The legendary US singer headlined the opening night of this year’s festival, which is set in the regal grounds of the palace and spans ten days. This was an instance of working within some of the tighter restrictions sometimes encountered at larger scale gigs, with photographers only given permission to shoot from the back of the first block of seats and from only one position there. Add to that a heavy dose of rain during the three song shooting time and you have a good old mix of challenges!

This was my favourite shot from the set – the scarlet scarf almost seems to be dancing around the singer, interpreting the music. A defiant splash of colour and movement contrasting with the grey skies overhanging a crowd tightly huddled under umbrellas.

I was shooting this gig for The Arts Desk’s review (www.theartsdesk.com).

The shoot took place deep in the heart of the Kent countryside, using fields, trees and (in this shot) barns to give an earthy, yet colourfully exciting, natural flavour to the session. Fiona’s work has both a folky, almost traditional edge, mixed with a modern, ethereal pop sound. She wanted photos that straddled these elements. This particular shot was designed to capture the fragility and timelessness of her music and look with a modern, striking twist.

The lighting was particularly dramatic for parts of the show and this shot shows singer Bernard Sumner in a reflective moment between songs.

I’ve photographed The Slackers many times and the joy and challenge of repeatedly photographing the same band is finding new depths to unearth in each performance. On this tour I experimented with colours and angles and also managed to grab a moment to take off stage portraits of each member of the band.

However, I like the simplicity of this black and white shot showing the band’s two singers Vic Ruggiero and Glen Pine in a moment of vocal unison and the clearly visible ‘Artist On The Road’ sticker on the keyboard (particularly apt for a band that tours as relentlessly as this one).

This was one of the images I took as part of her promotional photo shoot. She was being mentored on the show by German pop star Nena, who then took Sharron on tour with her after the TV series ended.

This photo of folk singer Fiona Wight was included in the publication, which asked the featured musicians why being a member of the union was important to them.

I was asked to document the entire event, from the bands onstage and backstage to the audience and DJs. This photo shows Friday night headliners Dave and Ansell Collins in fine spirits backstage after finishing their show.

The line up included Marcia Griffiths, The English Beat, Ken Boothe, Dub Pistols and the Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra, whilst between and post bands there were hours of music from ska DJs including Lynval Golding, Mark Lamarr and Felix Hall.

Images from this session were published in The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail and Scotland on Sunday, as well featuring on various music websites including Clink Music Magazine.

I’ve seen her perform a few times over many years but this was the first time I’ve photographed her. She’s still just as enchanting as a performer, with a curious, enigmatic vibe and always somehow off in her own world, which I wanted to capture with this image.

She sang with a small acoustic band, playing only songs from her new album until the encore, when she let rip with old numbers and danced wildly around the stage. How I wish photography restrictions at large venues like this didn’t always prevent shooting during the last songs of the show – it’s always so different in mood to the first few songs of any set, the images from each would tell a totally different story!