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…
Steve on 4
This week I was asked to photograph the winning band from Channel 4’s Mobile Act Unsigned show. Envy & Other Sins won a million pound record contract and needed some images to use for promotional purposes. We spent a few hours with the band and tried to get a really good variety of shots for them. The whole thing was filmed for an upcoming programme on Channel 4 which looks at what’s happening with the band since winning the show. Here are a few of my faves from the day…
Christmas Wrap-Up
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones we used to know..”
Bing Crosby may not have been the first to recognise the effects of global warming but I bet he was the first to sing a song about it!
Well, it may not have been a white Christmas here in jolly old England but Evelyne and Elliott are now in Montreal and, as you can see, it’s pretty damn white there now..
They flew over to Canada on Boxing Day to visit her family and friends. It was Elliott’s first plane trip and it went well from what I’m told. It has to be said that our travel genes seem to have been passed on to Elliott cos he looks very at home on a plane…
It’s been strange having the house to myself (I had to stay in England to shoot 3 weddings in 8 days) and I’ve been suffering from a little man flu since Christmas Day too, but I’m trying to keep myself occupied with work, magazines and Sky+. Before they left we had a great Christmas. Sunday saw lots of friends come over to the house for a little house party. Plenty of good food and drink was had by all and some people even took the trouble to bring a present for Elliott which was really nice. He loved all his presents too, even if he probably wasn’t sure quite what he was playing with most of the time! For some reason, everybody left the party really early (maybe our entertaining skills aren’t as good as we thought!) but it gave us the evening and all day Christmas Eve to chill out and enjoy our first proper family Christmas.
Unfortunately, late on Christmas Eve Elliott got quite a nasty fever and by Christmas morning we were considering having to take him to hospital but thankfully he started to improve again in time for his big trip. My parents and my brother changed their plans and came to visit us in Birmingham because he wasn’t well and, in the end, we had a fantastic Christmas Day.
The weddings this weekend were challenging again due to the fading light and some rain but I had a great time at both events and came home with plenty of great images for both couples. At the Saturday wedding I took some inspiration from my Yervant and Jerry Ghionis DVDs and used my video light for several of the portraits. I have to say I’m over the moon with the results and I think I may well be a video light convert. It’s so much more flattering than flash. As Evelyne was away, my good friend Bianca assisted me on both weddings and she was a star, even stepping in to help the brides with their hair as she’s an ex-hairdresser. She’s also a great photographer and it’s good to get coverage of the day from slightly different angles.
At the Saturday wedding one of the guests told me I’d inspired him to get back into photography again. I’m not quite sure how I inspired him but I’m more than pleased to have had an effect.
After being unwell and then having two weddings in two days, both of which saw me getting home after midnight, I’m still feeling less than 100% so I’m doubting a hardcore New Years Eve party is on the cards. It’s my first NYE off in over a decade though so I’m looking forward to just going with the flow and seeing where things take me. First though, I have to go over to see Alex & Steven to show them their wedding photos. Here are a few from their day…
I hope everybody had a great Christmas and I want to wish everyone a happy, fun, adventurous and prosperous New Year.
Cheers
Steve
ps. I almost forgot to mention… Envy & Other Sins won T4’s Mobile Act Unsigned competition! Congrats to Mark and all the boys.