I’ll keep this one up and running for a while (at least until I get round to transferring some of the old blog posts), but it would be great to see you over at my new blog. Thanks!

HIM @ Norwich UEA13/03/10

I was lucky enough to photograph HIM on the first night of their UK tour on Saturday at Norwich UEA. What began as a simple request for a 3 song photo-pass ended up with me being hired to shoot the band live for a music endorsement. Getting it all organised in time was tricky, and it wasn’t until (literally) hours before the show that everything was formalised.

On my arrival at the venue I could not believe the length of the queue; I’ve been to sold out gigs before, but this was simply incredible and stretched back around several corners. Luckily for me I got to jump the queue as I was due to meet HIM’s production manager, Pasi, as soon as the doors opened at 7. It’s always a little nerve-wracking when you get to the front desk. Is my name on the list? Will I have a pass waiting for me? No need to worry on this occasion as I had been left not one, but two passes. One was my press/photo pass, the other a ‘Working’ pass which upon display magically granted access to, well, pretty much anywhere I wanted to go. Awesome! I was then shown around the stage, briefed regarding the type of shots required and then left to explore & get my gear ready.

Whilst in the backstage area I couldn’t fail to notice HIM’s Support band Dommin, who were deeply engrossed in kicking a hacky-sack around. I said a brief hello & asked if it would be ok to take some shots of them on stage and they agreed, which was cool. Judging by their performance I don’t think they’ll be a support band for too long and were charismatic & confident on stage. Plus, any band with a devil locked vocalist is alright in my book. From a photographic perspective it wasn’t great news, with Dommin’s stage lighting consisting almost solely of  none-too-bright solid washes of red or blue lights, which played havoc with my sensor. Talking to the other two photographers after Dommin’s set, I know I wasn’t the only one hoping HIM’s lighting was going to be an improvement on their opening band’s. It was, but not by much! Good thing I’d been allowed to shoot the entire show & not just the first three songs.

I’d already been warned by Pasi  that they liked it quite dark and, from seeing HIM a few years back at the same venue, I had an idea what to expect. It wasn’t awful, just…challenging. Fortunately I had plenty of time & different angles to try out. I’d also brought two cameras, one with my 17-55mm lens, the other with my L series 70-200mm which meant I could get some nice close-ups of Ville for all the swooning teens (many of whom nearly had landed on my head as they climbed over the barricade & into the photopit). It was a great experience & a real privilege for me to have so much freedom photographically, so major thanks to HIM, their crew & management for that. On the subject of Mr. Valo, he seemed to be enjoying himself, and spent most of the show looking exceptionally chipper. After spending the last few minutes on the side of the stage looking out at the stacked out audience I’m not surprised.

I thought I’d share the results from a recent  promo photo-shoot I did with local King’s Lynn band ‘Punky Nuts’.  The band had a specific location in mind on the edge of some woodland, and we scheduled the shoot for 8pm. As I’m sure you’ll have noticed, it’s pretty dark and cold at 8pm in early March, and  this meant the shoot was not without its difficulties. The biggest problem was that, as we were in almost complete darkness, I couldn’t see to set up my equipment & my camera struggled to focus (this was only possible by focusing on the lightest band member’s shirt then recomposing) In spite of the challenging conditions we rattled off a few shots, which I think turned out pretty well. I even managed to avoid hypothermia, which was a bonus possibly not shared by the band, who had to stand around in T-Shirts.

http://www.myspace.com/punkynuts

I spent last night shooting rock legends Motorhead at Cambridge Corn Exchange. I very nearly didn’t make it: I received the press pass confirmation email in the afternoon and was due to work in Hunstanton until 7.15 that evening. Fortunately I managed to get home, grab my camera bag and leave for Cambridge by 7.50 pm (and I only forgot my wallet!) and made it to the venue just as The Damned were belting out ‘Smash It Up’, a favourite of mine.

After getting my pass (with no problems or need of an email printout for a change) I tried to manoeuvre through the crowds. It was unbelievably busy (and sold out), and people were packed in like hairy, leather-jacketed sardines.  After about ten minutes I finally managed to force my way to the photo-pit and sat down with a few minutes to spare.

