Darren Daly - actor and theatre director Darren can do suave and approachable, but he can also do ‘total badass’. While doing his new headshots the other day I couldn’t resist taking a little detour and doing a shot with some edgier light. He totally has the cheekbones and stare for it. I don’t think this is one for his actors’ CV, but when he lands a role in Con Air 2…
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Darren Daly - actor and theatre director

Darren can do suave and approachable, but he can also do ‘total badass’. While doing his new headshots the other day I couldn’t resist taking a little detour and doing a shot with some edgier light. He totally has the cheekbones and stare for it. I don’t think this is one for his actors’ CV, but when he lands a role in Con Air 2…

Ollie Smith - Performer Of ‘Ollie Smith Is 27’ A photo session for the new issue of LeftLion. Ollie is an actor and performer, currently touring a dark but funny solo show called ‘Ollie Smith Is 27’. It’s all about the notorious 27 Club - made up of scores of legendary musicians who all died aged 27 (Hendrix, Cobain, Joplin, Morrison…). Ollie has just turned 27, and his time to become a proper rock legend is running out. He promised me he isn’t going to take this performance concept too far. You can catch his show on Friday April 5 at Nottingham Playhouse - click here for details.
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Ollie Smith - Performer Of ‘Ollie Smith Is 27’

A photo session for the new issue of LeftLion. Ollie is an actor and performer, currently touring a dark but funny solo show called ‘Ollie Smith Is 27’. It’s all about the notorious 27 Club - made up of scores of legendary musicians who all died aged 27 (Hendrix, Cobain, Joplin, Morrison…). Ollie has just turned 27, and his time to become a proper rock legend is running out. He promised me he isn’t going to take this performance concept too far.

You can catch his show on Friday April 5 at Nottingham Playhouse - click here for details.

A 60-second portrait of Amy Bangs at home in South London.  You know when chefs talk about how the best dishes are just really good ingredients, cooked simply? That’s kind of how I feel about this impromptu portrait of Amy, taken with no lights and no trickery whatsoever. The background quilt and the cushion are the handiwork of Amy’s talented mum, Maura Bangs, aka Sky Parlour Quilts. 
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A 60-second portrait of Amy Bangs at home in South London. 

You know when chefs talk about how the best dishes are just really good ingredients, cooked simply? That’s kind of how I feel about this impromptu portrait of Amy, taken with no lights and no trickery whatsoever. The background quilt and the cushion are the handiwork of Amy’s talented mum, Maura Bangs, aka Sky Parlour Quilts. 

WILFORD SUSPENSION BRIDGE, NOTTINGHAM: personal shot from May 2012 Just a photo I took on the way into town last week. Wilford Suspension Bridge is near my flat. I love days when the sun creeps through gloomy clouds and you get this slightly surreal light. I now have ‘Sunshine On A Rainy Day’ in my head. Damn.
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WILFORD SUSPENSION BRIDGE, NOTTINGHAM: personal shot from May 2012

Just a photo I took on the way into town last week. Wilford Suspension Bridge is near my flat. I love days when the sun creeps through gloomy clouds and you get this slightly surreal light. I now have ‘Sunshine On A Rainy Day’ in my head. Damn.

KING’S CROSS STATION, LONDON: personal shot from March 2012 I stopped by the new King’s Cross concourse, with its steel webbed roof, on my way back from a trip to London yesterday. It’s pretty amazing, well worth a look even if you’re arriving or departing from across the road at St Pancras. Couldn’t quite bring myself to pose at the ‘Platform 9 3/4’ sign though.
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KING’S CROSS STATION, LONDON: personal shot from March 2012

I stopped by the new King’s Cross concourse, with its steel webbed roof, on my way back from a trip to London yesterday. It’s pretty amazing, well worth a look even if you’re arriving or departing from across the road at St Pancras. Couldn’t quite bring myself to pose at the ‘Platform 9 3/4’ sign though.

SARAH HAMPSON - ACTRESS: promo shot from January 2011 Sarah is an actress and media professional in London. The photo was taken on my friend Andy’s balcony near Tower Bridge one chilly winter afternoon. Sarah was looking for some new photos to add to her acting CV. All actors need a simple black and white headshot, as that is what many casting agencies demand, so we did some of those, but I also wanted to take advantage of the time with Sarah to try some other things out and I was really pleased with a number of the images we created that day (there are two or three in the portraits bit of my portfolio). That said, I also watched a £300+ flash and a light stand get trashed thanks to what I shall only call ‘a bit of a mishap’. Given the excess I have on my insurance, I didn’t get much of that money back. A friggin’ expensive day then, but also a lesson learned (basically: DON’T BE A DICK, TAKE CARE OF YOUR GEAR). I’m just grateful I was happy with the pics, or you might have found me later that day, drinking neat scotch in a nasty bar somewhere, holding back tears and swearing at strangers. (Again.) Want to cast Sarah in a big budget Hollywood movie? Or a slightly smaller one? Go here. Shoot assistant: Milly Colley
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SARAH HAMPSON - ACTRESS: promo shot from January 2011

Sarah is an actress and media professional in London. The photo was taken on my friend Andy’s balcony near Tower Bridge one chilly winter afternoon. Sarah was looking for some new photos to add to her acting CV. All actors need a simple black and white headshot, as that is what many casting agencies demand, so we did some of those, but I also wanted to take advantage of the time with Sarah to try some other things out and I was really pleased with a number of the images we created that day (there are two or three in the portraits bit of my portfolio). That said, I also watched a £300+ flash and a light stand get trashed thanks to what I shall only call ‘a bit of a mishap’. Given the excess I have on my insurance, I didn’t get much of that money back. A friggin’ expensive day then, but also a lesson learned (basically: DON’T BE A DICK, TAKE CARE OF YOUR GEAR). I’m just grateful I was happy with the pics, or you might have found me later that day, drinking neat scotch in a nasty bar somewhere, holding back tears and swearing at strangers. (Again.)

