Not new but exclusive- Ellie Goulding and Chipmunk

Its been a while but time seems to be my most precious commodity these days so just gonna do a quick post here. At the start of June I shot Leeds University Summer Ball for Metropolis. Aside from the Metropolis tent, filled with tuxed up ravers, there was a large 'main tent' for the big live acts which were headlining, amongst these were Chipmunk and Ellie Goulding. Even though it wasn't in my remit I couldn't pass up a chance to shoot some big names like this, so I made sure my trusty 80-200 lens was in the bag and went for it.

These pics haven't seen the light of day yet- the keener eyed will have seen some on my website but they're nowhere near as spread all over Facebook as most of my work!

Giving a little back...

So a few weeks ago, my good friend Pip Rankin asked if I could help her out for a gig. It was a charity event for Banardos organised by the law firm Berrymans Lace Mawer. Unpaid but it was for chairty, I couldn't really say no!

So the pics are just for the organisers and their work and will probably never end up in the public domain, but I figure I should post a few here just for a record and to show that I do care (occasionally)!

Summer Shoot for Anisa. A Boutique

Short post here because I should be packing for going on holiday today, but I just wanted to get some of these pics out before I leave because I'm pretty happy with them!

We did this shoot for Anisa.A Boutique. Anisa's summer collection is looking fab and all items will be available to order very shortly. Our 2 model's Rio and Dela were superb. Styling was by Anisa herself, ably assisted by Amna & Ayra.

Special shout to the make up which was by Harry Jon and her stunning work here.



The locations we used were my friend's balcony in Manchester's Northern Quarter. Contrary to 360 days of the year we had some nice sunshine and even a bit of blue in the sky, which I was hoping for!


After the balcony, we went across town to Heaton Park. There are some lovely old buildings, grounds and views there and I gave these pics a more vintage look to reflect the mood of the surroundings.

KEEP IT BRIGHT- Dream Factory Shoot

So I haven't got much time to blog now- busy busy busy as always!

I did a shoot recently for Dream Factory- the clothing designed by all round superstar Zara Khalique check out her WEBSITE and buy it all, and then pay her double 'cause thats the least she deserves for being such an all round bundle of joy and creative genius.

We did the shoot with Rapper, Fallacy. He's from London but is a true adopted Mancunian now- but thats not really important. He makes wicked tunes and has loads more in the pipeline with his Sleeping Giants project (himself, Rodney P and Zed Bias- oh yes!). He's repped Zara's clothes for ages and loved the location.

We shot in Antwerp Mansion, in the study room. This awesome room is so full of cool old stuff it's pretty difficult to not come up with a good shoot idea in there. We set up a desk for Falz with old books records and speakers scattered around and snapped away!

Hip Hop at its best! The Science of Speech Tour

Manchester has seen a lot of great hip hop gigs recently, and many of my favourite MCs have rolled through our city. The crowning glory to this occured on Wednesday May 11th when the 'Science of Speech Tour' came to the Academy.

Originally billed as Black Star, De La Soul and Rakim- when I first read about this gig I couldn't believe it- unfortunately, on the night we discovered the De La Soul had been dropped from the bill. I was a bit gutted, but then I still got to see Rakim, Talib Kweli and Mos Def, so to complain would be a bit rich!

Local collective Murkage kicked things off, raising the energy levels from 0 to Party in a full on set. Although they have just started out I see a lot of promise in these guys- watch this space!

Rakim was next up, and, as expected, did not fail to deliver! Dropping classic hits, new material, a story about his boat trip to the UK and a huge crowd participation bit which overran his set (but no-one cared).

Finally, after what seemed like forever- the icing on the cake. I have seen both Mos Def & Talib Kweli separately but together they become an unstoppable force and a massive crowd pleaser. The way they bounce off each other is perfect and hearing all those collab tracks live was something special. We're even treated so a couple of solo efforts from both guys.

 This gig should have been attended by anyone with an interest in hip hop- a clear demonstration of what this genre is all about. The only downer was that it pointed out how much American hip hop has lost its way recently. I'm still praying for a return to form, but for now I'll stick with my old Mos, Kweli, The Roots & Common albums.

Check out more pictures & full review soon at Example Magazine

Super Saturday- Warpaint & Drum Clinic

Saturday 14th May was the climax of Manchester's FutureEverything festival, the final day, and also the day of the Festivals best gigs. Warpaint are a girl band (in the loosest use of the term) from L.A. who play ethereal, ambient indie rock. Highly recommended- just don't expect to be rocking out too hard to them!

After watching Warpaint bring the house down at the last live gig the Ritz will see all summer. I made my way over to Jabez Clegg for Drum Clinic & Selective Hearing, who had joined forces to put on a fantastic showcase of electronic music, featuring Martyn, Daedalus, Kyle Hall. To top this all off, room 2 featured a Planet Mu showcase featuring DJ Spinn & DJ Rashad.

 It was an awesome night played out to a packed Jabez and a fitting finish to the festival. Drum Clinic has been putting on some of the most forward thinking nights & line-ups this year and I'm hoping they get continued support because they really deserve it!

 

For more shots and a full review on FutureEverything festival, keep an eye on Example Magazine.

Unlucky for some? Das Racist & Just Skank w/ DMZ - 13/5/11

I'm not really one for superstition, in fact, I completely forgot about the unlucky connotations of the day the 13th May fell on, an it took until the following week for me to think back and decide that, I had an awesome Friday 13th!

I got to watch Das Racist at the Roadhouse- an American hip-hop collective who, through one Youtube video viral, have carved themselves a niche in the comedy-hip-hop market, which isn't easy to do well! They also had the inspired idea of playing their first UK gig in Manchester, so I could take pictures- nice one!

After the gig I rolled over to Moho's for another Just Skank epic. This time it was their 1st Birthday Bash and they pulled out all the stops- booking Mala & Coki, b2b for what seemed like forever.

With SGT Pokes rocking the mic, the DMZ crew were in full force and absolutely smashed it! The night was finished off by some other guy named Pinch- he's alright too (please read into the intended sarcasm there if you don't know Pinch- incredible artist & DJ!). Nice work and if thats what all Friday 13ths are like, I'll continue not to worry.







Das Racist played as part of Future Everything Festival- my full review of that, along with more shots from both these gigs, will be online soon on Example Magazine