June 7, 2011

Fusing the most powerful genre’s of extreme metal, DREAMCATCHER form an earth-shattering amalgamation of melodic, progressive and symphonic metal unlike anything ever heard before.

Playing together since early 2008, this northern british metal band has kept and cultivated a dedicated and commited fan base, and this is reflected in both their awe-inspiring stage presence and the fan reaction to everything released by them. Melding face melting guitar, ably played by dual guitar masters Alexei Green and Ben Scott, with soaring, power house vocals from commanding frontman Lukas Jackson and balancing everything with awe-inspiring keyboards performed by one of the few female instrumentalists in metal; Adele Pease, and a stomach shaking rhythm section delivered flawlessly by Ross Lavery and bassist; Matt Hudson, this sextet of metal possess a sound which is completely unique.

Catch Dreamcatcher here

May 24, 2011

Here’s another of Will looking mean and sharp in the studio!

March 30, 2011

Will dewsbury, what an amazing guitarist he is, finger picking – un-amped in my studio over my eclectic music, good on him. This one’s with the lensbaby. Nearly overlooked this shot due to it being out of the focal plane but it turns out that only his right eye seems at all sharp, which is good for a lens when you are that distance away.

February 4, 2011

What an amazing portrait this is that I found on Flickr. No it’s not one of mine. The woman here has her age exageratted but still appears dignified. Fantasticly lit.

December 20, 2010

Just been taking night shots in the streets of perth in temperatures of -9 but great fun, no PC up here so shots to come will be posted in the new year.

Had fun trying to balance the tungsten lit church with the blue of the night sky. Exposure challenges too with the snow on the ground, clouds in the sky and a moon that moves if exposure is more than 4 seconds. Was glad to capture the full moon in the streets but not the one shown to me by some drunken chav.

November 12, 2010

Got the pleasure of photographing Mark Pierce the other day, most of the time we seemed to be in a fit of giggles at the uncanny pieces of music blurting from my iPod playlist which seemed to either set the mood just right or highlight ironically some of the stuff we had been talking about earlier.

If you are a fan of James Blunt, James Morrison, or indeed any male solo artist with the name James then you are really missing something if you don’t have a listen to Mark’s latest tracks.
Pop on over here.

July 8, 2010

Now heres a photographer we should be watching out for, Rosie Hardy art/self portrait/fashion photographer from Derbyshire. She spoke most eloquently last night at Exposure Leeds to over 50 photographers from the Yorkshire region and she is just 19 having been doing photography for little over 2 years.

The amount of work she has already done is quite incredible but mostly in part to doing a 365 day self portraiture, she didn’t quite manage to doing a self portrait every day of the year without losing all of her hair. Each one is unique and conceptual. Perhaps dissecting herself in the art of self portraiture has not only made her extremely self aware but the examination of herself has made her an excellent photo retoucher and compositor even without using Photoshop but instead using the freely available Gimp software.

Her enthusiasm is really infectious and I don’t think she realises quite the impact she will make in the photographic world, but this is because so much of it is still new to her. She is inspiring of others but still inspired.

Check out Rosie hardy’s work here.

July 5, 2010

Ok peops, this doesn’t have much to do with photography, but thought I’d better spread the word about a fabulous ale i met at a beer tasting event at the City Inn Hotel in Leeds last week. Yes there was canapes, fruit cake and cheese served too and a thoroughly pleasant afternoon was had at an event that 30 people were registered and only 4 turned up. OK so thats more for us/me!

The ale in question is Ola Dubh – Gaelic for “black oil”. Harviestoun brewery had the insight, clout or money (call it what you will) to purchase many whisky casks used to ferment ‘Highland Park‘ Whisky which is sold for upwards of £190. Ola Dubh is brewed in said casks and as a result the taste is dark, chocolatey and menacing. It’s absolutely wonderful and I got a bottle to take home, I think it retails about £10. And no its only a 330ml bottle. It’s a taste left in your memory.

June 18, 2010

While on my trip to the states I really fell in love with the desert in the spring. Never realised that it has its own sense of space, peace, isolation amd smell, even when you just step out of the car and walk for about 30 seconds, the silence is deafening.

I especially loved Death Valley, the spring is such a fantastic time to go, the heat is not unbearable, in fact it was a pleasant surprise compared to the coldness, frost and snow experienced in Yosemite a few days before. In fact Yosemite is only about a 6 hour drive away – assuming the road is open due to snow on the high sierra pass right up to May or June. We had to go the long way round in April via Bakersfield and Barstow, looping south below the Sequoia National forset.

Somebody once described to me that Bakersfield and Barstow were the armpits of California, and although there may be less to do there than in some other Californian cities we noticed a strong sense of pride in these cities. The pavements were immaculately clean (unlike the UK) and the grass beautifully manicured.

Back to Death Valley, where from there you can find the lowest, the highest, the hottest and the driest. The view from Zabriskies peak is awesome and unbelievably accessible. You really get up close and personal and for photography, there isnt an essence of that UV haze that you get when photographing places like the Grand Canyon. Badwater basin is a must place to go to, the lowest place on the western hemisphere, you really must walk out onto the salt flats, which again are accessible from the road. Right near there is Artists drive, a spectacular explosion of colour amongst the rocks.

One of my regrets about the trip was not being able to shoot a band out in the desert, I think somebody would have really benefited.

Go on over to Flickr to view some of my shots in the states.

May 19, 2010

Its that time again when I say goodbye to a lovely studio mate, Bronia and look forward to a time when someone else can come and share the studio on Aire Street.

Anyone interested, then please get in touch, you will be surprised at how low the monthly outlay is when sharing it with 2 people, and yet you will be right by the train station, smack heart in the centre of Leeds. No timewasters though please, only genuine callers. Give me a call on 07710 055318 to come and visit the studio.