Julie Edwards: Photographer

Worthing sunset panorama

2010-12-18T10:32:00.002Z

For the last week I have been mainly office bound, doing accounts and edits. However yesterday I had to leave the building for 5 minutes as I had run out of milk!

The radio was full of news about poor weather, snow and ice but the light I saw as I walked to the shops was amazing. So much so I turned round grabbed the camera (D700 + 50mm in you're interested), tripod, panoramic head and headed for the beach.

The result was an image I have had in my head for quite some time; a 13 image panorama of the sunset, beach and pier.

The image could be printed up to 4M long, perfect for the walls of a local business!

Matt Cardle

2010-12-13T07:44:00.002Z

Seeing as Matt won xfactor last night, I thought I would post one of my images of the winner taken at The Royal Film Performance as week or so back. It was snowing heavily that night, it's not dandruff!

Matt Cardle

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Snow cancels trains, staff cancels photography..

2010-12-02T10:00:00.000Z

After hearing that Southern Rail had cancelled all trains until at least mid morning and having cancelled planned trip to Coventry I decided that possibly images of empty stations, customer information panels displaying messages of no trains might be newsworthy. So after covering myself with 6 layers of clothes I made of for Worthing station.

My first shots were down, along the tracks to the station. It was still fairly dark and I hoped the lights and the station would actually come out better than they did.

I then walked round to the station to ask if I could pop onto the platforms for a few seconds to take some photographs of the empty platforms at peek commuter time. Puzzlement and passing up the chain until the question got asked to the "Franchise Manager".

"No".

"I'll only be a few moments, just a couple of the snow and empty platforms" (showing my UK press card).

"Photographs are not allowed to be taken in the station",
"Why?".

"Because of security"

"We both know thats not the case here"

I was getting nowhere fast and for me the story had changed from the snow on the rails to the usual jobs-worth. Well I say story, it was not exactly a big story and I could not be bothered so I moved on the West Worthing station, got a couple of images as this station has no barriers..

A Change is as good as a rest

2010-12-01T22:10:00.006Z

One of the great things about being a photographer is the variation of the work, the many people I meet and the requirement to keep trying new subjects and the challenges they place on me.

I can see no point sitting still and so over the past 2 weeks I have photographed a couple getting engaged (over a roulette table), a club bar, more live music, a royal film performance and some demonstrations. Each subject challenges in different ways.

With the couple, it was taking a nice happy portrait, showing the casino surroundings without taking so long as to intrude into their evening. With the bar it was dealing with very difficult highly coloured light. Live music is also about dealing with light; rapidly changing light. The two jobs i will go into more detail are the demonstrations and the Royal Film Performance.

The most recent demonstration I covered was the "Time To Go" demonstration, campaigning for the withdrawal of our troops. This was a nice peaceful march ending at Trafalgar Square. Of course, as a photographer I need to ensure the images I capture accurately reflect the event in total, capturing not only the overall atmosphere but also focussing on individuals that sum up the mood. Which images are actually used is down to the picture desk and newspapers. As always I looked for not only the obvious but also the not so obvious. The interaction between the surrounding public and the march itself fascinates me and whilst walking up whitehall I noticed these people watching the march from the comfort of a coffee shop.

My coverage of the march itself may be found within this London News Pictures set and also on Alamy here.

The problems faced at the Royal Film Performance were totally different; with marches I am always on the move, almost hunting photographs whilst at an event such as a film premiere, photographers are allocated an area and then we choose the best spot within.

For this event there were a number of things consider which included the weather, the background and the arrival of The Queen. With thick snow and wind, I felt that the weather would be an overriding factor as wind blowing snow onto the face of the lens is very difficult to overcome.

Snow also presents another problem; light reflects off the flakes and using on-camera flash produces uneven results in these conditions. Luckily there was enough ambient lighting to not use the flash but leave some snow visible (as I thought it an important part of the atmosphere of the event).

Some of my images from this event may be viewed on London News Pictures here, and Alamy here.

Lung Cancer Awareness Month

2010-11-24T13:34:00.005Z

You may remember that back in September I blogged about a photo-shoot I did with Ricky Gervais for the BUAV. In addition to this I also shot images or Ricky for The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. The shoot involved posing Ricky holding a white board on which a lung x-ray would be superimposed.

Once the shoot was complete, the image was chosen and passed to Doug Summers who added the lungs and designed the poster that you may now see on the London Underground at St Pancras, Waterloo and Euston stations and also on 300 buses in Glasgow, Liverpool and Birmingham.

I must admit, when I compare my work to the other images in the campaign I have to say I think I produced something that worked really well..

Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket, Pål Waaktaar

2010-11-18T16:39:00.007Z

This week I photographed A-Ha for the second time in as many months, not something, I normally do. The reasons were twofold; this was the first gig of their "farewell" tour and also at the last gig I did not manage to get a group shot (all the members together).

There are so many blogs written regarding live music or gig photography. Usually these discuss the technical; cameras, settings and lenses. Nobody discusses what to shot. My list is as follows;

Audience and atmosphere; before or during the gig.

Entrance; this may be the only time the artist will wave or smile at the audience, the problem is the lights are not usually fully up.

Head and shoulders portrait; with singers without the mic covering half of their face. If a band, all members!

Full length portraits; especially if the artist is known for their fashion sense.

Group; if at all possible, particularly with more established artists where all the members of a group will be known.

So many young photographers want to photograph music, but if you want to be a professional, the key is not to lose your head or get carried away, go through the list of shots and only once you are sure you have all of them, go for the arty. (This is the difference between professionals and amateurs as I have said so many times, knowing what is needed and making sure it is delivered).

So on Monday I got the group shot. Mission accomplished.

Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket, Pål Waaktaar

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Still Caring

2010-11-17T18:33:00.000Z

About a month ago , I spent 2 days photographing composers, conductors and other performers at the Concert for Care. As this excerpt from an interview with the producer Tommy Person announces, it's not over yet... Listen Here... (with thanks to Tim Burden for the interview excerpt. )

It's lovely to hear others talk of your work in this way. The group portrait mentioned by tommy is this..

The for a sneak preview of the portraits that will be auctioned off, see here...

Please keep checking back for more news on the auctions for Care or other limited edition prints..

A Mixed Bag

2010-11-15T11:40:00.001Z

Following my last post on a single event, this post is just a quick round up of the last week.

If we ignore my chasing the weather earlier in the week, started on Wednesday with a client meeting before meeting my brother for lunch at Trafalgar Square. As we were about to meet up he phoned me to ask where I was, "call yourself a photographer - you should be off covering this student demo in Whitehall". So I left him and headed to Whitehall for about 45 minutes just to get a taste. At this stage the demo was peaceful and jovial with many off for a day out and smiling for the camera. I did not go down to Millbank where it was so obviously hijacked and turned violent.

10/11/10. Education cuts protest

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

After lunch it was off to The Roundhouse to cover arrivals to "The Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards"

Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards - Outside Arrivals

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Thursday the weather worsened and I headed off to Brighton to get some "weather" images before photographing veterans at an "unofficial" remembrance service. Weather images are so hard to capture.. ideally very strong winds along with a blue sky are needed for something that would be published. Unfortunately in Brighton all we had was strong winds, driving rain and a horrible grey overcast sky. The only image I can away with is this...

Brighton Weather

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

I spotted this group making their way onto this pier and so I run across the pebbles, trying to shield my camera from the wind and the rain as I swapped to my longer lens. It's an ok shot but not up to many of the shots that I saw from elsewhere in the UK. I was disappointed to hear later in the day that a kite-surfer had jumped Brighton Pier in all that wind... (see here).. only disappointed as I missed it and that was one image that would have been published. First rule of photography, to get an image to have to be there...

Luckily the weather was a little calmer in Sunday for the official remembrance parade.

Brighton Rememberance

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Brighton Rememberance

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

I ended the week with some music; Gorillaz at the O2. It's been a while since I had shot some live music and as it was near the beginning of their world tour and I have not shot them before....

Damon Albarn

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Bonfire Night: Lewes

2010-11-06T14:13:00.005Z

Lewes in East Sussex have what are almost certainly the largest bonfire night celebrations in the country. Thousands flock to the town to see the traditional celebrations featuring torchlit processions through the town centre.

I only live about 30 minutes away by car and 45 by train but have not visited for over 20 years, something I needed to remedy. As a news story I needed an outlet to distribute my images (my main representatives are an entertainment agency and these images would not fit). Over the past month or so I have been watching the launch of a new news agency "London News Pictures". One of my friends and colleagues has been working with them and I am impressed with the coverage they were getting. As they had no other photographer listed in my area I thought it could be a good marriage, they agreed and I am happy to have a new agency to represent my news work.

The first stage of covering any event is in the office, confirming times, the best locations, access limitations etc. My first call was Lewes Council Press office who confirmed the times and that being near the memorial was the best location. With access (a real concern as I did not want to be stuck in the crowds) they confirmed that there were no Press Accreditations as each society had their own safety stewards, did not invite or accredit press and access should not really be a problem. I was sceptical.

