A big breakfast was calling this morning. Scoot and I then took a drive to the biggest outdoor mall I had ever seen! The sounds of smooth jazz came from the palm trees, it was all very odd and the sight of a massive Christmas tree in 30C weather made it another world!

Met up with Emma and Alter Bridge at the hotel. Took the drive over to the radio show venue and then did a quick shoot in front of a palm tree to give it the Florida look!! Hung out the rest of the day and did a load of backstage and live shots. Got the pre-set hugging shot which I haven't seen many bands do lately! (above) Really nice guys and the live show even though they were doing a half hour set was great. Checked out a few of the other bands including Papa Roach who I haven't seen for years and they really should have headlined as Three Days Grace didn't have the same energy.

Finished of with a nightcap of chicken wings at TGIFridays and then passed right out!

Pulled the Jack Bauer of travelling today... Up at 4 to get the bus up to Heathrow, and our plane finally took off around 10am. Saw Bert from the Used at the airport who seemed in good spirits despite it being so early!

Half way through our flight the captain came on and said we had to turn around because of a medical emergency... So we landed at some US air base in the Azores Islands and waited there for a couple of hours. Had to refuel after the great fuel dump that was done over the Atlantic before we could land!

Finally took off and then it was another 6 hours to Miami, yay! Watched Sicko, the Simpsons Movie, and Transformers to pass the time... Once we landed it was the lovely wait of an hour to get through immigration. When we finally picked up the rent a car it was only another 2 and a half hours to Fort Myers. On first look at the hotel Emma was quite curious if the carpet was to hide sick?? Or maybe make people sick!!

Awoke really early to finish off a few things on the computer. Needed to as I am going to Florida early tomorrow morning to do a shoot with Alter Bridge on Friday. Went into the office to do a shoot with Aiden today. Went really quickly which was fine by me as I could be home in time to see Gordon's Kitchen Nightmares!! Although it would have been good to be at the office early today as Nichola spotted him coming out when she was going in!!

Here's a shot of Myles from the last Alter Bridge shoot I did in September...

Worked at the computer most of the day... Had a great evening as the Fish and I went to see Bill Bailey. An amazing show and it didn't hurt having front row tickets! If you get a chance go see him, just his facial expressions alone will make you laugh!

Spent as long as possible on the computer before going up to Brixton problem being everything got pushed back when I was almost there...

Did a very quick shoot Queens Of The Stone Age. It's great when you are told to wrap it up after taking 5 frames, managed to stretch it out to get a few more. After their dinner break and our water break took a few more while Nick did the interview which didn't go too smoothly. Oh well not much you can do about it!

Did a few live shots which looked like a some musicians playing in a dark back alley! And to top it all off lost a piece of gear which was really annoying. I guess it can't go right all the time... Back to Beachy Head I say!

Most of the day was at the computer catching up on all the images that have been building up from the past week. Managed to get out the Biffy and Black Crusade from the night before. Would have preferred to be outside doing something else instead!!

Over to Brixton Academy this evening for the second time this week to do the Black Crusade and it was basically that... In the Dark!! Think I could see the odd stagehand on stage! Was told not to bother with the first 3 bands as there was nothing to shoot, turned up and caught the end of Dragonforce only to not see a band on stage. Perhaps that was why the crowd was booing?? Should have stayed at Nando's with the crew!!

Had a bit of photog/writer deja vu from Wednesday as I bumped into Tom Bryant who had been there right from the beginning... Trivium were up first and they looked like they wanted to be Metallica. A little hint, Metallica are always very well lit and never hide in the dark!! Machine Head were next and I didn't think the lights could get worse, wrong!! Even darker except for the 30 seconds of white light which was the only part worth shooting. Tom made an interesting point about why we should be allowed to get good photos, 5000 people are at the gig but aren't 70,000 people reading the review important too?!?

Highlight of the night was being done and watching make out corner at the back of the venue... How much do you pay for tickets and all you can remember of Machine Head is the hickey on your neck? Perhaps they just needed a "dark" place to snog! They couldn't have picked a better place in all honesty...

Today was shoot 6 of 6 this week until I was asked to do the Black Crusade tour tomorrow! Headed up to the Union Chapel in Islington with gear and a pair of angel wings. Did a quick shoot with Biffy Clyro before they sound checked for a charity show at the chapel.

Was weird when I first walked in and heard someone playing a guitar that sounded like U2. Thought to myself that doesn't sound like Biffy... Had a quick pint with Rob and Ian in the pub. Simon came down to do his interview and mentioned that Bono and The Edge were opening up for them tonight!! I guess Biffy have really made it now!!

Caught a train back down to Brighton in time to go see Queens Of The Stone Age at the Dome. It was a great show although they did miss a few of the older classics. Going to be doing a shoot with them on Monday in Brixton...

And here's a pic of Deputy Editor Dan Lane in his new band at the K! office!

