I have just been talking to JimBob of Taint and we are leaving together on the train for Swansea next week on Friday, Saturday’s location for our bandshoot is a magical looking place, called PENNARD CASTLE , have a look, I am well up 4 this…that is if the boys don’t get too hammered the night before… 
Tonight I am shooting Akira The Don @ 93 Feet East.
I arrive just before 8 pm to catch a few bits of Alice Mclaughlin’s soundcheck. I introduce myself shortly after to her and her manager/mom/companion/wotever….and ask if I can shoot a quick portrait after the show, this suprises them a tad as they would expect to do this beforehand, but they agree somewhat reluctantly, but being it all nice, goody and acoustic I thought I’d rather get a bit more character in the shot and do it after the gig.
Then they ask about flash, to which I reply I bounce it off the ceiling, so she doesn’t get blitzed directlky in her eyes, which is understandeable and I am being considerate here.
I am then being told that there is another photographer, my body language being “so….”, and am told that I can only shoot the first two songs.
Now we are not in Earls Court 2 here shooting in front of 50.ooo people, nope we are in the basement of a little club with about 25 people watching, and instead of giving it real large and telling her manager/mom/companion/wotever off for being a complete TWIT who doesn’t have a clue what she is doing, I sit down # The Trobadour and have half a pint (@ £2.50 with way too much foam on top, this would even put Dutch bartenders to shame) and slowly contemplate what just happened, and am thinking WTF am I actually doing here………………..I completely lose my urge to even make one shot.
I pack my bag and leave, I have shot a lot of bands/performers since 1982, but NEVER encountered anything like this.
Oh well there’s a first for everything……………………..
Shooting Alice Mclaughlin tonight at The Troubadour in Earls Crt, then Akira the Don tomorrow in Shoreditch, then Thursday in Kings X 2 bands and Fri. the Mexicolas in the Dublin Castle, which is sold out…..should be fun.
Photoshopped a few shots of Leah, and replaced them on my post below, but not on the gallery….the new ones look loads better.
Gonna go into town today and try to snag a few of Brian Haw if he’s around, been editing more pix of the Aussie hair care event and also put a gallery with Leah Wood’s pix up.
LEAH WOOD
I worked a few hours in the afternoon with Lorn Money @ ADC and then went of to the Commonwealth Club next to Trafalgar Sq. on Northumberland Ave. where a party for Aussie Hair Care was held. 125 Glamour readers who won a competition were invited and could bring a a m8 and celebrate and watch Leah Wood, DJ Nikki and Artful Dodger perform. Besides that there were some celebs such as Dyce, Jayne Middlemiss, Liberty-X, Emma Griffiths and a few others hung about…….
The guests were pampered left right and center and indulged heavily in the free booze. It was full on photography-wise, too full on if ya ask me as my batteries of my main camera were completely drained mid-way through as I had to shoot way too many pix in a very short time (I shot 80 odd couples in front of a AHC board). Nevertheless I managed to get through it all. The pix have been sent to various press outlets nationwide, so I think they will show up here and there…..
Here are some personal faves…..
Been slouching all day, sleep and such, started watching Sopranos series I again (boy do they look young) and also saw Children Of Men, which was ok, I hope the world will never becomes like this coz I’d rather not be around if ya catch my drift.
I am doing my taxes this weekend, as they should be sent of in the next day or so otherwise it’s fine time And I am also planning a trip to Holland, gotta see me mom asap been way too long.
Then I am also getting a load of prints done for my folio as it’s shop around time, and then there is the personal promo thing thru the AOP gallery as well. Doing a gig at the end of this week and the week after it’s of to Swansea to shoot Taint.
The snow lasted about 2 hours, so by the time I picked up my battery pack it had already gone, so much for that then. I will shoot Brian Haw tonight instead as I will be in the westend, and maybe also on Friday when I am on a break from the Aussie Hair event which is just around the corner from him anyways.
Last night Terri and I popped ’round a Scottish widows calendar exhibition, shot by David Boni. In general it was decent stuff to look at (loved the landscap aspect of it), but the relationship between the model and the background could have been done a whole lot better photoshop wise. There were only two shots IMHO that matched properly (the lighthouse and the cornfields shots), it just didn’t look right with the others. On the web when you see his stuff this is hard to notice but on large prints it simply shows.
More paperwork and prep. today.
ugh…..normally I don’t give a damn, but one tiny flock of snow and traffic will be murder in the capital….
I am picking up my battery pack from Parcel Force and then it is straight of to shoot Brian Haw as I do not have any snow pix, and also gonna shoot his display @ Tate Britain.
I saw two flicks yesterday and the day before, first was Babel, which was excellent, the director of Amores Perros did this and I must say it kept me on the edge of my sofa.
