Mr Scruff

Loving this pictures from Gottwood earlier in the summer. I daren't re-touch, edit, colour correct or do anything that could take away from this raw cheeky chappiness!

Carl.

Aside from being one of the most genuinely interesting and easy to talk to guys i have ever met. Carl is a self made, self help guru.

Currently writing his own book on the subject, he nipped into the studio to have some promotional headhshots done.

I wish him the best of luck with the release of his book in the early part of next year.

A bit of fun....

This quick shoot was done a while back. Having filed through and got all the hard work done for the day, we decided to get everybody in the studio involved.



Without saying when or where I was going to be shooting I just told every body to piss about in the general vicinity of the colourama.



Though shot in the studio these have a very reportage feel to them. Thus I have treated them as such in that they have not been edited in any way, shape or form.



I like to see this as a further reminder that there is no one set of rules when it comes to getting a good shot.



Thank you to everybody involved, I had a great day. Accreditation will follow just as soon as I get the information myself.

Taster...

Its been a while since I have popped anything up as I have been stuck in the studio beavering away getting some tasty little treats for you to observe. Such as this one.
The lovely Daphney came in to let us have a look at the marvel that are her tattoos.
This is merely a sneak peak. I thought I would treat you after a few cheeky midweek beers but there's mountains of work piling up rapidly and I am waiting on model release forms and various OK's from clients.
Once these are all accounted for I can then start showing you where I have been hiding away for so long.
G'night, Much Love. x

Clootie Well

So the story goes that way way back in the day the ancient Celtic people of the Highlands believed in a multitude of Gods.



Not just one, which even superstitious I struggle with the concept of, but they seemed to think there were a whole bunch of these shiny deity type figures hovering here and being meaningful there.



Clootie Well was believed to be an earthly manifestation of one of these gods in the guise of an unusual spring which, seemingly from nowhere, pops out of a very unassuming hillock.
As part of a healing ritual the locals would dip various garments, cloths, rags, (and it would appear, teddy bears!!) into this natural spring.



Then the now rather soggy object were to be tied, strapped, hung or shackled to a near by tree, usually with a message about the person, there name and illness and instructions if you will, which, in my own opinion should really have been given to a doctor! The idea behind this was that the object's gradual deterioration would be mimicked by that of the ailment.



Like many ancient rituals, today this looks rather silly. In the same way that a wizard at Stonehenge during the summer solstice looks utterly ridiculous with his robes flapping in the wind like Jesus in a wind tunnel. The rags hung on the trees just don't really seem to fit into the glorious Highland landscape, making it resemble a favorite location for Celtic flytippers rather than an ancient holy well.



I would like to say at this point, to the many groups of people who hung nylon shirts and rubber based shoes, for your sake I hope all this really is mere superstition for other wise your friends are surely dead and they are waiting for you in the afterlife (hmmm!) ready to beat the stupidity out of you.



Rant over, I do rather enjoy the presence of these places as they stand
as a memorial of how far the most of us have come, both religiously and intellectually...or maybe i could just remove head from arse and simply say that it takes a nice picture!



Enjoy the pictures and come back soon.

Jezebel

For this posting, I find myself back in West Londons boutique heart.

The Jezebel Loft parties are a 5minute ride on your single speed from the heart of Londons well known Notting Hill, so close to Ladbroke Grove you would have barely finished making your roll up and a quick jog with your hood up, down Harrow Rd from the pleasant surroundings of Kensal Rise and Queens park.
With such affluent suroundings it is no wonder the Jezebel parties are what they are, and that is a bloody good laugh.

Moseying along with Roo Kendal to help with the photography for the evening, I had to pinch myself every now and again to keep my mind focused at the task at hand. Through no fault of my own you understand, the somewhat raucous atmosphere with its party goers wearing facial expressions of gay abandon, a stronger man than I would loose concentration.

It is easy with such parties for the atmosphere to be pompous and unfriendly having have found it as such within similar settings in the past, though on this night there was a distinct air of a friendly nature.

The passing crowds are more than happy to stop in front of a que of 20 or so people down a corridor to 1. have their picture taken upon seeing the camera. 2. have a wee chat and 3. offer me with a sip of their drink if not a whole one from the bar.

The majority of the evenings shots were take from inside our own little studio. With a people bursting through the doors all night, we had no shortage of models, some shy and hesitant to take the lime light and others who simply couldn't get enough.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

A massive thank you to all those involved in the organisation of the event and another big thanks and accreditation to Roo Kendal and Zoe Hitchen for the evenings photography.

-If you have any problems with the above pictures please do no hesitate get in touch. My information can be found to the right hand side.

Blow Pop - Blue Mountain re-launch!

The last few days of January saw Bristol's music loving community give the finger to what ever detox they may or may have not have endured in this new years first few weeks for an evening that I shall certainly not be forgetting in a hurry.

Blop Pop took the bull by the horns and kicked open the long sealed doors of Blue Mountain for the first time in many years, ushering its eager crowd to the feet of such big name DJ's as Evil Nine, Zombie Disco Squad, A-Skills, and JFB as well Blow Pop residents, Bristols finest, Real Nice, SWAY 2, Stereo 8 and Steve Redux.

I have done my fair share of club night photography and would never really validate it by putting it on my blog or even look to publish it further than facebook but this was no ordinary event, they were no ordinary DJ's and for me these are no ordinary pictures.

If your ever in Bristol i urge you to look up Blow Pop, see what they are doing and join in. Every time they so much as go near a sound system the roof is raised, they are pant wettingly good....i speak from experience!

I'm always on hand to take event snaps like these so if your indeed of someone with an itchy trigger finger to mingle at an occasion of yours, get in touch!