Photography leads me on such varied assignments and it’s brilliant. My last post was on a Vintage Lingerie launch and the day before that I was in a cold, dark, abandoned warehouse in Hackney, shooting stills for ESO‘s up and coming music video. Both days excited me equally and in different ways.

Along with shooting promos and stills, I got to watch and learn from Tim Fox – Motion Designer, Director and Illustrator, whose client list varies from Lady Gaga and Ms Dynamite to Skindred and Alice Cooper. What a treat!

I arrived when they were on the last couple of full live band takes and got straight to work

People don’t always realise the work that goes into music videos, and how many takes of the same thing – over and over again. To still keep a performance “fresh” as if it was the first time I would imagine is really difficult. They were so energetic on every take! It’s no wonder that shortly after, they took a break for lunch having been hard at work since 8:30am, and we had a look around for some cool spots to do pictures with what light was there.

Tobi liked the look of this area, as did I, so we gathered the others for the pics.

Bari found a hole and they all wondered where it lead to. There were many funny moments like this – I love it when people have a sense of fun as well as getting the job done.

Tim and his crew discuss the next part of the shooting. I think it all got a bit too much for the guys (and Laura), so they decided to tie Tobi up.

In the story part of the filming, Tim checks the lighting. This setting reminded me so much of the Saw movies mixed a little with Fight Club. Very dramatic. Actor Hugo was incredible. He’s pictured on the right hiding behind a banana skin. He deserved that banana after being tied up, screaming and shouting, being attached to and pulling on a large rope for well over an hour, maybe two!

- A sneaky peek of Hugo in action on the video camera screen. I don’t want to ruin it for you, so that’s all you’re getting!

Oh ok, and maybe one of the promo images, taken in that section with the funny ceiling hole

But that’s your lot until around June I’ve been told. I will be sure let you know on the release details, also keep your eyes open on the music channels for it too.

Here’s one of their other videos featuring live footage from their European Tour with Marilyn Manson to keep you going until then

Mx

Godsized, like most bands, have their fair share of good and bad things that happen. Recently they were invited to play for the US Troops at RAF Lakenheath. This was definitely one of those good things!

Not only did the guys get to entertain a great crowd, but also have a delicious American dinner AND a tour of the F15 aircraft. A real honour!

Due to the restricted nature of military aircraft, we were only allowed small cameras and phones in to take pictures. I couldn’t be pedantic about my iPhone photos – not with an opportunity like this to share with you all, so they aren’t the best quality.

Gav sits in the Pilots seat & Glen was the only one to brave the internal steps to the aircraft.

Chuck, Aaron & J. Scott gave us the tour and talked about different scenarios that they face in the air force, the missiles and bombs that were on display in the hangar and parts of the aircraft.

Beautiful isn’t it?!

Kav summed the tour up perfectly. It was so serene and still while we were there – with just the low buzzing of the lights in the hangar, but then you imagine the complete carnage that comes from everything in that building when it’s in full use. Incredible.

Here we all are, happy and ready for dinner and the show. Thank you guys for the awesome time and your hospitality!

Mx

Not literally of course!

Sorry to keep you all waiting for this blog post, I have lots of things I’m working on at the moment and I can’t wait to share them with you.

When Simone came to the UK for all the press bits and also IMATS – my previous blog post, we also had a bit of fun at mine doing a photo shoot.

Jessica-Leigh has a tea pot toy that sings various songs, talks and makes noises, it’s one of her favourites. Simone liked this as much as a real good English cup of tea. She also met one of my cats – Gibson, who is a bit of a camera lover and poses on cue. He loves fusses, especially from ladies.

MegaBeth joined in too, and swapped jackets for a silly picture.

A Slipknot fan in disguise? haha.

We did some serious fashion style pics as well as being silly. This is my favourite.

It was a good time until the snow came and Simone’s flight got cancelled. So we ended up having a movie marathon and cooking a roast dinner.

I guess it could have been worse

Mx

A little perturbed by the title of my post? Fear not, I will explain.

I shot Godsized at their final show of 2011 and the debut show with their new drummer – Dan.

Arriving at The Borderline, London (after resisting the awesome Crobar next door for a sneaky drink) Eye for an Eye were just wrapping up their set.

The guys were in good spirits in the dressing room

I went to say hey to Dan and introduce myself. He’s a complete dude, and has the coolest story to tell about James Hetfield that I’ve ever heard.

It then got a bit manic backstage and it was time to get ready. They all have their own ways to prepare for a show.

Even guys take care of their hair y’know!

Glen – “Dude, that’s the most amount of drumsticks i’ve ever seen! aaand what’s that you’ve got there?”

Dan – “Sex Wax. I rub it on my drumsticks”

I’m sure there was a reason why, but I can’t remember. So if you know, enlighten me please!

Dan continues to rub his drum sticks with the Sex Wax and Glen drinks a lot of water. Don’t be fooled, these guys can drink a venue dry, but when it comes to Glen looking after his voice and them keeping hydrated, they drink a lot of water. Except Neil maybe. I can’t say I’ve seen him drink much water at all!

Super Nige makes sure they all have water on stage. He’s not called Super Nige for nothing! Nigel is generally helping with shifting gear, helping backstage and is a great laugh and fun to be around.

