Double Edged Sword

I've recently been asked to shoot some portraits for friends, which is a double edged sword. On the one hand it's a chance to try new techniques without the pressure of fulfilling a brief, but on the other, there's almost more pressure to produce results they're happy with!
The top portrait is Deborah Burke, who is one of the geniuses (or genuii?) behind the Lost Vagueness and Shangri-La fields at Glastonbury. Taken at her studio, using a ring-flash adaptor and 50mm lens.
Jenny Kong, is an up-and-coming film director, and this shot was for her press pack to promote her first short film. Lit using one 35mm flash-gun, on a stand to the side.
Of course, it helps that they're both lookers to begin with!

Only 141 shopping days left to go..

Santa returned from his Summer holiday even earlier this year to open Harrods' Christmas Department.
Now I know there are some efficiently organised people out there, but 141 days before Christmas?
Bah humbug!

Ford Fiesta - Love Factory

I know us photographers get pigeonholed quite narrowly, but I'm in danger of becoming the 'guy with a good head for heights:
Hot on the heels of my scaffold clambering, and entirely unrelated, I was booked to do a shoot of the Ford Fiesta factory in Cologne, Germany - part of which was being wrapped to rebrand it as 'the Love Factory' to celebrate the latest Fiesta launch. The part of the factory that was being wrapped faced the Rhine, and the only way to get a clear shot of it was from the air.
Cue helicopter, with the side door taken off.
I was more excited than nervous, even when we were airborne. I was pretty well strapped in, but when my foot strayed out of the open side it was whipped away by the wind with such force that I made a mental note not to lean out too much. To be honest I was busy concentrating on doing the job properly and overcoming the technical problems of focusing/framing whilst moving, and counteracting the vibrations of the helicopter - not to mention trying to avoid dropping anything out of the door!
Back on the ground, we had Ford's own Fire Brigade (dedicated just to the factory) help us get some closer shots, using their ladder truck. Another opportunity to dangle around in mid-air, AND I got to wear a fireman's belt - with axe and everything! (It's true about us boys never growing up).

One of the things I love about this job is the opportunities it gives me to go places and do things I otherwise might never get the chance to. So, thanks to Clive at Cake for letting me tick off 'helicopter' and 'fire engine' from my list of things to do before I die.
In one day he's made two of my boyhood dreams come true. Cheers.

Glasto 2008

It looked like it wasn't going to be a good year for Glastonbury....




...but then the sun came out, Jay Z kicked ass, and I spent the night pillow fighting with midgets, watching the sun rise from the Stone Circle then dancing with transvestites in a replica New York gay bar!
I found this couple curled up asleep in a giant birds nest as I made my way back to my tent in the morning.
'Till next year then...

Walthamstow Dog Stadium..

... is closing after 75 years.
You've got until August to experience a night at the country's best Greyhound racing stadium, complete with it's iconic 1930's architecture. And with minimum bets of 20p, you can't really go wrong.
I'm trying to document a bit of this local history before it disappears, so let's all see it off with a last Hurrah!

I'm on top of the World, Ma!

This was the best job I've had in ages. I'd been asked to photograph the refurbishment work being carried out on a central London building. After my H&S briefing, and donning my hard-hat, boots etc, I was given free reign over all the scaffolding to get the angles I needed. It was like a giant climbing frame for grown-ups! Brilliant! I realised how high I was when I looked across and saw a crane driver snoozing in his cab below me.

Here's my first attempt at a 360' panoramic shot, a view of London from the building's rooftop helicopter pad!

