Where for art thou, Taipei?

So I went to Taiwans capital city of Taipei over the weekend. I heard that there was to be rain and I thought I could try to get a shot of the 101 building in a way that I have not yet seen on the markets with the aid of the weather..
So it was cold, it rained for the entire duration of my visit, and for the most part it was foggy too! Awesome!

I stood there on the peak of Tiger Mountain for nearly 5 hours waiting for the right light and a break in the clouds. I have to say, that the results of the quest were quite disappointing, in my own opinion.

I did manage to get a bunch of shots of the skyline, and one of them looks really quite moody. I have posted this one on the Book of Faces (here) should you wish to cast your own opinion.
Other than that, I didn't really have the most productive of trips. I stayed at a hotel which houses the craziest fella of all time (which was amusing), and a mere 30 yards to the main station which is always handy.
I do like visiting these bigger cities, as it would appear that everybody speaks English, which is something Beigang does not offer. Taipei is also a fine place to find a decent feed, and seems to have culinary delights from around the world, no matter how far or wide.
Anyway, I am gonna have to keep an an eye on the forecasts and go back when the skies clear, and possible create a worthy op for a good shot. Oh, wait, er hang on, do the skies in Taiwan actually clear, only it seems to have rained or been cloudy since the day we arrived.. Hope springs eternal...

By the way, is there any chance anybody knows the make and model of this fine feathered being?
I could him/her perched on the remains of a small temple in the city and thought I would grab a quick shot while I had the Chance.

I'm not really a big fan of nature photography, well, MY nature photography but I did hear that practice makes perfect so I get them when I can. I will place some more on here in the next few for you to remind me not to bother..

Windy Miller.. Whatever!!

In my quest to constantly find a half decent shot I found myself in The Wetlands of Taisi this afternoon. I new when I left my house.. hmmm.. I knew when I left our dodgy flat this afternoon that the weather was a wee bit choppy, however decided to press on regardless. Afterall, the internet and four walls are not about to pay the rent! When I reached I soon thought of it as a bad idea; I was moving at around forty kph on the ol' scooter, and the wind must of touched on around seventy in the opposite direction, which works out really f***ing windy!
The thing with wind is that it is not constant. I would be nearly blown of the hot wheels one moment, then move along for a while until I start to feel the confidence creep in again, then WHOOSH! I nearly end up in the drink, or in some bush covered in wounds and staring in the eye of some massive hairy-arsed spider!
I have fallen from the saddle a couple of times now, much to the amusement of 'er indoors, and am finding it hard to admit this to certain family members whom are keen motorcyclists, most of which write on Facebook about fun times and zooming around like this is something all people should explore, and there I am staring up at the stars wondering why the eff I can't just get a car, or a bus or even just bleeding walk!
Anyway, I got to the destination and took a couple of shots, even though I had to hang off the tripod to try to stop it moving, which must have looked fantastic to the Taiwanese fellow that stopped to ask me questions. A foreign guy, hanging from a camera whilst attempting to have a conversation in a completely different language. Anyway, here is one of the pictures I managed to get, although I'm not sure I like it so it could be in the recycle bin by the morning..

I spend a lot of time looking into where I am to shoot, and tend to get quite away from home. This inevitably means riding home. I thought it would be easy, as I was riding into the wind in the way here, so therefore with the wind back. Not quite the case, to say the least. When I am trying to concentrate on not falling off, I tend to not concentrate too much on road signs, and managed to get a little lost. This meant that I had to retrace my route, into the wind to locate the correct way home.
Overall, not the best day, another rip in a pair of jeans, and a big hair-do that 'er indoors kept looking at as if my head was on fire!
Still, big city tomoz, and maybe some good shots for showing. Forecast: rain, so one tends to engulf self doubt.

Back on the diary..

Well, I'm back on the Blogger thing again! I thought it would be a good way of sharing some of my days with people, without having to make 'er indoors' ears bleed by moaning only to her!

