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§ December 17th, 2010
Yesterday I headed into London to photograph my last In Concert event of the year - and what an event to cover! It took place at the world famous Abbey Road Studios. I was rather excited to have the opportunity to shoot there and was also excited to see the famous zebra crossing and graffiti-endowed walls outside. Unfortunately, I was delayed on the train by almost 3 hours(!) and my chance to absorb all of the history evaporated as I rushed into the venue 50 minutes late!
Thankfully I arrived in plenty of time for the main event and even managed to squeeze in a quick bite to eat. There was even enough time to have a quick wander around the labyrinthine corridors in order to get my bearings for later. Unfortunately, Abbey Road were quite strict with regard to photography (and rightly so) and I was only allowed to photograph in the studios where the performances were taking place. It was a shame because I had scoped out a number of interesting details I wanted to capture but understood why I wasn’t given free reign to photograph anywhere I wanted. It was amazing just to have the chance to wander around the corridors of such a famous venue which is steeped in musical (and filmatic) history!
Studio 2 was the base for the first hour of the show which included the support slot with the fabulous Louise Marshall and an interview with KT herself. Although it had been cleared for me to take photos, I am always aware that my camera shutter makes a hell of a clunk and, being live on air and not wanting to cause too much noise, I generally only take 3 or 4 photos so those photos need to be spot on! Thankfully, despite having to push the camera iso to its limit, I came away with a couple of decent shots.
The headline concert was broadcast live from studio 1, the studio where many famous orchestral film scores have been recorded. There was just time to grab the obligatory photo with KT and Jo Whiley backstage before I had to rush out front to get my shots of the concert.
It was the normal setup - 3 songs, no flash - but I felt unable to push my way into the crowd to get close to the stage. It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to get in the way of the fans who had staked their spot an hour earlier, but I also wanted to make an easy, quick getaway in order to take shots from the back of the stage and also negotiate my way to the rear balcony to get some wider shots. I am half-regretting not getting closer to the stage now but at least I came away with some shots that I am rather pleased with!
And so that’s it for this year! I’m hoping to do some sort of round-up blog post about all of these gigs soon, so keep your eyes peeled! But before I get to that, its about time I did some shameless self promotion! So don’t forget that you can find me in various places across the web….
Portfolio Website
Facebook
Flickr
Pixie
§ December 9th, 2010
So my last blog post already mentioned the James Blunt concert. However, I feel that it deserves a dedicated blog post because I have an awful lot of images which I would like to share.
I arrived just in time for soundcheck and, although I was asked not to take photos, it gave me a great opportunity to assess the lighting and size up the best places to stand later in the evening to grab the best shots. I do love working in the Radio Theatre, its such a pretty little venue.
Then came the recording of the interview with Johnnie Walker. I normally try and grab the DJ and artist for a quick photo at this point but Johnnie was in a bit of a rush and I almost lost out! In the end I had to make do with a *very* quick photo of the boys (notice Johnnie in his coat ready to make a quick exit!) so I am amazed that this photo even came out!
There was then time for a quick bite to eat and a few quick photos of the venue before the audience were let in. It was the normal set-up of being allowed to photograph the first 3 songs from the side aisles. I have ended up with so many favourite photos that I’ll apologise now for posting so many (and, if you are so inclined, there are even more over on Flickr and Pixie)!
In additon to shooting the first 3 songs, this time I was also allowed to come back at the end of the set and take some shots of a piano-surfing James during 1973 - its moments like that where it really does help having prior knowledge of what the artist normally does during the performance because it allowed us time before the concert to seek out permission from James’ management to shoot this unique moment!
Yet another fun concert I feel privileged to have photographed! Roll on the next one - I’m off to the famous Abbey Road studios! Don’t forget that this show airs tonight from 8pm on BBC Radio 2 and you can listen to it online for the next 7 days.
