Well I thought I would put together a review of my year in 2012 – mainly for my benefit to reflect on the things that I have done, and to judge how far I will have progressed when I look back next year. I have been lucky to work with some super talented and creative people in 2012- for that  I am forever grateful

This was my first full year as house photographer at Newcastle o2 Academy – during the year I shot over 250 gigs there and at other venues. I have also done an array of music videos and photo shoots. I will try to put some of my highlights below.

The year started with me getting busy finishing the edit of the video for the single  Your Melodica by The Union Choir. A year later and I still feel very proud of my first music video. I am looking forward to their album this year

Later in January I took on a commission  to film Bridie Jackson and the Arbour album launch at their sold out gig at Gateshead Sage . It was a real test we used five cameras and a load of memory cards. We even filmed the two support acts Matt Stalker and the Fables, and Nathalie Stern. I spent most of January, and February editing this. It was a challenge and  has led to more people commissioning my work.

Later in the month I did an impromptu photo shoot with Bird Island

At the end of the month I done the last  ( for the moment) of my live acoustic High Bridge sessions with Tusk. Which we filmed in my studio – I love this band. I stopped doing these just because of limited time – I would like to do more of these in 2013

During the month I was busy shooting bands

February kicked off with Howler at The Cluny – where I got hit by of all things an apple thrown from the stage

It was a pleasure to do the first promo shots for Symphonic Pictures. I done the last Detroit Social Club photo shoot with Johnny and Dale, it is nice symmetry that I have done the first photo shoot with their new band. I can’t wait for their new EP later this year – they work so hard and have some fantastic tunes.

        

The poster below was designed by Paul BurgessGraphic Design

They were also the first band to take part in my AAA project ( more details of this project can be found in a earlier post) – here is an image from the shoot

In February I also started work on the Natasha Haws video for her first single Stepping Stone. It is a beautiful song. It was a real pleasure to work on this

Some of my live shots from February

March was a relatively quiet month – I was shooting a load of gigs and editing videos. The highlight being  at the end of the month when the summer came to the North East coast and we filmed a live session by Fantasy Rainbow ( I just wish we could have better sound ). We were all blown away by the sheer talent of his performance. All the videos from this session are from one take. Ollie just got out of his car played his songs and left

Some pictures from March

In April we filmed a gig at historic Morden Tower featuring the mighty Watchers and the Chapman Family. It is great to have had an opportunity to film at a venue that is steeped in history . It was great that two of the best live bands around kept it loud for their sets. I am especially proud that the NME picked up the Watchers video for their powerful song Cut The Ribbon. Looking forward to more great things from them in the coming year.

I also filmed the last song of the night Kids by the Chapman Family

I was also busy with photo shoots with  Nadine Shah, Collectors Club, and The Railway Club

This was also a fun shoot with Darren Hubbard of Distraction Records for Narc magazine. Outside the public toilets on the Bigg Market.

Some of my live shots from April

May started with a trip to London to shoot the Dan Sartain at The Lexington – which was wow. One of my gigs of the year

I made a video for the Greeting Committee single Show Me The Lights of Home. It was a real fun shoot in adverse conditions – it was a rainy bank holiday weekend when we shot the outdoor footage. We all made the most of it and we made a mad video – of which I am immensely proud. We all put a lot of time and effort in planing and making the video on a very limited budget. I should also thank again Dan Horn for teaching me so much during the location shoot – and doing a great job as the man in the cow suit

A promo shot we took during the second day of the location shoot

I visited paris at the end of the month and got to see and shoot the mighty Howler – I think the shot below my favourite live shot of 2012

The first weekend of June was the weekend of Evolution Festival  on the banks of the Tyne  my image of T-E-E-D featured in the NME

Summer is a perfect time for outdoor location shoots – even in the North East of England.

