Having a relatively small promotional portfolio I was pleasantly surprised and excited to work with Genetix, an MC from Cardiff with some incredible lyrics and an obviously artistic mind. After his suggestion of a graffiti site (as I always recommend the artist find their location) I knew I could get some really interesting shots.

1/100s, f/8.0, ISO 100, 24mm

I turned up to the shoot with my Canon 40D, Sigma 24-70mm, Canon 50mm and flashgun. I ended up primarily using the Sigma lens, rarely using the flashgun for darker areas.

The main problem was light, as the incredible graffiti and the backgrounds used were either in shadow, bright sunlight or worst of all – both as this image demonstrates:

1/100s, f/3.2, ISO 100,

However, I managed to correct the balance with the use of graduated tint:

1/100s, f/13.0, ISO 100, 24mm

The vivid images allowed me to experiment with HDR images. I recreated the image above using PhotomatixPro 3

Genetix was adventurous, not only climbing up this tin roof, but clambering up a billboard covered in graffiti:

1/100s, f/5.6, ISO 100, 26mm

This intricate background was great for wide shots:

1/100s, f/5.6, ISO 100, 24mm

Genetix also told me he wanted to rap whilst I took photos, to create action shots, straying away from the usual still promotional shots. This was a challenge to try and capture a clean image, but some were greatly successful. It gave me a chance to catch different poses and compositions without needing to direct the subject:

1/100s, f/5.6, ISO 100, 24mm

I shot fully manual, taking a few test shots in different areas to gauge the right settings, however as the light changed it was difficult to predict the changes I needed to make whilst Genetix was in full flow. I kept mainly wide angles, favouring to move closer or further away than use zoom.

I appear around 0:32, pass at 0:40 and line up a shot at 0:47

Still stunned by this opportunity… thanks to RMP London!

Full report coming soon!

Here are my contributions (click for full size):

Athena live shot + CSC photo

Athena Interview and Promo Shot 

Feature on Cardiff Skateboard Club

Stay tuned for my NIN + Jane’s Addiction photos and more…

Very interesting band I had the pleasure to photograph this week. First time I’ve taken photos of such a band.

More updates coming, I’ve been very lax, apologies.

10 new photos – and a re-shuffle

once I’ve finished the mountains of work, I’ll get started on some photography blogs (including details on my new lens and use of a flash gun!)

Total gigs/one day festivals shot – 47
Total (individual) bands shot – 137

Best shoots
Big Weekend, Cardiff – Biggest ever event I’ve done, huge acts, great lighting, fantastic day
The Music, Cardiff University – amazing feeling alone in a pit with a fantastic band
TheSprout.co.uk Battle of the Bands – meeting tons of new young bands, awesome
Innerpartysystem at Barfly – intense, with great support acts
The Red Festival + Battle – fantastic, huge events
The Academy Is… at Clwb Ifor Bach – so much fun!

Worst shoots
Anything in 10 Feet Tall – atrocious lighting
Spending hours in Barfly + Clwb – nearly collapsing under hopelessness

Best music
Dashboard Confessional
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
The Music
Attack! Attack!
Jubilee
Caesars Rome
Johnny Foreigner
Vessels
Stray Borders
Nix Olympica

Worst music
The Maine
The Clay
The Automatic
MirrorView
Jizzwagon (as bad as they sound)
Some atrocious young bands who I won’t name

So, after shooting my last gig of the year a week ago, I thought I’d take a look back through my first full year of concert photography and pick out the highlights.

January

Only two gigs in January – Teen Spirit (with Saving Aimee, above) and Stray Borders at Tommy’s Bar – read my very first review here

February

From the dark of The Mentalists at Chapter to the light of Lemons in the Old Church Rooms and the warmth of Yeti (above) in Barfly to the fantastic Working Class Heroes in the same venue.