We are currently located in a small town named Beigang, which is halfway down Taiwan, on the west coast. It's a quaint little place, but not really what I would call a 'Holiday Hotspot'! For the first month of being here we struggled to eat, due to the fact that folk here do not speak ANY English. I know, I know, we are in their country, so we should learn their lingo, however, to learn to speak Chinese is very difficult and  something we are finding hard to master. For a start, the language here in Beigang is, in fact, Taiwanese. Only the under 50's speak Chinese as they were 'forced' to learn in school. The older generation seem to only know the language that has no teaching courses on Itunes, and seem to struggle even understanding the fine acting skills of one british expat! I don't think my cow or chicken impersonation is THAT bad!
The town itself is a small rural, farming town which hosts the oldest Temple in Taiwan, Chaotian Temple, which sees visits from folk all over both Taiwan and China. The Town, apparently, will get noisy in during the religious festival time of year (February). This for me will make for some great photo's... Only one day of them though, as I have been warned that these folks send fireworks into the sky for three or four straight days, at all manner of times of the day and I would like to sleep at some point...

I will post a couple of shots of Beigang in the future, and share with you some of the excitement! 

April, oh april..

April came and went as quickly as you can imagine and once again I have become late with the latest update of my diary. However I do hope the work I am profiling this month suggests that the wait was worth it. The weather has been great in April so I've been fairly happy with the results of this months collection of photographs. I have featured four of the months wares here for you to see and comment on should you wish.

The first is the result of me looking for eye catching results without the need to even leave my back garden. I shot the droplets of water with a macro lens and produced this frame featuring the reflection of my garden fence. I have concentrated on the closeup style of photography a lot this month but I still feel there is a lot more for me to grasp before I can be fully happy with my results. Still, I think I have proved (for those who feel the need to be convinced) that fine photography can be achieved in any chosen scenery.

This is a closeup shot of the rape flowers here in Kent. The bright yellow flower tends to overpower anything else at this time of year and I have taken advantage of the wonderful colour it produces. I have taken a few landscape shots this month and although these shots are plenty on the market, I couldn't just let the opportunity pass. I do find however that these plants can be tricky to shoot as I find it is easy to over expose the image and the rape just looks nasty. practice makes perfect.. In the picture shown, I shot at a lower light temperature and used a bit of fill flash to produce this greeting card style of picture. Get well soon, or whatever..

Here's something you should see popping up within the photography based websites a lot this time of year and why should I not join the party. The famous bluebell. Lining our great British woodland's floors and making any dense tree area look like a postcard. When wandering through the woods I noticed that not only can I add to my stock of the spring delight, the creepy crawlies were a plenty also and that my book does lack the standard ladybird shot. A shot that features on most other macro photographer websites. Let me introduce Boris the ladybird, aptly named after the new London Mayor (however the hell that happened, I mean BORIS? I saw him on Have I got News... and thought he was a bit odd but...), a fine chap who was very patient and stood still whilst I faffed about taking the shot.

April is over now and May has begun. I hope that this month is as rewarding as the last and I can continue to strengthen my collection. As we head toward the summer months and the weather continues to improve, the conditions should allow for some fantastic photography. I'll keep you informed.

March already???

Crikey! Where does the time go?

Anyway, you didn't come here to read my moans and groans, so let's get to the pictures and I've got a couple of great ones to show you today.

The first was taken during the fog here in London this month. I have had my eyes on the Thames Barrier for a long time but couldn't find the right shot for my library. When the weather turned on the fog switch I went to this grand London eye saw to see what I could get. The Barrier just disappeared into the mist and made the scene rather ghostly. The water lay still and the whole scene just begged a canvas in which it can be remembered. I set up my gear and banged off a bunch of frames. I came into some bother during my shoot as when I looked through the viewfinder I found my lens' needed a good clean as all the dirt, dust, unwanted kebabs, and a local Indian takeaway had nested on the glass. I really need to take a bit more care of my stuff...

The second shot I want to share with you is my latest attempt at 'painting with light'. I really like this picture as it says everything I wanted it to. Its dark with a nice calm feel about it. The area I shot from was absolutely pitch black which tended to make me remember all those unlucky folk that got murdered in these unlit places with no people about to hear... Strange eh?

