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!
Weddings Rock!
Tuesday evenings aren’t meant to be this manic! In the past 6 hours I have met Steve & Debbie at Weston Park (home of the V Festival and the site of their upcoming wedding), photographed a fancy French restaurant for Live 24-Seven magazine, shot 3 bands including the Futureheads at the Barfly and finally DJ’d a set of 90s alternative music. Talk about multi-tasking! Add to that working as roadie for the bands (well I lifted an amp to their car) and I’d say it’s been a pretty full evening. Most of it was fun…
The gig tonight was pretty good actually. Futureheads don’t normally play such intimate venues and, with their new material sounding better than anything they’ve done before, I’m looking forward to the new album. They were supported by a band who make a photographer’s work somewhat more enjoyable thanks to half the band being extremely easy on the eye. Gundogs also have some great songs to back it up and I wouldn’t be surprised if they went to the next level fairly soon. There’s a review of the gig on Birmingham Live! where you can also find some photos of the Envy & Other Sins gig I shot on Friday night.
Saturday was Charlotte & Steve’s wedding at Homme House in Herefordshire and it was a fantastic day and definitely the most rock & roll wedding I’ve covered yet. The groom played a 40 minute set with his band The Batemans which featured songs by Motorhead, Foo Fighters and even System Of A Down. The bride looked stunning in a gorgeous dress and I came home with loads of great pictures for the couple. Charlotte even brought a present for Elliott. She runs a company called Traces Of Rock which sells cool kids’ clothes with a rock edge. Have a look at the website. Here’s Elliott in one of her baby-grows…
After getting back from the wedding at 1am you’d think maybe I’d get a lie in on Sunday morning but oh no! Instead I was over the other side of Birmingham to photograph an event for Aston Martin with probably my favourite cars on the planet. The same model currently driven by a certain Mr James Bond was just one of the cars I got to admire through the lens of my camera. Probably the closest I’ll ever get to one too! The lovely Daniela from Aston Martin looked after us and it wasn’t a bad way to spend a Sunday morning after all.
From there I went to meet Lyndsey and Simon whose wedding we’re covering next month. We did their pre-wed shoot over near Brindley Place in Birmingham which was great fun despite the lack of really great locations. They’re a very laid back, lovely couple and I’m looking forward to the big day in a few weeks time.
When I got home Elliott was wide awake and practicing his newly acquired kissing technique. He’s also started pushing himself up on his arms. I had my camera out anyway so…
It’s always nice when we meet a couple who are looking for a wedding photographer and there’s an instant rapport. It was like that with Alex and Richard on Monday evening and I really hope they book us for their wedding next June. We got on so well I was with them for almost 2 hours chatting about everything from weddings to Peter Kay to Steven Gerrard (the footballer)’s wedding photos. Richard will even be at the Velvet Revolver gig I’m shooting in a couple of weeks.
Evelyne has been busy this week too. She’s been redesigning our company branding, using new colours and trying to improve the look of our stationery. I have to admit she’s done a great job and the new look will help re-launch the business when we finally move into the new studio.
Album of the week for me is the new one from Kathleen Edwards, Asking For Flowers. I’ve been listening to it repeatedly. I’ve yet to see her play live so I’m keeping my ear to the ground for UK dates.
Shooting The Chiefs
Friday night Evelyne and I managed to blag our way into an invite-only gig at the Barfly where Kaiser Chiefs were playing to around 500 people. It’s always good to see huge bands play in intimate venues and, although I’m not a big fan, the Kaisers put on a great performance, with Ricky Wilson obviously loving playing to such a small crowd. I’ve reviewed the gig for BIRMINGHAM LIVE! and here’s some of my fave photos from the gig..
On Saturday it was off to Somerford Hall near Stafford to shoot the wedding of Susan & Neil, a lovely couple who had a very relaxed, fun day with a great group of friends and family. My good friend Lisa Gault helped me out on photographic duties as Evelyne was looking after Elliott, and between us we got a fantastic selection of images for the couple. I had so many nice comments from people about how we worked at the wedding too which is always good. No weddings now til March 8th but plenty of gigs to shoot, including Jimmy Eat World, Megadeth and one of my favourite bands, the Dillinger Escape Plan all coming up this week.