With this is mind I set off early to check the location. A technically difficult shoot, with probable access problems for a new agency who I would like to impress. Arriving I chatted to some police officers who advised again that the marshals would ensure safety and me getting access into the parade should not be a problem. We had a coffee then stood in the rain for 2 hours in the chosen location as the crowds built around us. To help with any questions that may occur later, I decided to wear my UK press card visibly as I would at a demonstration or parade.

Once the parade(s) started I was able to move around fairly easily (and carefully with so many flames around). There are a couple of classic images of this which I really wanted to grab before heading out to file.

Lewes Bonfire Celebrations

It was in the last 10 minutes before I planned to leave that it finally happened, a marshall bent down and said "you're not allowed to be here" (there were other photographers near me and I was well back). I identified myself as press and showed my card. "Thats not a press pass" was the reply. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder from a second person. Decision time, do I argue of cut and run? I might be missing the final image I wanted but decided that was it.

The problem was the crowds had now grown to such a level that there was no way we could get out and whilst fighting the crowds to get to the station I (just about, over heads) got the shots of the crosses I was aiming for. Not perfect but ok.

Lewes Bonfire Celebrations

The whole event is really quite dangerous but luckily this year was again fairly incident free. In our nanny state am a strong supporter of events like this but it think it is clear that it would not take much of an incident to close it down substantially. As a photographer it would have been fairly easy to paint a negative image, focusing on the dangerous; I tried to focus on the positive, the way the whole town is involved, the fact the all generations are involved, from the youngest to the eldest and finally the memorial and remembrance of our war heroes. It was just a shame I was unable to complete the job.

Lewes Bonfire Celebrations

My favourite from the night taken earlier in the evening from the location where I was moved from.

The images for sale may be seen on the agency site

Edit: First job for new agency, with a use on the Daily Mail website here..

2nd Edit: 2nd use on Telegraph website here...

Concert for Care

2010-10-22T17:15:00.001+01:00

Ok, I'll put my hands up straight away and say that this post is 3 or 4 days late but I really needed to take a break following the fantastic Concert for Care on Sunday and Monday.

I have mentioned in the past that I was official photographer for the event which started early on the Sunday morning with a special screening of Psycho at The Empire Leicester Square.

From here it was a rush down to the home of the London Symphony Orchestra; St. Lukes which was where the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra would be rehearsing along with the Composers and Conductors who where giving their time.

Robert Ziegler

My first impression was how different an orchestra sounds in an enclosed space compared with a concert hall. It took a few minutes to get used to the volume and concentrate on the task in hand; recording the event. The afternoon was a visual and aural feast with the shapes and movement of the instruments and musicians coupled with the wonderful sounds.

Anne Dudley and the RPO.

After a nice reception in the evening it was off to the Royal Albert Hall for further rehearsals all through Monday afternoon up until show time. The RAH is a wonderful building and having an empty hall during rehearsals meant I could explore positions and angles, accompanied by the sound of the RPO; bliss.

Christopher Gunning

The show started at 7:30 and to help cover this is twisted the arm of a fellow tog to cover the backstage area and green room. Earlier in the day I had set up a small "studio" with simple lighting to enable us to take a portrait of every performer. These will follow later.

Between the rehearsals and the show we took a quick group photo; 2 strobes balancing the lighting held by 2 assistants. Took about 2 minutes but I think it is a wonderfully relaxed portrait;

(L-R) Rachel Portman, David Arnold, Michael Nyman, Craig Armstrong, John Ottman, Anne Dudley, Harry Gregson-Williams, George Fenton, Christopher Gunning, Johnny Greenwood, Patrick Doyle, John Powel, Dario Marianelli

During the concert Michael Nyman gave a wonderful solo performance on a panio which clearly was not placed to make a photographers task easy. I moved carefully into the audience and used a longer lens to capture this image

Michael Nyman

The show was closed by David Arnold.

David Arnold

Before I end, I owe considerable thanks to a number of people;

Firstly Jane Hobson for assisting on the evening of the concert, I could not have captured the performance if I had not been confident of the back stage cover.
Secondly The Royal Philharmonic for allowing me access to their rehearsal and making me jump halfway across St. Lukes.
Finally David Arnold and Tommy Pearson for asking me to help and putting faith in my photographic skills.

Back to the music.

2010-10-09T11:28:00.004+01:00

Although the blog may have been empty over the past week or two, my diary has not. There was the premiere of "Eat Pray Love" (Julia Roberts), a corporate poker party and a few other small shoots.