§ December 9th, 2010
A couple of evenings ago, I photographed James Blunt for BBC Radio 2’s “In Concert”. The programme airs on the radio tonight and you can listen along here. Unlike all of the other In Concert events that I photograph, this one felt very personal to me - it felt like I had reached the end of a journey that I had started all the way back in 2005! So I hope you’ll forgive me for this slightly self-indulgent post, but I would like to recall the main events of the last few years that have led me to this point….
Back in 2005, I downloaded my first ever free single of the week off of i-tunes. That week it happened to be a song called “High” by a new singer-songwriter called James Blunt (I know he’s not everyones cup of tea, but bear with me, this is a good story I promise!).
For some obscure reason, this song captured my imagination and I immediately found myself searching for more information about this unknown singer! Luckily for me, I found that he was performing in Bristol (the tiny St Georges Hall) a few weeks later and I did something totally out of character - I impulsively booked two tickets! Its strange to say that booking gig tickets was out of character for me because it is now part of my day to day life! But, back then, booking gig tickets was alien to me - the only concerts I had been to were large events at Bristols Colston Hall because my Dad used to work there! I went along to the gig and loved every minute - I was hooked! Little did I know then that live music was going to become a huge and life-changing aspect of my life!
A few days after the gig, I found myself jumping on a train to London in order to go and see James perform in HMV on Oxford Street to showcase his new album. I also had in the back of my mind that I would pop along to Starbucks beforehand as I knew that a group of people from James Blunts online forum had arranged to meet up. At that point, online forums and chat rooms were also an alien concept to me and I was more than a little suspicious of a group of strangers arranging to meet up over the internet! Of course, you still need to be wary about this sort of thing which is why I hadn’t declared to anyone that I was definately going to meet them! I decided to casually drop by and quickly realised that the petite, red-headed girl sat alone with a James Blunt single placed on the table wasn’t anyone to be scared of! I took a chance and introduced myself and we were quickly joined by another girl and a married couple - all of these people remain close friends to this very day and I am so glad that I had taken the plunge and decided to travel all the way into London to meet them!
James Blunt at HMV - 31st May 2005
It was at this point that photography enters the equation. The following few months were rather mental, I met lots of new friends through going to gigs and travelling all over the place and, all the while I tried sneaking my tiny pont-and-shoot camera into gigs and coming away with the odd good shot, but it was the second girl that I had met in Starbucks that fateful day in London who provided me with the next step on my journey.
James Blunt at Virgin Radio - 4th July 2005
After attending many different gigs including attending a Polo club, accompanying her when she won a radio station competition and even heading down to Cornwall together for a music festival - she told me about a new band on the music scene called The Feeling! They were completely unknown at the time and she didn’t even have any of their music she could play me, she just knew that I would love them. A few days later, I was listening to my radio alarm early one morning and I heard a song on the radio which literally (and I do mean literally!) made me sit up in bed! After waiting impatiently to hear the DJ name the song I found out that it was “Sewn” by none other than The Feeling!
The Feeling
As I had done after discovering James Blunt, I joined the forum, attended as many gigs as possible, and started making new friends online. I also continued to post photographs taken at each of the gigs on the forum and, luckily for me, these were noticed by the wife of a BBC employee! The Feeling were due to perform at the BBC Radio 2 Christmas Party one year and, out of the blue, I received a phone call asking whether I would like to come along and take the photographs! I obviously jumped at the chance! After such an amazing experience, I wondered whether there were any other opportunities where I could photograph more live music. As luck would have it, I was allowed in to photograph a couple more sessions at Maida Vale studios and even managed to get along to photograph Guilfest one year! After such an amazing few months, my studies back in Dublin meant that I was unable to keep the momentum going and I assumed that my time of photographing live music for the BBC was over! I kept my live music fixation satisfied by photographing live bands for the University music magazine, although in the end this assignment proved to be short-lived.
