Happy

Halloween! Trick or Treat and all that... The kids actually get all dressed up and go around asking for candy in London. Although it isn't nearly as big as it is in North America. Weird thing is the candy and chocolate is so much better over here! Going to a Halloween party this weekend. (oh I mean Fancy Dress party) Should be interesting as I don't even have a costume yet.

Spent most of the weekend touching up shots and yesterday I went off to learn a new job. I'll actually be working in an office for the next few weeks... Believe it or not!! I've never done an office job before but I think I can handle this one which starts Friday. And it doesn't clash with any shoots which is a good thing. After learning the job went and saw the Answer who are a cross between Led Zeppelin and the Black Crowes but are very good at what they do. (Even if one track sounded like "How Many More Times"!) A couple of shoots are coming up and a big one in two weeks which should be interesting. (hopefully No Rain!) So the next few weeks are going to be VERY busy...

I almost made it out...

ALIVE!! It was like a scene from Shaun Of the Dead in Camden Town tonight... Some theatre people took it upon themselves to dress like zombies and actually walk, moan, or stumble down the street in full character!! This lot of people even put blood smeared hand prints on the buses and cabs as they drove by!!

After doing a little work this morning hooked up with Carly and headed out around London. Went to the Odeon where they have all the movie premiers and saw The Departed. After spending 25 pounds for the two us to get in (the most I have ever paid to see a movie!) we sat in our assigned seats and had some salty popcorn. No butter!! Sweet or salty is all you get over here. The film was not bad until the comical ending...

After that it was off to Camden Town where Carly and I had dinner at Arizona (the Mexican restaurant?). Oddly enough the bill for food and drinks was cheaper than the movie tickets!! Met up with Carly's boyfriend Simon and his roommate Jamie where we moved on to the Dublin Castle and to see their friend's band the "Electric Animals". Bit of an identity crisis in that band!! It's never good for a band when the bass player is the most charismatic on stage!! And it was leaving the Camden castle where we were surrounded by Night of the living DEAD...

early friday no problem...

Up at the crack of dawn and down to the US embassy. After waiting in line they put us through all the security measures and in we went. The interview process went well and the guy was more interested in talking about Slayer than the application. Approved and on my way I went. On the way home bumped into Nick Stevens another great Kerrang! photographer. Weird the size of London and the tube system I never thought I would ever run into someone I knew!!

After that it was a day on the computer sorting through all the Senses Fail shots. Met up for a few drinks with the K! staff at the Crowbar after their magazine awards were finished. They only took home one award! :-(

Fell asleep on the train but woke up laughing to these 3 lads singing to try and charm a lady. Didn't work as she still got off at her intended stop...

Forgot to post this pic from the other day. I have finally found the best place for everyone to stay when they come for a visit!! Benn was the first to give it a go and I think he gave it a half star!!

mistakes?

Some decisions in life are very hard. How do you know that you are making the right one when there are no guarantees? I think one of the most important things is to have no regrets. I really can't remember regretting anything but the uncertainty in new choices can always leave you feeling uneasy.

Is the ultimate goal you have wanted forever really the best choice? At the moment that's how I feel and I don't want anything to come in the way of it!!

Must try and get some sleep as I have to get up very early for an interview at the Us Embassy tomorrow to see if they'll allow me to photograph in the USA... Oh Japan the other day was NO PROBLEM!! Welcome to our country and have a great time! Oh and why not pay a visit to the NOB while you're here? Why can't it always be that easy??

editing...

This one of the Deftones was shot a few weeks ago...

Not too much going on at the moment other than a bit of editing and Benn is back in town. He didn't make it to Syria or Lebanon (January time now!) so stayed in Turkey which sounded pretty amazing.

Shooting Enter Shikari tonight which I don't know too much about. But I am sure it will be busy at the Komedia in Brighton.

Haven't heard if anyone is up for giving me a hand???? Would you mind donating $5 for a good cause?? Let me know as it's regarding payment on a lame client!

Finally back in

London... Took long enough but made it back this afternoon.

Back to the Sunday in Tokyo. (The work day.) I don't think I can ever remember being that hung over. Oh 4000 Yen cover and open bar took it's toll from the night before.

Met up with Emma and we went out to the Asakusa area before work. After a quick walk around it was back to the hotel and then off to venue to meet up with Senses Fail and Damon the mighty fine tour manager...

