Shooting a singer / songwriter

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing up and coming singer / songwriter Danica Hunter.

We had a little adventure as we shot our way around some of the more grungy areas of Southampton, before ending the shoot at a hidden away bluebell field where my dog got in on the action for a couple of the shots.

Interesting fact about Danica...  She really, really doesn't like spiders!

Thanks for Karl for holding my big shiny silver thing, and Russ for not quite managing to kill us with his driving!  ;-)

I'm currently working on creating some packages for musician photoshoots & concert photos, but in the mean time if you know any musicians who might need some new photos, please ask them to take a look at my Shoot the Music website.

Kool & The Gang

Playing a longer set than the other bands after a 20 minute interval Kool & The Gang were the only complete band of the evening.  While their songs weren't my favourites, without question they put on the best show of the evening.  Brilliant performances from everyone.  The climax of which was having everyone back up on stage for the grande finale "Celebration".

Sister Sledge

Not really my cup of tea, but damn can these girls sing and dance.  Brilliant performance by the girls of Sister Sledge.

Howard Jones

Some days later and I've still got some of Howard Jones songs stuck in my head.  Damn you Howard!

ABC

Singing the hit songs, All of my Heart, Poison Arrow and The Look of Love, Martin Fry from 1980's group ABC was one of my favourites of the night.  Top singing, top 80's classics.

I was told on the night by one of the promoters that Martin wanted a new headshot from my photos on the night.  Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but it was certainly good motivation for me to try and get some good headshots for him on the night.

Go West

The third of seven 80's bands on the night was Go West.  I didn't notice it at the time, but singer Peter Cox puts so much effort into his singing, really makes for great images.

Four more bands to come over the next couple of days, ABC, Howard Jones, Sister Sledge and the finale Kool & The Gang.

The Christians

A couple of photos of Garry Christian from The Christians set at the 80's Rewind concert at the Bournemouth BIC.

T'Pau

On Thursday I had the privilege of photographing lots of 1980's pop legends, all under the same roof at the same time at the Bournemouth BIC.

I'll be sharing a few pictures a day of each of the acts, starting with the first group of the night, T'Pau.

I felt a connection with T'Pau because it was partly because of Carol Decker that I was there that evening.  I've been following her on Twitter for a little while now, and had seen her tweets about the 80's concerts she was involved with.  I sent her an @message asking who I should contact for a photo pass, she replied, and the rest is history.

Come back over the next 6 days for photos from The Christians, Go West, Howard Jones, ABC, Sister Sledge & Kool and the Gang.

Update:  T'Pau played, "Sex Talk", "Heart and Soul" and of course "China In Your Hand".

King Crooner

The photo of the day today is from a party I was working at.

I met Lucien De Laloi at a couple of events I was photographing at the Royal Southampton Yacht Club over the festive period.

During the first even I wasn't able to see him perform but I remember commenting upon hearing his music and singing in the distance that it was so good I thought they were playing a CD.

Now the Las Vegas, big band style jazz oldies isn't really the type of music I'd normally listen to, but Lucien is a master of his craft and during the New Years Eve party I got to see him perform.  One word, "brilliant".  If I ever get married, I'm booking Lucien for the entertainment.

You can find out more about Lucien and his music at www.kingcrooner.com.   He has a few sample tracks there, take a listen and book him for your event!

The legend that is Rolf

Digging again through my archives I found these photographs I'd taken of living legend Rolf Harris when he played a gig at the Eastleigh Summer Festival back in 2003.   Concert photography is hard enough at the best of times, and its not made any easier when you're shooting from the back row of the audience, from the wrong angle, and still trying to get some good shots off.

It was the second time I'd seen Rolf in concert, the first being on the main Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury festival a couple of years earlier.  He was there with his didgeridoo and wobbleboard, singing all his old classics, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport", "Sun Arise", "Jake the Peg", "Fine Day", and "Two Little Boys".

He has a single out

One of my clients, as well as being a bit of an Excel geek, is also a musician.

Mr Ben Dalby has just released a new single called Doctor Can.

To find out more about Ben you can visit his Myspace page - www.myspace.com/bendalbymusic and you can listen to the ditty in question below....