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!

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.

Me & Yu - Summer 2011 Shoot

Following on from my shoot for Me&Yu in February. We decided another collaboration was in order. This time we were shooting their Summer collection, and so we needed a suitable bright, outdoor location to suit the vibes of the collection. Luckily, theres a wonderful area of greenery near where I live called 'Fletcher Moss Gardens'. If you live in South Manchester and haven't been, go and catch a chill on the next free, sunny day.




So, with the location sorted we needed a team. Luckily for me, the makeup artist from our first shoot, Bev Crawford (http://www.facebook.com/beverleycrawfordmakeup) was free, willing and more than able. I can't recommend her enough to anyone after make up for photoshoots, weddings or special events. Not only is she extremely talented at her calling, she is also brilliant to get on with and full of enthusiasm and ideas on a shoot- which is the ideal type of person to have around.

Styling duties were taken up by the good friend of Me&Yu Roxanne, who turned up with a big bag of clothes for us to play with. Finally the two lucky models were Elora B (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elora-B-Model/192234484147136), who's vibrant hair matched the plum and purple tones of some of the new garments perfectly, and Andrew, who some of you may recognise from my previous Me & Yu shoot.

So, onto the shoot, which mainly entailed running around a dry storm drain, playing with dandelions and the odd can of cider- not a bad way to spend a sunny afternoon! I was happy with the resulting shots and gave them all a warm, vintagey colour treatment, which I felt reflected the clothes and the summer theme of the shoot perfectly.

Beautiful Accidents

When I'm milling about in nightclubs, bothering punters and setting off incredibly bright flashes in the faces of the hard working DJs and MCs, I try and use a few different techniques of shooting. This inevitably leads to me taking the odd picture using the wrong settings on the camera (I know many of you thought of me as a photographic demigod who never makes a mistake, and I am sorry to shatter that image).

These pictures end up as indistiguishable trails of lights and colours, and there was a time where I would instantly delete such an image, disgusted by my own unprofessionalism. However I have now come to quite like these beautiful accidents- each one is unique and impossible to copy due to the way they were produced- and I've found a half decent use for them as desktop backgrounds.

I have now put these online on my website- free for anyone- feel free to download and use if you like any of them :) (links at the bottom, in the order they're displayed)

         

Download Links
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-10.jpg
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-11.jpg
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-12.jpg
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-13.jpg
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-14.jpg
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-15.jpg
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-16.jpg
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-17.jpg
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-18.jpg
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-19.jpg
http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/images/accidents-20.jpg

Cool Tee!

I'm really digging this new T-shirt from the great guys at Me & Yu. Neitzsche had some great quotes about music- this is very to-the-point, but my favourite is, "We hear music with our whole body, and we are within the music when we enjoy a great performance".

Either way- buy one of these- or something else from their store. Its all good stuff!

http://www.meandyu.com/

...and now for something completely different (1)

After shooting in clubs for about 2 1/2 years, its safe to say i have tried and taken, most of the styles of shots I can dream up. Theres only so many ways of shooting a person and 2 turntables (and about 1 way of shooting someone on a laptop, but don't get me started on them!). So I do try, when given an opportunity, to mix things up a bit with the processing/post production. At the very least somebody flicking through my albums may not get bored quite so soon...

With this in mind, I recently shot a Japanese fundraiser clubnight in Manchester- it was a very hastily arranged affair with some of the biggest DJs and Promoters banding together for the cause- and some 40 or 50 people wanting a go on the decks! I decided to shoot the night in black and white, but to also stick a large red circle over each picture, mimicking a japanese flag. I thought this would be a good idea to help raise more awareness and for anyone flicking through the pictures to have a constant reminder of the cause we were supporting.

The night raised the best part of £3000 for the Japanese Red Cross. A fantastic sum, and I have all the love in the world for those who came to support and help organise the event. x

Example Magazine

I have recently started writing and shooting for the Manchester based online magazine, Ex:Ample. We are aiming to force our way to the forefront of the Manchester and UK music scene, through quality reviews, features and photos!

Sounds like fun!

http://www.examplemagazine.com/

Heres my first article too..

http://examplemagazine.com/features/post/608/Drum-Clinic-1st-Birthday-@-Jabez-Clegg

Sub-Tech- Jabez Clegg- 23/2/11

Putting on a successful new night is difficult. Putting on a new night in a room the size of jabez clegg would be thought of as suicide by many a promoter. Still this was the challenge taken on by the Sub-Tech crew and boy did they rise to it.

Integral to any night- regardless of size and the acts playing- is the crowd and the atmosphere, and thats what Sub-Tech got right. Even thought the room wasn't full there was a great crowd and togetherness therein, united by a love of Drum & Bass, Dubstep and skanking to the wee small hours. The main room saw a jump up rinse out from Levela and Dub Zero going back to back tearing through tunes ranging from stonewall classics through to brand new dubs cut exclusively for the night. The headliners were ably backed up by local talent including Raasclarke and Yesi, going absolutely relentlessly all night, and showing the future is bright for our fair city.

 Room 2 for the night was, as is a staple of most dnb nights now, the '140 bpm zone' with sets filling the whole spectrum of the slower tempo played by Sub-Tech residents Dark Elixir, Totoro, Slim and others. This room had a good-size crowd all night, testament to the diversity in the 'Bass Music' we all know and love.

Sub Tech kept the energy levels high and the speakers loud from start to finish, and many established drum and bass nights could learn a thing or two from these guys. If I had one gripe it would be that, towards the end of the night, I couldn't see the DJs due to the swarm of MCs which had gathered on stage, vying for the mic. I can put this down to youthful enthusiasm and wanting to perform, which is nothing to complain of, but maybe two or three max at a time would've eased the overcrowding and allowed more DJ-crowd interaction.

I for one will be looking forwards to the next event to see where they take it from here. On chatting to the promoters, I can instantly see theres a hunger and ambition to suceed, which is vital. Add in bags of enthusiasm and a good solid fanbase and I can see big things coming, and deservedly so.