Emma did the interview then we did some quick photos around the venue and waited around for showtime. The one thing that made me laugh was the Japanese door guy who checked my pass everytime I came through the door... I guess he didn't recognize me as I must have been by at least 30 times during the day... (No it's too easy I won't go there!)

After the show caught a ride back to the band's hotel and had a few drinks with the last awake crew members. Which included the fantastic Kevin Lyman who was a great guy. (He started the Warped Tour if you were wondering!) Then it was back to the hotel and off to bed for the early flight in the morning.

Great flight again on Virgin and I managed to sleep 6 hours and watch two Hindi films the second "Gangster" was very tragic! Thank god (Hai Ram!) for Hindi films length because they make flights go by so quickly. Upon landing at Heathrow it was a lovely hour and a half back to home. Fantastic trip and I have come back to a load of editing which should take up the next few days...

6 hours sleep...

In the last 2 days!! What a trip! Don't know where to start other than I am tired and haven't been near the computer much...

The flight over on Virign was fantastic apart from the school trip that surrounded Emma (K! Writer) and I. Out of a 12 hour flight managed to get 45 minutes sleep. It wasn't a very turbulent flight but it certainly felt like it as the "posh" school kids were up and down the entire way.

Upon arriving at Narita airport at 9am after no sleep it was the longest day I have had in a long time that contained: site-seeing, eating, napping, working, and partying!!

After taking the most expensive cab ever (actually gave us a deal as he got lost!) we dropped our bags at the "Comfort Inn" and then headed out to start the site-seeing. Went to the "Shibuya Crossing" and tried to find sushi which I thought would have been an easy task in Tokyo... Well in the Shibuya area there didn't seem to be any! Finally settled on some restaurant and I really have no idea what I ate apart from the chicken...

Then it was off to the Shinjuku area that was very interesting. Found a load of Sushi restaurants there but being to full we decided to go back to the hotel to grab a nap. Once a little more awake we met up with Senses Fail back at the Shibuya crossing and did some quick shots of them in the middle of it all.

Finally after finishing the shoot we found a sushi conveyor belt restaurant that was very much needed! Once done the sushi we closed down the Lexington Queen (a rock bar) with a few of the bands and locals. After that it was back to the hotel to finally get some sleep!!

Save it for a...

Rainy Day!! Well I was told that today was more like a regular London day. It rained for most of the day and I spent it constructively at the computer. Also it's has been so mild here you don't even need a coat at night!

Packed up all the gear and I am off to Tokyo tomorrow. Going to cover the band Senses Fail which should be interesting. Big thanks to Christina for giving me all the tips on where to go on my two days there. Look for the next post from Japan!

This lovely pub I came across the other day. How can you resist taking a photo of what I think is a blatantly named place? And what better shot to save for a rainy day...

Contagious over here,

the "Tea" drinking! Shot last week for Kerrang! at the tea house in Soho. But there is a live shot of Paramore from the other night that out does this one!!

Met up for a few drinks with Joby Sessions. A mighty fine photographer from Bath who was in London to do a job at the BBC. Check out his band as well! Moderate Scene Of Injury are doing some gigs soon so go if you are in the Bath, Bristol area! There is a rumor that corpse paint could be on the cards...

Now if anyone wants to give me a hand I have a former client that won't pay. So if you know anyone in the fashion industry please forward this link... THANKS!!

why?

Today was a very long, long, long day... My only question for myself and something to dwell on is why... Why is it? So many why's in the world but today in particular a major why that has bugged me for as long as I can remember.

Why can I not ever balance a work life and a personal life? I can never get that balance and it really gets to me. For some reason one or the other always suffers. And it completely beats me up. If I ever get the answer I know I will truly be happy.

Now all I need to do is find a place and time like in the above shot to ponder these things!! Time to return to some work and prepare for a little trip away...

surprise.

Went out for a K! sponsored show tonight... Bullets and Octane rocked the Barfly! Good band and they had just a little more "balls" than Paramore who played the Mean Fiddler last evening. Met up for a few drinks first but the big surprise came as we were getting ready to leave to the Barfly. Benn showed up all the way from Van City! So that was the beginning of the end!

