Last week I had the honor of photographing Emeli Sande live in concert during her shows at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston, MA and at Webster Hall in NY, NY. In October of 2012 I won a Talenthouse contest to photograph Emeli during one of her tour stops in the US, and ended up shooting two of her shows. Check out the contest details ::here!::

Her hit song "Next to Me" grabbed my attention back in the fall and before the end of the song, I was already looking her up and downloading her emotionally charged album "Our Version of Events." I remember submitting my photograph "To be among the stars..." and thinking how amazing it would be to have the chance to not only cover the show, but create art for her. I didn't even know I won the contest until the next day when I was checking my email. I just sat at my desk, shocked out of my mind... and then the jumping up and down started along with freaking out on Facebook... can you blame me? She has the number one selling album in the UK right now and she was nominated for three Brit Awards. Well deserved!

Both of her shows were incredibly fun to shoot, she was so lovely to talk with, and she was fascinated by the milky way print I gave to her after her NY show. It was so satisfying to see her eyes light up from my small gift. When a photograph of mine can make someone stop and say, "Wow," with such awe in their voice, I know I've created something bigger than myself.

Thank you so much to EMI Music, Emeli Sandé, Talenthouse, and my good friends Allie and Colin for making this happen! I hope my photographs portray how much I appreciate being able to cover such a marvelous artist. I can't wait to work on more extraordinary events such as this one in the future!

xx Sam

P.S. ... I love that this is my first of many great posts to come on my new blog site!

Featured : Samantha Burkardt Snaps Emeli Sandé Live x2

This is one of my favorite shots from Emeli's concert in Boston on January, 15th: