Aydin Rocks!
Just before Christmas I received an email from Los Angeles. It was from a band manager looking for a photographer to shoot some portraits of a guitarist called Aydin who is hoping to take the leap into the big time and a potential sponsorship with Fender Guitars.
Aydin came to the studio and, after a quick simple portrait against the white studio wall, we headed out into the streets of Digbeth. In just over an hour we got a great collection of varied images and Aydin was super-cool in front of the camera. Here’s just a few of the finished photos…
FAVOURITE!!!
A little bit of Oasis attitude 
Good luck with everything Aydin. Don’t forget me when you’re famous! 
The Melvins
Some bands become legendary and sell out stadiums. Others may still be playing small clubs well into their career but are no less legendary in the eyes of their fans. One such band are The Melvins and I got to spend some time with them recently in Nottingham to get some new photos for Rock Sound magazine. The band were a huge influence on bands such as Nirvana, Tool and Soundgarden and continue to do their own thing. Frontman Buzz was in a band with Kurt Cobain before Nirvana even formed and makes for a great portrait subject wit his crazy “Sideshow Bob”-style hair. Here are my fave photos from our session..
In Flames & Gojira in Manchester
On Monday night I was up in Manchester to shoot metal bands In Flames and Gojira. I’m a massive Gojira fan so it was a pleasure to meet the guys from the band and I’m pleased to report they’re super-nice. Guitarist Christian even gave me a free Gojira shirt. The band took a few minutes for me to take some portraits of them. Here are some of my favourites…
I’m not such a big fan of In Flames but they were also great guys to hang out with and sorted me out with some beers. We also got some great photos of them before the gig..
This afternoon I’m off to Nottingham to meet with underground Legends, The Melvins. I’ll post photos here asap..
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…
Poppy & The Jezebels
Oh, my job is so tough!
This week I had the pleasure of spending time in the company of Poppy & The Jezebels who needed new photos for the release of their new single “UFO” which comes out in August. The weather was against us a little but we managed to brave the elements as much as possible and came back with some super-cool pics.
I also popped along to the Glee Club on Wednesday night to catch one of my favourite bands, Idlewild. Last time I saw them they were opening for U2 but this week they played a really intimate set of acoustic numbers and rare b-sides and album tracks. Amazing gig which is reviewed on Birmingham Live along with my photos.
June is Rockin!
This month has been a month of photographing some of the biggest bands in the world which is quite an honour. Since shooting Liza Minelli and The Sex Pistols I’ve also photographed Kiss, Bon Jovi and yesterday I got to shoot Linkin Park and Jay Z at Milton Keynes. Here are a few pics…
I have ordered a big version of this one for the studio wall
I also got to shoot my favourite singer/songwriter, Kathleen Edwards. She may not be as popular as the bands above but I urge you to check her stuff out. I reviewed the gig on the Fused Magazine site. Here are some photos of my second favourite Canadian girl…
After the show I got to chat to Kathleen for a while and her merch guy was kind enough to take a photo of us. Unfortunately, he managed to get the focus COMPLETELY WRONG!!! Gutted!
Canon 5D MkII - Want One!
Oh no! Something else to steal Steve’s hard-earned cash from him! The new Canon 5D MkII.
Although still a rumour it looks likely this baby will be available this summer with some sexy new features to get yours truly raiding his piggy bank. My main camera is still the Canon 1DS MkII but I’ve been looking to upgrade my 20D which I currently use as a second camera on most shoots. The new 5D is set to be priced between £1750 and £2k but looks worth every penny.
As if that weren’t enough I’ve been eyeing up the Canon 85mm 1.2 lens too. Looks like I’d better get some work done to get some cashola in the bank…
As y’all know I shoot a lot of bands but occasionally I get to photograph gigs which take things to the next level as far as entertainment, crowd involvement and real passion is concerned. And so it was with Canada’s Cancer Bats when they descended on the Birmingham Barfly last week. Singer Liam Cormier spent the whole gig in amongst the crowd, making for an energetic performance as well as some tricky photo situations but I came out unharmed with some great shots. You don’t get images like this with many bands. Check out a full review of the gig at Birmingham Live!
Peter The Apprentice
A few days ago I did a shoot for a great guy called Peter Kent from Atlanta, Georgia who was looking for some portraits with a difference to pitch himself to potential employers. Over a couple of hours I set out to get him a great variety of shots, some quite formal, some more edgy.
Peter almost made it to the US version of The Apprentice. He may not end up working for Donald Trump but I’m sure he’ll do well in his chosen field.
And my favourite from the day..
I wish Peter all the best for his future in business.
I just had to take a photo of this sign which is on one of the most heavily graffitied walls in the city!