Soulwax at Dublin Ambassador
After returning to the UK last year I decided that I had nothing to lose by chasing up photography with the BBC again. After a few weeks it seemed as though my luck had run out. All leads and possibilities seemed to disappear until, one day I received confirmation that a new programme on Radio 2 (In Concert) would like some shots for their facebook page. So I headed along, met the team and had a fantastic time! The shots appeared on facebook and before I knew it, I was returning to London to do a second show…and then a third! I couldn’t believe my luck and, to be honest, I still can’t! Over the past few months I seem to have been adopted as the In Concert official photographer and my photos are now often used on the Radio 2 homepage as well as on the i-player! In addition, this has finally allowed me to turn professional and has opened up a whole new avenue of opportunities!
And so that brings us up to the present and, even though my musical tastes have changed and expanded quite spectacularly, I still feel very fond of James Blunt’s music because it opened up a new world to me and led me to meet lots of amazing people. So Tuesday evening wasn’t just another job, it felt like the end of one amazing chapter in this mad journey and the start of a new one! I started 2005 as an unexperienced gig-goer and, 5 years later, I am a professional music photographer snapping the likes of Maroon 5, Scissor Sisters and James Blunt! I wonder what the next chapter of my life has in store for me…?
James Blunt at the BBC Radio Theatre - 7th December 2010
§ December 2nd, 2010
The Christmas Market in Bath is now in full swing! It’s normally full to bursting with shoppers but, amazingly, each night last week it seemed rather quiet! The shoppers are waiting for the weekend I suppose!
I spent a little while wandering around with a couple of friends (and a glass of mulled wine!) one evening, and with the temperature down to around freezing, it certainly made me feel rather festive!
We also spent a few frozen minutes trying to take some artistic shots of the carousel outside the pump rooms!
§ November 28th, 2010
Last week I headed off to Newcastle to photograph Squeeze and the Lightning Seeds for the BBC. I was actually lucky to get there at all - the snow had fallen quite spectacularly the night before I departed which meant that my flight was delayed by almost 3 hours! It did make for a very pretty welcome though!
I have to admit that I found it really difficult to shoot this concert. It took place at Newcastle City Hall as part of Squeeze’s “Spot the Difference” tour. The Hall itself was rather beautiful but being a seated venue, it meant that I was only able to take photos from the side aisles with my zoom.
Also, the lighting was quite spectacular but very fast-paced so getting a good shot was left pretty much to luck! With that in mind, I was very happy to come away with one or two decent enough shots!
It was the photos which I managed to grab before the concert though which I was most happy with! Everyone was so relaxed and seemed happy for me to loiter around backstage taking photos of the interviews with Jo Whiley and the general lead up to the concert - it always ends up being one of the most enjoyable parts of the day.
§ November 6th, 2010
A couple of nights ago, I headed off to photograph Jamiroquai at Air Studios in London. After all of the uproar over Jamiroquai’s appearance on the X-Factor last weekend, I was little apprehensive at how I would be received by the band and, in particular, by JayKay. I needn’t have worried as he was actually really friendly and had no problem posing for me alongside Jo Whiley.
The biggest difficulty of the night came in trying to get to the front of the stage prior to the concert. Although there were only a couple of hundred people in the audience, they were packed tight at the front of the stage and there was no press pit! Luckily I managed to talk my way in by apologising profusely and letting people know that I’d only be there for a couple of songs.
I then managed to zoom up to the balcony for a few shots before time was up! It was then just a case of sitting back and enjoying the gig which sounded pretty fab from the soundbooth.
You can listen again to the concert until next Thursday over on the Radio 2 website - make sure you have a listen to the band in the support slot, Kassidy, who were brilliant and also really lovely guys!
You can also see some of my photos on the In Concert page. One of my photos also made a brief appearance on the Radio 2 homepage - still puts a huge grin on my face when that happens!
§ October 27th, 2010
The windows of the Langham Hotel near Oxford Street in London.
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