Eleanor Jane

Ffoto Week 02.02.12

Hello hello! This time last year I was sunning it up on the road in California so January 2012 was always going to be a bit of a plod-along month in comparison. For me anyway... Peabrain still flew out to Los Angeles to work for a week while I was left home alone. I consoled myself by planning our next trip (why is Tombstone so far away from everywhere else?!).

1. He did bring me back this awesome repro Elvis poster from Amoeba Records though. Love it! I'll have to get a frame asap.

2. New year, new business cards! Amazing customer service from Moo after my order arrived all muddy coloured & wrong. They dispatched a new batch the following day and they were perfect.

3. Some of my Zakk Wylde shots from last year are in (& on the cover of, yay!) the new Rock Guitar Heroes book from Guitarist magazine. He's in good company between Jack White and Angus Young so I'm well pleased.

4. I've been so obsessed with my new pedometer I've even had it clipped to my pyjamas and accidentally worn it to bed several times. My inspiration? This study. My mission? To beat the Amish! Yesterday I finally succeeded but I'm still fixated with it and need a new challenge.

5. The most exciting thing to happen is that one of my brides from last year, Emma, is starring in the new Simple skincare advert in America... and so are my photos - woohoo!

The Lash

Introducing my boyfriend Chris' latest musical incarnation, The Lash, a 45,000 RPM rock 'n' soul hurricane blowing through a city near you soon. Like the devoted girlfriend that I am I allowed them to drag me out of bed very early on a Sunday morning to shoot these pictures at Les Croupiers casino in Cardiff (with the aid of a very large tea and the promise of a giant sandwich afterwards!). Check out their new single here and more tracks here.

Backstage at Opeth - Guitar World

Ok, I'm aware that it sounds like I say this about everyone I seem to meet through my photography, but Opeth are such friendly, down-to-earth people… I'm starting to believe there's no such thing as the stereotypical rock & roll ego!

I recently joined them on a couple of dates of their UK tour to shoot some behind the scenes pictures for Guitar World magazine and they were so very cool & accommodating. Frederik Akesson is an incredible guitarist, his playing mesmerised me into a state of total adoration and I have to admit I left with a little bit of an obsession! At one point I was up on the balcony of the Birmingham O2 seeking out a new angle to photograph sound check from but was so enthralled by Frederik’s intricate playing I ended up sat tucked away in the corner, watching & listening, camera in my lap… oops.

The magazine came out last week in America so hopefully a few copies should trickle across the ocean soon. In the meantime, here’s an awesome song called Slither from the new album, written in tribute to Ronnie James Dio. Enjoy!

 

 

Anna Calvi - Total Guitar

YES! The January issue of Total Guitar magazine is out which means I can finally share my favourite portrait of 2011 (at long last!) - the beautiful and enigmatic Anna Calvi. This photo was taken in the hull of the Bristol Thekla months & months ago just before the live gig I shot for this feature. I stepped pretty far out of my comfort zone with all the music photography over the past few months but I've definitely thrived on the chaos... here's hoping for more awesome band shoots in 2012. HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

Richard Hawley - Guitarist

What a lovely bloke Richard Hawley is! A couple of months back I travelled up to Sheffield to photograph him with Jamie from Guitarist magazine and he couldn’t have been more welcoming and down to earth.

We met at Yellow Arch studios, a quirky little red brick building that has a kind of bleak Victorian workhouse vibe from the street (!) but once inside I was amazed; wall to wall guitars (at least a hundred, if not more), stacks of vintage gear and an enormous mountain of empty guitar cases. Hawley had relocated his entire collection to the studios while recording the new album and every instrument had a wonderful story behind it. I shot endless guitars and Jamie recorded so many fascinating stories that the feature seems to have spiralled into an eight page monster! I’ve included some of my favourite pictures that didn’t make the spread below but there are lots more on the iPad version of the magazine here (if you're that way inclined).

I have to say, this is one of the most interesting and rewarding commissions I think I’ve ever worked on. Weeks later, when I was photographing Meena & James’ wedding in Nottingham, they chose Coles Corner as their first dance and I had a little happy moment in my head remembering the shoot.

Seth & Sean Lakeman - Total Guitar

Months & months ago I photographed Seth & Sean Lakeman for Total Guitar magazine before they played a show in Swindon. They were both lovely and of course, it's always a pleasure to photograph handsome, talented men! Check out their YouTube channel for lots of awesome songs that'll have you foot-stomping & sit-down-dancing at your desk, like I'm doing right now (especially to the song that starts 1:28s into this video)! Definitely go see them if you get a chance.

Backstage at Bon Jovi

Do you remember in my last Ffotoweek I mentioned that I’d been backstage at Bon Jovi’s Ashton Gate gig to shoot an Access All Areas for MusicRadar? No? To be honest I’ve blocked most of it out too after my horrendous experience fighting against the Bristol city centre traffic later that day! But anyway, the website have run the feature now so I’m free to share some of my behind the scenes snaps. Sadly there are no shots of Sambora, Torres, Bryan or the man JB himself (I guess they were helicoptered in later!) but if you’re a musician, a tech nerd or simply incredibly nosey you might find it interesting all the same. Check out the MusicRadar article here for more pictures and detailed info, facts & stories from the techs.

I couldn’t believe how much stuff they’d brought for a one off gig. There was a whole extra layer of backstage beyond the actual backstage area! It just went on & on forever; flight cases & crates & cables & boxes & monitors & strange bleeping gadgets. The techs told us that for every item they had, there was a spare waiting out back in case of disaster! The techs were such fantastic people… I wish it was 1985 and I was the official photographer for a touring rock & roll super band.