I hope you like the photo's I've put up for your pleasure, I feel that February has been a good month for my portfolio. You can see all the work I release at Alamy Images

Chilly month

Well, it's been a nice couple of months to date. I've been out and about with the lens' to continue my quest to locate those awe inspiring images to take.

I've put on show these two photo's I took in the month of Febuary, one of which being this shot of Tower Bridge. I tend to pass the landmarks of London so frequently that I tend to forget that they are even there. This particular day I decided to get off my arse and out of my car to capture the quite magnificent features during the sunset. I didn't have an awful lot of time so couldn't spend as much time as I'd have liked to have but I hiked for long enough to find the right viewpoint to get both the Tower and the city area in the background, I'm rather pleased with the result. I also got roped into taking a picture of a couple of Londons tourists during my brief visit, I'm sure that they didn't mind me chopping there heads off in the frame...

During a cross countryside trek in Kent with 'er indoors I caught sight of this Kite slinger playing with his wares on the crest of one of the counties hilltops. I, much to the anger of 'er, went on the trail for a good picture in his direction. I caught the kite as it flew passed me with the flyer in the background. He seemed like a nice chap and gave me permission to send the pics to Alamy. Nice guy.

Welcome to January, a busy year ahead..

Well the festive season came, and went and here I find myself nearing the end of January already! My parents always said it all gets quicker when you get older but this is ridiculous!

Anyway, the first trip of the new year took me to Wales, home of the hills, views, and great photography.. Not this time though. It pissed down for the entire of my four day trip, and visibility was minimal. This did not stop the shooting, but did however make it rather hard work, that's not mention the amount of times I went sliding down some steep boggy hill.

I headed across to Mumbles for a coastal look as the Beacons were proving a tad worthless. Mumbles is of course the beginnings of one Catherine Zeta Jones. I managed to capture a few bashing waves before the heavens opened and soaked me once again. I'm glad my equipment is a bit durable and can withstand the odd flood.

Wales and Oxford are currently engulfed in overflowing lakes and rivers and suffering in some areas butI didn't come across any residential areas under water. I did see many a field under the tide which I guess is a shame for them sheep, eh?

I looked through a couple of folders from 2007 and found a couple of gems this month. I shot his frame at Conyer last August and just disgarded it for some reason.

This is obviously where folk bring there boats to die. The creek is scattered with old boats of all shapes and sizes, most of which will never see the open sea again.

I've got the next picture trip in the making, so stay tuned and I'll post a couple of photographs of the experience on my return. I'm thinking abroad...

November AND December issue...

So here it is at last! In November and December I have worked my ass off. I managed to secure my new job within the confinds of my day job days, and push on with the building of my portfolio within my photograph life.

In November returned to the life of the music photographer and went along to the small venue of The Hard Rock Cafe and had a couple of songs with Wet Wet Wet. At the gig one of the other snappers told me of the ordeals the Marti Pellow has had with the skag, so to see him, or should I say them, in the flesh and not a sniff of herbal remedy was a good start. I must say that they were very good at what they do and Marti really does know how to hold the notes.

I don't really like the Hard Rock because it's way too small and personal for me to breathe in. Still nevermind I did get some good pics, although they are still awaiting even a look by the national press...

Now then, where else has the special one played (my camera, that is): Well, I tend to get everywhere with my camera equipment so this could be tricky.

I did buy a macro lens at last, and set about taking pictures of anything in my back garden as close as I could. I took the dandilion shot at around midday so light is obviously not really something I need worry about, which would be great cos I'm sick of getting up whilst it's still dark just to see if the sky looks good for a nice sunrise shot.

Another good place this month was when I discovered some wild growing marijouana. I went along with the macro and shot the sparkling THC on the weed. I want to try and improve on my macro photography so the more interesting the subject, the more interesting the lesson. I love my new lens...

Good lord, you know I tend to keep myself at the most busiest of spectrums so find it hard to get the time to update this blog, but I hope you do enjoy when I do. Enjoy my shots, and I'll try to update again soon.