March

My biggest act to that date – Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (above) in Spillers Records, where I became a regular during 2008 as well as a rather rowdy gig at Barfly with The Metros and The Clay (read the review)

April

The month of the photo pass! Dashboard Confessional (my first US band), Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (with I Was A Cub Scout, above) and The Automatic. This month also held the first few round of theSprout.co.uk’s battle of the bands which I became involved with and met a good number of new bands.

May

The start of my exams prompted a slowdown, but that wasn’t enough to stop my half term exhausting me with the fantastic experience of helping to put on a gig with two of my favourite bands Vessels + Stray Borders. (See the blog) as well as attending Teen Spirit (with Mass Appeal above), Lightspeed Champion and the final of the Battle Of The Bands in the same month.

June

Again, hindered by two weeks of exams, I focused all my energies into the second half of the month to attend a number of gigs. The incredible set of The Music (above) produced fantastic photos, Attack! Attack! in Clwb Ifor Bach had me speechless and a spur-of-the-moment gig at Barfly with innerpartysystem and Caesars Rome rounded off a fantastic month.

July

A quiet month, despite being off school for all of it thanks to my exams, I still managed to fit in an all-day festival which had me simultaneously photographing it and running the main stage. Finishing off the month strongly again with a rather varied gig in Buffalo Bar and a fantastic set from Ulteria Motive (above)

August

Although it doesn’t look like it from my calendar, August was a packed month. The Big Weekend with a whole host of bands headlined by Ash, my first promo shoot (finally published here), another spur-of-the-moment gig with Future Of The Left, The Red Festival at the end of the month, which was a fantastic (very long and loud!) chance to improve my skills. The highlight of this month though was the above photo – Aaron North of Jubilee.

September

The start of a new school year, and only two gigs. The Red Festival again was another chance to improve my portfolio and skills (headlined by the fantastic Working Class Heroes) and another American band graced Cardiff – The Academy Is… (above) put on a show to burst your eardrums – from the crowd screaming.

October

Disappointingly only one proper gig throughout the whole of October, what was I doing? Vessels returned to Cardiff with the impressive Talons in tow. I also managed to see Attack! Attack! yet again in Spillers Records with a drastically different acoustic set (above). October was also the month I started using my new Canon 40D with impressive results.

November

Another pretty bare month, but with a few good shots from the 40D from both TheSprout.co.uk’s launch and the Outcry Collective gig with PublicAsylum and Monday Massacre (above).

December

With an epic amount of bands at The Red Battle final and a great couple of passes with The Futureheads and Attack! Attack!, a great way to end the year. To round it off, above is a look at things to come – more energy, wider angles, more awesomeness and more awesome bands like Ulteria Motive.

It might seem boring and technical, but this step up has made a ton of difference…

My only problems with it? Depth of field, no zoom, and an extremely close range… of course, this is all sacrificed because of the awesome low light capabilities.

And the 40D? Beautiful… when I want to take a photo, it takes it, and does it in exactly the way I want it to – no noise, not crappy colours, just perfect. Now all I have to contend with is bad lighting, bad positioning and urr, bad bands…

Talons

Originally uploaded by stellarspontaneous

Here’s my latest, a rather intense shot of Hereford band Talons (formerly known as Kites) supporting Vessels in Buffalo Bar, Cardiff last night.
Shot with my 40D + 50mm 1.8. Sometimes it’s difficult to be so close, other times it’s fantastic.
I’ll be sorting out the broken photos on this blog soon, I’ve had a bit of a haul-over on flickr

I’ve been neglecting the blog for a while, so I’ll update you with my best shots from the past few months…

The Red Festival – 14th September

The Academy Is… + The Maine – 13/09/08

The Red Festival – 31/08/08

Jubilee – 21/08/08

Future Of The Left, Fighting With Wire – 12/08/08

Ulteria Motive + Silent Faces – 30/07/08

Under Construction Festival – 05/07/08

Caesars Rome (supporting innerpartysystem) – 30/06/08

Three gigs in one day – Attack! Attack!/These United States in-store and live