Almost time for stage. Rich, longtime friend and guitarist from DogState pops in to say a quick hi and have a drink.

A big mass of busyness, then all is quiet for Dan to warm up on his practice pads before stage.

Show time!!

You can check out the show pics here

Mx

Birmingham held their yearly Guitar Show yesterday and I went along with Rotosound for a photo shoot with Duff McKagan. A really great booking for me on a personal level as well – being a Guns ‘n’ Roses fan since my early teens. I think ‘Appetite for Destruction’ was one of the first albums I ever bought with my pocket money on the week of its’ release and to this day is probably my favourite album of all time.

Duff was greeted with a very long queue of eager fans at the Rotosound stand, clutching their most prized and some very rare G’n'R, Velvet Revolver and Loaded items. The signing went on for a good 2 hours but Duff didn’t show any signs of being tired or even jet lagged after flying in from New York less than a day ago. He took his time with each person; calling them by name, chatting, taking pictures and signing.

After the queues had subsided I had a shoot with him for the Rotosound campaign in the press suite.

(Picture with thanks to Dan)

Duff left shortly after to get some sleep before another day at the guitar show.

Amazing guitarist and extremely humble guy Guthrie Govan was also there to do a signing after Duff. We had a good laugh as the posters provided for his signing I had taken the picture. We recounted his and Alex’s fun shoot day last year and Guthrie signed one for me, getting a bit creative with the Sharpie – he wanted evil black eyes! Alex Hutchings was there too demo-ing on the Roland stand.

A really great vibe to the Show, it was a lot smaller than I imagined it would be.

I took a couple of quick snaps of my other pictures that were on the display stands there – was really cool to see my work so big!

Look out for the promos of Duff in coming issues of guitar mags and Rotosound promotional materials. What a day!

Godsized had an opportunity of a lifetime after Zakk and the Black Label Camp heard their demo and took them on tour around the UK and Europe as their only support. I was totally stoked for them having been friends and working with them right from the early days.

I joined them at their 6th date into the 26 date tour at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, UK. Surrounded by press schedules and a real buzz around the guys for the biggest date in their lives (after Download Festival last year) playing to around 5,000 people. This was their moment to shine.

Before Godsized sound checked Zakk came out and played a little on the grand piano and sang. It was a very rare moment his security guard Phil told us. A moment where we all stood there with smiles on our faces while taking pics and filming on our phones. I caught a small clip for you; it’s ‘Darkest Days’ from the new album Order of the Black.

Showtime was immense, Godsized owned the packed venue – I took some pics from the pit then some from side stage. I know the guys had dreamed of playing that venue (a few weeks prior, Glen and I had watched Alter Bridge – one of our favourite bands play on that stage). Their final song Head Heavy everyone went wild, the Black Label Crew loved them too.

Black Label Society’s sound was immense and I was advised by Phil not to take pictures at the front (being over 5 months pregnant) so I just enjoyed the show with the guys on the raised platform by the sound desk. A real mixed set of older songs, and new. Pyros, super loud guitar solos, pounding drums and a finale of confetti rained down on the Hammersmith Apollo. What a great show. I was super-proud.

…with 80′s tinged metal band Jettblack. They recently joined Rotosound’s list of endorsees. I love the variety of Rotosound’s client list – one minute I could be on a shoot with a death metal band, the next a blues guitarist or pop group’s session player. It’s safe to say I was looking forward to shooting with these guys. Having never seen them live or met them before, so I only had their website and a couple of youtube music video’s to go by….and I wasn’t disappointed.

Yesterday I met with half of the guys at the drummer Matt’s house in Henley. The others were holed up in the recording studio for the next album. Matt’s house was huge – to put it in perspective, the bathroom was as big as most people’s bedrooms. It wasn’t just the rooms that were big, he had 2 massive HUGE dogs.

Lovely they were, I should have taken a picture!

Anyway, at the bottom of the garden was a small recording studio where we would do the shoot. Jon and Tom were great to work with and we had a good laugh too.

Here’s a little teaser picture from the shoot. Jon couldn’t help but take his shirt off. I heard a rumour he played an outdoor festival at -4 degrees without a shirt. That’s pretty hardcore.

Oh, and if you don’t know what they sound like, check out this

Kirk Windstein came to London with one of his 3 bands – Crowbar. I was booked shooting a Hard of Hearing piece for Terrorizer Magazine and Seventh Circle Artworks – a bespoke handmade jewellery company. SCA had made Kirk his very own custom Fleur de Lys ring with the engraving of ‘NOLA’ around the outside. It’s amazing! Kirk flipped out over this ring and we did a shoot for promotion of its release.

(Kirk with Alex from SCA)

Kirk also did a lot of promotion surrounding Crowbar’s forthcoming album ‘Sever the Wicked Hand’. I got to listen in on an interview and saw the band sound check. A very humble man with one hell of a story to tell.

Look out for my pics which will be published quite soon. Also the Fleur de Lys ring will be available to order via www.seventhcircleartworks.com shortly… keep checking the site – - I WANT ONE!!

Here’s a teaser – one of the promos from the shoot – we had fun with a smoke machine. It reminded me of one the Down songs ‘Bury me in Smoke’ so I just HAD to use it!