Isle of Wight festival

I was working for Carling at the Isle of Wight festival. Unfortunately, my brief there didn't require me to cover the stages so I had no press access. The Carling area, which was outside the main arena, closed between 5-10pm each night, so I thought I'd be able to relax and enjoy a festival as a punter for a change.
But I came to realise that I'm not very good at separating work from pleasure when I've got a camera in my hand. I found it really frustrating watching bands and not being able to photograph them. Maybe it was compounded by the fact that there wasn't anyone on the line-up (Sex Pistols excepted) I really wanted to take time out and see.
The pics above are of The Wombats, who played a secret gig for competition winners in the back of a Carling articulated freezer truck! And John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols - taken on a 300mm ƒ2.8 lens from the middle of a heaving mosh pit!

Cannes 2008

A good year for Cannes. It seemed less hectic than previous years, but had a good turn out of big names: Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Dennis Hopper, Madonna, Sharon Stone, Robert De Niro ....
Angelina was promoting three films there. I never thought I'd get to the point where we'd be saying 'all right Angelina, we've done you, now move along please.'

The Beard is back!

When applying for my Cannes pass, I sent in the profile pic above - just to see if they'd use it. They did, so I felt obliged to resurrect 'the Pugilist', on the grounds that I might not get in if I didn't look like my pass.
Quenten Tarantino was so impressed he came and sat with me (and a few friends) for a picture!

Ballroom Blitz

What a great party theme! A 1940's Blitz Ballroom party, in aid of V Involved - a charity encouraging youth volunteer projects.
I'm a fan of that era's look anyway, and with a cool line-up of bands, including one of my current favourites The Enemy, it almost didn't feel like work. Almost.

St. George's Day

Why is it this country is almost embarrassed to be patriotic? This picture was of a stunt by Umbro to hang their England football shirts out in Carnaby Street as bunting for St. George's day.
When I checked the next day's papers (on St. George's Day) I was amazed by the almost total lack of coverage for what is supposed to be our National day. Personally I'm in favour of any excuse for a celebration, so feel sad for our country that it's an opportunity missed. Come on England, let's celebrate St. George's day - maybe then I'll get a picture used...

Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis was in town to promote his paintings.
He's still got the humour, charm and an eye for the ladies.
And, yes, he did shag Marilyn while filming 'Some Like It Hot'.
Hats off to you, Tony.

The Wonder that is Terminal 5

Two weeks before Heathrow Terminal 5 was due to be opened, I was booked to photograph Penny Lancaster there, as the 'face of World Duty Free'.
I couldn't take an assistant on the day because they couldn't get clearance in time, so I lugged all my cameras, lights, stands etc from pillar to post while we checked in with site security, then terminal security and finally departures security. Even though the terminal wasn't open, we had to go through the scanners as if were flying - and of course all the equipment had to be unpacked and checked.
Finally, we got to the duty free concourse where the shoot was taking place - only to find that there were no publicly accessible power points! Doh!
Bearing in mind that Penny is a photographer herself, I must have looked really professional setting up my little AA battery powered 35mm flash-gun on a stand, and having to wait in between shots for the batteries to re-charge!
But that's part of the challenge, being able to think on your feet and make the best of a given situation. I think I got away with it. Just.

Early start

This was a 'living billboard' on the A4 in Hammersmith, where morning commuters were entertained by people acting out topical questions - in this case "Are foreign footballers the most exciting in the Premiership?"
In order to get there in time for the rush hour, and early enough to balance the light before it got too bright outside, I had to get up at 5am for 3 days. Thanks chaps.

Fashion Week

I don't get to do much at Fashion week any more (I used to cover it for a Japanese mag called Spur, which was the cause of much embarrassment when I was regularly misquoted as working for 'Sperm Magazine').
This was a different take on the catwalk, where a model appeared in near darkness and a dress was drawn on her in lasers. There was a whole list of technical problems: the distance from photographers to model, the pitch darkness, and that the laser design was being drawn incrementally, i.e. not all at once. So, even after handholding my long lens on a slow shutter speed (to allow enough of the lasers to register), I still had to crop into the image and wrestle the contrast to bring it out. This was the best of a bad bunch, and while still a long way from technically perfect, there's something about it I like. I enjoy fashion week in the same way I like doing live music, in that it can be very hit and miss, but with good lighting and a bit of luck you can get some dramatic photos.

