And it was on that big screen on the Graham Norton show, uh huh. Yup.
RB and UB in JA
Bit of a contrast to last time I was in JA shooting the old school of reggae greats, those remaining dons that pretty much invented the sound. Nice to be back though, especially when shooting the fastest man to ever have walked the planet.
Usain Bolt (plus beard) for Virgin Media
An incredible opportunity to head to Jamaica and shoot stills of Usain Bolt filming an ad for Virgin Media, with Sir Richard Branson in a supporting role. Haven't seen the final cut yet but the shoot was really funny and a really enjoyable experience (not always the case when shooting stills on video shoots) and almost needless to say, Usain is the coolest man on a very cool island. And he rides around on a quad bike.
Rumer in Mojo
Grabbed from the side of the stage, I shot this through what felt like a letterbox in amongst the rigging and all sorts. No pit access required an increase in creative shooting which turned out to be no bad thing - once extra access had been gained of course. Lovely usage in Mojo, a handsome spread indeed.
Speech Debelle LP no.2 cometh forthwith
4 set ups in 30 mins. Blazing into 2012 with a scorching shoot rate, yeah. Some of them looked pretty nice too, pheweeeee. All the everything on Speech here, welcome back.
Spector look cool, huh.
Forgot to mention where to view the new mag if you can't get your mitts on one of the multi-covered hardcopy gems - right here. Listen to this while you're at it maybe, by contrast.
So the bloody brilliant Fly magazine has properly pushed the boat out with 6 different covers this month. I shot them (I'm delighted to say) and they introduce some great new acts to the year. Good luck all of 'em, because we had a great time shooting and once again - how we did this from concept to delivery date I don't know. The design looks great but I thought I'd show you either cover or feature favourites. Went for a desat, crunched look on different colours so they looked individual but of a sequence too. Beauty dish and Octa fill. Thanks to Tom Bunning for doggedly seeing it through, cheers mate. Also shot 5 features this issue too, so a poor neglected household was mine in December. Me me me. Zulu Winter herebtw, cool guys and smart too.
Zulu Winter nestle among the 6 covers for January Fly 2012
Shot in the courtyard and not at Shoreditch Studios unfortunately, so we froze together and loved together in the barren wastelands of East London. Future snappers of Outfit - they will do anything you want. I wanted something fairly straight and direct to introduce these chaps but acrobatics and man love are all achievable. I'll show you sometime. Anyway, here'sOutfit's vid.
Outfit for the cup! Fly 2012
Tribes are there too
Bless their ruff n'tumble ways. They had just won an award AND it was Friday afternoon so chances were good that they'd pretty up for a shoot. And they were, a bit too much at times. There were many other shots but the actual, usable, appropriate frames where everyone was doing something co-ordinated, focussed and suitable were few. But that's fine. Tribes, if you didn't already know.
Django Django for Fly (x6)
Probably bad to have a favourite but they were mine. Great fun at Shoreditch Studios with this bunch, happy to get behind a simple idea and make it work in their way. Tommy (bottom left) is one of those guys that makes me laugh whether he means to or not. Sorry Tommy.More here.
John McCririck, post-makeover...
Well played John.
Lucy Rose for The Fly 6x covers
Lucy Rose graces The Fly's inaugural multi-cover issue. Her first cover but there will be more and she's a worthy songstress oh yes: http://www.lucyrosemusic.co.uk/
John McCririck, the old fashioned way...
Wonderfully fun studio shoot with John McCririck. Obviously he's a great character but also a proper pro - shooting stills is a very speedy process when compared with TV work, so I relied on Tom Andrew's lighting skills to ensure a slick process then got John in to do his thing in about 4 minutes and 30 frames. He made it very easy, both before the makeover and after... More info here, race fans: http://www.lovetheraces.com/
Howler for The Fly, January 2012
Man I love shooting Americans. Mostly because they often know how to add a sprinkling of professionalism and 'look' to a shoot, not that the others didn't, Howler... just... did? They sound great too. Destined for good things I bloody hope. Listen you.
3rd album's a belter. All your info here. They also have covered 'I am a cider drinker' by The Wurzels. Noteworthy.
British Sea Power for The Fly
Smashing it at the O2. It was atmospheric.
Maxi Jazz in full flow
Thank you 2011
So it's been quite a year. Loads of memorable stuff and some whoppers at the end of the year too - just back from a great shoot in Jamaica and we're also doing 6 covers for The Fly's January issue (shooting that has been quite a challenge I assure you). Can't release any of this yet though so here's Jackson Browne for Mojo, from July this year, which though very low key was just a wonderfully pure moment with a name I've loved since I was a kid - big thanks to Tom Bunning there for his lightsmanship. Thanks to all of you for viewing my site this year - and of course your invaluable feedback which spurs me on no end. The very best of love and luck to you in 2012, cheers all.
Session Victims for Freerange Records 15th Birthday Party and forthcoming long player
The loveliest deepest most luxurious of sounds, if you like house anyway. Which I do.Freerange is here, many congrats on making it to 15 chaps, we love you.
Fun, cool guys and destined for greatness next year I hope. Here's a dodgy YouTube link to them on Later with Jools.
The Vaccines for The Fly
Photo galleries on the-fly.co.uk
Loads of my edits on the new Fly website, so if you're interested in what I send in to the mag - have a squizz here. Please ignore all the shit ones and dwell on the ones you like. Thanks.