I Hear Noises

Oh, hai.

2009-07-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

I've taken longer than I'd like since getting back from Alaska in getting back into the photography. However, passes for Spinnerette, The Pretenders, and the Tramlines Festival are sorted, with a couple of others tentative at the moment, so normal service will be resumed shortly.

Rabbit Heart

2009-06-01T16:05:00.001-07:00

OK, I admit it, I'm just a tiny bit in love with Florence & The Machine. Arrived at the venue early to find Florence sat outside. Talked to her briefly and explained I'd already bought a ticket, but found myself with a pass.

The venue in question is St Phil's, a lovely church in Salford, and the way she was sat in the doorway begged the question - "Do you mind if I just get a quick shot?" - expecting a no.

On the contrary, her manager was good enough to let me have a couple of minutes with the good lady herself. I'm very pleased with the results. I can't share much as I've given them to my agency, but here's an offcut from the set.

Great show, audience eating out of the palm of her hand. Oh, and a sweet note on my ticket too.

Whirring

2009-05-31T16:28:00.001-07:00

It is my firm belief that The Joy Formidable add to the sum total of human happiness. Their EP is free to download. What have you got to lose?

Their show in Liverpool tonight was decently attended and they continue to make an impressive racket live.

New In Town

2009-05-24T04:55:00.000-07:00

I'm consistently impressed with Little Boots, both live and on record, so it was nice to get to shoot her again in Liverpool on Friday night. This time instead of just two photographers, the tiny pit was rammed - there must have been seven of us. Where were you last time, guys?

Paris Is Burning

2009-05-18T04:41:00.001-07:00

Not really the finest set from Ladyhawke last night at the Academy, but nice to have a pass again. Also secured one for the Joy Formidable in a couple of weeks time, looking forward to shooting them again.

Wouldn't It Be Nice

2009-05-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

Today has been one of those "if it could go wrong, it did" days, from every angle. The usual range of minor catastrophes at work, coupled with being told I could shoot Eric Clapton on Wednesday, followed by the caveat "from the soundboard" which excludes me on the grounds that I don't habitually carry a 400+mm lense (not normally that handy in a pit), followed by a gig that I couldn't attend because Northern Rail replaced the last train home with a bus and the band were only coming on late to start with, leads me to believe that today is in some way cursed.

*shakes fist at sky impotently*

I'm Not Dead

2009-04-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

Pink on Saturday night at the Arena. It's fair to say there was a lot of hanging around. (*Gets coat*)

Black Hearted Love

2009-04-24T16:40:00.001-07:00

The dry spell continues, photo pass wise. But here's a shot of Miss Polly Jean Harvey from tonight's Manchester Ritz show anyway.

Whole New You

2009-04-13T14:53:00.001-07:00

The problem with having spent more than a decade on the internet is that you sometimes run into your past self. It inevitably makes you cringe. This was a case in point which I ran into this afternoon - apparently I'm still the poster boy for the Plugged '98 tour somewhere out there, although it's a great photo of Tori. I have a signed enlaregment of this somewhere. Hard to believe that tour was really a decade ago - I don't think she's been that vital a live performer since.

Rise Up With Fists

2009-04-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Sod's law dictates that when you say "Hey, I'm doing quite well at this photography lark, doing one a week..." that the week you say it in is the first that you don't get sent to shoot anything.

(I only open my mouth these days to change feet)

Uploaded a few older shots from the past three or four years to Flickr, should anyone be remotely interested.

Finally got the holiday payment sorted, but things are looking more iffy on the house front due to planning permission issues. Have to wait for the estate agents to call me when they're open again. Why is nothing simple?

They Say It's Spring

2009-04-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

Nice to finally see some good weather, so went out into the garden with the second of my Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lenses after the last one fell off the stage at Lionel Richie. It was ugly. We don't talk about it. The insurance were involved.

I do realise that all I do now is blog about photography and upload photos, but to be honest, if I didn't it would just be complaining about the house buying process and muttering darkly about needing some kind of financial tourniquet to stop the money I'm haemorrhaging. I did buy a very nice marble and glass coffee table (it looks better than it sounds) but there's still a hell of a lot of furniture to buy before we can move in.

I'd also be moaning about Celebrity Cruises and their inability to take the final payment for our trip to Alaska. I've tried to give them the money three times now, and finally had to give up and write them a cheque.

I am, however, finally at the bottom of my to-do list. All the house buying stuff is sorted (for now), the car is booked in for a service, my replacement lense is here, I have a Tori Amos ticket (thank you!) and there's two Bat For Lashes shows to look forward to this week and possibly a photo gig too. My aim was to do one a week for the year, and I've managed to keep that up since I started, so I'm happy with that.

I'm Yours

2009-04-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

A very dull night's musical entertainment tonight, at least from the headliner. Very disappointed. Here's a photo anyway.

I could go on all night on this one, but essentially a really limp and dull performance from someone who on a good night is one of my favourite live acts. His band was well rehearsed but bland and the song selection left a lot to be desired.

On the plus side, the support act, Marit Larsen was fantastic and well worth the effort of arriving early for. Can't seem to find her album at a reasonable price, though. Ho hum.

Top Tips

2009-03-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

Well, did the red carpet thing last night, and got to photograph a selection of people I've never heard of. I think there are times when you know you've made a bad decision in life - I think the point at which I couldn't feel my hands and was taking a photo of Antony Costa with his arm round Coleen Nolan may in fact be quite the new personal low.