Last night was Apocalyptica, and its way impressive too, especially the kack Mel Gibson has come up with the past ten years (Braveheart, The Patriot etc etc.). The plot is aryther simple, but the way it’s executed and filmed is great to watch, off course the ending is Hollywood, but hey you can’t have it all…..
I am working Friday eve at an event for Aussie Hair Care in SW1 (Commonwealth Club) where 125 winners are being indulged and there are a few celebs around as well. All this ought to be captured by me.
I may catch a few shots of Brian Haw tonight, as Peter Gallina loves it so much. I still have to see his stuff at Tate Britain, an artist whose name eludes me now has re-created his entire display which was confiscated 6/7 months ago and has displayed it @ The Tate.
I will go and see it over the next week or so. And take some shots just to add it to the Haw gallery. Which still needs to be created, I have simply way too many pix of him, and putting it chronologically in odrer is a right ‘mare, way too time consuming if ya ask me. But it shall be done, @ some point heh heh…..
Tomorrow eve it’s of to the AOP gallery and see an exhibition of Scottish Widows calendar shots.
The wedding of Jo and Bob Ellis was great fun, and well worth the trek out there in da hood (= Essex), they are of honeymooning in Cyprus later this week, enjoiiii guys.
I saw the doctor this morning as I had my left ring finger smashed by a tile which fell on it after the sucker which should have held it up let go of it….quite painful, as a matter of fact I can not remember I have been in such pain for the next hour or so, I had to sit down and chill as my head was spinning…..
The nail is black and will come off in some time, right now it looks like one of ET’s figers, I shall make some close-ups
The Capricorns page is up, not a bad beginning, hopefully will be able to add a shedload more on it later on this yr.
See links on the top right of this page.
I am working on a profile thingy about myself, for the AOP magazine, and I am having a hard time writing about myself, and trying not to stick too many feathers up my arse… Also one image which should represent me, which is even harder…I think I will pick the pearls shot of the Dream hotel shoot. Then I will have some space assigned in the AOP gallery as well, and then I will add some music shots… This will all be shown in Feb/March to clients/agents/fellow photographers, I will keep you posted.
I am shooting the Mexicolas on Feb 2nd @ The Dublin Castle, been quite a few years since I have been there, must have been Jason Kelly’s band Kealer in 2000, fuck knows what he is up to these days….
Also trying to snag some more bands thru Curious Generation these coming weeks
It’s like I have not stopped since returning from Italy. Thursday eve saw a a gig at the Luminaire in Kilburn where Paloma Faith and Joanna and the Wolf played. Both bands were well impressive and good entertainment, both visually and musically. Some nice shots.
Firday I went to meet up with Nick Jones to take pix of his work in Paddington and Camberwell, one location a 5 story Georgian House, in Italian/Roman style was just awesome, a great location to do fashion shoot in
Today attending a wedding in Essex, and tomorrow I have to work on a shot for the AOP magazine and do some sort of bio thingy….
Did not get back till 3 am this morning, but got up at 7 again to work on the specsavers shots, so many pix to work on and get the galleries up this morning.
Sunday morning arrived just before 10 am back at the hotel to greet Terri and leave for Montecatini Alto, it was a nightmare to get out of Pisa as many services were reduced to almost zero…. By about 3 pm we finally manage to get there, a trainride of only about 30 odd miles, sadly a lot of low cloudcover and as we are up in the mountains it is very misty. Nice place tho, must be well touristy in the summer with its tiny picturesque square and few restaurants. We go inside its church where I decide to light a candle for my dad, trust me I don’t believe in anything of all this christian yahda yahda, but as the 1st anni of my dad’s death is coming up (some point next week me thinks) I thought it would be a nice gesture. The same goes for the fact that Terri and I visit all the churches and cathedrals, as we are interested in its art not the religion; and it is quiet as well.
The next day we are of again, this time to the cool town of Luca, where all the action is inside its fortified walls, nice shops and restaurants, the people are very friendly too. We take quite a few shots. The trainride to Viareggio (a posh coastal town) is about 30 mins, I see a derelict building and manage to get a shot in, I am suprised by its quality.
The beach is sandy and the marina is not far away, this place must be heaving with touristic maggots, they are not there in Januari. I manage to snag a nice sunset. Monday we spend all day in pisa, first we visit the tower which is overpriced and the climb is nothing compared to the climb we did in Firenze on Friday, although still 300 steps but nearly not as steep, the view over the rooftops is nice, but it is wet and one has to be careful not to slip on the marble. Straight after we get inside the duomo which is free (the entrance to the tower was 10 quid, which is rather expensive as most things cost anywhere between 2/5 quid) and very impressive. Baptistry which is a stonethrow opposite is interesting too, but we finsih there rather quickly.
