Sir Elton John
Certain artists need no introduction.
Last night I was honoured to photograph the legend that is Elton John at the Birmingham NIA. It’s the 2nd time I’ve seen him live but the first time I’ve photographed him and I knew I had to do a great job! Who knows when I’ll get to shoot him again..
Elton brought his massive Vegas show with him and it was spectacular! And quite decadent too. I only had one song to shoot from the front of the stage and then one song to shoot from slightly further back and to the side. I wanted to get as much variety as I could considering it was all about one man sat at a piano.
After I finished shooting I stayed for the entire show and I have to say Elton was on form. He played one of my favourite songs of all time, Tiny Dancer, and it seemed like the show was made up entirely of classic tunes, with Bennie & The Jets and Rocket Man being two more personal highlights.
Here are just a few of my favourite images from the show..
James Nachtwey - War Photographer
It’s rare these days that I watch a film which leaves me humbled, excited, moved and full of admiration all at once but last night Evelyne and I watched a DVD which was recommended by one of my favourite photographers, Jeff Ascough.
The film is called War Photographer and is a documentary about the incredible James Nachtwey. Below is a taster of the movie but I just want to recommend that anyone with an interest in the world we live in and/or photography watch this film. Put the DVD on your Christmas list. It’s 96 minutes that will stay with you for a lifetime.
Young Fate - Band Shoot
I’m currently doing a special deal for local unsigned bands who need new press shots. Most of these bands don’t have much money to spend on photo shoots but, in many ways, they are the bands that need great photos the most so that they stand out from the gazillions of bands out there in MySpace-land.
Young Fate are a hip-hop/RnB outfit from near Telford and they came down to Birmingham to take me up on my offer. Over about an hour we went out around the streets of Digbeth and got a great varied collection of images for them to use on websites, flyers, posters, etc.
Here are a few of my favourites..
NEW WEBSITE!!!
After months of discussions, thoughts and testing, I’m excited to have now launched the brand new Steve Gerrard Photography website. And this blog is now a major part of it. For that reason I will (I promise!) be updating the blog more often than ever.
Evelyne and I are really pleased with the new site and would like to thank Chris Garrett for all his work designing it for us.
Please have a good look around when you have a few minutes. There’s plenty to see. If anyone has any problems viewing any part of the site please let us know.
Emma & Pete
More and more we’re booking weddings further afield than the Midlands, which is great. As much as we love living in Birmingham, it’s always good to have an excuse to escape. This year we’ve had weddings in London, Devon and in December we have a wedding in New York. Emma and Pete got in touch with us after quite a thorough search for a photographer and, as they live a couple of hours away in Newark, it was another excuse to escape and visit an area I’ve not visited much before.
They’re happy to spend time to make sure we get great photos for them and their pre-wed shoot was one of the most fun pre-wed shoots I’ve done. We started off exploring the streets of Newark while trying to dodge the rain…
We were on our way back to their house when I spotted this field with that great sky. Favourite!
Their wedding also took place in Newark and this time the sun was shining. Emma looked amazing. I mean, just look at that dress!! Pete scrubbed up pretty well too 
On to the church…
Then we headed off on our own to get some portraits of the new Mr & Mrs Dowse..
Unfortunately this gorgeous building is also the cheesiest nightclub in Newark according to Pete. What a waste!
Check out the table plan - hand-made by our blushing bride…
And what an amazing venue for the reception…
Later in the day we decided to grab a few more photos of the couple…
Great couple, great venue, great weather…. Thanks for a GREAT day guys. The album will be stunning.
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.
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 
Sarah & Matt - MARRIED!
Sarah & Matt’s wedding was my first at Highbury Hall in Moseley, Birmingham - a very grand venue with a magnificent dining room and dramatic decor. They had such an easy-going, fun day and were great sports when it came to getting photos.
We started at the church with some photos of Matt and his boys..
“Go on! Give her a kiss!”
Their grandparents were married in the exact same church over 50 years ago!
The weather at Highbury hall could not have been better…
God is in the details..
Errr… don’t ask!
One for the wall…
Another great wedding and a lovely couple who were so laid-back on their big day. They even took time to email me on their honeymoon to say thanks! Right back atcha guys, I had a great day. Thanks for having me there. Hope the shoes are ok!
Jodie & Oliver @ Packington Moor Farm
It’s been another busy few weeks. Evelyne and Elliott are over in Montreal for a month visiting Evelyne’s family and friends. Sounds like they’re having a fantastic time too and, from the photos they’ve posted on Facebook, Elliott has grown quite a bit just in the past couple of weeks. Can’t wait to have them both back but in the meantime I’m keeping myself occupied with the photography. Some nights I’ve been in the studio past midnight but that’s fine. I love it!
Jodie and Oliver came in to see their wedding photos last week (on our new bigger monitor) and set about choosing their faves for the album. They’re going to have a GraphiStudio album and I know the images they’ve chosen will make for a great storybook album. They had a few problems on the run up to the big day thanks to the original venue deciding they no longer wanted to have weddings there, so they had to change both the venue and date of their wedding. Being the stars they are they took it all in their stride and ended up with a gorgeous venue at Packington Moor Farm.
Then, a couple of days before the wedding, their lovely little dog (who featured in their pre-wedding shoot photos) added to their troubles by EATING THE WEDDING CAKE!! They ended up replacing it in time… Twice! Yes, the first wedding I’ve shot where they had two cakes.
So, here are a few of my favourite images from Jodie and Oliver’s big day…
Believe it or not, this is a cake…
… and so is this.
Spot Lee, my second shooter…
Smokin’!
Jodie’s favourite..
Guys, despite any problems in the run up, your wedding was perfect on the day and Lee and I thank you for having us be a part of it with you. I’ll keep the story of the barn to myself Have a great future together.
Restyle Me
The new issue of Live 24-Seven magazine is out this week, featuring a shoot I did with Rachele who won a full makeover including shopping spree, nails, make-up and hair. She didn’t want anything too over-the-top as she works in A&E at the hospital and wants to be able to get ready quickly in the mornings. She still had quite a transformation though and was so easy to photograph.
Here’s the spread from the magazine. The only image that’s not mine is her “before” shot which she sent in for the competition…
This is my favourite..
This Bank Holiday weekend was great fun despite a severe case of miserable weather. Saturday’s wedding with Matt & Sarah was a really nice easy-going day and they were lucky enough to have the only good weather of the weekend. Highbury Hall in Mosely, Birmingham is a dramatic and grand venue and the couple were up for escaping to get some great images of them on their own. (PHOTOS HERE SOON)
The rest of the weekend was a wash-out due to the weather so we used the time to chill out, catch up on some TV (”Dexter” mainly) and try to teach Elliott how to walk. He’s getting good too! He also tried a little pizza for the first time and seemed to enjoy the experience…