Berlinale Film Festival 2008

It's rare for Madonna to do photocalls, but this was her first outing as a film director (which was subsequently panned and then went straight to video). Nevertheless, it was a good opportunity to get a clear portrait. I was sat on the front row of the photographer's podium, right in front of her. I even wore a white shirt so I could shout 'look to the white shirt' at her to get an eyeline.
"Madonna, could you come over to your right a bit?"
"Madonna, could you step away from the wall a bit?"
"Madonna, could you look this way please?"
Each time I spoke she'd hear me, we'd make eye contact, and she'd do as I asked.

Then every time I put the camera to my eye, she looked away!
I've got a great set of Madonna looking up, down, left and right at all the other snappers sat around me - but not one clean 'down the barrel' shot.
That'll teach me to keep my big gob shut in future.

The Rolling Stones were there too, and true to form Keith was pie-eyed. That's not just group bonhomie in the picture, it's the rest of the band holding him up.

Harder than I thought

A large communications company was moving from it's hum-drum, industrial estate offices to some swanky new premises, and they wanted some before and after shots to highlight what an improvement their new offices would be. To this end, my brief was to make their current offices look as scruffy and unkempt as possible. This is the complete opposite to most of my jobs, where I spend all of my time making things look their best, and finding angles to avoid including distracting clutter (fire escape signs and red extinguishers constantly try to creep into my pictures, like some kind of fiendish Dr.Who baddies). Try it - taking a 'bad' picture is harder than you'd think.

Where's Wally?

I'm a bit humbug about the ever earlier start of Christmas festivities/marketing opportunities, in that I really believe Christmas shouldn't be mentioned until the 1st of December. Until the first door of your mouldy chocolate Woolworths advent calendar is opened, I don't want to know.
But the switching on of the Bond St Christmas lights is one of those annual jobs that mark out my year. They close off the street, pump out fake snow, and draft in loads of entertainers to create a proper festive atmosphere. It's almost enough to make me swallow my humbug for the evening.
It wasn't till I downloaded this picture from the camera that I noticed Santa and his Elf waving at me from the crowd.
Sarky git - he still hasn't brought me the Lone Ranger figure I've been asking for since I was 8!

Quick & dirty

I got a last-minute call from Maybach saying that Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis, from the TV programme Dragons’ Den, were having a meeting at the Grosvenor Hotel in London - could I pop down and do a quick profile photo of them with their cars?
As is often the case when dealing with high profile businessmen, I was warned I'd have a couple of minutes tops to do this in
(in my early days I once had to do a portrait of the head of Dixons DURING a board meeting, because he couldn't possibly spare a minute for me before or after. In my fluster, I forgot to load any film and started snapping away. I realised my mistake just as he motioned that he'd had enough of me. Mumbling something about having to change film from B&W to colour, I loaded a fresh cartridge into the empty camera and snapped 3 frames before he barked me out of the room. Luckily one frame was all they wanted, and I got away with it. Just.)
Anyway, while Theo and Peter were in their meeting I asked their drivers to put the cars into a V in front of the hotel. I knew direct flash would just reflect off the cars' bonnets and licence plates, so got my client to act as a mobile light stand, holding a remote flash up and off to my left. I metered the ambient light, setting it slightly under on my camera, and made a few test exposures for the flash.
When the boys came out to play I shot some variations on this theme, changing my angle of view and height - but, as briefed, was all done in under 2 minutes.

Just because

I went to Warsaw to shoot Soulwax/2ManyDJs. This pic was shot using a remote flash perched on the edge of the record decks.
I'm struggling to think of something clever to say about the trip, but can't because nothing particularly clever happened. I can't even say "I saw Warsaw", because I barely did.
The real reason I've posted is just to show this picture below, because it makes me smile.