Return to The Lakes

So I had to go to Edinburgh again. I do like Edinburgh for it's photogenic opportunities, however as I had to go by car, I wanted to stop somewhere on route to get the perfect sunrise.

My attempts were somewhat thwarted by the fact that on the morning, and only the morning of my visit, the clouds came out to play as well! I plodded on though and snapped the lakes although it would have been so much more gratifying should there had been a great sunrise like that of recent.

The drive was long and mostly dark as I wanted to be at Glenridding in Cumbria by 6am to be sure of enough time to set up my gear. Travelling by night is so much less stressful than during the day, the only other people on the road are lorry drivers so no jams, and best of all, nobody threatening to beat me up which seems to happen more and more frequent these days...

I arrived at my first stop and set my camera up on its tripod and adjusted the settings.

The sun rose behind the clouds and the day started, the lake at Ullswater Lake at Glenridding appeared glass like as it lay still, the hilltops and surroundings reflected quite amazingly so I took as many shots as I could before starting off again in the direction of Edinburgh.

The scenery in the UK is so amazing it's quite a shame that people decide to travel abroad for there holidays. Saying that I'm not so sure that most folk would appreciate this type of view rather than that of a bar, pool, beer and somewhere to get laid so maybe that's for the best, eh?

I really must plan a trip to span over a few weeks to get north and spend some time photographing this wonderful country

Back.. With a difference!

Hello all, I'm back. I've been a bit busy just recently, however not with the shows. I have been concentrating on other areas of the photo taking business, trying to head back to the roots with landscape, portrait and fine art photography.
I have decided to head away from music based photography for my own reasons including that I feel that I have achieved exactly what I set out to, and so far feel utterly content with the decision that I have reached. One thing I don't want to feel is that taking photographs is 'just a job' and I kind of feel that it was beginning to feel that way. I may stick only to the festivals for the music and leave the gigs to those who feel passionate about them.

Anyway, enough! I am including in today's diary update a couple of shots that I took yesterday on my way to Eastbourne. One of them is this glorious toadstool. I have never seen something as big as this bad boy and had to put it on film.

This is the right time of year to find fungi, what with the damp and dark conditions. This particular variety is a Fly Agaric and I found it on some remote country road in the heart of East Sussex. Although plant life isn't something I've ever really been interested in, I felt that I couldn't pass this puppy without shooting it!

When I reached Eastbourne and finished what I went there for, I took the small drive up the lane to Beachy Head, as I want to put a few Lighthouse shots into my archive. It took me some time to find this viewpoint, but I'm glad that I did. I will return to BH again to shoot this view in more stormy conditions. It would be good if I could find a lower view of the house, or even locate another lighthouse that can offer a more dramatic scene. This will give me something to research before I return to that part of the South Coast. If you ever get the chance to go to Eastbourne, and of course Beachy Head, I highly recommend it. It really is stunning with loads to photograph including the windswept trees, amazing views and a huge area to wander up above the rest of the world.

V Festival, Chelmsford - day 2

I had a great nights rest last night. I blew out the sleeping in a tent surrounded by pissed up folk, instead I chose the first class luxury of the back of the hire van I drove here in. Nice, dry and quiet. In the morning I went to the nearest Little Chef to eat and take advantage of there WiFi to send a few more pictures through to Filmmagic. After an hour or so I headed back to Hylands Park for Day two.

I'm not too excited about the line up today as in comparison to yesterday it seems a bit Lame on first glance. Still, my first band of the day is The Goo Goo Dolls, and what a great start they are. I really like the this band and have a couple of there albums kicking around. I thought they seemed a bit early in the day but still sounded excellent, then down to the C4 Stage for Mark Ronson and as soon as we had the first three in the bag we were whisked back down to the main stage for James Morrison. James was great although I did keep hearing some other photographers moaning about how he always seems to look like he is in a world of pain when bellowing out the hits. These facial expressions are what make good pictures if you ask my opinion...

