Dio Kick's!

My friends know I have a true hatred for rogue apostrophes and this photo from my friend Louise pretty much sums up how bad it can get. I had to share it with you..

Sarah & Matt - MARRIED!

Sarah & Matt's wedding was my first at Highbury Hall in Moseley, Birmingham - a very grand venue with a magnificent dining room and dramatic decor. They had such an easy-going, fun day and were great sports when it came to getting photos.

We started at the church with some photos of Matt and his boys..







"Go on! Give her a kiss!"



Their grandparents were married in the exact same church over 50 years ago!



The weather at Highbury hall could not have been better...





God is in the details..




Errr... don't ask!





One for the wall...





Another great wedding and a lovely couple who were so laid-back on their big day. They even took time to email me on their honeymoon to say thanks! Right back atcha guys, I had a great day. Thanks for having me there. Hope the shoes are ok!

Poppy & The Jezebels

Oh, my job is so tough!
This week I had the pleasure of spending time in the company of Poppy & The Jezebels who needed new photos for the release of their new single "UFO" which comes out in August. The weather was against us a little but we managed to brave the elements as much as possible and came back with some super-cool pics.





I also popped along to the Glee Club on Wednesday night to catch one of my favourite bands, Idlewild. Last time I saw them they were opening for U2 but this week they played a really intimate set of acoustic numbers and rare b-sides and album tracks. Amazing gig which is reviewed on Birmingham Live along with my photos.

Jodie & Oliver @ Packington Moor Farm

It's been another busy few weeks. Evelyne and Elliott are over in Montreal for a month visiting Evelyne's family and friends. Sounds like they're having a fantastic time too and, from the photos they've posted on Facebook, Elliott has grown quite a bit just in the past couple of weeks. Can't wait to have them both back but in the meantime I'm keeping myself occupied with the photography. Some nights I've been in the studio past midnight but that's fine. I love it!

Jodie and Oliver came in to see their wedding photos last week (on our new bigger monitor) and set about choosing their faves for the album. They're going to have a GraphiStudio album and I know the images they've chosen will make for a great storybook album. They had a few problems on the run up to the big day thanks to the original venue deciding they no longer wanted to have weddings there, so they had to change both the venue and date of their wedding. Being the stars they are they took it all in their stride and ended up with a gorgeous venue at Packington Moor Farm.

Then, a couple of days before the wedding, their lovely little dog (who featured in their pre-wedding shoot photos) added to their troubles by EATING THE WEDDING CAKE!! They ended up replacing it in time... Twice! Yes, the first wedding I've shot where they had two cakes.

So, here are a few of my favourite images from Jodie and Oliver's big day...




Believe it or not, this is a cake...


... and so is this.


Spot Lee, my second shooter...




Smokin'!








Jodie's favourite..





Guys, despite any problems in the run up, your wedding was perfect on the day and Lee and I thank you for having us be a part of it with you. I'll keep the story of the barn to myself ;) Have a great future together.

June is Rockin!

This month has been a month of photographing some of the biggest bands in the world which is quite an honour. Since shooting Liza Minelli and The Sex Pistols I've also photographed Kiss, Bon Jovi and yesterday I got to shoot Linkin Park and Jay Z at Milton Keynes. Here are a few pics...









I have ordered a big version of this one for the studio wall :)



I also got to shoot my favourite singer/songwriter, Kathleen Edwards. She may not be as popular as the bands above but I urge you to check her stuff out. I reviewed the gig on the Fused Magazine site. Here are some photos of my second favourite Canadian girl...




After the show I got to chat to Kathleen for a while and her merch guy was kind enough to take a photo of us. Unfortunately, he managed to get the focus COMPLETELY WRONG!!! Gutted!

Fiona & Mike - MARRIED!

I've been away for a while and haven't found time to update the blog until now. I have tons of stuff to post but for now I just wanna share some images from Fiona & Mike's wedding at Ettington Park Hotel, a fantastic venue with so many great locations to shoot. I was in my element!

