Rihanna performing on the Virgin Media Main Stage at V Festival 2011, Hylands Park, Chelmsford.

I was in a pit of 52 photographers, and I’ve never seen anything like the chaos that erupted as we were let in the pit and each photographer ran to get their spot, around half of them armed with a step ladder.

Normally gig photographers are a much more relaxed and friendly group of people than some other photography types, but certain people were getting pretty stressed in this case. The fans on the barrier at the front of the crowd were also getting crushed due to people pushing forward in the anticipation, and I started to think that we were all going to get thrown out by security as the crowd got worse and some of the photographers weren’t making things any better.

However, as always with gig photography, everything sorted itself out as soon as the show started. I had a fantastic time and came out with some photos that I hope people like.