Band photos - Shindig

Shindig promo picture
© Nathan J Hulse

As I am a musician as well as a photographer I sometimes get asked to photograph bands. Last year one such band approached me to take pictures for their new CD and promotion pictures. It is an old band with a new name. The CD cover also had extra artwork which I had to try to visualise in my head when taking the pictures. You can see the CD cover here.

I used Studio 3 in Potters Bar. It can get a little cramped in there with a few people plus drum kit and guitars all over the place. The white background works so the picture can be dropped in on posters and other material that show promoters may use the picture for.

Music Awards

Gary Barlow
© Nat Jag/WireImage

The Music Industry Trust Awards in London on Monday 5th November 2012 saw Gary Barlow win the award. He already knew when he arrived as the whole event was in his honour. Not bad for a self taught pianist. Many celebrity guests including Nicole Scherzinger, Tulisa, Kimberley Walsh and of course the man himself Gary Barlow, plus many others.

Blue perform at 1000th Thriller Live musical

Blue perform at Thriller Live
© Nathan J Hulse

26th May 2011 was the 1000th performance of Thriller Live. I've been a fan of Michael Jackson for some years. A chance to see some of this show was a real bonus for me. Blue were due to perform "Man in the Mirror" and I was one of a few photographers allowed to photograph this. A live performance and no miming, a rare thing perhaps these days.

I only had my 17-40 wide angle lens with me, luckily I was close to the stage. Shots only processing in Aperture 3, no photo manipulation. All shot between  iso 1000-1250.

Enrique Iglesias (and Lemar) at the O2 arena in London

Enrique Iglesias

I've been really lucky to get ask to photograph a few music events recently. As I'm a musician it's always good to do concerts. The only downside is, I have to concentrate on taking pictures more than the actual concert itself. Friday March 25th Enrique Iglesias was performing at the O2 arena on London.

Prior to the concert I tried to find out the shoot position. This would usually be; front of the stage or the mix position (half way up the auditorium). We were told front of stage. Great, no need to carry super long and extra heavy lens with me. I took my 24-70 and 70-200. When I got there, I was told, we're shooting from the mix position. Great! While it's not great to hear that, it's not so bad, as shooting from the front of the stage, you tend to have shots looking up the performers nose. Not very flattering. Despite not having the correct lens with me, Enrique did walk down a long walkway. When he done that, I got most of my shots. Lucky for us, he done that on the 3rd song and not after we had to leave.

Lemar

The support act was Lemar. We were front of the stage for him. Notice the up nose type shot.

You can still see the audience hands in the way, on reflection I perhaps should have done a few shots and made the audience part of the shot, rather than try my best to avoid it. The things you think of afterwards eh. Something to consider next time. A great show and my sister was quite Jealous at me getting there and doing it.

JLS and others perform at Rays of Sunshine Concert

JLS performing at the Rays of Sunshine Concert

Friday 11th March I was lucky enough to be asked to cover the Rays of Sunshine concert held at the Troxy in East London. This was a charity event, the Rays of Sunshine charity raises money to turn wishes into happy memories for children living with serious or life threatening illnesses between the ages of 3 and 18.

Performers at the concert seemed to be all x reality tv talent show contestants, including JLS who were headlining the event, Olly Murs, Joe McElderry, George Sampson and Spelbound. Also performing were Tinchy Stryder and The Saturdays. Spelbound were amazing to watch, but difficult to photograph. As I was at the front all night, I made sure I had some hearing protection, this wasn't because I don't want to listen to the music, just to stop my hearing getting damaged.

Pictured is JLS performing at the concert.

Jet Harris 1939 - 2011

It is with great sadness that I write this post. Jet Harris the original bass player with Cliff Richard and The Shadows passed away last night 17 March 2011. Jet had been ill with cancer for the last few years and struggled on with performing. The Rapiers worked with Jet for the last 25 years. He will be missed by us all any many others that have known him and influenced in those early years by him.

This is a rare picture I took of him playing and using my bass guitar. I was normally on stage with him.

Jet Harris in Weymouth, 2008

Here is some more information on Jet Harris's career:-

• Jet Harris was a UK pioneer of the electric bass guitar.  He was the first person in Britain to play the Fender Precision Bass guitar in a band.
• Jet Harris was the original bass player with world-renowned instrumental group the Shadows.  Some of (Cliff Richard and) the Shadows greatest hits came during his time with them.
• Jet Harris thought up the name the Shadows 
• With Cliff Richard and the Shadows - Jet's chart career was staggering.
• When the Shadows won international fame in their own right with their chart-topper “Apache” in 1960, Jet’s driving and innovative bass playing was central to their sound.
• Jet Harris left The Shadows in 1962.  He broke new boundaries in the 1960s by transforming the bass into the lead instrument on his number one hit “Diamonds” and chart-topper “Scarlett O’Hara”
• Jet has appeared on 24 No.1 hit recordings - the singles include: "Living Doll", "Travelling Light", "Please Don't Tease", "I Love You", "The Young Ones", "Diamonds", "Apache", "Kon-Tiki" and "Wonderful Land".… Jet was a pioneer of 6-string bass playing.  The sound was dubbed “The 6-string Thunder Thrill”
• In 1964 Jet received the New Musical Express Award for Top Instrumentalist of the Year
• Jet has inspired and been revered by guitarists who followed in his wake including, Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Bill Wyman and Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie
• "Nivram" has become a 'standard' and is acknowledged as a classic example of a bass guitar solo.
• Jet received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Fender guitars in 1998 and he continued to actively tour until a few weeks before his death
• In January 2010 Jet Harris received an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s New Year 2010 Honours List 
• In 2009 Jet Harris was diagnosed with a form of cancer.  The primary site of the cancer was unknown.   CUP (Cancer of Unknown Primary site) accounts for 4% of all new cancer cases*

  *Figures taken from the Cancer Research UK website www.cancerhelp.org.uk/type/unknown-primary-cancer/

X factor live tour - Cher Lloyd

I was lucky enough to be asked to cover the Matinee performance of the X factor Live tour on Sunday 6th March at Wembley Arena. Normally with live shows photographers will only get the first 3 songs. I once had 1 song only. With the X factor show, because they had pyrotechnics, we weren't allowed to shoot any acts then. In addition, all the top 10 acts from the X factor finals were spread across the whole show. This meant for some a long day, or a chance to see more than one song from the show. Great. 

 Cher Lloyd © Nathan J Hulse

I was very pleased to see they actually used a real band with real musicians, playing real instruments rather than just backing tracks. It was good to see more of a show than normal, I still left just before the end to avoid thousands of people all catching the same train.

Simon Cowell's Syco had a 6 month restriction on use for any photography from these concerts. They were only available for 6 months from the date the picture was taken. Other use had to be arranged via syco. 

Usually photographers photograph the first 3 songs of a concert. However, because this concert had many performers, we were there for almost the entire duration. After standing at the front, I managed to blag some ear plugs from a security officer. When I got back I decided it was time to get some proper ear plugs. Best decision I made.

2010 - A few favorite or special pictures

Jodie Marsh

I thought it would be interesting to have a look through my pictures and post a few pictures that either I like or were special to me for a reason. I've not included any shots that I have already posted. Non of these pictures were very successful for me. That's not always the point for me.

This first shot of Jodie Marsh was taken in February 2010 at a Haiti Earthquake fundraiser at the Roundhouse in Camden Town. There weren't many photographers at this. There weren't many celebrities either. As a result, many photographers left after an hour. Another photographer Brian Jordan of Celebrity photos UK and myself stayed, the promotors/pr promised free beer. Jodie Marsh arrived and Brian asked a busker outside the venue if we could borrow his guitar, he obliged.

Nicola Roberts

The second shot of Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud was taken after a day in London. I had a few events to cover. A free concert "Music for Mum's" for Cancer in Covent Garden, with Gabriella Cilmi, follow by the variety Club annual dinner and ball at the Hilton Hotel in London. On my way back to the station I walked past the Mayfair Hotel to see a friend of mine. Within 10 minutes Nicola Roberts walked out wearing this stunning outfit.

Rihanna

This final shot was taken of US singer Rihanna at London's o2. It isn't technically a great shot. I found out the day of the concert photographers would be at the mix position 2/3 back in the venue. I would need to longer focal length than I had. I couldn't have hired a lens (which I didn't think about at the time) I decided to purchase a 2x extender. This creates problems,as I will loose 2 stops of light, in addition the quality isn't great unless stopped down to at least f8 (f5.6 is the minimum on the 70-200 f2.8 lens). There were many other photographers there with nikon cameras (great at high ISO) and 400mm prime lens. I was surprised how good some of the shots were, although not tack sharp, I had caught what I needed to of the concert. This taught me a few things; next time I should hire a lens.

Finally I would like to wish anyone that reads this best wishes and blessings for 2011. Thanks for looking and following.

Saturdays help for Breast Cancer

The Saturdays

Not much from me this week as I went to Berlin for a few days. The night before (13th December) I was given a choice of events to go to. I choose one that supported Breast Cancer, Concert For Cure. For a few reasons, one being that it was for a good cause and the second was that I would get to shoot some live performances. Girl group The Saturdays were the headline act. Other acts on were Daisy Dares you and Lauren Pritchard. We only got 1 song from each act. Here is my favorite shot from the night.

Technical info:- Lens used on this shot was 17-40 (we were right on top of the stage), Other lens used for head shots (pictures seen in link) 70-200 processed the RAW file in Aperture 3.

As (almost) always, the direct link includes all shots taken by myself on the night, including posed shots on the promotional boards.