On top of that Fiona came out with the immortal phrase, "A dress is for a day, photos are forever" before lying beneath a huge tree for some photos. What a star! It also helped that she's gorgeous of course.

Here's some of my faves from their wedding...

The venue itself. One of my favourites..


Fiona had one of the most beautiful dresses I've seen. And the cutest bridesmaids...



It's the world-famous Steve Gerrard "Skip Shot"!



Love this shot with the reflections..




The rings..





Love this cake shot too. And what a cool cake!




Here's another Fiona. I shot her wedding back in December..



Thanks guys for having me along for the day. It was a fantastic wedding and I wish you both all the best for the future...

Anarchy in Birmingham

In one week I have gone from photographing Liza Minelli to shooting the Sex Pistols!! In fact I was the only photographer that got to get photos from last night's gig at Birmingham Academy. I had to shoot from the balcony but I had a great spot because.... are you ready for this??!!.... I was the warm-up DJ at the gig!

Ok, let's backtrack 31 years here. When I was at school the first single I ever bought was The Sex Pistols' "Silly Thing". I sent my mom into town to buy it cos I was too young. I'm not sure how appropriate my mom thought it was for a little boy to be listening to the Sex Pistols but anyway... I even managed to have my mom deliver me on Sid Vicious' 10th birthday! That's commitment!

And here we are in 2008, all somewhat older, and, as there was no support band for the gig, I was asked to DJ before the band. I even managed to get a few singalongs from the crowd when I played The Clash and Sham 69 :) It wasn't all old punk stuff though, I managed to drop in some Cancer Bats, The Bronx, Gallows and a little Jane's Addiction too. Oh, and Frank Turner.

You can see my review of the gig on BrumLive.com but here are my fave pics from the gig...








This weekend I get to photograph another musical legend when I shoot KISS on Friday night. I'm hoping for a classic Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons image for the studio wall. Wish me luck...

Laura & Anthony's Pre-wed shoot.

Laura & Anthony get married next month and for their pre-wed shoot they asked if they could bring their two kids down with them. Of course I agreed. I'm glad I did too. Together they make a great family and we went out and had a bit of fun with them and got some cool photos in the process.







Laura's going to make a great bride and it sounds like it's going to be a fun wedding. Hope you enjoyed your picnic guys! :)

Liza Minelli - Live!

Who would have thought it, but this week I was honoured to shoot the living legend that is Liza Minelli!

Liza was performing at Birmingham's Symphony Hall and I not only photographed her for Birmingham Live but also got to stay for the whole show, which I have to say was pretty spectacular. Not my kind of music at all really but nobody can deny the talent and star quality that Liza has, and she knows how to put on a real show.

You can see my review on Birmingham Live but here are just a few of my favourite photos... They were taken with a long lens as I wasn't allowed close to the stage on the night due to there being a seated audience.





As if shooting Liza wasn't unusual enough, while I was there Adam Woodyatt who plays Ian Beale in Eastenders came over to me asking where he could buy my photos. Random!

Restyle Me

The new issue of Live 24-Seven magazine is out this week, featuring a shoot I did with Rachele who won a full makeover including shopping spree, nails, make-up and hair. She didn't want anything too over-the-top as she works in A&E at the hospital and wants to be able to get ready quickly in the mornings. She still had quite a transformation though and was so easy to photograph.

Here's the spread from the magazine. The only image that's not mine is her "before" shot which she sent in for the competition...


This is my favourite..


This Bank Holiday weekend was great fun despite a severe case of miserable weather. Saturday's wedding with Matt & Sarah was a really nice easy-going day and they were lucky enough to have the only good weather of the weekend. Highbury Hall in Mosely, Birmingham is a dramatic and grand venue and the couple were up for escaping to get some great images of them on their own. (PHOTOS HERE SOON)

The rest of the weekend was a wash-out due to the weather so we used the time to chill out, catch up on some TV ("Dexter" mainly) and try to teach Elliott how to walk. He's getting good too! He also tried a little pizza for the first time and seemed to enjoy the experience...