Actually this morning doesn't seemed too bad. It has a certain feel of relax around the camp. As we were about to head down to the JJB tent for McFly the press room here was echoing with comments about how the world wouldn't miss McFly. I feel completely opposite as I have shot the boys on many an occasion and have never had a bad experience so far. They have the energy and flare to make any show they perform a hit with every last person in the arena! Very few bands I photograph give me the reason to get exited with my work but these lads never seem to fail. Today at V was no exception! Stage jumps, audience participation, loud teeny-processed rock music and lots of screaming girlie's- another McFly performance if ever I've seen it!

Then it was back to the C4 stage for Mark Ronson, who admittedly I'm not too familiar with, still a good enough and definitely layed back but meant that I had to blow out KT Tunstall. I didn't quite make it back to the stage on time to be allowed into the pit so I was slightly disappointed with that.

Never mind, this did mean that I could concentrate on uploading the day so far to the picture desk to keep them happy so I soon cheered up and it also gave me the fine opertunity to munch down on another of those realy greasy pancake roll things. You know, I think they should put up secret cameras and record the expressions on the punters face when purchasing and chewing on one of these ghastly objects. At least my chin is well and truley oiled up in case I'm dragged along the floor on it at any point over the festivities.
Next on the list was The Fratellis, Mika and James. The Fratellis were as good as I've ever seen them and I've always noticed that these boys seem to have been made specifically for festivals! They sing songs that everybody knows the chorus to and if they don't, it isn't too hard to pick it up. Then Mika who was one of the highlights for me due to the great lighting, wonderful stage presence and great music. I've never shown any interest in the Mika era so far, but I was happy with the results of this set. Anyway then we headed back to the Main Stage for James. Now I'm 32 years old, so James were at the top of there game around the late eighties to early nineties which was when i was leaving school. This performance brought back some grand memories of that time.

Now it was time for Lily Allen whom always seems to be in the press for gobbing off all the time. I heard that she rattled off something at V Stafford Yesterday and upset a few folk, so I wondered if she'll say more today. She harped on about some bird from Gracia mag and a few lines about being barred from the US so I guess some people will complain about her. I will never understand why people take these comments seriously, after all Lily Allen should only be listened to when she is singing. Anyway, I was there to take her picture and I did, so enough said. You go girl...

I had a break to eat at this point, mainly to unwind after the shocking antics of Ms Allen but more to ensure I was all set for the main reason to stick around today through the rain, mud and young whipper snapper musicians: Kasabian. I quickly nipped out to the grounds of the festival and purchased a rather inedible hot dog. It wasn't hot but I'm sure that dog does come into the making process of this festival culinary delight. Hot Fido one must speculate... I feel kind of warm inside knowing that this special snack in my hands is probably the last bit of shit food I'll be buying this weekend.

So, we walk to the Main Stage for the best Brit band in my own opinion. I think Kasabian are awesome but although I say this I have never bought a ticket to a gig, which is strange. But I have photographed them a bunch of times. They came on and once again blew me away. We were out after the first three songs and rushed down to the C4 Stage for The Manic Street Preachers but I rushed back again to catch the rest of the set and it sounded amazing as usual.

So as The Killers have requested no photo's and The Basement Jacks are dj's, it would appear that this years festival is now at an end. I must say that I enjoyed yesterday more than today, even though Kasabian were here. Yesterday just seemed a better environment all round. Maybe I should hold the weather responsible for this.

Just before I do go and get a beer and relax for an hour or so, I must just remind you all that I have already posted some of my shots in The Gallery section of my site, and this can be accessed by going to my home page and selecting 'Photo Galleries' from the menu. I haven't put them all up but I have randomly selected a bundle of 'em for the benefit of you lot. So hopefully I'll be back next year for my third V, so until then, ta ta all.