We turned the inside outside with So What Robot to tie in with their single release Work and Play

We also got lucky with some early morning sunshine for a shoot with Tusk  who have since signed with local innovative label Tiny Lights

You would think it was sunny on Tyneside during June – this shot is from a sunny June morning with Gem Andrews. I was also privileged to photograph Gem’s debut album Scatter  cover in 2011

I also done a shoot with OFF! – it was such a buzz to be in the company of such legends  – a little nerve-wracking but mainly very exciting

They also took part in my AAA project

Some Live Shots from June

July was the month I restarted my Instamatic for the People project of casual portraits of individual musicians taken with an instant print camera. One of my favourite bands Howler

relaunched this project .

They also were happy to take part in my AAA project – here is the contact sheet

I also took some shots with Sound of Guns

They also took part in my AAA project

I also done another shoot with So What Robot  I love working with these guys – we come up with ideas – then workout how to make it happen. They are always willing to take a risk

Some live shots from July

August was a surprisingly busy month with photo shoots and video making, but not so many live gigs to shoot

The first Sunday of August was spent in an Italian Restaurant doing a location shoot of the band Bison Hunting served up on a plate. It was such a fun shoot .  I am so happy that our ideas worked practice as well as in theory here is one:

They also took part in my AAA project

I also done a shoot with The Watchers – we done the shoot at sunrise hoping to catch some golden light – but all we caught was some clouds and rain. However that did not stop us and we got some strong images.

So pleased they have taken part in the AAA project

For the shoot I did with Retriever – we did get that golden sun we were hoping for

They also took part in my AAA project on a different day at their practice room

Ollie Catt or Fantasy Rainbow also took part in my AAA project – he liked the images so much that he used them as his press shots and were featured in magazines and on websites

On the same night I took some shots of the Jacuzzi Boys – who were super friendly and definitely wanted to do some interesting shots. I photographed them for my Inatamatic for the People project and took a band portrait which is one of my favourite shots of the year and when  writing four month on they are still using the shot as their Facebook page profile picture

I also done some shots with Franz Nicolay  – the last time I saw him was when he was playing with the Hold Steady.

He also took part in my AAA project

I also made two videos in August the first for Sonner for their epic We Go Forth Tonight single – it was great working with them and I hope you like the video we made.

I also made a video with a completely different style and as much fun – super proud of this

Some live shots from August

September was mainly about live gigs and editing videos.

I did take this promo shot of Sonner when we were filming extra footage for their video in early September

Some live shots from September

During October I was busy with photographing and filming gigs.

I took this shot for Narc magazine of Fearbox

I took this shot and others from the Soundcheck before The Union Choirs gig at the Lit and Phil in Newcastle.

Some live shots from October

November was my busiest month of the year for gigs.

I also managed to do a photo shoot with Hooded Fang

They also took part in my AAA project

Some of my live shots from November

It was great to be busy in the last month of the year – at the time of writing I am still finishing some of the work that I started in December.

I done a brief photo shoot for my AAA project with the Chapman Family

This is a digital shot used to test the lighting ( a modern day Polaroid )

I am also excited by a series of themed portraits that we have done with the super creative Peculiar Disco Moves. Here is one image from the series more will follow in 2013

I also made a video with The Prison Library of their song Certify which is part of their No Fireworks EP release. It was a challenging shoot as it was in a working studio so we were limited with the space and how we could light the room. However I love the energy of the song and the way that we have captured it.

You can see the video here  

As it was the end of the month it was also the last gig for Sonner . They played a storming set at Plugged Inn in Sunderland. Here is their goodbye picture

In December Rizzle Kicks were kind enough to stop their sold out gig O2 Academy Newcastle while I changed my memory card and pose for some shots… busted. Super cool guys. I never knew that I could still blush

Some live shots from December

Well that is my year in review – certainly fun, and very proud of my work . Thank you to everyone that has helped me out and worked with me throughout the year.

I am working at something I love doing and I hope I can keep moving forward in 2013

David