Craig Douglas Benefit Concert

Craig Douglas
© Nat Jag

Craig Douglas is a singer from the early 1960's. He was still performing up until last year (2009) when he was suddenly taken ill. His legs are now paralyzed which prevents him from doing all the things he used to, as it would anyone else in the same situation. Saturday 11th December a benefit concert was arranged to raise money to help him. They raised nearly £5000. Craig sang 3 songs at the end of the night including his No. 1 hit Only Sixteen.

While this picture isn't how Craig should be remembered, it shows how brave he was to perform in front of people while in his wheelchair.

Craig Douglas
© Nathan Hulse

Extra Info added 20 November 2011:-
I've noticed this posts gets many views and comes up early in a google search of Craig Douglas. For this reason I decided to add a picture of Craig before his illness. This was taken back stage during a tour I was involved with called 'Made in Britain'. I play bass guitar and was fortunate to get to play with Craig in that show. Craig was a true gentleman and always had time for fans at the end of shows. I keep hearing rumour he may do some live performances again, that is all I've heard.

I'm back in the country with Kylie Minogue on Sunday

I'm now back from my 2 month tour of Holland. This means I'm back to taking photos. My first job back was the 2nd day of the Jingle Bell Ball. The main person I wanted to photograph was Kylie Minogue. 20-25 years ago being in front of Kylie and taking her photo would have been a dream come true. It isn't the first time I'd been fortunate enough to take her picture. The first time wasn't so great for me. Unfortunately, concentrating on taking a picture means I don't remember the moment. I have to make sure I get the picture, rather than be in the moment. She looked stunning as you can see from the picture.

Please note:- not all pictures in the event gallery at famous are taken by myself.

T4 on the Beach - 2010

The Saturdays

I was lucky enough to be asked to cover T4 on the Beach at Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset (UK). Great, I couldn't wait. Apart from an early start which is never good for me. I managed to get up at 4:15, the press coach picked us up from Hammersmith Apollo at 6:45am. That is very early for me. We were looked after very well by the PR team. There was a down side, there were so many acts on we had to do our best to fit the live performances with the press runs backstage, where many of the artists pose for pictures as well. This was a great opportunity to photograph the acts on the other stage. For most of the day the weather was great, it did rain, quite heavy towards the end while JLS were performing. I gave that a miss, plus they were on the same time Diana Vickers was due backstage for the press run. The Saturdays (R) were minus Mollie King due to illness and performed as a four piece. They did looked a bit nervous at the start.

Diana Vickers

My notes for the day and future occasions I should do this event again. As a photographer we can take the live performance pictures from the golden circle. In the golden circle are also other members of the public. It's easy to get head in the way of your shot. Take a small step to get above them. The next point, don't try to cover both stages. The second T4 session stage is quite a distance to walk, plus we shot from the crowd, not even closer like the golden circle on the main stage. Finally, trying to edit pictures on a moving coach made me feel sick. Do it either before I get on the coach or at home.

Tech notes:- The main shots were taken on the canon 70-200 lens using the canon 1d mk111, while the shorter lens picture, eg backstage, were taken on the canon 1d mk11n and 24-70 lens. Many of the shot were shot using plus 1-2 stops exposure compensation as I was shooting against a white cloudy background. I have included an HDR image at the bottom of The Saturdays (still with the demo softwares watermark) which shows more how the scene really was; overcast. Clicking on the picture will take you to the shot submitted to Famous pictures. All RAW processed using aperture 3 (excpet the HDR shot). Which brings me to a final note, when the lap top is on battery power, the screen goes darker, remember to take that into consideration when editing pictures, otherwise they all come out a bit bright.

The Saturdays

So there you have it, a brief run down on the event and all the points I need to consider in the future. Also, please note all direct links supplied are pictures taken by myself and sold by famous pictures. They are not other photographer pictures. Clicking elsewhere on famous pictures will show pictures by other photographers.

I hope you enjoy. Click on the picture for the full gallery of images I took and sent to Famous Pictures.

Congratulations Jet Harris - MBE

I would like to dedicate this post to Jet Harris who has just been awarded an MBE on the New Years Honours List for services to music. As many will know I back Jet Harris, although recently he has been diagnosed with cancer and currently having chemotherapy for it.

Jet Harris was the original bass player and leader of The Shadows, Cliff Richard's backing band. They also had hit singles and albums on their own. Jet Harris can be heard playing bass guitar on Apache and the intro to Cliff Richard's 1st number 1 'Living Doll' amongst other. He left the shadows and had a solo career then teamed up with fellow ex Shadows Drummer Tony Meehan and had a number 1 single with 'Diamonds' which stayed at the top spot for 3 weeks (Jet used to claim it was 6 weeks, but official figures show different).

I would also like to wish a Happy 2010 to you all.