V Festival, Chelmsford - Day 1

Well I made it here and with plenty of time to spare. My original plan was to arrive on the Friday and be up bright and early for some atmospheric typecast festival shots that you always see. However as per usual my plans were scuppered when everyone decided to break down, or catch fire on my route so I decided to just go home and leave in good time in the morning. So, here I am…
After positioning the really annoying tent and eating my first instalment of festival slop, this time a burger flavoured slop variety, I made my way to the press office to set up my computer and get my shit together.
First on the list were for me was my first instalment The Foo Fighters performing under the name 606. Actually it seems odd that an entire V Festival including all the other photographers, production teams and a massive crowd knew that 606 was in fact The Foo Fighters except me! It turns out that The Sun posted an article in the paper telling everyone this piece of information. I only got on the bus as I didn’t want to sit around anymore, so if I felt any lazier I may well have missed this. It’s good to see the bands milling around backstage at these festivals and when we arrived for the 606 set the Foo’s were doing just this. I saw Dave Grohl chatting with and posing for a couple of my fellow photographers.
Next was supposed to be The Proclaimers but we just missed the slot so I nipped into the press box to send the Foo’s pics into Film. It didn't really come as any great surprise but it was about here that I found the Internet connection here to be pitiful. Still the shots did eventually go so I shouldn't complain too much.

Then it was time for Juliette And The Licks and what a feisty bunch they as well as visually spectacular so I enjoyed this very much. After Juliette we headed for the Main Virgin Mobile Stage for The Editors who were as great as every other time I have shot them.

Next on the list was The Fray on the Channel 4 Stage which for me was a bit of a let down. I couldn't hear Isaac Slade's vocals so I didn't enjoy it. Paulo Nuttini next whom I thought was great! A really colourful set, and he sounded great too.

Another break period here to catch up with the editing and sending in of the festival so far before Kanye West, Babyshambles and Pink. I took this opportunity to grab a nice cup of £2.00 coffee, which tasted like it had been drained from last years leftover urinal water, and edit some more pictures. I've done alright this year in respect of keeping my work up to scratch. I does seem that I am non stop working here but then this is the way it works at a festival.

Anyway, onward I'm dragged to the bus to get to Kanye and Babyshambles and pink and now I can feel that the day is approaching the end. Only the best is yet to come and so far its been a great day.

So next was Kanye West, whom fails really to rock my boat but was very good and the crowd seemed to enjoy it and they paid so I guess that matters more than me, and following that a very dark lit Dizzi Rascal set in the JJB tent, then back to CH4 for Babyshambles where Pete Doherty was showing all the signage of being absolutely ruined but still managed to belt out some great music. I enjoyed both Kanye and Babyshambles although I did enjoy Babyshambles just a tad more so. I shot a Babyshambles gig a year or so ago and to this day still regard that as one of my top ten gigs I've been at.
We then were whisked back to the main stage where Pink was already performing. I managed to get two songs from her, which was more than enough time to get what I wanted. Pink is a very beautiful woman, and has a great voice. She did come across to be a bit posy at times, but I suppose I would too if I were great looking, mega rich and famous…
After Pink I headed back to the press office for a smoke and a Chinese flavoured slop dish, and to continue editing the days events and sending them in.
Then it was time for another mad dash with Snow Patrol who were fantastic, then to Jarvis Cocker who was in virtual darkness, and then the Happy Mondays who kindly stepped in for a broken Amy Winehouse. The Happy Mondays were really good with an energetic Bez keeping the crowds amused and Jarvis sprung around the stage pulling some great poses during his set in the JJB tent which made good photography it was just a shame that it was fairly dimly lit. I’ve shot Snow Patrol before a couple of few times in the past, but today was the first time I’ve ever been fairly happy with the results. The lighting was fabulous, the music was amazing and still the weather kept it warm and nearly summer like.
After The Happy Mondays we had another few minutes to send before the final dash to shoot the headliners. First on the bill was the return of The Amazing Foo Fighters. This time on the Main Stage and much much louder than the earlier set. The Foo Fighters were great at both parts of the day. Next it was to The Kooks for one song, and then straight to the JJB to get Primal Scream for the final act on my list tonight. The Kooks were OK, I just feel a little bored of the album tracks they cover in the same order at every show I’ve shot. I like the Kooks, a lot in fact, but I do like to see variety in a performance. Primal scream were dark, but musically good. Although hearing it from the pit does tend to whack the old eardrums. And most of the third track seemed to consist of Bobby Gillespie screaming incoherently into the mic for a ten minute burst.
All in all I have really enjoyed today’s listing. I have taken some good shots for the press, I have uploaded most of them during the day and I don’t really have too much to do in the morning so I can go and get a big plate of food outside the confines of the festival fencing. Get me away from those damn evil burger vans and Chinese-food sellers. How can the Chinese government allow people to sell something in the name of a country when it really is unlikely that you will find a self respecting Chinese person wandering around biting the end off a roll of bean sprouts wrapped in pastry and left to soak in oil for three months. I took a bite of this thing and felt a waterfall of luke warm fat running down my chin, and the bean sprout-a-like things inside were very very stringy! Dear lord, please spare me the need to buy dodgy pancake rolls again, pleeeeeease?

