Apart from shooting 48 weddings in 2010, I was also busy in between shooting bands. I work regularly for magazines such as Rock Sound, Terrorizer and Metal Hammer as well as shooting for the Birmingham Live site which I launched 3 years ago.
I’ve also shot a bunch of band portraits, mostly for local bands and I hope to do much more of those in 2011.
It’s been a mixed bag too. From legends like Kiss, Aerosmith and Glen Campbell to popstars Peter Andre, The Saturdays & Olly Murs. From extreme bands to acoustic singer/songwriters. And I finally got to photograph my favourite band, Pearl Jam. Twice!
All in all a great year and here are some of my faves from the past 12 months. Enjoy!
**** NOTE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS – WE WILL BE ANNOUNCING A MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP VERY SHORTLY. WATCH THIS SPACE ****
AEROSMITH
PAUL WELLER
LISSIE
ARCHITECTS
THE SATURDAYS
KINGS OF LEON
AC/DC
&U&I
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
BLONDIE
TINCHY STRYDER
CONVERGE
FESTIVAL VIBES
DELPHIC
FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
DARK FOREST
PAOLO NUTINI
MOTORHEAD
DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL
OLLY MURS
BLEEDING THROUGH
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
COPIOUS
SLASH
DIRTY MINDZ
KT TUNSTALL
LIAM GALLAGHER
AUGUST BURNS RED
PETER ANDRE
CROWD SURFER
STEREOPHONICS
KYLESA
THE SCRIPT
DEFTONES
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
DETRALATE
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL CROWD
TRICKY (smoking a naughty cigarette!)
WAR FROM A HARLOT’S MOUTH
EDITORS
PEARL JAM
POWDERFINGER
TOMORROW BRINGS GIANTS
PARKWAY DRIVE
PUNKS
PALOMA FAITH
THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN
THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM
INTERPOL
STRANGETIME
IMOGEN HEAP
CROWD
EMMURE
GLEN CAMPBELL
SEASICK STEVE
FAITHLESS
JIMMY EAT WORLD
THE PRODIGY
JAY-Z
WHITE LIES
KISS
THE COURTEENERS
JOB FOR A COWBOY
DOVES
MANIC STREET PREACHERS
THE SWELLERS
OCEAN COLOUR SCENE (playing in a pub 5 minutes from our studio)
REVENANT DEAD
PARAMORE
SUZANNE VEGA
DEAD OR DIVINE
And finally, one of me at work, taken by my friend Bianca Barrett
Photographing a photographer’s wedding inevitably means a little added pressure!
When Dave asked me to shoot his & Liz’s wedding last year I was honoured and knew I wanted to bring my A game when it came round to the main event. But then, I want to shoot every wedding like it’s the most important wedding I’ve ever shot.
Liz & Dave’s wedding was hot! Like hottest day of the year hot! I changed my shirt before we arrived at the reception venue. It was hot!
It wasn’t quite as hot as the reception venue became just 2 weeks later though…. 2 weeks later the reception venue burned to the ground! Such a shame as it’s a great venue. I’m just glad it happened after, and not before, Liz & Dave’s wedding.
Liz & Dave are stars! They are so good together, you just can’t imagine them being with anybody else than each other.
This is what happened on their wedding day….
On the day I was lucky enough to have “awesomegasmatron” photographer Chris Barber along as 2nd shooter. Here’s one he took of me doing my thing…
Big congrats to Liz & Dave and thanks to them both for having us be a part of such a great wedding. Thanks also to Chris Barber for tagging along on the day and helping out so much.
So, I thought it fitting that I post some photos featuring myself & Evelyne taken recently by the amazingly talented and lovely Emma Case.
Working as photographers, we get to meet, and often befriend, some of the best photographers in the industry, and Emma is one of them. She’s making a real name for herself as a wedding and portrait photographer in Birmingham (and beyond) and was kind enough to do a shoot for us in London a few weeks ago.
We love the results and Emma was good enough to let me post the results here. Check out Emma’s website for more cool pics…
It’s always an honour and a privilege when a couple chooses us to photograph their wedding but it’s even more flattering when we’re booked to shoot the wedding of a fellow wedding photographer! Chris is a fantastic photographer shooting everything from weddings to rock bands (sound familiar?!) and next month he will be marrying his beautiful girlfriend Dani. I know it’s going to be a wedding to remember.
On Easter Sunday we met up for their engagement shoot and spent a couple of hours getting them some great images. Couples like this make my job easy!
These guys are such a cool couple. Can’t you just tell how well suited they are!? I can’t wait to shoot their wedding!!
At the end of each year I like to put together a round-up of the past 12 months as a way for friends and family to see what we’ve been up to. Quite a few read my blog regularly so will know already but for those that don’t it’s a quick catch-up. It’s also good to look back occasionally and see how things have changed, hopefully for the better.
2008 has probably been our busiest year ever! The photography business has gone from strength to strength with us shooting over 30 weddings this year, including our first overseas wedding in New York. Along the way we’ve made some fantastic new friends and had the privalege of sharing some amazing days with our clients. We love shooting weddings and every one is different. Thanks to all our couples for trusting us to capture such an important event for them.
On the music side of things it’s been an incredible year. I’ve photographed so many gigs and added some genuine legends to my portfolio… Elton John, the Sex Pistols, Liza Minelli, Bon Jovi, Kiss, Oasis, Jay Z and even Cliff Richard! I’m hoping to add AC/DC to that list in 2009. On top of that I shot my first magazine cover, featuring Napalm Death, which hits stores this month and I realised one of my ambitions by having a photo in the legendary Rolling Stone magazine.
