V Festival 2008

This weekend has been fantastic and depressing in almost equal amounts.

I spent the weekend at the V Festival where I was photographing on behalf of the festival promoters. The first day I was there by myself, running around in the rain trying to catch as many bands as possible. Nobody was allowed to photograph Girls Aloud apart from their own photographer, which was a shame. I wonder what they have to hide?!

Here are some of my favourite images from Saturday...

Amy Winehouse, One Republic and Lenny Kravitz.




I'm used to shooting girls in white dresses but this was a little different..



Kings Of Leon (one of my fave bands of the weekend) and The Zutons.




And headliners, The Verve.




The low point on Saturday was having to walk for an hour in heavy rain to get back to my car. Thoroughly depressing! And then after I parked my car on our driveway it was broken into and my iPod and SatNav were stolen. Not good at all!

Luckily Sunday was a major improvement as the weather improved and I was joined by Evelyne and Elliott for the day. It was Elliott's first ever concert so I made sure the first band we saw was a good one - The Hold Steady. Here he is getting into the festival spirit.




The Hold Steady, Estelle, The Kooks and Lostprophets.





As you can see, by Sunday the bad weather had left its mark...




The Script played on the day their album went to Number 1 in the charts.


And here's the lovely Duffy on stage...


And here she is getting fondled by my son!



Elliott also hung out with Maximo Park backstage.


The Pigeon Detectives and the ladies' favourite, Stereophonics.



Here's a good story.... When I was still enjoying my previous life as an international DJ I played in Chamonix in France at a club called Deluded. I was in Chamonix for two days and while I was there I met a girl called Evelyne. I'm now married to her and we have a son and another baby due next year. The two guys who booked me to play the club, Livesey and Graham, were at the festival this weekend and here they are with the "fruit of Deluded" :)







And finally.... mega-headliners Muse closed the festival in fine style.

A London Wedding

I had been looking forward to Paul & Simone's wedding ever since they booked us last year. It's our first London wedding and the couple had already suggested jumping in the white London cab they'd booked for the day and getting photos out and about around the city... My kinda thinkin'!

The wedding was at the RSA and the day ended up being a particularly fun wedding as they're such a laid-back, friendly couple and I came home with some of my favourite wedding images ever!





Definitely one of my fave groom portraits yet..



And Simone looked amazing in that dress...




After the ceremony it was out into the London streets...




This one is already a huge wooden print for their wall...



I wasn't gonna miss the opportunity to use the Street Art exhibition at Tate Modern... :)












"Frank" even sang the song "Simone" just for the bride :)

Paul and his best man..




Thanks for having me there on the big day guys. It was a pleasure. I wish you both every happiness for the future..

The Big Picture Interview

The supercool people who look after The Big Picture website recently asked me to answer a few questions about my music photography and the interview is now up on their site. CLICK HERE to read the full interview.

Trash The Dress on TV

Attention all brides!!

You may have heard of the mostly-American phenomenon called Trash The Dress where brides book a post-wedding photo shoot with the intention of creating some stunning images which may or may not damage the wedding dress (usually the dress just needs cleaning afterwards). "What a waste" people say, "to put a beautiful dress in the cupboard never to be seen again".



Now a UK television company is looking for girls who have married in 2008 and want to trash the dress live on TV. If you'd like to get involved in the show please email anoushka.chengadoo@itvplc.com including a photo from your wedding, the date you got married, a contact number and any ideas you have for the Trash The Dress photo session.

If you'd rather do a session without the eyes of the world on you, feel free to email me to chat about your ideas.

Wendy Dawn Thompson and Paul & Becky's pre-wed

It's a long way from shooting rock bands when photographing somebody like Wendy Dawn Thompson. Wendy is a mezzo soprano opera singer from New Zealand and was looking for some new press shots, so we headed out on a sunny Tuesday afternoon and came back with some great, relaxed portraits. We got on really well and I even learned a little more about the world of opera!

Here are a few of my favourites...








This weekend is the wedding of Paul and Becky at The Belfry and I'm really looking forward to covering their day for them. They're such a cool couple and Becky is sure to make a gorgeous bride. Here are some photos from their pre-wed shoot...











See you tomorrow guys.... :)

Steve on the Telly... and the Download Festival

Last night I was invited onto a TV show called Ditto Music to talk about my photography. The show is on the Red Channel and is looked after by an enthusiastic team of people who are out to promote new music and educate people on the music business. It's a chaotic and somewhat shambolic environment but that's very much part of its charm.

They asked me about the bands I've shot previously and why good images should be important to bands trying to make it in the tough world of the music biz. We also held a competition for one band to win a shoot with yours truly. It was good fun and I'd like to thank Matt, Lee and the team for inviting me onto the show.

A few weeks ago I covered three days at the Download Festival and got to shoot a couple of legendary bands, including KISS. Below are a few of my favourite shots from the weekend..

KISS -








Kiss fans attempt to break the world record for face paint...



Motorhead & Judas Priest -



Rise Against, Comeback Kid & The Black Dahlia Murder -





The AMAZING Dillinger Escape Plan -



Bleeding Through & 36 Crazyfists -



Biffy Clyro, Job For A Cowboy and Bullet For My Valentine -





Incubus & Amon Amarth -



Apocalyptica and Coheed & Cambria (can you spot a theme here?!) -




Airbourne scale dizzy heights and The Offspring go for the bloke-next-door look -



The Cavalera Conspiracy and the mighty Testament -



Jimmy Eat World & In Flames -




Romance is alive and well...



Gerrard Rocks!



Time for something a little more artistic..



A great festival yet again. Roll on 2009...

Slaves To Gravity

I just returned from photographing a gig for Rock Sound magazine featuring a great new band from London called Slaves To Gravity. After the gig I asked the band if I could take a few photos of them in the car park behind the venue and they were good enough to oblige. Here's just one photo from the shoot..



Slaves To Gravity are all set to tour Japan and the US next and look set for big things. Check out their MySpace page for more.

Today has been a great day. Elliott was back in nursery so Evelyne spent the day in the studio helping me get some stuff organised (she's more organised than me by far!). We also met Steve & Steph about shooting their wedding in New York in December. I look forward to every wedding but that's gonna be something special. Can't wait! We also FINALLY got a fridge and kettle in the studio so now I can make myself (and anyone else who visits) a cup of tea whenever I like. Bliss!

Today we also had another wedding confirmation for 2009 when James called to say he and Lorraine would like us to cover their wedding at Cotswold House in Gloucestershire. It looks like a great venue. James emailed to say "After seeing your work and meeting with you it really was the easiest decision we've had to make in all of the planning." I have a feeling we're gonna get on just fine :)