V is a coming, and I am ready for it!!!

Yes folks, I have received the confirmation to the big gig: V Festival, Chelmsford. The paperwork came through the door the other day, which was a great part to a very hot week.

I'll get the tent out in the next few days and blow the dust off it. I'll also have to do some homework as to the whereabouts of local wireless networks.

I'll be building my own V diary during the event and this will be posted with some pictures upon my return, post big jug of lager and kip! Last year I came away with some great work which made the slog worth every minute. All I really remember of last year is constant rushing about with cameras, beer and many smokes to ease the frustration. The photo-crowd at the festivals is usually nice so this will be good.

Also, it is the end of the Curry's compo, and I only managed to find the time to upload 6 or 7 images to this get-up as I have been slightly overwhelmed at work recently. Anyway, here's my most recent addition to this comp, so I hope you like it.

I took this shot at GAY a few weeks ago. As a music photographer, I seem to spend a lot of time waiting around for something to happen. During this time I take the occasional art picture to keep the cobwebs from forming. I like this picture.

Finally, today is my birthday! I am a massive thirty-two years old, and so far am fairly happy with my story so far. Now I'm off for a couple of stella's to wash away the pain of age!! See you all after V!

Sophie Ellis Bexter @ GAY

So last night I drove into central London to shoot Sophie Ellis Bexter. I have to say that she was very good too, although I am questioning if my opinion is purely based on the fact that she broke the boom boom boom noise coming from the speakers. I am in fact referring to the fact that GAY is a night club that hosts a live performance on a kind of regular basis. So far I've personally photographed a whole array of artists including the wonderful Fergie from Black Eyed Peas, McFly, some page three totty, and a bunch more that I can't remember at the moment as it's very late and now I'm in my thirties (as early as I am into my thirties!) my brain doesn't work like it used to. The only thing I could do without about the GAY performances is that they begin at 1AM!!
Sophie played a good set here tonight, sounding very strong and definitely getting the best out of the crowd in front of the stage. Each song she sung had the place in a trance and there didn't seem to be many folk out there who didn't enjoy it
Tonight I also spent some time trying to get a shot of the clubbers revelling before sophie made the stage as I arrived about an hour too early. I'm not really into the dance scene so using the time to take pictures seemed to be a good idea and I think I did OK. This will be another shot for the Curry's compo with any luck.. although I'm not about to edit them shots til tomorrow as I need to get some sleep tonight!
Now I am bastard tired as it's six am. I've finished uploading the photo's of tonight's gig to FM.. or Getty... or whoever, I've had a quick brew and now I'm going to get some kip so goodnight to you all.

Another Web Update...

So I've just updated the site again. I have listened to the few people I trust for good strong feedback and amended the bits that don't work and added to the bits that do.

Firstly I have again added more piccies to the home screen. Only another ten, but enough for you all to get a different shot every now and again. Secondly, I have added the 'Our Lives' pictures to the gallery. These are shots I am taking for the Curry's Comp being held online. I made myself a rule at the offset of this competition that I would not use any stock images, or live show images. I would start again from scratch and release the results. On that note, I really don't feel that I will win, but it is good practise for me in relation to the future of my images. I love to photograph, not just music but everything. I carry my camera everywhere I go just in case that shot turns up.