In this time I have only shot 2 music events, both at the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington. It's a lovely building although not always the easiest to shoot at. The first event, just over a week ago was the "Orange Rock Corps"; a free gig for persons who had volunteered for community projects. The line-up included PlanB, Tao Cruse and N-Dubz. The acts moved at a fair pace but I managed to keep up, filling the images to my agency between acts. The headline act were Pendulum:

Pendulum

Last night I was back there again for a special one off A-Ha gig where they played the whole of thier "hunting high and low" . As we only have the first three songs it is always nice when the artist starts with a well known number, in this case it was "take on me", their first and biggest hit.

The audience were seated and so there was no pit. We therefore kept low in front of the first row and in the aisles. Its always interesting to see which shots other photographers post from concert shoots. I always try to vary mine and in this post I have chosen two images that show the artist in context with the audience and the hall.

Morten Harket

Next week starts with the "Despicable Me" premiere and finishes with a residency at The Albert Hall in my capacity of official photographer for the "Concert for Care". If you have not brought tickets for this Or the screening, time is running out!

Stop the baby trade.

2010-09-28T07:43:00.000+01:00

This shoot was a few weeks ago but like quite a few shoots, I am not able to publish until after the client has released it.

In this case the client was the BUAV who needed a shot of Ricky Gervais wearing their campaign tee-shirt. The client phoned the day before the shoot looking for a photographer who has experience of shooting celebrities who was available the following afternoon. I met both those requirements (I'm glad to say).

The shoot was planned to be fit in during recording of extras for Ricky's new DVD and we were to meet at the studio. I expected a fair amount of hanging around (which is normal in these types of shoot as we fit into breaks of filming). It was pleasant surprise to find that our arrival fit in with one such break and within 2 minutes of sitting down to wait we were walking into the studio. 5 minutes after that we were walking back out, mission accomplished.

In that short time it was clear how driven Ricky was and how passionate about the campaign. It took very little direction to get look that both the client and I were after.

Now that campaign has been released, it's nice to see this popping up all round the Internet.

To photograph or not to photograph?

2010-09-20T07:59:00.004+01:00

The last couple of jobs have each presented a similar problem; attendees that are not really keen on being photographed.

The first was Zac Efron at the UK Premiere of the "Death and life of Charlie St Cloud"; this was a publicity appearance for the film and of course being photographed is a huge part of this, with the aim to get coverage in the national press.

He was fantastic with the fans, spending lots of time getting close with them but it was clear he was not quite in the mood to be photographed by us; refusing all requests to look up and smile whilst signing autographs (a fairly standard shot which often appears in the papers). The posed photographs proper were ok if a little quick...

Zac Efron

The second job was at the Goodwood revival (gallery here). Rowan Atkinson was judging the static aircraft display and he is well known for his dislike of being photographed.

Rockers on motorbikes

This is a little dilemma for me; I believe strongly in the rights of press freedom and the right for photography in public but I also believe in the right to privacy. For example I would never photograph someone in a private situation where they did not want to be, nor would I follow/chase in public to get a shot. If they pose in a private situation, that is another matter.

Again, this was a public event and therefore I believe it is important that the press do take photos. There was an official photographer covering the judging and it could be argued that this is all that is required but surely varied shots from different view points is a good thing from a publicity point of view.

Yes, I shot quite a few frames making sure I got a photo of Rowan looking at me, with his eyes open in different situations. I think I succeeded.

Rowan Atkinson

Why hire a pro?

2010-09-11T12:22:00.001+01:00

It's often a point of discussion - what makes a pro photographer - what's the difference between a professional and an amateur. Why should a company go to a professional over the guy in accounts who owns an expensive camera and who always takes great nature pictures?

All good questions, and if it's your budget, your event, your PR, you would want good answers. It's not that all pro's are better than all amateurs. In fact that is most defiantly not true. We all have seen GREAT amateur photos; some produced with some real heath-robinson lash up.

The difference is most amateurs produce images when they are in the mood, of what they want, when they want.

Looking back over my past jobs it could be argued that most photographers would instantly fancy shooting Angelina Jolie or Zac Efron and that shooting music, whilst not easy, is always fun.

How about waking up, looking at the diary and seeing today the shoot is a company loading boxes onto a container truck. Arriving at the location to find a very bright sun in a narrow street and the only place the can lorry park creates really harsh contrasts between the light and the shadows (oh and by the way - this is where they will be loading). The lorry must be loaded fairly fast and the pavement is not that wide.

Not the sort of situation your average amateur would dream about shooting, not the sort of job that photography dreams are made of...

"Over 40,000 items of clothing and sports and educational equipment for children donated by customers and employees of London Clubs 10 UK casinos were loaded on to a container today by staff from the companies offices in Mayfair to begin a 7000 mile journey to needy townships in South Africa.

