Alex Taylor:Live@Charborough

I recently had the pleasure of photographing Alex Taylor at Nordens Farm Centre for the Arts, which i covered in this post

 

He recently came to Live@Charborough to record a track and be video'ed whilst doing so.

I was able to get some behind the scenes images between filming.

 

Alex is a really amazing performer, he uses a loop system to record guitar and vocals as he plays, then replays them during the same song as well as slapping the guitar so it eventually sounds like there are a few people performing instead of one.

 

Clare Teal at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts

I recently photographed Clare Teal at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts in Maidenhead.
She had her band that consisted of Pianist, double bass player and drummer-together they were fantastic!

Clare is a fast moving lady on stage, lots of head movement etc so it was a little tricky to get all the images of her sharp, basically i had to catch her at the right moment, the image above is a prime example.
Most of the images i took were of her but i also took some of the band all together on the stage and some individual ones of the band members where possible.

I tried not to move round the theatre too much as i don't like to be a distraction to any audience members, so i only moved between songs during the applause and sat or stood still without taking any pictures when she was singing a few very quiet songs.

It was a fantastic polished performance by a group of musicians that obviously love what they do.

Martyrs and Kings:Live@Charborough

Martyrs and Kings-a band i have shot a few times before (see here) came down to Live@Charborough to record a live recording and video,
They are a great young band playing mature music, in this instance with acoustic guitars.
All the lads have great chemistry to them, as you can see from the behind the scenes images above, and really enjoys themselves when they are playing.
They finally nailed it on the fifth take and relaxed in the control room while Roger (bottom left at desk) worked his magic with the buttons....

The Herberts: Live@Charborough

Live@Charborough had the pleasure of The Herberts coming along to record a track and video recently, they are an eclectic bunch that plays eclectic music.
Towering front man is Will, along with Nisha on backup vocals and a great band behind them.
We went through a few takes to get the best sound and vision, with me taking some behind the scenes images between filming.
I'm scheduled to get some promo images produced for them soon as part of their deal.
You can read more about The Herberts here

Flash on location

As someone who likes to use flash on location shoots, i thought i would show how important it is when shooting on a sunny day.

Above is Odette, who you may have read about in a previous post here
We went to a local lake for a shoot on a very bright day so i used flash to balance the bright sunlight that was falling on the scene from behind Odette with a flash to light Odette back up to the background exposure.

Tho two images were taken milliseconds apart, the left image has no flash firing as it hadn't recycled from the previous shot so Odette is a perfect silhouette, the second image is perfectly lit as the flash had re-charged and was able to light the scene.

If i had no flashes, then i would have had to expose for Odette and the background would have nearly blown out to white as the difference in the foreground and background exposure was too great.

So that's why i always bring flash to location shoots, it guarantees good images whatever the natural lighting is doing that day.....

The Sha La La's:Live@Charborough

One of my favorite bands that i have photographed came down to Live@Charborough on a Sunday afternoon for a video and audio recording, they brought an original 1967 Hammond Organ with them for the authentic sound, along with two extra members on the brass section, it all added up to a fantastic sound.

They recorded 'Twentyfive', a real favorite of mine, it's a great tune, written by lead man Darron (left in top image)
The second image shows some behind the scenes shots as they performed for the video, and with Roger in the control room listening back to the track.

To hear more about the Sha La La's click here

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.....