As I look at the other results from this comp I have also noticed that many images are being tinted with digital messing around. This is something else that I try to avoid. When I used my 35mm more actively, and processed my own negs, digital enhancing wasn't an option. I may be stuck in the past but I strongly feel that if you need to tamper with the shot to the degree that it changes, then you need to learn to take photographs! I recently visited the offices of Getty Images (the biggest photo desk in the world) and was informed during conversation that the press are not allowed to even use filters on lens' as this is regarded as tampering with the shot! I do actually use filters for my arty stuff and such like, however a filter has never been used for any of my music stock. My dream is to feature in the realms of The World Press Photo archives so knowing info like this is priceless.

This is one of the many comps I plan on entering this year and next, so do keep one eye to the smoke and look out for my get up. If you want to vote for my Our Lives entries, then visit http://www.currysourlives.co.uk/ and search my name at the right of the screen. I'll keep you all posted when more comps arrive.

Dave Stewert @ The Tower of London.

Yep, Dave Stewert. What a legend. And with good light, and a good (yet quiet) crowd it was a good evening of festivities. He played a Eurythmics numbers during the set which brought back a few cobweb scattered memories, and some of the other stuff he's written so all in all it was a good night.

I did think I wasn't going to make it though. I fell asleep on the couch whilst waiting to go and overslept slightly. Now, I fear that here I should mention that I tend to like to sleep as all my friends know and oversleeping isn't really going to shock anyone. However I did awaken at the final hour and still manage to scamper into central London with no real hickups to speak of. So I guess the Lord was watching me tonight and he must have wanted me to see this very talented musician.

By the way, to the old fellow in the blue hatchback at around seven thirty tonight: I didn't mean to call you a shit, but you really need to know that that lane is for overtaking and if you want to drive slow get in the slow lane you shit!

Now, that's me all caught up with the diary. I will try to not let myself slip behind again. Until next time, Cheers. x

Athlete and Paul anka..

So, just to keep you all up-to-date, I seem to have fallen behind once again in my updates! Well, just for that reason, today I'm going to put two posts up!

Firstly I went to photograph the mighty Athlete this week at KOKO where they were performing to advertise the release of the forthcoming album. I have to say that this was quite ace. I do like Athlete, and this week I've re-inserted the two albums that I own into my trustee car stezza to catch up on the music and lyrics ready to sing along... Well, for all you gig snappers out there you will all know that singing along isn't really on the cards. I tend to bury myself in the work aspect of this job and kind of don't really hear the music (as silly as that sounds as I'm all of 1/2 a foot away from ten massive speakers). However, the small, pretty young photographer whom seemed to be following me around the pit didn't have this problem. I feel that she may have been a fan in disguise and boy, could she scream!!! I would usually complain to you all at this point as I do tend to feel that this is a bit rude when every other fan had to cough up to get in there, and she seemed to use the camera as an excuse to get that few inches closer to the stars, but I actually spent most of the time in the small pit laughing at this. It was kind of like visiting a Magic Roundabout show and being harassed by Zebedee!

Anyway, enough of my boinging pal, and on to the second show I need to catch up on: Paul Anka. This is a wonderful fellow, sort of famed for penning hits for Frank Sinatra among others. He was excellent. I must now point out that here I do actually mean that he was excellent as a subject to shoot, as opposed to whatever was coming out from between his lips. I loved this gig as the lighting was fantastic, the guy posed, pointed, winked and whatever else it was that he did to make a good picture. Actually, now I come to think of it, the music was good too. I know I just wrote that I don't listen to it, but when the songs are longer, and the subject is much much slower, the picture taking process is so much easier. So, I banged off a bunch during the first and second, and then took it a bit easier for the rest of the set. Besides, we actually got four songs for the event 'cos he sung the first from the audience and we weren't allowed to shoot this song for some reason.

So there are two of the shows this week. Tonight I shot Dave Stewert from The Eurythmics. I'll go make a cuppa and then tell you all about it...