Having only had 2 and a half hours sleep it was back on a train to be up at Holborn Studios for 9am. Today spent the day in the studio doing a press session for Go Audio. A great bunch of guys who were really into all the ideas. Zack the guitar player even got on the subject of the stinger, that drink you know you shouldn't have, but do anyway and realize afterward that you really feel like shit!! Think we might be going for one of those soon. Big thanks goes out to Phil, and everyone who helped out on the shoot to make it go so smoothly. Will post pics probably next year as they will be ready to go with the release then...

Sped over to K! towers to pick-up the Fish and we then joined Phoebe, the glamorous Morgan sisters, and Dave for some Pizza Express. Had a quick meal before the Serj Tankian show at the Astoria. It's always the bands that don't mind if you use flash that have the best light!! Probably one of the best lit shows I've seen at the Astoria and Serj was fantastic on stage. The crew of us then went over to the after show at the Soho Hotel. Phoebe and the Fish lead the night of entertainment followed by a magician who was doing a trick where numbers and suits were burned into his fingers!!! The pic above is a little tribute to Phoebe's Nutbag who is recently a cycloptic kitty because of being a little bruiser...

Sleeping in... Not until the weekend!! Up early and at the computer so there will be no falling behind. Shoot number 3 of 6 this week with Biffy Clyro at the Brixton Academy.

Went for a quick Nando's beforehand and then the wandered over to the venue. Only doing live shots which was made easy by Neil and Rob sorting AAA for the show. A few songs had really good light and on stage worked great for the fantastic finale.

Met up afterwards with Tom to do the what the fans thought thing. Missed the last Victoria line because of the usual not running beyond 10pm so caught a speedy ride from Tom who whisked past many cabs to ensure catching the last train...

Arose nice and early to catch a train over to Cardiff. Did a quick in the studio shoot with Kids In Glass Houses and then it was back to London. Always great guys and easy to shoot, even got a ride back to the station from Iain.

Met up with Mr.Hughes and Carly at Ben Crouch's and then we hit Satsuma for some sushi. Was pretty good and they didn't mess up the order which has happened every other time I've been there!! Went back to Ben Crouch's for a quick drink and then passed out on a train all the way home...

My favorite shot from the Foo Fighters show last week which is in tomorrow's Kerrang!

Did a shoot with Serj Tankian today in Soho. He was feeling a little under the weather but was more than happy to soldier on. Had a quick lunch with him, Ray, Phoebe, Jemma and Ian beforehand that was more the tales of Ian Winwood than anything else!!!

Went home via the office and ended up watching Ghost Rider which was pretty poor! The Fish brought up a hilarious point, to think that grown-ups chose cows to moo during a make-out scene! Sad that so much money is thrown at these films for effects but the stories/scripts are left to go nowhere!

And here's a shot from last shoot with Serj that I think runs in this week's Kerrang! Off to Wales bright an early tomorrow...

Played a load of catchup today as the upcoming week will be pretty full on with at least one shoot everyday. Looking forward to next weekend already! Here's another shot from The Hawk Conservancy Trust yesterday...

Felt like shit this morning... And the 2 hour drive to Andover didn't help either! Went to visit The Hawk Conservancy Trust for a day with birds of prey. (A belated birthday gift for the Fish!) To be honest I was quite stand offish with the birds, who knows how unpredictable they can be?? Was reassuring when both our guides came out wearing eye patches! (Kidding!)

They armed us with our leather gloves, OJ would have been jealous and you had no choice but to get used to birds pretty quick. They started us with "Frodo" the biggest eagle they could find! We then had a go with the Kites who like to swoop and grab and not hang about on the glove. A few owls, and some Harris' Hawks and the day past by really fast. Much more enjoyable than I thought it would be but the birthday girl was grinning ear to ear the entire time which was all that mattered!!! Owl stroking check, I think Orangutan wrestling may be on the cards for next year!

Up early for no apparent reason but saw all these contrails in the sky! Took this shot solely for Laurence and his thoughts/conspiracies on Chemtrails!!! It has the grids and crosshatching which are meant to be suspicious...

Had a very mellow day which was nice well perhaps I was high from the Chemtrails! Played a bit of Scrabble did a little bit of work, and then got totally pissed at the Komedia! Can't even remember the last comedian. The second guy (a Canadian) did a funny bit on the word "cunt" and how offensive it is in Canada. He mentioned in England it's thrown into conversation like any other word!!! I must remember to not use it around Christmas time...

Now the Fish has been promising/threatening to take me to Beachy Head for ages and we finally went today. It was an absolutely gorgeous place and would be a great place to do a photo shoot. We took a nice chilly wander around the number one suicide spot in Britain.

Went down to Eastbourne for some Fish and Chips and then ended up at a massive Tesco's in Shoreham! Scrabble was on special so couldn't resist getting a copy of that!! Oh and picked up the new version of Cranium for Carly and Simon's benefit...

Rocked over to the Sony/BMG offices for a brief meeting about the press session which is happening next week with Go Audio. Hopefully everything comes together as we have come up with some great ideas. Looking forward to it!!

Was going to stop in at Retna but Simon was away which was probably a good thing as we would have drunk way into the evening. Met up with Carly at Liverpool St. Station and we went for a couple of drinks and then a curry on Brick Lane which was fantastic. Had a good night out which we haven't done in ages!

