Brooklyn Beckham in the Pit …….

Whilst enjoying my coffee at my favourite café this morning I read an article (Daily Mail by the way) that was saying that Brooklyn Beckham is going to be shooting artists/bands from the pit area at V Festival next month. Fine, not a problem. But will he have to abide by all the same rules that the rest of us have to abide by? contracts?, first 3 songs?, no flash?, will he be able to sell them after? does he work for an agency?, will he be in the ‘scrum’ with the rest of us or will he have a minder or special access?

He is probably a really good photographer, has the best equipment that mum and dad can buy but so are many others out there who do not have the contacts that his family obviously does. But I would like to see him ‘go through the mill’ may be even use a different name to see if his photographs would sell over anybody else’s images, not just oh they are Beckham’s images we must buy/use them !!!!! If of course that is what happens, does it? I am guessing of course as I am not in that lofty world but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were the case. Level playing field and all that.

By the way if it were me and I could help my children out then I would do exactly the same as David and Victoria

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Lionel Ritchie Rocks All Night Long in Gloucester.

Sunday evening found me at Gloucester Rugby Club and the Lionel Ritchie concert. It was and he was absolutely awesome. The guy is so professional, so polished, I could not fault his performance one little bit. And even if he had made a mistake it would have been forgotten. Within seconds of him being on stage the audience were up out of their seats dancing. And of course I love Lionel Ritchie’s music ever since I first heard him in the Commodores back in the 70’s. Like I say an awesome performance.

Was there any down side. Well yes. Firstly the rain, it poured it down. So on some of the images it is not dust on the lens it is raining so hard it is captured on the image. Even that wasn’t so bad. The real downer was that all the photographers were walked off the premises once we had shot the first three songs. I would have loved to have stayed for all of the concert but the management would not let us. Why? Well at a previous L.R. concert (Cannock Chase I think) the photographers were allowed to stay. Unfortunately one idiot (and there is always one) went into the audience and continued to shoot. I wont go into what happened to him as it is not clear but the result was that management now walks photographers out the pit and out the venue. I can understand why and would do the same. It s just disappointing when you get idiot photographers who do not know how to behave ruin it for the rest of us.

That apart it was AWESOME

Fun at Café Art, Old Town Swindon

Well as I have said before my most favourite Café in the World (and I have been to a lot), is Café Art in Old Town, Swindon. I just love the staff there and they have all become good friends over the years.
So I had an impromptu photo shoot with them yesterday. They were so much fun to photograph. I also wanted to photograph the Café before it changes.

Go visit Café Art, you wont be disappointed.

Swindon Panto Snow White

Well over 5 different days and nights I had the pleasure of photographing the Swindon Panto Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs at The Wyvern Theatre. It was sooooooo much fun, the cast were just great. The Panto itself I never got tired of watching. I also did a couple of the promo shoots where Adam Woodyatt was at Regents Circus and Snow White was at OMG hairdressers to have her hair done.

I took several hundred images over the 4 days of shooting and this is just a very very small selection.

For me a fun Panto season in Swindon.

The 1975 perform at The Swindon Oasis in 2015

The Swindon Oasis was packed out within minutes of the doors opening for the concert of The 1975. Some people had been waiting since 8 in the morning to watch their favourite band.

Now I have to admit it is not my favourite type of music but they put on a very good performance which was quite impressive. The only thing that spoilt it was the group punch up that took place up stairs in the break. But hey ho, that’s rock and roll baby …..

Will Young at the Swindon Oasis 2015

Just catching up on my posts from late last year. It wasn’t that I was really busy I think it was more about I lost confidence. Not in my photographic ability, in fact I seem to be getting more and more praise for my work. I am loosing confidence in getting my images out there and more well known to a wider audience.

Photography is such a tough business. Very easy to get it wrong. Very hard to get it right. I do it because I love doing it and don’t do it for the praise or the money, but it is nice now and again when lady luck comes your way and something good happens. It isn’t all about hard work, sweat and tears.

Like all good artists, people will notice more of my work when I am dead than when I am alive !!!!!

Anyway, it is a new year, new things planned for this year so let us see what happens……

These images are from the Will Young and Lemar concert at the Oasis here in Swindon. I have met and photographed Lemar before in London and he is a really nice chap and I really like his music. Now Will Young was just great. I like his music anyway but I really really enjoyed his concert and I ended up staying for most of it which is unusual for me as I like to avoid the rush at the end plus I like to get the images processed and delivered quickly.

So for me a really enjoyable Will Young concert.

The Face of Remembrance Day in Swindon 2015

Today was Remembrance Day in Swindon. I was there as usual and true to (my) form I have recorded some of the faces of Remembrance in Swindon. They are all locals and that includes Robert Buckland Conservative MP for Swindon South and Solicitor General for England and Wales. Along with Justin Tomlinson, Conservative MP for Swindon North and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Disabled People.

I had a number of interesting discussions some of which centred around the fact that quite a few of the RBL standard bearers are getting older and wont be able to carry them for much longer there are not many younger people joining and willing to carry the standard at all of these type of events. Despite there being a very large contingent of Army, Army Reservists, Cadets from all three branches of the services not many of them are joining the RBL.

After saying that I am sure this event will continue for many years to come.

James Bay performs at sell out concert at The Oasis Swindon

Last night James Bay played a concert at The Oasis in Swindon. It was excellent. He sounded exactly the same live as he does on cd/radio etc. really good quality. The lighting was also really good (although as usual first three were not as good as the rest of the lighting show). The Oasis was absolutely full with all tickets sold and James Bay worked the crowd like a seasoned pro.

All in all an excellent gig.

The Demolition Crew in Swindon

Some of you may be aware that for the last several weeks I have been photographing the demolition of the Carfax Car Park here in Swindon. It is a long term project to photograph Swindon as it is changing and it is changing quite quickly at the moment.

Now it took me a while to get permission and I have done all the relevant HSE courses etc got my own safety gear and only go where I am allowed. I have t say I am so grateful to Lawsons and SCS for allowing me to do this. The intention is to either publish or have an exhibition but that is some way off at the moment. I am also getting to know the crew really well and they are a really nice bunch of guys. These are just a few of them. I just thought I would put a few of them up on here. There will be more to come as I get more and more access to them actually working etc. I have some several hundred of images of the demolition and I want to make a considered selection before putting any up on line.

Hope you like so far.

AJ and The Tribe play at Reggae Garden Swindon Music Festival

AJ and The Tribe played at The Reggae Garden Swindon Saturday 12th September.