The sun shone as Head Office staff put down the pens, pushed aside their computers and sweated while they loaded hundreds of boxes packed with clothing, soccer kits and books into the container in Old Park Lane."

So as they carried, I did my best to work with the light and the shadows, with the boxes and the smiles to capture the enjoyment and the pride of those involved. A one off event, at a specific time in a specific location, however difficult. Thats why you hire a pro.. to make sure, at the end of the event, you have the images..

Oh and by the way - I really enjoyed the job, the staff were fantastic, helpful and (rightly) proud of their achievements.

Frightfest and on site portraits...

2010-08-30T18:19:00.005+01:00

As I am covering the Frightfest Film festival for the second year, I knew that I would be able to grab a little time with some of the genres stars. I therefore decided that I would bring my "portable location studio" . The two small lights, softboxes and clamps can be setup almost anywhere to make an effective portrait.

For Kane Hodder (stuntman and Jason in the original Friday the 13th films) we decided on the dark, rear fire escape. The lights were clamped either side to the railings and within 15 minutes of walking out we had 3 or 4 good moody portraits in various poses.

Kane Hodder

For directors Adam Green and Joe Lynch we moved to a lighter, less imposing location further up the stairs to produce this less moody portrait of the pair of them.

Adam Green and Joe Lynch

A further example is shown in the previous post; Gemma, Isabella and the Werewolf are lit by a single light held by my assistant.

What is great about this set-up is I can transport it to almost any location, setup, shoot and finish in a matter of minutes with fine control over the lighting.

In todays world there really is no need for any corporation to use flat, boring portraits in their literature.

13 Hrs at Frightfest

2010-08-28T17:50:00.003+01:00

Actually this is day 3 so closer to 48 hours. What a difference a week makes; 7 days ago I was standing in a damp field, today I am working with 2 lovely actresses (Isabella Calthorpe, Gemma Atkinson) and a werewolf for the launch of their new horror movie 13 Hrs.

We managed a few set up shots inside before heading out in to leicester square for a few more. It was at this point I was reminded how rude some of the press photographers are.. I know we all have to get our shots but to barge into an what is obviously a set-up shoot, pushing the photographer (me) aside is just plain rude... especially when the culprit was a well known "veteran" in London. Manners cost nothing and he would have still got his shot.... oh well...

This is one of the set up ones. There are more in my frightfest event gallery which will be published later...

Isabella Calthorpe, Gemma Atkinson and Werewolf

A Damp slideshow...

2010-08-26T08:52:00.002+01:00

A 3 minute slideshow of a selection of images from the very damp Airshow on the weekend of 21st/22nd August.

A Damp weekend...

2010-08-23T14:35:00.003+01:00

At Shoreham Airport.

A real shame, the weather that is. All these sunny days and it had to rain most of the weekend with the cloud cover staying very low.

That said, I had a lovely time with a great bunch of people. My real hope is that a good amount of money was raised for the wings appeal.

As for the photography, most of my time was spent trying to show the atmosphere of the event, taking very few images of aircraft. That said, here is a Hurricaine flying very low to keep out of the clouds.

Hawker Hurricaine 11b

More my style though are the Chelsea Pensioners, ex forces enjoying an event that really honours them...

Chelsea Pensioners

Taylor Momson

2010-08-20T00:20:00.002+01:00

Third shoot this week, 4th if you count Birdman on Sunday and It is interesting how each job has it's own problems.

Sunday - it was knowing when to take a break and transmit my images. When Holly Walsh was in the water; should I have changed lenses to try to get tighter?

Monday was quite smooth, it was just a case of trying to capture something different from the other photographers.

Wednesday was frustrating, it was obviously difficult to manage that number of young actors and getting the right shots, getting the actors for any amount of time, shooting them signing with the fans was nigh on impossible.

Tonight, it was light, or actually, the lack of light. Well, that coupled with the fact as an American act we were keen to send the images to the USA as soon as possible, a task thwarted by a change of stage time from 9pm to 9:30. Still I think the first images left my system at about 22:11. Not bad...

Taylor Momson

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

2010-08-19T09:35:00.002+01:00

Anna Kendrick

The whole cast attended last nights european premiere. Images available for licensing here...

Angelina Jolie

2010-08-17T08:08:00.004+01:00

Angelina Jolie

Angelina attended last nights UK premiere of SALT. News images available for licensing here...

For film premieres to be worthwhile, stars from the film are needed. Sometimes it is the director, producer and one or two. Sometimes it is the whole (major) cast.

In this case, as the guy from Sony said.. "When the star is Angelina Jolie, you only need one star..."

She looked great...

Holly Walsh, Birdmen and Vintage

2010-08-16T10:47:00.007+01:00

The last few days have been busy - with far more to come in the next week. Its's great to be busy.