The cemetary makes up for that, a wealth of artifacts from 2/3/4 AD, beatifully carved and a joy to look at. Sadly about a third is cordoned off for restoration works.
After lunch we get into shopping mode, I buy Terri a nice red Furla bag amd she buys me black Puma trainers and herself some really high boots (both a bargain). After all that we head for some drinks and then of to the Grotto restaurnat where we ate the night before as well where theys erve some good Tuscan nosh. Still Sa Stanzina behind our hotel was unforgettable, awesome food.
Pisa is a great town, it desrves more than just a daytrip, some great places for food and drinka nd the locals are very friendly they try to accomodate you and throw in a few words of English if the Italian isn’t working out too perfectly
I had given the gig the night before a miss, I had to do way too much to get ready foor a 3am wake-up and trek to Stansted.
Terri and I arrive in Pisa at roughly 10am and the weather is pretty good (dry but grey) compared to when we left coz it was hella windy and rainy. The temp is also 5/6 degrees celsius higher than overhere. Pisa is small but very much to our liking, we get to our hotel to drop our bags, freshen up and go for a coffee and then it’s check out the leaning tower time. Terri: “is that it???” and yeah that is what I was thinking coz the thing is tiny, then again the center of Pisa can be walked through in roughly 20 minutes.
In the evening we go to a winebar and down a few glasses, afterwards we go to a place which is more frequented by students and the wine (local) is much better to our liking.
Friday we grab the train to Firenze and it’s sunny and 17 degrees, so we have to open our coats simply as it is just too hot. I buy a pair of sunglasses as they are needed for a ‘bella figura’, I find Firenze a tad too busy but the artworks and the churches, cathedrals and chapels are absolutely stunning, they say you need three days to actually see it all and I believe it.
We stroll over Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge not destroyed by the Germans at the end of WW2, after Peter Gallina advised us so. I thought it was ok, the view from the tower (414 steps) was way more impressive and so was the art at Palazzo Vechio, total overkill on sculputures and paintings. The ceilings were in a league of their own.
I am here to do a job for specsavers tonight and then it is of to Pisa tomorrow morning again to celebrate Terri’s birtday, we are of to Montecatani di Terme for a Tuscan mountain view, and Monday it’s of to Lucca and Viareggio (a posh coastal place). Tuesday we intend to really explore Pisa and go up in the leaning tower.
Last night I was at Spitz at an Oxfam charity gig where three acts were playing, I missed the first one as I was having a chat and a pint with the Fuckshovel boys in The Lark In the Park (on Copenhagen St. which is not very well lit and mega dodgy) , I thought their show was starting at 8, but they were not on until after 9 and sadly had to give their gig a miss. Going to shoot them proper when I arrive back from Italia.
I managed to snag a bus that took me straight to Liverpool St. station and from there I wandered to the Spitz bar. Never been upstairs and must say, neat little venue.
Kaiko reminds me sometimes a bit of Keane, I thought their set started a little too soft for my liking but ended all the more impressive (that’s prolly coz the last two songs were meatier, the crowd sorta “agreed” with me as their approval was a lot louder than in the beginning). I took a quick bandshot in the corridor, there are a few good ones, I like the laughing one in b&w but the colour landscape one me likes too……
Barry O’Neill and the Library was different, yet all the more pleasant to listen to. A few decent shots as well.
I am going to another gig tonight at the Purple Turtle, shoot a few more bands.
I have to “play” plumber today as the cold water tap is busted, can’t say I am looking forward doing this stuff. Then it’s of to Kent to pick my prints up (part 1) of some of the model shoots I have done in Nov. and Dec. and then it’s more paperwork and such.
Bought a new camera and a battery pack today, needed a new bit of kit so to speak, as the old one just lagged too much for my liking.
It is the Nikon D-200, not as good as the D2X but it’ll do for now I try and take it with me to Pisa to shoot some landscapes and real life stuff to test it…..
Yesterday we had friends over for a Sunday roast, in my mind the best Terri has ever cooked, it was divine.. Ben Bruges and his missus Sally and junior Tom who terrorised da gaff properly (like all 2/3 yrs olds do…., they are so “cute” heh) And also Michael Czerwinski and his partner Giles showed up, had not seen them since our bar-b-q last summer, so was good to catch up. Michael works at the design museum now, and is setting up some projects where I may be getting involved a tad as well, we shall see.
The 7th bit of software finally managed to find everything and recover my most important files, what a relief.
