (late) New Year! ❤️