My first event this weekend was "Vintage" - a great new festival featuring a mix of fashion, art and music. A wonderful event with a lovely atmosphere which could not be dampened despite the rain trying it's level best. I had planed to cover all 3 days but due to a personal matter on Friday and the accident on Sunday (see below), I only made Saturday..

The amazing Demon Drome

Goodwood Vintage Festival Day 2 : Hiding from the rain

I hope it succeeds and if so, I will be back camping there for the full 3 days next year...

So Sunday and the accident. No, not my accident but Holly Walsh from children's BBC. She was jumping (defiantly not flying!) in the Worthing Birdman for charity. Unfortunately as she landed she suffered some injuries to her arm and had to be recovered by the lifeboat. News images available for licensing here...

Holly Walsh and Joel Hicks

This delayed the event so to ensure I had the whole story, I stayed. A good choice because the winning flight or 81M was the final flight of the day.

Toby Quantrill's winning 81M flight of the Worthing International Birdman

The full Birdman gallery (not including the Holly Walsh accident - contact me for license information) is here..

Shoreham Airshow

2010-08-12T19:42:00.002+01:00

Today I attended the press day for the forthcoming Shoreham Airshow.

I must say - what a fantastic team of volunteers they are to put this charity event together.

This year is the 21st birthday of the event and it promises to be a stunning weekend. If you are in sussex, head over, enjoy the boys playing with their flying toys and see some wonderful displays...

This picture is of The Blades display team who performed on the press day. If you look carefully you will see the logo on the wing is that of the RAFA Wings Appeal for which both The Blades and the airshow are raising money for....

The Blades

CARE International... The Concert for CARE 2

2010-08-06T20:16:00.004+01:00

We get to the end of the first week of August and as always, it has been very quiet. With many of the UK population on holiday, the phone has been very quiet and the number of events to cover was just about zero.

The main activity of the week has been the announcement of the Concert for Care 2 on the 18th October and the charity screening of Psycho the day before. You will see on the Concert for Care website one of my images of The Empire. Why do I mention this?

Most importantly it is a great cause and if you have any interest in cinema or film music then both of these events are not to be missed; you will have a wonderful time and be helping others.

Think about it; how many of us has seen Psycho on a large screen? Many of my parents generation may have but my generation and younger? Not only is it being shown on a large screen it is being shown in one of the top cinemas in the world... Followed on the next day by a gala concert at The Royal Albert Hall featuring many of the composers that have written the music to many of the modern great films. Book Now! Screening Tickets Here, Concert Tickets Here.

I will be covering both of these events for the organisers and hope to produce a set of limited edition prints which will be put on sale following the events with all profit being passed to CARE International.

I always finish on a picture .. so from the last week of July, Jessica Biel from the UK premiere of The A-Team (News images available for licensing here)...

Ellesse: They listened and they heard...

2010-07-31T10:10:00.001+01:00

I am really pleased to report (as those who have read the comment on the last post) that Ellesse have listened to the points raised by a number of photographers (including me) and have changed the Terms and Conditions of their competition

9.1 By entering the Competition you agree that any winning Entry, of the Competition or the Weekly Competition (“Winning Entry”), may be used by Ellesse (and its partners) for the marketing and promotion of this and future competitions (“Competition Marketing and Promotional Purposes”).
9.2 You hereby acknowledge that Ellesse may have to crop and re-size the Winning Entries as necessary for Competition Marketing and Promotional Purposes.
9.3 The Winners’ names shall appear on all Winning Entries reproduced by ellesse for Competition Marketing and Promotional Purposes.
9.4 You hereby grant Ellesse a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide licence for each Winning Entry in all media for the uses described in 9.1 above for 2 (two) years following the date of announcement of the Winners.
9.5 Ellesse shall contact you and afford you the opportunity to negotiate the terms of any additional usage of Entries falling outside of Competition Marketing and Promotional Purposes

The key is the photographer is now granting a license to Ellesse enabling them to use the photograph and not actually giving them the photograph.

I think that when companies create terms like the original terms (previous post) it is through ignorance and a poor understanding of copyright / licensing.

Well done Ellesse..

Ellesse: They probably create fine sportswear but they know very little about fair play..

2010-07-30T11:11:00.000+01:00

Remember my posting a while back on how some companies use photography competitions to get free images? Well we have another one..

"Ellesse shall own the entire copyright and all other rights in the winning photos. By entering the Competition, the Winner(s) irrevocably grant(s) and assign(s) to Ellesse all rights in their entry and agrees specifically to Ellesse’s use of their entry for all marketing and promotional purposes. In additional Ellesse shall have a non-exclusive licence to use other entries for PR purposes and shall contact the relevant Entrant(s) prior to such use."