A pic of the lovely Simon Neil in today's Kerrang!

Caught an early train with Anton and ran into Fishy, Paul, Katie, and Phoebe at St.Pancras who were getting on the same train to go up to Sheffield for a popular K! band. Was asked in advance if I wanted to stay up and go see MCR but when you have the choice of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares or them it's no contest!

Went out for lunch with Scarlet and had a good moan about the lame access from last night, and had a great chat about her trip to China. Went home and sorted everything from last night. Editing didn't take too long as there wasn't much there. Did get emailed this link from yesterday! Oh well... At least Mr.Ramsay was entertaining!

A pic out the train window of the famous "Crooked Spire" on Chesterfield's Church of Saint Mary and All Saints...

Met up with Anton and we caught a train to meet up with Ian Winwood and then it was off from the new unfinished St.Pancras to Sheffield for the Foo Fighters.

Being that it was a joint cover big feature review thing the access was pretty horrendous. Can't shoot this or that, blah blah blah. Got a 9 minute line-up shot in and the lighting for the songs that were allowed to be shot was terrible. All back lit and smoke, thanks for coming out!! Emptied and closed down the hotel bar at the end of the evening, thank you very much...

Did a pretty big bit of remembering and learning this year with quite a few visits to the Imperial War Museum. I find it very interesting, never bothered with it in school as I was too busy trying to take as many photographic courses as possible!

Had the choice of comedy or metal this evening, and to be honest think we chose the wrong event! Heaven And Hell were really dull but Lamb Of God opened and really showed why we should have napped for the headliners!! Hopefully Stephen Grant will do his theatre show in London at some point...

Fishy played Auntie and we took her niece and nephew around the pier and then Wiied them out. Always good to run into kids at top speed on the bumper cars!!

Last day filling in on the photo desk and capped it off with a few drinks in the office to relieve the tension a bit!! Got home and passed out early, as you do on a Friday evening. Here's a pic of the Plight that's running in next week's K!

The joys of working in an office, high trousers and tucked in shirts!! Last day tomorrow...

Another day, another batch of tea making!! Doing quite well at this now. Schedules have been changing and it looks like no Scotland this weekend. Will have to settle on Sheffield next Monday! Too bad Mirimar are on tour...

Now I know we all laughed when we saw the traffic warden get beat up in Lock Stock. But today in front of work saw some window cleaners dose a traffic warden in a bucket of dirty water. It was the builders across the street pointing and laughing that really put me off the whole thing...

Went for a drink with Carly and the Fish after work which was nice and made it home just in time for the most entertaining TV program since 24. Fuck me, he is definitely someone I would love to photograph! In the meantime giggly Aussies!!!

Took off early today to catch a train to Brighton to do a shoot with Parkway Drive. Nice guys from Australia who couldn't stop giggling during the shoot. It was like doing a shoot with 5 James Sharrock's!!!! Ripper Mate!

Stuck around for the show which included them, This Is Hell, the Warriors, Comeback Kid, and Cancer Bats. Was good to have a chat with CB all again and John who tours with them will be in Vernon at Christmas time which could lead to some Silver Star fun...

Went back up to the Imperial War Museum only though this time with a school of Fish! Was really quite interesting as Pat was a young boy when it ended and he remembers posters that were on the tube. And being out front Buckingham Palace when Churchill and the Royals greeted everyone!!

Took what I would have called the Gypo Express back. It was the full on loud Romanian Gypsies. One of the really weird things was how all the men got off at one stop and then the women and children got off three stops later!!! Why?? No seriously why??

Took the train down to Brighton which was quite interesting. Very Jeremy Kyle on the weekends!! Maybe that's because of travelling on First Crapital Connect...

Now I am really thinking is was beginner's luck at bingo because I haven't been able to shout the magic word since day one!! At least all the people there were hilariously entertaining!! The couple that bring their ceramic ornament collection, gorilla arms in the mist a few tables up, and the chavs behind that kept winning apart from the one who let everyone know!! Walked by the restaurant that Gordon Ramsay helped out on his show and it looked busy which is good. Probably go give it a go when the publicity dies down a bit...

Going back to my favorite museum tomorrow, and here's a weird poster I saw in Moscow. Any translations?? (Now I know I can't be president right away again but how about you make me prime minister rally?)

Felt quite hungover this morning and had a bit of trouble getting up. Made it into the office but the day did drag. Basically crashed out when I made it back to South London. Only one more week to go.

Have a few shoots sorted for next week which will be good starting on Monday... More of the printing nightmare that was this week with the AVA shoot. Shadow detail and less floating heads please!! You can always learn to control your frustration by kicking a box!?!?!?

Rocked through the day and went for dinner and drinks with the Fish and Paul Harries. Had a good moan about how bad the printing was this week with the mag. Everything looked way to dark and my question is where did all the shadow detail go?? Even after tweaking them all on a calibrated monitor in the office it's nothing but frustrating. How Biffy should have looked...