I present this image not out of pride, but as a cautionary lesson.

C-lebrity

2009-03-23T07:49:00.001-07:00

Asked to do a red carpet shoot on Wednesday, which is a bit more Heat Magazine than my usual thing, but I'll give anything a go once. I wasn't at all nervous until realised that Brian May and Roger Taylor will be there, and I'm a bit of a Queen nerd...

Is it me you're looking for?

2009-03-20T15:58:00.001-07:00

I was, as you might imagine, a bit pleased with this shoot.

Say You, Say Me

2009-03-19T11:44:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow, I shall be saying Hello to someone quite famous. If things go well, I will, naturally, be Dancing On The Ceiling.

Into The Chaos

2009-03-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

An unexpected appointment with Howling Bells on Tuesday over in Liverpool. Another set ruined by quite astoundingly harsh stage lighting for all three songs. The stage was bathed in red light throughout - they threw us a bone for about twenty seconds in the second song.

The support act, who I hadn't come across before, The Joy Formidable seem well worth watching out for.

Everyone's At It

2009-03-15T16:11:00.001-07:00

A packed pit tonight, and not my best work. Disappointed.

The Fear

2009-03-14T03:04:00.001-07:00

Woken by the postman bringing me my new lense, a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Macro which I'm happy to see, given that I'm shooting Lily Allen and hopefully La Roux tomorrow at the Academy. Am hoping having slightly faster glass will give me a bit more to work with. So far all I've done with it is have a quick roam around the garden, so it'll have to be tested live in field...

Equally scary is that the agency had a choice between a pass for London or a pass for Manchester but decided to give me the shot at it. No pressure, then.

Smooth Criminals

2009-03-12T06:05:00.000-07:00

I read this article in the Times today about the actions of the promoters for the Michael Jackson shows, and it reminded of two things.

Firstly, that the music industry isn't called an industry for nothing.

But it also reminded me that they don't hold all the cards, not by a long shot. So what I propose is simple.

Now, I couldn't give a damn about Michael Jackson, and some of his fans don't seem to be playing with a full deck, but I don't like watching people get screwed, so what I propose is this - let's, as music fans, start organising. Let's call it the National Union of Ticket Buyers Against Ridiculousness(just for the catchy acronym, obviously).

We have every ability to force a promoter's hand, we just choose not to, and that's crazy, especially in this economic climate. If a large enough scale internet boycott of tickets for the shows is organised, that is to say, no purchase of any tickets above face value (so no Ebay, no packages, no Viagogo) then good old fashioned supply and demand kicks back into play.

Which of these is more likely? Promoter leaves the first 20 rows empty and has to sheepishly explain to the artist why they're staring out at a sea of empty seats? Or they put them on sale at a more reasonable price to save face?

So it seems to me like all people need to do is organise and mobilise, and between fan sites (and I would imagine he has a few of those), Facebook, Twitter and everything else, it's entirely an entirely feasible proposition. Shame anyone who bought one, deride them as a gullible moron. Deconstruct the content of the packages compared to what you'd get elsewhere for the money. When did you last hear anyone say "Ooh, a buffet and parking! And only £150 extra!"?

Music fans *can* say no, and now's the time to start doing it, because if you tolerate this, then your band will be next...

Stuck on repeat

2009-03-08T03:34:00.000-07:00

Despite my cynicism over Ms Boots "next big thing" status, I'm pleased to report that her show last night at the Night & Day was actually fantastic. She's a proper pop star and isn't afraid of it, talking about collaborating with Phil Oakey and doing a Giorgio Moroder cover pretty much nails your colours to the mast on that front. She suffered a technical problem mid-track, resulting in the mic cutting out - her reaction, which was to stand on the front of the stage, carry on singing, get the audience clapping along and generally play it without missing a beat, despite the presence of a film crew and a couple of photographers was downright commendable. One to watch, then.

Next big thing...

2009-03-07T09:21:00.001-08:00

Off to photograph Little Boots at the Night & Day tonight. I've got a terrible headache, so the prospect of some noisy support act in a cramped venue doesn't much appeal, especially given that she's not on until almost half ten, so a pretty short headline set expected...

Hopeful that the lighting won't be as bad as I imagine it, but we'll have to see. Hoping to come out with *something*.

I predict minor civil unrest

2009-03-02T16:05:00.001-08:00

Kaiser Chiefs tonight, then. Such a high stage, not really happy with what I got. Ho hum.

That's not my name...

2009-02-26T16:01:00.001-08:00

And lo, victory was mine.

Stress Ball

2009-02-26T04:24:00.001-08:00

Apparently I'm incredibly stressed about tonight's Ladyhawke/Ting Tings show. My subconscious decided to tell me exactly what it thought last night in a dream involving a broken camera and being snubbed by all the other photographers! I think it comes down to seeing all the old hands in the pit last night at Katy Perry (which I could have had a pass for) with thousands of pounds worth of glass.

It also comes down to the old 'under-prepared for an exam' type feeling, which makes sense, given that there's so many variables over which you have no control - from lighting to distance of the artist, how much they move about, etc... If I had more kit (faster lenses, primarily) then I'd be less worried. I've got the coverage, range wise (pretty much 17-250mm in my bag which should cover it) but only one really fast lense (the f/1.8 50mm prime) with the others being much slower, albeit image stabilised.

Watch this space for whether my subconscious was right, I gues...