and my god they absolutely smashed it! Merrill Garbus was incredible on stage; really funny, very relaxed and one hell of a performer, she’s got a really unique range. At some point there was a bloke in a suit (I think) who was down front and started hammering on the stage during a fairly quiet moment. I think he was anticipating a drum beat but due to whatever he had consumed, he was incredibly early/late. The band (mega talented but couldn’t see most of them as I was hiding behind an amp to reduce lens flare…hmm…geeky) took it all in their stride, which was impressive as it was far worse than any heckle.

By the end of the night, it felt like everyone could have gone to the pub together and chatted like old mates. Great show. Oh yeah and wonderful to photograph (nice socks!).

appears unexpectedly,

neighbours’ trampoline.

I’m really glad I took the decision to switch sides during the last song. I wasn’t sure there would be a decent shot on, but I got a couple of frames I’m happy with.

Challanges are there to be overcome!

+

=

It was also a good chance to start breaking in my boots; the suade trainers have paid their dues.

Judging by his movements, I think this man was looking for his kids, who were probably out playing (join the club kiddos).

People engage with snow in different ways.

Snow combines well with street lighting to draw attention to things I pass by all the time, and never stop to consider.

And while the dogs go bananas for it…

…the cats stick to what they know…

Freezerbagcam a rousing success. Hands too cold to change WB.

I remember doing this as a kid. I remember the sound of the snow compacting, the barrell shape you had to avoid creating, the way the snow would crack if you dropped it too heavily.

I think Eddie Izzard would describe this hound as a “small yapper type dog”, but if his credentials check out then that might be jumping to conclusions.

Went into Bradford to try and source a tiny yet absolutely crucial (life eh) piece of plastic for a light fitting. They didn’t have it.

What I like about Bradford is the sense or organised chaos there is. There is so much enterprise and everything seems to be happening on it’s own terms.

The winds in early January have been incredible too. I’ve never seen conditions like them before. The effects have been varied across the country, but I think on the whole, lots of stuff is where it shouldn’t be. This is 5p someone will never see again.

Remarkable how calm the world is now after all that.

.

For a year I had a part time job working in a cafe to give me some income while keeping a few days a week free for photography. My last day was Christmas Eve 201o; January was a new start.

This isn’t everything, some of it some of you may have seen or heard before. Anway, 2o11:
January

I spent much of this time getting my website ideas together and applying for gigs to photograph. This is also around the time of year where the famous Pudsey Times wall chart/calendar came through the door. Initially I dismissed using it, and then it became the single most important piece of paper I owned. There’s not much going on gig wise in January, so I made a shoot list for the first 6 months of the year.

I also completed an enormous commission. This was a good few months work. To be honest the photo probably doesn’t mean anything to anyone not involved, but for posterity…(I added the frosted glass look)

After a very cold winter I was pretty suprised to find this little fella clinging onto the window sill. I didn’t have a macro lens, so instead used lens reversal (exactly as it sounds) to get a shot. I don’t know what happened to it.

February

Into gig season with Funeral Party. I think this was the last gig I shot using a 50mm F1.8, which was a very good lens to me, but damn it was loud and hunted like crazy.

A week after that I was very lucky to go to Prague, which is an incredible city. The people were welcoming, the food and booze was smashing and the architecture is amazing. It was a great time.

I really like this photo of the guard. The light was nice and diffused and the hut works really nicely with his uniform. The fact that he had an itchy nose made it all the better.

Six days later I was back at The Cockpit in Leeds to photograph Brother (now Viva Brother, for some reason). There was a lot of hype about them and while they are from Slough, they had a lot of Manchester swagger about them.

The next day I was over in Manchester to photograph White Lies at the Academy. The support band played in uniformly red light, which did not fill me with confidence for the evening; however White Lies had some mad lighting. Back lit, strobes, lamps directly under their faces which cast a horrible line of shadow… Very different to the night before and a real challenge.

March

Around this time of year me, my family and our friends go to the Lake District and stay in an amazing old school. It’s very basic (why I like it), and I have been every year of my life. It’s a very important place to me. Here’s the view from the front door.

We took a stroll around Grizedale Forest which had a great arts trail. At some point during the walk I found a nice diamond shaped rock, and then a little later I found a fairly rag tag cairn. This might sound a bit twee, but I like the idea that in some way, you go on existing somewhere else in the world. Leave a small part of yourself behind and take a small part of that bit of Cumbria with you.

My brother in law, Alex, took some away in his eye.

Anyway a few days after this I was photographing Katy Perry at the o2 Academy. It was the first time I had been there since attending my first ever gig some years earlier (Deftones, Linkin Park, Taproot) and wow, what a venue. Sadly we were stuck up on the balcony, which given I was using an 85mm as my longest lens at the time, was problematic. However, slightly more worrying was my delusional belief that “Katy Perry just looked at me!”. We men are idiots some times.

