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Never Play It Safe Safe – Symphonic Pictures Promo Shots – Spaghetti, Pancakes, Rats, Soup, and Other Shenanigans

Back in May 2011 it was a privilege to have Symphonic Pictures play their first gig at my Instamatic for the People exhibition opening. Therefore I was happy to be involved with doing the photography for their first set of  press photographs.

When Johnny from the band contacted me with the idea/inspiration for the shots my first thoughts was that they would make an impact and I loved that they were not playing it safe.

It took a few weeks for the band to assemble props, to which I also contributed. We used a painted a  background and tried to emulate the lighting of 1960s shoot by at times using just the modelling lights and other times flash. It was also an opportunity for me to shot with my medium format Mamiya RZ67 camera, and use some hard to find  expired Agfa portrait film which I had saved for something special. The subdued colours also helped to give that retro feel to the images.

The shoot took 5 hours and we tried to pay attention to detail for each individual portrait. It was testament it was a relaxed atmosphere throughout and that we all committed to getting the exact images that we originally envisioned.

The images were then given to Paul Burgess Graphic Design to work his genius the lettering and finishing touches

I have to say it has been so amazing working with such a creative bunch of people.

 

Thank you

x

 

 

Weekend Update

I was reading an article recently about how music photographer’s should promote themselves. It made me realise that I should do more, although I do feel people will get sick of hearing the usual just shot this, done that etc. However if you do not promote yourself people will think that you have nothing going on.

Currently I am very busy with my photography I am shooting live gigs, doing promo videos, editing a five camera live video shoot that I directed, and doing album covers and press shots. I will be adding more information about these soon

This week I have photographed seven bands over three gigs. Some of the images are below:

So Many Wizards Head of Steam 8 March 2012

Brilliant Mind Head of Steam 8 March 2012

Symphonic Pictures Newcastle Academy 6 March 2012

You can see all my live shots on my Flickr site

I did have one disaster I shot a gig by Nero – who are DJ duo who stand at the top of a 7 metre plinth – and all you can see are there two heads above the parapet. Before the gig I tried without successa to get permission to get access to the balcony or stage so I could get some interesting shots. I have sent them to Newcastle Academy – but I doubt I will put them anywhere else. As ever I was prepared and knew what to expect and tookj my 70mm-200mm lens for the close up shots. I will learn from this and move on.

Here is one of the better images:

Nero Newcastle Academy 8 March 2012

They say you should end on a high. Back in January  I done a video session with Tusk in my studio. I was pleased with the lighting and the black background, and the tight composition. I think they sound fantastic. We also done some photographs – here is one of them below:

Tusk at David Wala Photography studios. Newcastle upon Tyne January 2012

I am very proud of the video and the camera work of my team Daniel Robson, and Jill O’Donnell. I finally edited the first song this week.

Thank you for reading this – I will hopefully be updating with more things soon

This is what I call a weekend update

Howler In Session On Radio 1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/external/player.swf

No self promotion in this post – just putting this up as these are one of the most exciting I have heard/seen for ages. This sounds amazing

Bridie Jackson and the Arbour Album Launch at Gateshead Sage Live Video

Back in January I filmed the Bridie Jackson and the Arbour gig to launch their debut album Bitter Lullabies. This was a sold out gig at Gateshead Sage

It was a real challenge there was four of us filming the gig with  five cameras. This was first big live shoot that I have done, but I feel our research and preparation helped give us some excellent footage. We also came down early and filmed some of the soundcheck.

Some of the results can be found here:

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For my first attempt at filming an entire gig I am happy with the results – but know I can keep improving.

As with any video shoot, it is the editing that can take up your time. However there is one advantage when I saw Bridie play at The Central Bar in Gateshead I know all the songs word for word.

Evolution Festival 2012 Launch

This morning to the launch for this years Evolution Festival – it is so cool  that we have a major music festival right on the banks of The Tyne.

I took a few images including the super talented  Lulu James who is on this year’s bill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am especially looking forward to seeing Maximo Park  who I photographed in 2011 for the NME

 

 

Busy February

It seems like I have shot gigs most of the month – yesterday was my first night off in eight. I would never complain about being busy it has been fun – tonight I will be shooting Kaiser Chiefs at Newcastle Academy then Spector at The Cluny. In between I have done some photo shoots and video work I will be updating my website with more information about these in the coming weeks.

In the meantime I have put most of my  recent live shots on Flickr – this year have added 41 sets of different bands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recent Published Work

I am very happy to have recently been given assignments by two of the leading music publications the NME and Classic Rock Prog

The published images are below:

More images in my  Dananananaykroyd set on Flickr  and Zappa Plays Zappa set on Flickr

I am putting this at the beginning of the year, I hope in December that I can reflect on more assignments.

This has been an incredibly busy start to the year with photo shoots, live gigs, and some video work – I am so grateful and plan to keep it rolling on

 

My First Music Video Union Choir Your Melodica

Although I have filmed some acoustic performances from some of the North East’s most exciting bands  since September, I have never made a music video. The performances that I have filmed are  stripped back live acoustic sets. To my relief the bands  I filmed,and other people have liked them.Some of these videos can be see

One of those  bands was The Union Choir  who asked me to make a video for their single Your Melodica. So we met at The Cluny before one of their gigs in November to plan the video. Over the coming weeks we came up with a concept for the video a mixture of performance and narrative.

From my photography I do have knowledge of lighting, composition, and experience shooting gigs and bands – it seemed a daunting task for a first music video but we managed it one step at a time.

We planned the performance shoot to be at the end of November in a room where we had recorded some of the acoustic sets called the High Bridge Sessions – but to give it a different look we put the band in front of the windows. This shoot took careful preparation as we decided on the key shots for each part of the song – on the day we were there from 2pm and I think the real filming took about 5 hours – and we ended up being there until the building closed at midnight. It was a hectic day but the band were willing and patient to hang around and make sure that we got all the shots – without complaint.

Here is a time lapse we made of setting up the performance footage

That video will always remind me of the fun we had on that day – thanks to the  three people ( Dan, Andy, and Jill) who helped with the filming and setting up it was a fantastic team effort.

We then planned the doll shots in Newcastle and South Shields – Jill even knitted a doll in the image of Jon from The Union Choir – I feel details like this really give the video a more personal feel and was definitely worth doing. It was great that the band could find some actors – thank you Ashleigh, Liberty, and Rachel.

The editing took days it was especially time-consuming to synch the video. I sent different cuts of the video to the band for approval and we finally came up with the final edit. It is a pity there was other footage that could have worked but there was only 4 minutes of video – there was also footage that was good in theory but when viewed on-screen was not suitable.

Anyhow here is the video

11 of our best Music Pictures from 2011 – Including my image of David Burn from Detroit Social Club

11 of our best Music Pictures from 2011.

Three Great Bands at Cosmic Ballroom Tonight

After I shoot the Go West gig at Newcastle Academy tonight ( 17 December) I am going to see some of my favourite local bands at the Cosmic Ballroom on Stowell Street.

Gallery Circus – who I have recently filmed

The Greeting Committee – whom  I filmed on the roof of my studio building in September

The Watchers – as yet not filmed them but have shot some of their gigs

See you there