The Vaccines

Last Friday The Vaccines UK tour came to Blackpool and the band performed the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens.

Blackpool is just down the road from me so I decided to cover the gig.

The group are fairly new by comparison and only have one album released to date which has had rave reviews, their live performance lived up to the hype too!

Photographers always get a raw deal when it comes to live music and if you manage to get in, the usual three song rule applies, which mean’s after the third song has ended, your politely asked to leave the pit area. You can continue to shoot the show from the floor or even the balcony but the best shots are always from the pit, so you have to work hard in the time you have.

There’s usually no flash allowed either, which doesn’t bother me, because you want to capture the best of the atmosphere too, which flash can sometimes spoil, however this means you need to work with the available light, which is usually very sporadic and unpredictable, fast lenses and high ISO’s are a must.

I love live music photography! it gives you a real rush being up close and you get some great pictures, I’m a real live music fan and guitar bands are my favourite, so being able to shoot the gigs as well is a great privilege.

All of the pictures I took of The Vaccines show in Blackpool are available at Music Pics Ltd. and you can also see some of my other live music work here.

Burnley Fc player awards! Right..being a Blackburn Rovers supporter this probably wasn’t my most favourite of subjects! for those who don’t know, Blackburn Rovers and Burnley have been Rivals since almost the beginning of time! and with what’s been happening this season down at Ewood Park, going along to witness the Burnley players achievements being awarded wouldn’t usually be something I would be very enthusiastic about! However putting my professional head on, I politely attended the awards and got the pics that were needed, that said, the Burnley staff, management and players were professionals to the end, helpful and accommodating which made my job very easy.

The assignment was for the Burnley Express Newspaper and the images were also available to view on their website here

Front page splash! A couple of weeks ago the picture desk at the Lancashire Evening Post contacted me with a job involving JLS and a little girl called Hollie, earlier this year Hollie’s sister Katy tragically passed away, and it had been arranged for Hollie to meet up with the group whilst they were attending an after show party at the Lava Ignite club in Preston. With Hollie being to young to enter the club, the meet was arranged around the back of the club where JLS would be arriving after their show in Manchester.
I was asked to get the snap of them together with Hollie, and later inside the club where they would be performing a DJ set.
JLS were due to arrive at 12.15am and would then appear on stage around 1.30am, it was a long night. But the Front page pic was worth it.

Ari Marcopoulos Camera Bag. I decided I would like a smaller and more casual looking camera bag for everyday use, and came across the Ari Marcopoulos camera bag, made by incase design. Ari Marcopoulos is a renowned Dutch photographer who made his name in NYC during the eighties & nineties, for a variety of street documentary projects, and also for working closely with the Beastie Boys. The Bag is great, it’s really well made and you can tell its been designed by a photographer. It’s a sling design which makes it easy for me to grab my camera quickly. It doesn’t fit a lot of kit, so you are forced to travel lighter, but that was the point for me.

Congratulations Susie & Chris! A few months ago Susie and Chris contacted me, and asked if I would be their wedding photographer, The couple were very laid back and knew exactly what kind of photography they wanted for their special day, I was delighted to have such great clients. The wedding and reception, took place at Samlesbury Hall near Blackburn, a beautiful Tudor building which dates back to 1325 AD. The day was a great success and the hall was the perfect setting for some great wedding shots.

There are lots of camera apps available for the iphone, but recently I’ve really enjoyed using an app called Mattebox. Its a really simple to use camera app based on the Konica Hexar. It offers a really simple interface, with lots of creative scope to take and then alter your images in one application. You have access to basic adjustments such as vignette, exposure and white balance, and when taking a picture, it also gives you basic camera info, such as ISO sensitivity, focal range and sutter speed.

Once you have reached your desired effect using the editing tools, you can then save your picture, and also save the preset to re-use later.

Mattebox is also available as a web application www.mattebox.net

Here are some presets I’ve made to get you started, which you can download for your own use,

enjoy! - Download Presets

This is a little late but I thought I’d share it anyway.

Last month I was asked to cover a local Burns night fundraiser, in Whalley Lancashire, to feature in the local Clitheroe Advertiser. The fundraiser takes place each year at The Dog Inn pub on King Street, and guests are treated to a haggis supper, neep’s and tatties, a wee dram of whiskey and traditional entertainment by the Accrington pipe band.

As part of the festivities the landlord Norman Atty (pictured with Andrea Holgate) leads a precession down to the church yard to lay a wreath on the grave of Fanny Sparks, which has been a tradition followed by the pub for some years.

During the evening a cheque to the sum of £1,876 was presented to local woman Andrea Holgate, who’s daughter suffers from Cystic Fibrosis. The money was raised by a raffle, and prizes were donated by the local residents and businesses of Whalley.

Overall the evening was a great success and had a real “feel good” atmosphere, Norman was a real gent and he couldn’t thank me enough for staying a few minutes longer than I was booked for, in order to get a few more pictures.

You can read more about the event and view the pics Here.

On Friday the picture desk at the Lancashire Evening Post asked me to cover the Grab event grand final at The Grand Theatre Clitheroe in Lancashire.

Grab the event is a Local talent competition in Clitheroe which each year showcases the talent of the local schools in the area. The school’s participating in this years final were; St Augustine’s RC High School, Ribblesdale High School, Bowland High School and Clitheroe Royal Grammar School.

The standard of the performances were really high, mostly comprising of vocal acts, with exception of Paul Bell from St Augustine’s and Claudia Maybury from Bowland High, who’s performances consisted of a Diabolo act and a Ballet performance, both to an impressive standard.

Throughout the evening Video clips from the supporting charities; Make a wish foundation UK, MS Society & The Solomon Project were shown on a big screen to raise awarness of the valuble work they undertake with children.

Amongst the performances was a special appearance from 2009 X Factor contestant Lucie Jones who was also on the judges panel, and last years winner James Holt.

Overall it was a very impressive evening and congratulations to Karen Wilkinson from St Augustine’s who won the overall title and the grand prize of £750

You can view the full collection of images in this weeks Clitheroe Advertiser & Times but if you cant wait untill then, click here

As a personal project I decided to get into shooting analogue film, I grew up with film and wanted to get back in touch with the old techniques. I got hold of a Nikon F100 (pictured). This made sense, as Its compatible with all my current lenses, so I didn’t need to go and buy any more kit. So far I’ve managed to get through two roles of Fuji 200, a roll of Ilford HP4 and I’m now about half way through a roll of Fuji provia 400x.
When shooting with film I found myself slowing down, and thinking allot more about the shot I was about to take. I didn’t want to waist frames! Unlike with digital, you can just delete the bad shots later, not that I ever take any bad shots by the way! ;-) I also found myself looking at the back of the camera after each frame too, as though to check the exposure! Force of habit I suppose.
I try to take the F100 out with me where I can, and hope to post some of the pictures I take using the different types of film, up on here very soon, and hopefully see some great results.

As well as the Gallery prints, I’ve been working on for the Spread Eagle in Mellor, Blackburn. I was also asked to produce a set of images to showcase the interior and exterior of the premises, the images are to be used on their new website which will be going live in the next few day’s.

For more details about the Spread Eagle at Mellor visit www.spreadeaglemellor.co.uk

Here’s a little preview showing the type of images I produced. and you can view the full set of images here