A week later I was down the Brudenell Social Club to photograph Noah and the Whale who would later that year go massive (biggest crowd at Green Man Festival I reckon). It’s not the easiest venue to photograph in, but almost always yields great photos. The atmosphere is always great and you are so close to the bands. Here’s a slightly dramatic, looming photo from pretty much directly beneath them.

It was around March I began assisting Clive Harris at PURE up in Pudsey. It took a long time to get studio work and I was very happy to finally get a “yes”. It’s a very different world in the studio, and I believe I am exponentially better for my time assisting.

I also appeared on an art gallery wall!

I immensely enjoyed spending some time with my good mate Alex Farrar and his work can be seen here. This piece was exhibited in Amsterdam and as I understand was used a lot to promote the show in the press.

April

I promised myself I wouldn’t sit around wasting my time watching daytime TV, yet working from home means you have to be firm and honest with yourself. However sneaking a bit of Scrubs in while photographically responding to it breaks no rules at all probably.

That said, being self employed does give you a unique opportunity to become attuned to the idiosyncrasies of your cat; notably her obsession with pens and sleeping in the laundry basket. I see you pen thief!!!

Later in the month I was given the opportunity to photograph Lykke Li working as a house photographer for The Cockpit. In so many fields, it pays to do your research, so imagine my surprise when the long haired blonde Lykke Li I was expecting to photograph had transformed herself into another person entirely. Actually she has made some very interesting comments on appearance and how it affects her work (RE: blokes being idiots AKA the Katy Perry incident) and so I can only imagine that played at least a part in this reinvention. It was a dark, atmospheric show, and she was fantastic to photograph.

This was a full on week. Next night I was over in Manchester to photograph two bands. Firstly, Rival Schools were back on tour for the first time in ages and the photo pit was absolutely packed. Given this was Academy 2, it was a bit of a nightmare as it’s very narrow down front.

After them it was a band I have wanted to see for years, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. TOD trivia, frontman Conrad Keely is one of the world’s leading figures on drawing with biros. Use that one down the pub. My sister once, by chance, spent the afternoon with the band (as it was a few years back) in Nottingham. Apparently they were really nice blokes. Good effort all round.

Night 3, Clare Maguire at The Cockpit. My gawd she’s got a voice on her. For some reason this night the lighting was absolutely killing my dynamic range at high ISOs. I don’t know if there is a new generation of LED based stage lighting but it was definately a prophetic shoot, because from here on in, this became a bit of a common issue. Anyway, this photo certainly doesn’t suffer from too much light. I like how it’s almost monochromatic, yet with a hit of red from the roses. It’s a bit Sin City-ish.

Two days later I was doing a very different gig in the form of Jamiroquai at the Manchester Evening News Arena. This was the first time I had shot here before and the production values were immense. Space cowboy indeed.

Then I met Matt Berry with my mate Ryan. I’m the brunette with facial hair.

Then some people got married and we all drank in the streets.

Finally for April I had the extremely busy Live at Leeds. I almost passed out twice. Anyway I took lots of photos of bands and the most popular photo I took was of some wrists. The devil’s in the detail eh.

May

To know Fire Poi is to know the smell of burnt hair. Good fun though with my mate Dale. Or Dalc if you’re picky…

Didn’t shoot loads of gigs in May but I was very excited to photograph Frank Turner. As mentioned earlier the Brudenell Social Club creates great atmosphere, and you just knew that Frank would get everyone going.

Sticking with the theme of small busy venues now. Here’s Guillemots playing the very unusual Manchester Deaf Institute during the Dot to Dot festival. What a brilliant little venue and what fitting avian themed wallpaper!

June

June was a big month for me. After months/years of planning and building my website and portfolio, I was accepted to be represented by Redferns music photography agency. They sent me on my first assignment as a test, which was the Parklife Weekender in Manchester. I stayed in a hilariously cavernous hotel room and learnt valuable lessons about how to turn your car into a kitchen/office/waiting room. Oh, and my my did it rain. Sometimes you’re just going to get wet.

July

July for me was all about one gig; The Flaming Lips at Jodrell Bank (enormous radio telescope). I was so excited to photograph a band who in pretty much every single way are photogenic. Maybe it was the adrenalin that music photography creates or the constant barrage of sensory inputs, but it was probably the closest I have come to some sort of religious experience. It could also have something to do with the blazing heat I spent all day running around in.

Anyway, the first song you had to shoot from the crowd, no worries. The second song was the time to get into the pit. The problem was, the gate was put in the wrong way round, so there was around 30 photographers all getting very worried/annoyed about missing all the action when the ballons are launched onto the crowd. I turned round and got one frame waiting to get in, and it was the first photo I had published in a national newspaper. Phew!

I was also very very lucky (depending on your viewpoint I suppose), to go to the British Grand Prix with my family. What a weekend that was, and what a shame about the rights going to Sky. Lewis Hamilton here in the McLaren that crucially had all it’s wheels on.

A week later I was off to shoot the supposedly little known Wu Lyf in a tunnel in Manchester as part of the International Festival. The lighting was dreadful, I had some difficulty with getting in too, but there was some interesting stuff going on in the space itself.

