The Osmonds Play Wembley Arena

The staff at Wembley Arena, normally well organised, somehow forgot about us photographers and left us standing at the enterance to the arena, forgetting to escort out to front of stage to shoot the gig. It was only when the Osmonds walked out on stage and began their first few notes and following some frantic phone calls to get the authorised person to take us to the stage did anything happen.
It meant us group of disgruntled photgraphers had to run with heavy equipment in tow to catch what we could of permitted three songs to shoot.
Thankfully it worked out well as they allowed us another song to photo, and which happened to be where the family stood alongside one another giving me the group shot I wanted.

Cheese Rolling In Gloucestershire

I endured perhaps the worst weather conditions I'd ever faced photographing an event to capture the crazy annual cheese rolling event which takes place in Gloucestershire. The rain was lashing down heavily and despite a waterproof coat, I ended up soaked to the bone along with my cameras. It was worth it though to see the races involving people chasing down a block of double Gloucester cheese down an incredibly steep 200 meter hill. Injuries are commonplace as participants inevitably fall and crash their way to the bottom in pursuit of the cheese.
The winner or their event, (one of whom is pictured in the third from top photo), wins the cheese and goes down in the folk law of this event which is said to date back hundreds of years.

Robert Plant And Alison Krauss Play Wembley Arena

I'd had high hopes for getting some outstanding shots of Robert Plant ahead of this gig, but left a little disappointed mainly due to the position the photographers were asked to shoot from. Rather than being front of stage, we had to shoot from the side behind the crowd, which meant not only could we solely get one angle, but also such a distance from the action meant we couldn't get a tight photos.
Plant and Alison Krauss sound worked well together and I got some good pictures of them performing together, but the material of Plant alone was not quite what I'd hoped for before hand.

Orchid Men In Pants Day

I did a quick photocall this morning, for Orchid, a charity who raise money for male cancers. Former Bond girl Lizzie Cundy, Stricly Come Dancing's Brendan Cole, former tennis star and presenter Pat Cash and model Melanie Boorman (all in photo below) were amongst the guests who were raising awareness for the charity, by doing a walk around London in pants.

Scouting For Girls Play The Shepherd's Bush Empire

This gig came a difficult time - right in the middle of the Champions League Final. Thankfully I managed to get in, take some photos and get out before the end of the game.
Although I find their music irritating, Scouting For Girls were lively enough on stage to get good shots.

Genesis DVD Launch

Genesis launched their a new live DVD in Kensington, and it was only really the three of them, save for a few minor celebs, who were there to be photographed.

Hello! Usage

I had some big usage in Hello! magazine today of Princes William and Harry at the City Parade. One photo was an entire page (top photo) and the other one almost a full page. The fact that I'd managed to get some different shots at a different angle from the rest of the photographers obviously paid off.

Martha Wainwright Plays The Royal Festial Hall

Near perfect light for this one, making it a great gig to photograph. Martha is a bit to folksy for my liking, but I can't argue that her voice sounded great tonight.

The Great Escape - Day 3

On the final day, having just watched the FA Cup final, I came across quite a sight on the beach front by Brighton pier in the form of a naked man taped to a lamp post. To make it worse, he was surrounded by hundreds of spectators during this hugely busy period on a Saturday evening. (Bottom photo). He was eventually released by his so called friends, who had watched him ridiculed for an hour or so from afar.
Music wise, the best act I shot were Lightspeed Champion (top photo), although Crystal Castles (second from top photo) have an insane live show, with the lead singer spending nearly all her time jumping in the crowd, accompanied by frenzied strobe lighting.
I also caught New Zealand group Cut Off Your Hands and north London youngsters Bombay Bicycle Club, who although good, proved slightly disappointing in that they hadn't developed their sound or live act much since when I saw them over a year ago.

The Great Escape - Day 2

Because the music didn't get underway until the evening it gave plenty of time to wander around Brighton shopping and relaxing with friends. Once the bands did get started however, it was a quick turnaround to get from one venue to the next in order to photograph the band I wanted. Yeasayer, from New York, (top three photos) had been building quite a bit of hype and their prog style rock was very impressive at times.
I followed that up with by shooting a more conventenial sounding American guitar band, The Holds Steady, who were fantastic fun to see perform. The lead singer in a geeky looking forty something (bottom photo), but the energy and spirit he and the rest of the band put into their show marks them out as one a must see band.

The Great Escape - Day 1

It felt fantastic to leave London for a long weekend to photograph The Great Escape Festival in Brighton. Described as Europe's version of SXSW in Texas, the music takes place across over 30 venues close to the sea front, all within walking distance of one another. Having the beach and sea air gave it a nice feel and this meant it had a far more pleasant and less hectic than the Camden Crawl.
On the first day I photographed the crazy, but enjoyable Ida Maria (bottom photo), before catching the superb Vampire Weekend (top two photos).

Tinariwen Play The Jazz Cafe

I went along for a friend's Birthday and took some shots of the amazing African band Tinariwen performing at the Jazz Cafe. Hailing from the Sahara dessert in Mali the members of the group were exiled with their Tuareg tribe for many years, but along with acting as freedom fighters, their nomadic lifestyle allowed them to develop a African blues style. Their live show is enchanting and it's because of this they have been cited by Bono, Robert Plant and more recently Chris Martin as big influences.

Sex And The City Premiere

During what was possibly the biggest premiere of the year, the Sex And The City girls drew a huge crowd on this warm May evening. It's rare for London to get a world premiere, let alone one of this scale, so this also meant the press pen was packed to capacity. Thankfully it also meant it drew some other decent British stars, other than the SATC girls.
It was Sarah Jessica Parker (top photo) who stole the show - and the following days newspaper space - due to her flower hat.

The Queen At Windsor Horse Show

I'd missed the first few days of Windsor Horse show due to the Prince William jobs all over the country, but went along on the Saturday to get some material. The Queen appeared in her Range Rover and spent five minutes or so watching proceedings before moving on to elsewhere on the course. I got some portraits of her, but there was little else to be had from the day photography wise, despite rumors of Naomi Campbell being there, which was a little disappointing.

Prince William Visits Blackburn

After Wales it was another long drive up to Blackburn, where Prince William took part an FA training scheme for kids at a school. He was playing and talking to the children for well over an hour, which gave us plenty of time to capture him having a kick around. It's just a shame he continued to where a suit as he did so.

Prince William Visits Wales

This was my second of three Prince William jobs in as many days, and was made all the better by the beautiful weather and Welsh countryside. William visited a small town before joining a mountain rescue team in the mountains, where the views were stunning. It was all worthwhile as he took part in a mountain rescue demonstration, giving me a far more interesting set of photos from your standard Royal job.