At home, 2008 has been fun-packed and magical as Elliott continues to grow and keep us entertained. The most watched TV show in our house is now In The Night Garden and we’ve almost given up trying to keep the house tidy! CDs and records have been thrown out to make room for more and more toys and, with a new baby due to arrive next month, it’s only going to get worse! And I wouldn’t have it any other way Evelyne and I took Elliott to Barcelona in April and in July we celebrated his first birthday. We must have taken thousands of photos!!
Every year I put together a list of my fave albums from the year and below are the ones which have been on heavy rotation this year. It’s a varied mix for sure. So here they are, my top 20 albums of 2008:
1. Kathleen Edwards – Asking For Flowers
Without a doubt the album I’ve listened to more than any other and, in my opinion, one of the most underrated artists in the world. I love all Kathleen’s albums but this one is so packed full of emotion and incredible songwriting it has to be my favourite. Oh, and Kathleens’ profile picture on her MySpace page was taken by me! Check the clip below..
2. Gojira – The Way Of All Flesh
Brutally heavy yet intricate, intelligent and quite unique.
3. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Winner of this year’s Mercury Prize and stunning from beginning to end. A thing of beauty.
4. The Gaslight Anthem – The ’59 Sound
Imagine The Clash jamming with Bruce Springsteen and you’ll be halfway there. Soulful americana meets punk rock. A fine album and a great live band.
5. Meshuggah – ObZen
Relentless, technically mindblowing and immensely heavy. Love it!
6. Rise Against – Appeal To Reason
They just keep getting better.
7. The Bronx – The Bronx III
One of the best live bands on the planet.
8. Gemma Hayes – The Hollow Of Morning
The lovely Gemma returned to form with this gorgeous record.
9. Norma Jean – The Anti Mother
Who says christians and rock & roll don’t mix? Actually, I think it was Billy Connolly. He’s wrong!
So there you have it, another year over and 12 months of the unknown ahead. I look forward to plenty more adventures and good times in 2009. If you have the inclination, you can keep up with our exploits on the blog or Twitter. For those on Facebook have a look at the Steve Gerrard Photography page on Facebook.
Thanks to all our friends, family and lovely clients who made 2008 such a great year for us. Best wishes for 2009.
Being a music photographer in Birmingham means that I get to shoot bands on a regular basis and it’s a part of my job which I absolutely love (actually I love most parts of my job). Occasionally I do get to photograph bands which could be seen as iconic and, when I do, it’s an honour to add them to my portfolio.
Oasis are undoubtedly one of the most influential British bands of recent times so I was pleased to be one of only four photographers who got to shoot their gig at Birmingham NIA last night.
The atmosphere inside the venue was intense! Oasis fans are passionate about their heroes and many had indulged in a few light ales before the show and were in high spirits as Liam, Noel and the boys hit the stage. I got to shoot songs 2, 3 and 4 and came home with some great images, including one of Liam giving me his trademark snarl. Mad fer it!
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.
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..
I know, I know!! My blogging has slacked again. Things have been so busy, blah blah blah…
But here’s the thing… Next week sees the launch of the brand new, super-slick, all singing, all dancing Chris Garrett-designed, funkadelic Steve Gerrard Photography website. The blog will be a major part of the new design so I am going to be updating it all the time. I promise! No, really!
Just check back next week and see the new-look site for yourself.
In the meantime, I’ve been meaning to blog Becky & Paul’s wedding for a while. They were married last month and had their reception at The Belfry. Their wedding was fantastic for several reasons… It was relaxed, great fun, the weather was glorious, had super-friendly guests, the staff at The Belfry could not be any better, but mostly because Becky & Paul are like our dream couple. We got on with them so well and they went out of their way to help us get great images for them. I believe we succeeded…
The night before the wedding Becky managed to cut her hand on a glass and didn’t leave hospital until 4am. Here’s the damage…
Paul sees his bride for the first time…
A few shots outside the church before heading to The Belfry…
Work it!
Becky & Paul know I’m always trying to do something different with my ring shots so when we borrowed the rings Becky said, “I can’t wait to see what you do”. No pressure then…!!
Errr… that’s dripping water…
Did I mention the weather?
After dinner it was time to escape with the couple…
Yowser!
We love rule-breakers
Becky you superstar!
First dance… and a shared moment with Dad…
And later we escaped again and used the inside of the venue, along with our video light…
Seriously guys, Evelyne and I had such a good day with you both. Thanks for having us there and we wish you every happiness for the future.
After the wedding I got a lovely email from Paul’s mother saying “A big thankyou Steve for all your time and patience throughout the day you are a true professional at what you do, I cannot wait to see the photos the day was perfect, thankyou once again Pauls mum x”
…followed shortly after from an email from the couple saying
“Just a quick email before we fly off to say thank you for all your hard work and effort on our special day. We are so grateful to you both and we have had so many people come to us saying how good you were, not just with your photography but also how you interacted with the guests. We are so impressed with the amount of time that you spent with us and cant wait to see the outcome, we know its going to be amazing. Numerous couples who get married withing the next few years have asked for your details, I hope you dont mind but I have passed them on!! Becky from the Belfry was also very impressed and informed Becky that she would be unofficially recommending you !!! result !! ”