The Keys To The Future
It’s an exciting time at the moment for Steve Gerrard Photography as we have just been given the keys to our new studio in the Custard Factory in the Digbeth area of Birmingham. We plan to use the space not to take photos (I always work on location) but as an office, a gallery and a comfortable place to meet clients. Up until now our office has been based at our home in Great Barr but it’s time for us to move onto bigger and better things, as well as separating home and work life a little more. As you can see below the space has some work to be done before it looks how we envision it but we’re looking forward to making it our own over the next few weeks. I’ll be updating this blog as we go… We’re looking for paint today.
This weekend I’m gonna be on the telly again which is always equally exciting and worrying. Luckily I’ve already seen the programme and it’s nothing too embarrassing. It’s called Mobile Act Unsigned and is on Channel 4 at 9:30 Sunday morning. The show follows the band Envy & Other Sins as they go through the process of recording their first album, along with promo videos, interviews and, of course, a photo shoot. Set your Sky+!
Here are some photos that I took a few days ago for a hairdressers in Walsall…
Out In The Cold
I’m writing this blog from a freezing cold Barfly in Birmingham where I’ve been asked to DJ on Tuesday nights. It’s a 90s night and gets full of students every week, most of whom come for the cheesy rubbish in the main room. Supposedly the most intelligent people of their generation who see nothing wrong with dancing to Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls. Luckily in the back room I get to reminisce to when I first started DJing alternative clubs and can play anything from Blur to Pearl Jam and Rage Against The Machine to PJ Harvey. Only trouble is it’s SO cold in here. I’m not used to having to wrap up in hat and jacket to DJ!
I came here tonight straight from the Korn gig in Wolverhampton. I was there to photograph the gig but a mix-up with the guest list left me without a photo pass and therefore unable to shoot anything. It happens occasionally and it’s very very frustrating. And there’s nothing really I can do about it by the time I’m at the gig. I met up with Helen who was there to review the gig for Birmingham Live! Looks like it’ll be the first gig on the site without any photos to accompany it!
There’s been plenty of gigs in the past couple of weeks. Quite a variety too, from Sam Amidon playing a tiny bar in Coventry to Editors headlining their biggest show ever; Mayhem delivering a dramatic death metal set complete with pigs heads on stage to Megadeth going through the motions before a sea of hardcore fans. And I enjoyed every one. The new issues of Rock Sound and Terrorizer hit the streets with my photos of Prong and Bullet For My Valentine inside. Rock Sound even featured my review of the gig, although they did make a few changes this time. That’s fine though. I don’t pretend to be a reviewer.
At the other end of the photographic spectrum, last Monday I got to spend a few hours in the company of my favourite wedding photographer, Mr Jeff Ascough. Over 3 seminars we got to see a bit more of Jeff’s approach to photography as well as how he uses Photoshop in his workflow and how he deals with celebrity clients. He’s a big Radiohead fan and recently shot guitarist Ed O’Brien’s wedding. As a music photographer, and Radiohead fan, that’s the stuff of dreams. One day perhaps..
Jeff Ascough has just taken his first £15,000 booking for a wedding and we’re also thinking about increasing our prices. Not
that much though! Not yet! 2007 is getting booked up fast and we’ve confirmed a few weddings for 2009 now. When we move into the studio (soon!) we can hopefully justify slightly higher fees as well as having a great space to welcome clients. I’m looking forward to it.
We have just shown Claire & Dave the photos from their wedding and, happily, they were made up with the results. Here are a few from their day…
Our next wedding is Charlotte & Steve’s this weekend and I have a feeling it’ going to be a really fun day.
Saturday morning I was awoken by messages from people saying they’d just seen me on TV. It was the programme following Envy & Other Sins after they won the Mobile Act Unsigned competition. The photo shoot we did featured in the programme with a quick interview with yours truly which wasn’t too embarrassing. They even called me “top music photographer Steve Gerrard”. If only that were true…
I have started getting a few enquiries recently from models looking for new portfolio images. It’s not something I’ve done
much of yet but for those that are happy to go with my way of working it can be great fun and hopefully we come back with a
bunch of pictures which are different from the norm. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours with the stunning Anna-Maria. Here’s a few photos from the shoot…
I want to wish all my friends who are headed for SxSW this week a safe and eventful trip. I’m sure they’ll be bringing plenty of
stories back from Texas next week.
Lastly, there are some fantastic new albums around at the moment so I just want to recommend everyone check out the new releases from the Gutter Twins, Kathleen Edwards, Cat Power, Feist, Elbow, The Kills and, for those who like things a little more extreme, The Red Death and The Cavalera Conspiracy.