The pit was quite luxurious compared to others I’ve seen (I’ve been in photo-pits so tight that I once got my foot stuck!) so, when Motorhead arrived on stage, the other photographers and I could get around pretty easily without getting in each other’s way.

I’ll be honest, even though I’ve been a rock fan for more than 20 years, I’m not that familiar with Motörhead’s stuff, (though obviously I know all their big hits like ‘Ace Of Spades’ and, er…Ace Of Spades ) but I had heard that, due to the dry ice, it might be a challenge to get any decent shots. It was certainly tricky to get any contrast, as the fog made everything look washed out and soft, but I’m pretty happy with what I got in the allotted ‘3 songs, no flash’. What do you think?

I would have liked to get some shots of Matt Sorum (at least I assume it was him) on drums, but the only part of him visible was his hair. Never mind.

All images are available to purchase as archival prints. Please contact me for further information.

For anyone unfamiliar with the name Ian Anderson, it’s likely that you’ve heard of his group ‘Jethro Tull’, for which he has been the driving force for the past 40 or so years.

The evening didn’t get off to a particularly auspicious start,  involving numerous walkie-talkie exchanges and the unheard of restriction of only being allowed to shoot from the side of the audience (and no further than the top of the stairs to ground level). This proved to be a bit of a problem as I had only packed my 17-55mm lens, so I decided to drive home & pick up ‘the Beast’, my Canon L-series 70-200mm IS lens. It meant I missed the first couple of songs, but at least I could get some close-ups and, as I was shooting the entire gig, I wasn’t too worried.

Probably best known for his wild-eyed, straggly-haired image and one-legged flute playing, Ian Anderson may have lost the hair, but he certainly didn’t disappoint in the flute-playing department; on several occasions chuffing into the flute whilst hopping about the stage like a man possessed.

The setlist for this evening of ‘Acoustic Jethro Tull’ favoured tracks from the band’s early days, such as ‘Fat Man’ and their 1968 reworking of ‘Serenade To A Cuckoo’ originally by Rahsaan Roland Kirk, a man whose innovative style Anderson borrowed heavily from in the early days. We were also treated to a version of Tull’s “worst song we ever wrote”- ‘Back To The Family’, which, considering it was recorded in 1969, hasn’t aged badly at all.

With a back-catalogue as extensive and varied as Jethro Tull’s it was always going to be a challenge keeping the entire audience happy, but most of the classic Tull tracks were there in one form or another- Aqualung and Bourrée going down particularly well with the audience. Another crowd pleaser was a Latin-flavoured solo performance from Anderson’s talented young guitarist, Florian Opahle.

Many of the songs performed were in much altered forms compared to the original versions, but the new arrangements worked well and, in many cases, served to breathe new life into the songs.  Anderson & Co’s performance was impressive and, on tonight’s evidence, suggests that, if indeed he is ‘Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll’, that may be no bad thing.

All images are available to purchase as archival prints. Please contact me for further information.

I spent all day Saturday as official photographer at the Reepham Summer Festival, which was great fun. Basically, I just wandered about all day checking out different musicians and taking pictures. Nice! I was surprised by the quality of some of the acts I got to hear, and there was so much going on that I’m sure I missed some other treats. A particular highlight for me was when I made my way over to the church to see who was on and discovered a guitarist & percussionist performing classical & African tunes to a near empty room. I have no idea who they were, and they’re not listed on the program I was given, but I really enjoyed it. I was also impressed by the maturity of siblings Sam and Daisy’s performance, whilst the Buster James Band have obviously done this sort of thing for years, and knew exactly how to get the crowd going. I was convinced one of their fans, a pissed old codger (at least I assume he was pissed), was going to have a stroke as he shook his head from side to side at the front of the stage.

Bees, on the other hand, I am rather fond of, to the point that I did a short bee-keeping course last year with the aim of having a couple of hives down the end of the garden. Haven’t managed to get set up yet, but the plight our honeybees are under has made me more determined to do what I can.

The nest in my shed