He was taking a break from his few hour stop over on route to Syria and Lebanon where he is filming and photographing next week! So after he bought a shot of JD for the singer of the band and convinced the right people I need more work we left. I dropped him at King's Cross so he could make it over to Luton. Before he got off the train he emptied all the alcohol from his bag to mine. (He said it's not the best thing to take alcohol to Muslim countries!!) I'll make sure to keep it safe this week for him. (Yeah Right!) As long as I have a bag of roasted chicken chips waiting when he gets back here on the 24th it'll all be good!

Next job Tokyo... Quite looking forward to it as I have never been. It will be great to actually eat some good sushi which I have yet to find in England!!

saturday Mellow!

Another day at the computer and so much retouching done. A few live shoots for the rest of the weekend though. Paramore again tomorrow evening and then a band that eveyone is buzzing about over here on Monday, Bullets and Octane are at the Barfly.

Finally getting to see a few more live venues over here. Oh Vancouver has so much to learn when it comes to live music!! The venues have to be there in order to get the crowd out for one...

Did a shoot today for my Uncle's band The Ronnies while they took a break between recording. (The pic above.) Can you guess which one he is?

Finally a Curry!

Spent the whole day on the computer!! Catching up on all those things I put on hold before I left. Touched up and sent out all the Paramore shots from yesterday which I'll post on Wednesday when the mag is out. The Deftones will be a while as they aren't set to run in the mag for a bit. Finally getting around to updating my website one gallery at a time so check out the press section with all the latest.

Got a surprise phone call from Benn today. He'll be here on the 24th (a day after I'm back from Tokyo). I'm sure we'll get up to the same partying and fighting with the locals that we did here in early February...

Ended the night off having a curry dinner in Blackheath with my uncle as it was his 50th Birthday yesterday. Another day at the computer tomorrow. As a photographer you can never resist taking photos of signs like these!!

Work

Well the real work started today with two shoots... The first shoot was an early morning shoot with Paramore. Had to do the make-up shoot as last week's one was rained out. Shot them at Kettners in Soho which is a fantastic tea room. If I didn't have to race off for another shoot I would have stayed there for lunch. Apart from one of the members getting shit on by a pigeon the shoot was a piece of cake. (Will post shots next week. The pun is intended!)

After that it was off to the Deftones at the Royal Garden Hotel where it was hoop jumping time! The band were fantastic but the hotel security wasn't the most accommodating... In the end they made me wear a neon vest (NO! There are no pics of that!). After shooting "quickly" in the hotel's basement we decided to move outside and found a courtyard/church to finish off with some not bad shots.

Now there is a load of computer work to do!!

And you probably think I have an obsession with the money here in the above pic. No I was landed with a fake 5 pound note... See if you can spot which one it is before I put it back into circulation!!

Computer daze...

Spent pretty much the entire day at the computer today. I think my eyes are starting to go all weird... I would have gone to bed hours ago but the people upstairs sound like they are moving furniture around and have been going for it all night.

This week should be interesting with a few shoots (Deftones, Paramore) and so many other things to do. Probably a lot of lining up, oh sorry I mean "queuing"... So with loads of queuing hopefully I'll get everything done. Gone are the days of getting it done in a few hours with a car around Vancouver!!

Forgot to mention if everything goes sideways here I found a backup. No idea what the job would be but I think I would be in with an inquiry like that...

MADE it!!!

After a fantastic flight I have landed in the UK... (Thanks Ria!) Showing up with little or no money I am making it manage. A couple of jobs already. Including the one that was rained out today in Oxford. At least I get another go at it on Wednesday. But it will be a busy day with another shoot that was previously booked. If they ever come near you check out Gojira as they killed it on Wednesday evening...

Last Night... LEAVING!

Last night was a pretty good send off... Went to the River Rock casino with a few friends. Had the buffet where I felt really skinny. (I even heard some fair sized lady at the dessert table say, "These plates are to small!!") After the "fair" sized meal walked across the casino to see David Spade... (Thanks Kevin for the tickets.) But I think that was in my top 3 for bad comedy shows!! I think he had about 5 minutes of good material at the end!!

Then it was off to the best place to party in Vancouver, #7 West 2nd Ave. Ping Pong Keg-a-thon was going down presented by Benn McGuire in all it's glory. (Yes where Ash-a-palooza happened...) Oct 14 will be roller disco for anyone interested. But it was here where I saw the greatest "Canadian" musical instrument ever made. The two string hockey stick bass!!! You could even plug it into the amp...

An evening capped off with the last supper at our old hangout the Roxy Burger. Thanks for everyone's help with the move. See you all in England!!