Off the Radar: Jagz open mike

I recently photographed 'Off the Radar' live at Jagz, they were appearing at the Platform open mike evening.
They had a quirky very individual sound and were a great bunch of musicians

Richmond and the Groovalution Live at Charborough

Below is Richmond and the Groovalution, they came to Charborough Studios to record a live track and video with some behind the scenes images as well.....



I arrived at the studio as the band and some helpers were just finishing dressing the set, after my retinas calmed down due to colour overload we arranged the band and did the first take.

Here are some more images from the day....

Odette, walls and lights

A videographer friend of mine wanted to film me doing a shoot with a musician for his portfolio, so we decided to approach the fantastic Odette who has graced this blog a few times before.

We all met up one Sunday afternoon in a local business park-not the most glamorous location on first viewing, but when you learn how to use a location suddenly the most mundane wall or stairs can become interesting with the right angle and some lighting.....

Our first image is a wooden wall that houses the bins for all the local businesses, I had great slanted beams that drew your attention to Odette, especially when I used a grid on a portable flash aimed at her face witch left the light to fall off  from the centre.

Second image down is a staircase that is just behind the wooden wall in the first image, I changed the lighting to a flash with an umbrella box to camera right pointing down to Odette who was sitting on the steps, I used the lead in lines of the hand rail to guide your eye into the image.

Third image down is a metal wall that is to the right of the stairs, I liked the juxtaposition of the smooth wall and the grasses with Odette slightly to the right of the image.

Fourth image is the same location but with Odette over to the edge of the frame so it could be used as a flyer as it has some empty space for text to go over if required.

Fifth image is in the studio against a white background, it's a simple portrait of Odette with her guitar, lit with an umbrella box directly in front of her and angled down to get some shadows under the chin.
Many thanks to Odette for the shoot as it was a cold November day and she dressed for summer for the images!

Charlotte Campbell

I had a chance of photographing the lovely Charlotte Campbell last week-she was on as support for Paul Carella and his band at the Kingston College Theatre.
She has a great voice and a charming personality and really interacted with the audience, she is currently recording her album, certainly someone to look out for....read more about her here

Ian Todd

Below is Ian Todd, captured here mid song at Jagz open mike, he sings some great melancholy blues songs and has a fantastic image.
To hear more brilliant artists performing for free! nip down to Jagz on Tuesday evening, grab a beer and relax, come and say hello to me-i'm the one at the front with the camera....

Instruments at peace....

Occasionally during breaks in filming or photographing in the studio, i like to look at the instruments laying about.
I saw the cymbals on this drum kit catching the reflections from our video lights, so with a long lens to compress the image i took a few shots and turned them to black and white.

In this image, one of the guitarist had laid his guitar down on an amp to go to listen to the latest take, i liked the composition of the two crossed guitars against the black backdrop so i took a couple of images.....

Paul Carella

Paul Carella and his band came down to Charborough Studios recently to shoot a video with us.
They recorded a brilliant new song called 'Electric to Touch' and the team was there to film it
They are a great bunch of blokes-all very talented and professional, i took some behind the scenes images as you can see below...

A few weeks later Paul had his EP Launch at The Kingston Theatre, the Charborough team went along for a night out..... Paul was supported by the lovely Charlotte Campbell and the the fantastic Caddy Cooper

Ella in the studio

I did another shoot for the fantastic Ella Martini at Charborough Studios recently, we did a few full length shots on a white background and then concentrated on head and shoulders shots against a grey background with a flash over Ella's head to emphasise her cheekbones
Second image down is a newspaper piece on Ella with my image used very nicely
Read more about Ella here

Ethemia

Whenever i'm photographing live acts I try to look out for the shots that show the relationship between the artists, whether it's a smile or just a look.
Below are Ethemia who I photographed recently, they shared many smiles on stage during their performance and I managed to capture a few, they obviously loved performing together and as I spoke to them after the gig it was confirmed as they spoke of their journey together and their passion for the music- a fantastic couple with some great songs....
Click here for more about Ethemia

Troy Anderson or Louis Armstrong at Jagz

Introducing Mr Troy Anderson.....who could well be Louis Armstrong in another life, he did a fantastic impression at a recent performance at Jagz music venue in Ascot

Comedy in the Cellar

I love Comedians......they are so expressonate.
Most Friday nights you'll find me at the Cellar Bar at South Hill Park taking pictures of the Comedians in between laughing, i love to capture the best moments when they are on the small stage.
Below is Tom Rowson, great bloke with a fantastic deadpan humour, next one down is Laura Lexx- a very funny little lady who was bouncing round the stage, followed by a double act called 'Raygunslookrealenough'-barking mad, musical and very funny....
Tech bit-all taken using the stage lights at a high iso, about 250th of a second, F4

Max Dickins artwork

Below is the flyer that comedian Max Dickins has had produced for his show at Edinburgh this year, it features one of my images of him from a shoot (write up is here) that I did a while ago.

As you can see it has been through some editing, the Groupon logo has been put on, the background has been colourised and a sun flare added on the right (even though the sun was on the left during the shoot!)

It's always good to see my images being used in print and still gives me a small thrill whenever I see them.