Alex Mckay and friends:Live@Charborough

Above with his friends is Mr Alexander McKay, i did a previous blogpost on him here
He came along to the Live@Charborough studio with Ellie and her Cello and and Chris with his slide guitar.
What a fantastic sound, they recorded one of Alex's songs called 'Winter', i got some of the usual behind the scenes and performance images while i helped film them. The cello, guitar and slide guitar created a fantastic sound, there was a great atmosphere in the studio as they completed a few takes to get the perfect recording.

Saint Avian:Lighting

This is Saint Avian, a really lovely married couple that perform existing songs but in their own unique style.

I photographed them at The Assembly Rooms in Marlow a while ago for some promo images for their website.

The main reason i have put these two images together is to demonstrate how important lighting is, bearing in mind these two images were taken a few minutes apart it shows how careful lighting with flash can change the entire feeling of the image.

On the left image, the ambient light has been dropped by underexposing the scene and then using a flash to bring back up the exposure, on the right the flash has been reduced and the shutter speed has been slowed to bring in lots more ambient light-see the blown out sky through the window.

By using these techniques you can produce images that have a different feeling about them which can give variety to your work in a short space of time.

For more info on Saint Avian, click here

Baby Howl:Live@Charborough

Wayne, Tim and Mark of Baby Howl came down to the Live@Charborough studio recently to record a live track and video.
We filmed them for a few takes to get the best sound and performance and I sneaked in a few behind the scenes images during and after the recording.
They're a powerful band with some great songs, they won the Jagz Battle of The Bands competition a while ago, and I recently shot them live at Jagz and on a location shoot last year, as the band are now a 3 piece, another shoot is on the cards.

The Sha La Las at the 100Club

This is The Sha La Las just after a fantastic gig at The 100Club, London
As soon as the instruments and amps were put away, I managed to get the band to stand in front of the iconic '100' at the back of the stage (just like many other Photographers before me....)
I took a few images then all their friends and family came on for a group pic.
It was a great night with 3 other bands playing, and the 100 Club didn't disappoint as I hadn't been there before-it was just how I imagined it, shabby, seen some action and loud-perfect for a gig!
Oh, and The Sha La Las smashed it on stage.......
For more info go here... www.facebook.com/TheShaLaLas

Alex Taylor at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts

I recently photographed Alex Taylor at Nordens Park Arts Centre in Maidenhead.
He is an amazing singer/songwriter that uses endless loop recordings in his performing combining guitar and vocals, you would swear there was two of him on stage!
I managed to cover him from all angles as I was able to move round the theatre quite freely although making sure not to block anybody's view or spoil the performance-it's a fine line between getting some good angles and getting in the way of people who have paid for a ticket.
As you can see from the images above, Alex really puts himself into the performance and I think I managed to capture it.
See more of him here www.alextaylormusic.co.uk/

Alero:Live@Charborough

Another recording at Charborough Studios, this time with Alero and her band.
I photographed them in the studio rehearsing and performing with some behind the scenes images as they were interviewed and filmed by Rob about their experience on the night and a few images of Alero at the mixing desk working with Roger.
A great evening in the studio, with a video to be edited for them and a audio track to be mastered, along with a photoshoot in a few weeks time.....

Baby Howl in colour

Above is Baby Howl, playing a fantastic set at Jagz club with a great lightshow.I had a bit of a hard time photographing them due to the ever changing lights, so I just set a usable exposure and let the lights do what they wanted.I supplied a set of very colourful images to the group that they can use for promotion

The Blackfeathers... Live@Charborough

Above are Sian and Ray, who are The Blackfeathers.
They recently came to Charborough Studios to record an audio track and a live video.
I was on hand to help out with filming and to take some behind the scenes shots, including the one above after all the recordings were finished.
They are a fantastic duo, performing some great original songs with haunting guitar work and smooth harmonies.
To hear more about them, click here

The Selector at Sub89

I can remember The Selector the first time round, fronted by the amazing Pauline Black, who is ageing very gracefully because she was bouncing round the stage like a teenager.
All the favourites were played as I photographed them from the pit, I stayed there for most of the gig, prompting Pauline to ask me 'if I was ok down there?'

Thankfully I had my earplugs in, although my ears were still ringing a bit when I came out!
Above is a few images from the night......