For now I won’t say too much about this one, put I’ll keep you posted.

August

I went on a barge holiday!

I was later off down to the Brecon Beacons in Wales to shoot Green Man Festival 2011, which is every single way was incredible. More than anything else I hope I can go and cover it next year again. I met some really great people too, which is nice because photography can be surprisingly lonely. Your brain doesn’t switch off, you carry gear around all over the place, you WILL take a photograph if you see it, you keep funny hours etc. My tent neighbours (that’ll do) keep a really good blog here.

So anyway, the festival was begun by “The Druids of Stonehenge”, which I think is what I will call my backing band should I ever be in the position where that is a pressing issue.

Family friendly festival but not in a sickly sweet way. I do like this shot. It reminds me of being a kid and finding everything interesting.

Finally, a bit of photography folklore. Sometimes, you will struggle to get a decent photo of a band. Usually this is down to lighting and beyond some rather inventive solutions involving radio flash triggers and a mate in the crowd with a speedlite, there’s not much you can do about it. Ok, that’s life and you have to roll with the punches. When a picture editor from a magazine gets in touch however and asks you to shoot said poorly lit band, you’re in a bit of a pickle. But sometimes…if you are really, really lucky, someone in the crowd will take a photo moments before you, and the flash from their camera will provide a nice little bit of fill in light. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does…

I like to think that this was the universe rewarding me for lending people memory cards.

My photos from this weekend were the first I had used by NME and The Guardian which was incredibly exciting. January felt like a long time ago after this brilliant festival.

Finally for August I got myself up to Edinburgh for The Fringe! I’ve wanted to go for years and after watching Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story, I was fired up. There’s so many great photo opportunities and I was spending a week covering the work of 2FacedDanceCo. who were great performers but also the most welcoming and pleasant people I could have hoped to work with.

September

After the summer festival season September is again usually pretty quiet for gigs. The few I did shoot were all good uns though!

First off I had Beirut in Manchester and this was made interesting mainly for the prevalance of unusual (or put it this way, not guitars) instruments! This accordian let in just the slightest shaft of light.

I was then off to Kirkstall Abbey to shoot the first night of the Kaiser Cheifs gig. There was a brief shower earlier in the day so I hid under some trees to keep everything dry and watched the clouds roll in.

Finally I had my first ever gig (concert maybe more appropriate here) with The Unthanks and the Grimethorpe Colliery Brass Band in Leeds Town Hall. I was gutted to be up above them as being at the back of the building would have been the place to shoot this one from. Still though, an unusual event!

October

October was a mixed month. We went to visit my great auntie, who was not well. She had a fall and subsequently became ill in hospital. She has been quite different ever since, which is very sad to see. Although on this visit it was her birthday, so we took a cake and enjoyed our time together.

We then visited my Grandad, who had just turned 90. He is amazing.

I was then back to Manchester Apollo to shoot Bon Iver, it was a difficult gig to shoot, but I think it was at this gig where I realised I had progressed a fair bit in 2011. It was also the time I got my 5Dmkii, which has changed so much for me.

November

There are some bands you have to shoot, even if you think it might be a nightmare. The Fall definately came under this category. Mark E. Smith was absolutely wasted, but you can see how much the crowd are enjoying themselves.

Tax returns. My god they are awful. At least I get some “help” with mine.

I finally got myself over to The Hop in Wakefield to photograph Chris Wood, who was absolutely brilliant. What a top bloke and what great music. “I don’t care whatsoever if you sing along; but if you don’t, when you get home and stand in your kitchen making a cup of tea, you’ll wish that you did”. Cheers Chris!

Early in November I was also asked by another agency if I might be able to cover the burial of Sir Jimmy Savile. Admitedly I was hesitant at first. I had a feeling there might be a few pap types, and while I know at times it might seem like there is crossover in what I do, it is not a type of photography I am keen on. There can be a real pack mentality and people don’t conduct themselves with much dignity. It’s a real catch 22 as you have to get “the shot” but you should always be respectful of what is appropriate behaviour, in my opinion. Anyway, I went and did things how I wanted to. It was a really nice touch to see people wearing their Jim’ll Fix It medals. He did a lot of good. This day will be with me for many years.

December

I got a chance to shoot some more dance after enjoying Edinburgh so much. This time for The Art of Rolling, in York. It was a good night and fun to photograph, although exposure was tricky since the light was so strong.

After many attempts, I finally shot The Courteeners.

I was also lucky enough to see the rare Altocumulus Lenticularis clouds over Leeds. It bodes well that after 25 years you can be so amazed by a cloud that you have to drop everything to get a better look. Sometimes it’s good to place your shadow in the frame. A reminder that you were there experiencing things beyond the photograph you made.

I suppose I’ll end this with another photograph of something I had never seen before.

Wow that took ages. Not sure what I hope it was, for anyone who read that, but it was quite interesting for me hehe.