That's not my name...

And lo, victory was mine.

Stress Ball

Apparently I'm incredibly stressed about tonight's Ladyhawke/Ting Tings show. My subconscious decided to tell me exactly what it thought last night in a dream involving a broken camera and being snubbed by all the other photographers! I think it comes down to seeing all the old hands in the pit last night at Katy Perry (which I could have had a pass for) with thousands of pounds worth of glass.

It also comes down to the old 'under-prepared for an exam' type feeling, which makes sense, given that there's so many variables over which you have no control - from lighting to distance of the artist, how much they move about, etc... If I had more kit (faster lenses, primarily) then I'd be less worried. I've got the coverage, range wise (pretty much 17-250mm in my bag which should cover it) but only one really fast lense (the f/1.8 50mm prime) with the others being much slower, albeit image stabilised.

Watch this space for whether my subconscious was right, I gues...

Nothing Ever Happens

So there are days when nothing much happens. And then there's today.

After three years of on-and-off looking for houses, we finally had an offer accepted on a four bedroom detached today. On at £55k below the initial asking price, and we managed to shave another £13k off that, making for £68k less than the initial ask. The downside is we won't be in until July as the family is emigrating to Canada, eh, but the upside is that we get some time to prepare.

Call from the photo agency this afternoon - got accreditation for Ting Tings and Ladyhawke on Thursday, and Kaiser Chiefs on Monday. Given that the Kaiser Chiefs is at the MEN Arena, and I started out at Club Academy less than a fortnight ago, that's the equivalent of going from the conference to the premier league without playing the intervening divisions.

Scary day all round, then.

Shot By Both Sides

So, my life as mild mannered programmer by day, professional rock photographer by night has finally begun with a couple of trips to Manchester. Shot Ida Maria last week, and then Magazine last night.

Club Academy is a bit of a nightmare, with no pit you just get wedged in the crowd and have to make do with the position you're in. So I did the best I could with the 50mm f/1.8 but really didn't get much.



Last night at Magazine was a different story.

First band up was Ipso Facto, an all girl rock band who I really enjoyed. They don't seem to have anything out on CD over here, although Rough Trade seem to have an imported Japanese disc which I'll try and pick up after pay day. They look a bit like this.



Second up was Linder, who's responsible for Magazine's artwork. A bit more arty and not really my scene, but I'm happy with how the shots turned out.



I can't really post any of the shots of Magazine, seeing as I give exclusive use to the agency, so the best shots can't be here (although if you're a friend on Flickr you can see them) but here's one anyway...



More photos at Flickr

I'm hopeful that I'll get to shoot at the Ting Tings next week, perhaps Imelda May. I've put in a long list of accrediation requests and I'll take what I can get. Not expecting to make any money at first, but the experience is invaluable. Look forward to a far more excited post should I ever get anything published!

Juneau

A change of pace for this year's holiday. We're going to Vancouver for four days, then out to Alaska for a week!

Everyone's a critic

Everyone's a critic

Nothing At All

Two weeks into the new year and I've fundamentally done nothing. I still feel wretched (four weeks and counting, I think I may have set some kind of world phlegm record and am contemplating donating my body to medical science) and there have been no gigs to tempt me out of hiding.

Toying with the idea of going to Alaska, but not unless I can get a handle on why on earth I actually want to go. Gemma seems keen on the whole huskie sled thing which is all well and good, but it's not really a reason to travel half way across the globe. Conversely, I've been looking at going to Europe (apart from our already scheduled trip to Paris in Feb) and can't muster any enthusiasm for the idea at all, even though I can find good deals, and I've never been to Cannes, Barcelona, Pisa, Florence or any number of places on the itinteraries. I'll probably just say "sod it" and go to Miami for ten days and lie by a pool.

Saw Slumdog Millionaire last night, which was a generally pleasant, feelgood affair despite a cinema with broken down heating. Oscar season is the best time to have an unlimited cinema card, what with Frost Nixon, Revolutionary Road, Benjamin Button, The Wrestler and My Bloody Valentine 3D all coming up the next few weeks. (One of those was a ringer, folks, but which one?)

Been trying out the beta of Windows 7, which seems to just be Vista with a new taskbar and less UAC. It seems a bit lighter on the ground than Vista, but it's hardly the kind of step forward than a version release of an OS should be, feels more like a service pack.