Steve on 4

This week I was asked to photograph the winning band from Channel 4's Mobile Act Unsigned show. Envy & Other Sins won a million pound record contract and needed some images to use for promotional purposes. We spent a few hours with the band and tried to get a really good variety of shots for them. The whole thing was filmed for an upcoming programme on Channel 4 which looks at what's happening with the band since winning the show. Here are a few of my faves from the day...

A Wet Weekend

Billy Connolly once said "There's no such thing as bad weather, there's just the wrong clothing". That may be somewhat true but unfortunately, when it comes to photo shoots, the people in front of my camera don't necessarily want to be wearing overcoats and wellies. Especially when you're the bride!

This weekend was very wet and that meant certain challenges as I undertook a fashion shoot in the woods, two band shoots and a wedding but in the end we just got out there and had fun, trying to avoid the worst of the weather whenever we could. Here are some of the results...









Claire & Dave's wedding in Warwick was great fun with a fantastic bunch of people. The bad weather wasn't allowed to dampen people's spirits one bit and we got some great pictures for them. They're in Canada for their honeymoon now and we'll show them a slideshow of their day when they return. After that I'll be able to post my favourites here.

Movin' on up..

The new issue of Live 24-Seven magazine came out and, apart from featuring some of my photography, also features a 2 page spread on our wedding! It's quite amusing but also a really nice momento of an amazing day...



Back behind the camera things have been busy again after New Year and my first job for Terrorizer Magazine saw me down in London to meet with industrial metal band, Prong. A great band who I last saw live at the beginning of the 90s and I'm glad to say they're still a fantastic live act.

The shoot was at Camden's Underworld venue where I met with vocalist, Tommy for a quick portrait before sticking around to shoot the main gig.




While I was in London I popped over to the Rock Sound offices to meet everyone there and came out with a handful of great albums for my trouble, including Biffy Clyro, Bloc Party and Converge. It's good to put a face to the people who I'm working for.

The big news for us this week though is that, since viewing the space in the Birmingham Jewelery Quarter for a potential studio for Steve Gerrard Photography, our friend Claire Evans contacted us to say she's leaving her studio in the Custard Factory in Birmingham and would we like to take it over when she leaves? The Custard Factory is a great little area (originally the home of Bird's Custard) with a very creative and funky vibe to it. Claire's studio is already decorated nicely and pretty much ready for us to move straight in. We've met with the people concerned with the space and it's all looking good for us to launch our first studio space just before Easter.

It's an exciting time and Evelyne and I are already throwing lots of ideas around. It'll be so much better to invite clients to the studio rather than meeting them at home or the local pub. And it'll mean we can separate work and home a lot more which can only lead to a better quality of life for the family. Hopefully things will go smoothly and we'll be in there by mid-March. Then we need to have a little launch party!

Life in the Underworld

I always know I'm earning my money when I get home and my arms and legs ache!

This weekend was one such time with a wedding on the Saturday followed by a pre-wed shoot and a band shoot on Sunday around the Mailbox in Birmingham. I say "band"... Insectoid are more of an experimental electronic art project where the members dress in insect heads, gas masks and boiler suits. It certainly made for some great photos and we did attract some attention as we walked the streets in search of locations. But perhaps more surprisingly, quite often people seemed somewhat unfazed by these freakish people in front of them!



The wedding on Saturday was hard work but a lot of fun too. The ceremony was quite late in the day so the light was fading fast and the couple didn't really want to do many posed portraits at all. I managed to coax them outside for about 3 minutes but then they were off back to the party. It was a shame as the bride was gorgeous but obviously not comfortable having her photo taken. Most of the images from the day were much more documentary style pictures and I got plenty of great shots so I'm sure they'll be more than happy.







This week also saw me looking at a vacant shop space in the Jewelery Quarter. We're considering it as a potential space for a studio where we can display our work, meet clients and generally make things more professional and well-presented. It's a fantastic space and we could use it so well but it is a little pricey for us at the moment. So the big question is.. do we take the leap and do our best to make it work or do we play it safe and continue working from our office at home? We're still very much undecided and it's a conversation Evelyne and I need to have when she returns from Montreal on Thursday. Only 2 days now. I've missed her and Elliott loads and cant wait to see them both!

Tomorrow I'm in London all day doing my first shoot for Terrorizer magazine. I'm meeting the band Prong in Camden tomorrow afternoon for a quick photo shoot and then I'll be shooting their gig at the Underworld tomorrow night. I'm gonna take the time to visit my friends at Rock Sound while I'm in the big smoke too. It's a while since I was in London actually so I'm going to make a day of it.

We updated the Steve Gerrard Photography site this weekend too and I've added a new Photoblog so that clients (and potential clients) can see what I've been up to lately. I think it's important to keep updating the site and making sure it's fresh and relevant..

Looking back and forth...

A new year and a new look to my blog. Hope you like it.

2007 has been an amazing year here with me getting married to Evelyne (twice!) and the arrival of our boy Elliott on July 17th. He and Evelyne are currently having fun in the Montreal snow.



New Years Eve for me was pretty relaxed compared to most years. I spent it in the Jug Of Ale pub with lots of friends and that's not a bad way to start 2008.

2007 saw the business really start to gather momentum. I'm now working for more music mags than ever and the other side of the business has seen us photograph 13 weddings in 2007 and we already have almost 30 weddings confirmed for 2008. I never thought wedding photography would be something I’d enjoy but I’m loving every minute of it and get excited about each wedding I photograph. The next is this Saturday.

So, as 2008 begins, I’m feeling optimistic and excited about what’s coming up. I’m not great with resolutions but I really do need to stop being late all the time and I need to get myself a bit more organised too!

At the end of each year I try to choose my favourite albums from the last 12 months. There are more heavy bands in this year's list. I'm not sure what that says about my current state of mind but it's balanced out with a few Kates - Tunstall, Walsh and Nash! You'll find the list below but in the mean time I just want to say Happy New Year to everyone and I hope it's 366 days of fun, happiness and prosperity for you all.

All the best
Steve

Steve’s Albums Of 2007

Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero
Architect – All Is Not Lost
Machine Head – The Blackening
Hacride - Amoeba
The Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works
Eddie Vedder – Into The Wild
Interpol – Our Love To Admire
Idlewild – Make Another World
Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová– Once Soundtrack
The Red Chord – Prey For Eyes
Editors – An End Has A Start
Job For A Cowboy – Genesis
Soulsavers – It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s The Way You Land
Biffy Clyro – Puzzle
Since The Flood – No Compromise
KT Tunstall – Drastic Fantastic
Kate Walsh – Tim’s House
Ministry – The Last Sucker
Powderfinger – Dream Days At The Hotel Existence
Kate Nash – Made Of Bricks
The Ghost Of A Thousand – This Is Where The Fight Begins
Puscifer – V Is For Vagina
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Architects - Ruin
The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
Cold War Kids – Robbers and Cowards