Sometimes, the thing you’ve been longing for shows up in an unexpected way. For me, it presented itself through my best friend inviting me to hang out with her at a bowling alley.

After pursuing celebrity and child photography, my focus shifted. I was inspired to take photos of live concerts after watching a performance at Lollapalooza. My problem though, was that I needed experience and musicians to photograph; something that was hard to find for a while. Due to the complexity of not really knowing how to find small concerts to photograph and not receiving responses to e-mails, I put that dream on the back burner and started writing.

Last Saturday, when I unexpectedly got the opportunity to photograph a live music event, I was uploading different song analyses and essays the entire day. While uploading them though, my head started hurting and I knew I probably needed to take a nap. At that moment when I decided to lay down and rest, I received an invite to a bowling alley from my best friend. Since my friend had been far away in college and I missed her, I knew, even with my headache, that I wanted to see her.

With the amazing prospect of seeing my best friend that I haven’t seen in a while, I got dressed at around 9:30pm and asked my father to drive me to the bowling alley. I grabbed my bag with my iPad and sketchbook, and ran out the door! I didn’t want to miss finishing up a challenge of drawing every single day that I set for myself. When I arrived at the venue, I saw a sign but didn’t really notice that it said a band would be performing. At that time, I was slightly stressed because I didn’t know where my friend was. After texting her, I finally found her and she took me to a place adjacent to the bowling alley that had a dancefloor and instruments on one side. When I sat down at a booth and was chatting with my friend, I saw to the left of me a women in a beautiful magenta dress talking to the people one table over. It was then that I connected the dots and realized that there was going to be a band performing live.

Immediately, I spammed my father with countless texts asking him to please bring my camera. I realized quickly that this was the opportunity that I was waiting for; the one thing I wanted the most. I was going to finally be able to take photos of musicians live. With this in mind, I drew furiously for my challenge while chatting with my best friend, waiting for my father to come back with my camera. He returned right in time because as soon as I went outside, picked up my camera, and ran back inside, the lights were dimming and the band started to perform. I only really had one thought throughout this experience, I was incredibly thankful to my best friend for inviting. It was because of her that I was finally on the path I was longing to walk.

The performance of Mrs. Red was incredible; the main singer’s vocals were amazing and the guitarists fed beautifully off of each other while being supported by the beat of the drummer behind them. I really loved their cover of “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone, Mrs. Red’s singing hitting the high note of the song perfectly. I also enjoyed their cover of Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary,” along with the original songs that they included. I think one of my favorite parts of the night was when I set my camera down and danced with my best friend on the dance floor, just enjoying the moment with her. Even though my head still hurt the entire time, I felt full; filled to the brim with the joy that comes from hanging out with my best friend and following my dream.

After the event, I spoke to the lead singer and shook the hands of the band members, expressing my appreciation of their set. I was able to connect with them on social media and was even personally gifted two of their shirts (I gave one to my best friend who was the reason I experienced this in the first place). Ms. Red and I promised to speak later about any future events and I returned to the booth, telling my bestie about the exchange. While rushing to finish my drawing challenge before midnight, I chatted with her and felt so very happy and thankful that I was able to experience this event in the first place.

With this experience, I was finally able to begin following my dream. I could now start my journey of capturing artists in their element, doing what they love and pouring their hearts out to the crowd. When the time came for my friend and I to part, I felt a mix of emotions. One of those emotions stood out to the rest though; anticipation. It was the anticipation of what was to come that gripped my heart with excitement. It let me know that this would not be my only time photographing a live concert event. It was the beginning of many more to come.