So, the winner can never actually (legally) use their image again - they have given ALL rights to the image to Ellesse and (legally) should delete it from their computer (unless of course, they ask Ellesse to grant them a license for private use ;-) ).

All of the other entries may be used for PR? At least there is no hidden agenda here, they are quite open, they want to use YOUR images free of charge to help THEM sell their goods and make a profit for themselves..

As long as we are clear then (which we are, because it says so above), thats ok then...

Lovebox...

2010-07-29T11:55:00.006+01:00

DSC03693

Originally uploaded by Amnesty International UK

I actually posed for a photo and signed a model release!! The words on my hand are the name of a political prisoner in Burma...

See Amnesty's site for why...

Air Guitar

2010-07-26T08:08:00.003+01:00

I enjoyed covering last years Air Guitar final in Brighton so much that I returned for more punishment this weekend.

This year the finals were held at The Relentless Garage, Highbury corner, London which is quite a nice venue. However I have to say the crowd did not seem as big this year and the atmosphere not quite up to last year's. The performers most defiantly were up to last year's though (with only one repeat contestant).

I think a fair number of the performances were defiantly alcohol fuelled and I once had to dodge a flying contestant as he launched himself from the stage, over the pit into the audience... (yes it would have made a great shot but I was busy making sure I did not get a foot in the face as he flew by).

It was obvious early on who the 2 main contenders were and so I took care to make sure I got plenty of shots of them (Juan Nightstand and Eddie Six Strings) early on. This was a good plan as for some reason, as the night went on the lighting seemed to get darker and I had to resort to using flash to fill in towards the end, something I hate doing at live events as it does take some of the atmosphere away.

Juan Nightstand

Juan ended up the entertaining runner up with the Eddie Six Strings becoming the first female champ (yeah)....

On a slightly different note, in the past I have always designed and operated my own website - even for sales but I am currently looking at alternatives, mainly for hosting galleries and client delivery. It looks as though I will be going with Zenfolio as I am very impressed by the cost and the ease of use... also their presentation tools are great allowing me to create slide shows in a matter of seconds... Enjoy...

Do you feel the Love (box)....

2010-07-19T16:37:00.002+01:00

I'm just back from covering the Lovebox festival in Victoria Park for 3 days. A music festival, but not a music festival. I mean, how can it be; there is no camping on site and nights were spent in a comfy travelodge a short tube journey away (well, it would have been short had half the London Underground not been closed for the weekend).

There are a core of photographers that cover music in London and the surrounding areas. Usually we bump into one another for 10 minutes before and after a gig, exchange greetings and run off. One of the nice things about covering a 3 day event is that we get time to sit down, chat about the state of the market, gigs we have done, problems we have faced.

At these events there are also far more lets say, "less experienced" shooters. Maybe it its their first time in a photography pit, maybe they got their pass via friends of friends. Having just spent the last 3 days asking others to move back, or not hold their camera in the air, I thought I would pass on a few pointers for those thinking of entering "the pit"....

1. If there is room, use it. No one wants a shot taken up the left nostril of their favourite performer. Move back, as far as reasonable, angles are better and we can all get alongside and between each other.

2. When moving about either go behind the other photographers or duck under their line.. they may be shooting something you have not seen and if you get in the frame at that decisive moment....

3. Do not.. I repeat.. Do not... lift your camera above your head and shoot blindly. You don't know what you are shooting. Your camera will not know what to focus on and above all you will probably get asked "nicely" to continue shooting at eye level. You are not in the crowd... That said, shooting wide, over heads into the crowd behind the other photographers can produce some great shots.

I could go on (and probably did all weekend) but just remember polite and professional.

A nice word for the PR team of Lovebox a pleasure to work with. That said, seeing as I am having a moan.. just a thought for organisers. If you have more than one stage, try to stager the performance start times. We are there to cover the event and if 2 stages start at the same time; we can only cover half of it! (oh, and keep the press area nearby)...

So, at last, some images;

From Saturday, for me, performance of the weekend.

Simon Le Bon

And Bryan is looking as smooth as ever.

Bryan Ferry

From Sunday, probably the trickiest shot all weekend. Grace was on a platform at the back of the stage with smoke and difficult lighting...

Grace Jones

Snooping on Nico

2010-07-11T09:37:00.005+01:00

With the British Grand prix this weekend and Goodwood festival of Speed last, most the the F1 pilots are in the Uk. Whilst they might be known for time on the track, far more of their time is taken meeting sponsors and marking obligations.