Want to cast Sarah in a big budget Hollywood movie? Or a slightly smaller one? Go here.

Shoot assistant: Milly Colley

NOTTINGHAM MARKET SQUARE IN SNOW: personal shot from February 2012 I just wanted to get this shot from last month on my blog before the weather gets so warm that UK snow becomes a distant memory. Yes, that may well be wishful thinking. 
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NOTTINGHAM MARKET SQUARE IN SNOW: personal shot from February 2012

I just wanted to get this shot from last month on my blog before the weather gets so warm that UK snow becomes a distant memory. Yes, that may well be wishful thinking. 

YOU SLUT!: insane promo shoot for forthcoming album ‘Medium Bastard’, November 2011. My. Favourite. Shoot. Ever. It was cold, it was muddy, it was smelly, but it involved four unhinged men doing some cross-country running, wading through a horrible, unhealthy ‘stream’ (more ‘stinking cesspit’ than stream actually) then relaxing with some wine, milk, and I think a cooked chicken was involved somewhere. As the album approaches (it’s out on April 16, 2012 through Stressed Sumo Records) the whole sequence of photos is starting to emerge on the band’s Facebook. The shot above is my favourite though (click it for larger version), and the one below runs it a close second, mainly for the demented/genuinely anguished faces. Shoot assistant: Carla Mundy Want to hear a suitably bonkers (but quite brilliant) track from the new You Slut! album? Click here.
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YOU SLUT!: insane promo shoot for forthcoming album ‘Medium Bastard’, November 2011.

My. Favourite. Shoot. Ever. It was cold, it was muddy, it was smelly, but it involved four unhinged men doing some cross-country running, wading through a horrible, unhealthy ‘stream’ (more ‘stinking cesspit’ than stream actually) then relaxing with some wine, milk, and I think a cooked chicken was involved somewhere. As the album approaches (it’s out on April 16, 2012 through Stressed Sumo Records) the whole sequence of photos is starting to emerge on the band’s Facebook. The shot above is my favourite though (click it for larger version), and the one below runs it a close second, mainly for the demented/genuinely anguished faces.

Shoot assistant: Carla Mundy

Want to hear a suitably bonkers (but quite brilliant) track from the new You Slut! album? Click here.

You Slut!

BRIGHTON WEST PIER LASER DISPLAY: a personal shot from the archive, taken in February 2010 Not sure what put this memory in my mind just now, but here’s the burnt out old West Pier in Brighton, being lit by lasers one night in February 2010. I love Brighton - I lived there for about three years or so and it’s a place where there is always something going on to get involved with or take photos of. This shot was an experiment in long exposures. The lasers were mostly tracking over the different bits of the pier - rarely lighting the whole thing at once. It produced a surreal, alien-landing sort of vibe down on the beach that night. This shot was a 25 second exposure and it’s definitely weird but I like it. My flat was just a couple of minutes up the road from where this shot was taken - I miss that flat.
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BRIGHTON WEST PIER LASER DISPLAY: a personal shot from the archive, taken in February 2010

Not sure what put this memory in my mind just now, but here’s the burnt out old West Pier in Brighton, being lit by lasers one night in February 2010. I love Brighton - I lived there for about three years or so and it’s a place where there is always something going on to get involved with or take photos of. This shot was an experiment in long exposures. The lasers were mostly tracking over the different bits of the pier - rarely lighting the whole thing at once. It produced a surreal, alien-landing sort of vibe down on the beach that night. This shot was a 25 second exposure and it’s definitely weird but I like it. My flat was just a couple of minutes up the road from where this shot was taken - I miss that flat.

MAYRHOFEN: shot for Outgoing Promotions during Snowbombing, April 2011 Very excited to be returning to this place next month for Snowbombing 2012. Will be shooting alongside three truly great photographers – Danny North, Andrew Whitton and Louise Roberts – for the official event galleries and if last year is anything to go by (which it is, obviously) it will be a chaotic, fun, tiring, surreal kind of a week with a ton of interesting things to photograph and some very odd catering. I still can’t ski or snowboard though, so that’s a bit of a bugger. Anyone have a sledge I can borrow?
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MAYRHOFEN: shot for Outgoing Promotions during Snowbombing, April 2011

Very excited to be returning to this place next month for Snowbombing 2012. Will be shooting alongside three truly great photographers – Danny North, Andrew Whitton and Louise Roberts – for the official event galleries and if last year is anything to go by (which it is, obviously) it will be a chaotic, fun, tiring, surreal kind of a week with a ton of interesting things to photograph and some very odd catering. I still can’t ski or snowboard though, so that’s a bit of a bugger. Anyone have a sledge I can borrow?