Yesterday i had a quick meeting with Alicia Aimee who I will be planning things with come Feb., after that Terri and I went to Chinatown to have some grub, which was good (we went to Gerrard’s corner, a Time Out Mag. critics fave) and then we ended up in a bar near South Molton St. called Hush where make-up artists Shelly Manser-Cavanaugh held her 40th, the bar had a real nice setting and atmosphere it was only ’till later that the leery traders came out of the woodwork, I can’t stand wankers like that.
Today, chill, burn files of work on a few pix. Some shopping coz tomorrow we have friends over for Sunday roast.
The hdd is still f*cked, and it will be a few days before I consider formatting it, I keep using different tools, thing is because of it’s size it takes between 10/20 hrs for it to be scanned by the software…..
I am using the 4th programm now and have another one lined up. I had some sort of “success”, but everything came back named as “unknown” thousands of files named like that, which of course is no good to me. I have one major problem and that is that the bookkeeping files are on that drive and they have been backed up but not that recent….as that was my backup drive when I decided to format this internet/office computer earlier this week.
Yesterday had three meetings, the first one was with Alex Martin from Curious Generation, who I shall be working with over the next weeks/months and shoot a bunch of talented bands. Then I had a quick lunch with Olivia Ferrer @ The Blue Room on Bateman St. (my Soho office for the past 10 years ) who I gave a disc with some finished images of the faux couture shoot.
Then i went to Parliament square to have a quick chat with Brian Haw and take a few snaps, the light weren’t that great to be honest. Barbara Tucker arrived as well (fresh from court), they have been trying very hard to get rid of her, and they simply can’t…….
My last meeting was with James “JimBob” Isaac from Taint, he practically lives right on top of Old St. roundabout. Had a few coffees and a nice chat for about an hour and a half after which he had to go and get a new tattoo done. I saw his new lyrics penned against the wall and took a quick shot. I may jump on the train with him on the 9th of feb and cover Taint when they play Swansea and do some bandshots the next morning, somewhere out in da country……
The recovery software did not work sofar, the filestructure is damaged and I wish to be able to go in and selectively recover. I could easily turn on a recovery programm, the problem is I have 320GB of stuff on that box…and my normal hdd do not have that kind of space free. That is why I bought the damn remote storage box in the 1st place…..
I have found a proggie called file scavenger, I will find out later this afternoon whether it finds things…….this looks a lot more promising than the one I used yesterday.
Today it’s meetings; Alex from Curious generation, then Olivia Ferrer and later on JimBob from Taint. In between I will try and shoot some of Brian Haw and tomorrow maybe as well as I have another meeting lined up.
I formatted one pc and transfered all the files over to my remote HDD (which is 500 GB big). I then had a crash with my photo pc yesterday and did not think much of it. This morning i managed to change the bios settings and get the box working again…only thing is I found out that the entire file system had been wiped, 320GB of it. Pictures, music and my files from the formatted pc……
The road to recovery with some tools will take like 20 hours before I even know whether the file system is made intact again otherwise format and start again……..the loss will be huge…….
Thank fuck I always burn my pix of immediately, so I have two backups……this just shows why one has to do this. Still a lot of music wasn’t burned off.
I am working on legal stuff today, paperwork and filling in forms and such for an up and coming courtcase and also the onbudsman for PPI on Credit cards / loan this concerns a few grand’s worth of wasted money I want to have back from 4 different companies, I received some funds back in Oct. but the other companies hold tight onto their money…..so hopefully the onbudsman will take care of it.
Tomorrow I am of to town for meetings and pix of Brian Haw………..
I sit up straight in bed at 3:40 am, normally that time is saved for jetlag but I had this strange dream that David Caggiari had parted ways with his mgt., ahhhh if only…….. 
I have sent him a happy NY message, it felt like the thing to do.
Nevertheless could not get back to sleep so went behind pc and started to fire of 20 odd emails to people I had not corresponded with in ages and during the day I managed to get quite a few replies, Evan Hurd (photographer from L.A. who I know from the Milano days) called me. Hung on the phone for a while and discussed all kinds of aspects of photography and the biz, stangely enough this is not something I do normally, photographic shoptalk that is.
I have not seen him for more than 10 years…….
His website is HERE
I finished working on the Faux Couture pix for the crew members and will see them later this week. Also a few more meetings lined up in the westend, and therefor shall be shooting some of Brian Haw then as well.
Oh yeah, I upped the Capricorns stuff, what I have sofarthe logo needs amending…..it’s here: CAPRICORNS
Another notch on da post so to speak…
Terri and I had a few drinks at the Defoe, it was really civilized, the pub was crowded but not mega bizzy…..and we stayed till about 1 am and then started the new year with a big BANG
MNore clearing up2do, I also tried to upload more pix to archive but for some reason something is not working right so i will have to wait till that is fixed.
I will format this pc instead.
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