Nico Rosberg

This week Nico Rosberg attended the launch of Thomas Sabo's "Sterling Silver collection". The Location? St Marks Church in Mayfair. A wonderful venue with a wonderful atmosphere. What can I say about Nico? He looks very young and he is very much a gentleman.

Beth Ditto

Entertainment was provided by CoCo Sumner, Beth Ditto and Jesus Luz. As Jesus is also known by his relationship with one of the worlds biggest music acts, it was no surprise that rumours abounded about a certain Madonna might put in an appearance. However, as soon as you read that in the paper on the way to attend the event you know there is no way she will attend.

The next evening was a complete contrast - Shepards Bush Empire and Snoop Dog. I don't think I have ever felt so much bass go through my body. Snoop is a very imposing character...

Snoop Dogg

Make It So..... tiring

2010-07-06T10:59:00.005+01:00

Make It So.....

It's a strange job, one week you are twiddling your thumbs, the next, running from here to there, daytimes, evenings, meetings, shooting. It's all good though.

The past week has seen me at BAFTA (Baseline premiere), The o2 (Jack Johnson, nice sounds) and Battersea Power Station. These were all evening jobs.

Jack Johnson

On Friday I attended the "Festival of Speed". I did this for 2 reasons. 1. I like fast racing cars (particularly Ferraris...). 2. As a photographer I need to constantly push myself into different situations, find new subjects.

I know last year I attended "The Goodwood Revival" (as I will this year) but "The Festival" is far more intense, more like a race meet with stricter rules... I had a good (if tiring) time, managing to get into the F1 assembly area to shoot down the nose of the Ferrari of Marc Gene..

Marc Gene

Saturday I was up in London early for a commercial commission before heading over to Pride. With some of the stewards not knowing one end of a flag from another, I missed the main photo-call with Boris Johnson. The next couple of hours were taken up dealing with security to get a decent shot of Boris and moving up and down the parade to get across the atmosphere.....

Sunday... a day off. I think I earned it....

Blondie @ Kenwood and other "oldies"

2010-06-28T10:35:00.004+01:00

Firstly, I apologise for the the word "oldies"...

Saturday afternoon was spent traveling in the heat by train, tube and bus to Kenwood house; a place that I have many fond memories of. I was born just up the road and I remember Sunday mornings, walking down the shaded paths feeding the squirrels ending up at the coach house for tea and cake....

So, Saturday... I arrived early with the hope of taking a set of "feature" shots, maybe talking to a few of the audience. However, upon arrival we were kept waiting for over an hour for our passes, gaining entry minutes before the support act (Little Fish).

Little Fish

I had traveled with the expectation (and hence preparation) of shooting Blondie from in front of the stage. Upon arrival we found this was not the case and they wanted us to shoot from the rear (a really long way way!). Had I known this, I would not have travelled. So what do I do? Walking round it was obvious that there were plenty of audience members with decent cameras. I am not traveling for 4.5 hours, leaving my family having a barbecue in wonderful sunshine to not get the images I am commissioned to get...

Blondie

Sunday was the O2. Michael MacDonald was easy to shoot, if not a little un-intresting due to sitting behind a keyboard (he sounded great though)..

Michael McDonald

For me though, my shot of the weekend was soul legend Al Green enjoying the sweet sounds of the sax......

Al Green

A mixed bag..

2010-06-23T11:35:00.008+01:00

The last couple of weeks really has been that - a mixed bag. This always give me a problem of what to blog, when and how.

I like this blog to reflect me, the shots from that I feel are more me than the run of the mill press shots I deliver. For example, I have made it clear so many times that I love working in black and white, i love informal portraits but these just do not sell for the kind of events I cover.

Take last night, at the Shepherds Bush Empire, we had Charlotte Gainsbourg. Very photogenic, the lighting was quite moody and with her gazing off into the distance, her eyes looked great...

Charlotte Gainsbourg

but I preferred Chilly Gonzalez, the supporting artist at his piano. The concentration, the same moody lighting, the white gloves.. Of the two, Chilly Gonzalez was far more interesting to shoot and I particularly like this ...

Chilly Gonzalez

On Sunday I was photographing music of a totally different nature; the 4000 strong "Rock Choir" filled the Hammersmith Apollo (I still want to call it The Odeon after all these years). With members both on the stage and in the dimly lit auditorium this was quite a challenge. My favourite from the shoot was this one, where I grabbed a chair and climbed above the choir on the stage to shoot over their heads and picture the conductor with further members behind him...

Tom George, Rock Choir

I always hate to end on a bum note... but with the England football team playing today to stay in the World Cup, I think it is appropriate given the way they have performed. I covered the Brighton event of the World Naked Bike Ride. