Best of 2013 in concert photography

My personal concert and festivals favorites of the year 2013

Photographically speaking, 2013 was definitely my best year so far, at least since I started this website in 2011 - there were so many good things happening, that I'm really thankful for. The highlights of the year include:

• First, Recognitions - the year started great with some of my images getting to the finals and being commented at the Professional Photographer of the Year 2012 and Sony World Photography Awards 2013 competitions.
• Then, Hospitalisation - in April I was diagnosed with the central serous retinopathy on my left eye and was hospitalised for 3 days, which in the end, turned out fantastic - I truly discovered smartphone photography resulting in my "My hospital eye(s)" article being published in "Black & White Photography magazine", "ReFoto magazine" and a great online magazine for photography PetaPixel. And the eye got better in the end :)
• Skejtaj s srcem - this fundraising project got me on the road for one week across Slovenia with a buddy of mine Tomaž Praunseis who skated diagonally through the whole Slovenia, some 370 kilometres in total, raising funds for four Slovenian families that needs support in this hard times. The whole team had a brilliant time and helped the people in need while doing that - I think it can't get any better than that!
• Festival Lent - shooting for Festival Lent in Maribor, largest outdoor festival in Slovenia and one of the largest in Europe, that lasted for 16 days (!) was a true test for a festival photographer junkie like I am. Enjoyed every minute of it, can't wait for the next one!
• Summer festivals - I did not shoot so many summer festivals as I would like to (though, after more than two weeks of everyday shooting at Festival Lent I think I got the summer festival dosage I needed), but had a very good reason for that - birth of my firstborn son in early September! But me and my wife did not miss the Bažant Pohoda festival in Slovakia, probably our favourite festival of them all, for many different reasons.
• Best of - live! exhibition - I was really honoured to have my third photo exhibition held in recently opened Photography Museum in Maribor; called "Best of - live!", it was a selection of my best live music related work from the last few years, featuring a variety of my concert photographs, from local bands to world known artists, from rock'n'roll to jazz, from small clubs to big music festivals.
• Clients - same as the last years, I'm very grateful that I started some new and continued old clients relations (media, bands, promoters, festivals and organisations) resulting in my photos being published in numerous different magazines and websites throughout the world, with the last one being my photo of Warren Ellis (Dirty Three) published in a new book about Australian music scene called "Rock Country".

There are some exciting plans for the next year, but lets leave that a secret for now, shall we?

Thank you all so much for your support, see you around in the 2014, hope it's gonna be a great year for all of us! ;)

Devin Hoff (Made to Break) @ Narodni dom Maribor, Mali oder, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Hamo & Tribute To Love @ Festival Lent, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo) @ Tvornica kulture, Zagreb (Croatia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Luka Toman (Urban & 4) @ ŠTUK, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Tortoise @ Borusan Müzik Evi, Istanbul (Turkey), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Peter Hook (Peter Hook & The Light) @ Kino Šiška, Ljubljana (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Melée (Werefox) @ Festival Lent, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Neil Zaza (TM Stevens & Shocka Zooloo) @ ŠTUK, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Ricky Wilson (Kaiser Chiefs) on the fence with the fans @ Bažant Pohoda festival, Trenčín (Slovakia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Thom Yorke and Flea (Atoms For Peace) @ Bažant Pohoda festival, Trenčín (Slovakia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Kate Nash @ Bažant Pohoda festival, Trenčín (Slovakia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Milena Milutinović (Repetitor) @ Festival Lent, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Kaja Draksler (Bad Boosh Band) @ Narodni dom Maribor, Mali oder, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Marko Črnčec (Igor Matković Sonic Motion) @ Festival Lent, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Zlatko Kaučič Kombo & gostje @ Festival Lent, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Senon Williams (Dengue Fever) @ Bažant Pohoda festival, Trenčín (Slovakia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Davor Gobac (Psihomodo Pop) @ Festival Lent, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Ana-Marija Cupin (Repetitor) @ Festival Lent, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Tomislav Jovanović - Tokac (Dan D) @ ŠTUK, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

On stage with Para @ Bažant Pohoda festival, Trenčín (Slovakia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Luc Ex (Luc Ex' Assemblée) @ Narodni dom Maribor, Mali oder, Maribor (Slovenia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak

Pips, Chips & Videoclips @ Tvornica kulture, Zagreb (Croatia), 2013 Photo: © Saša Huzjak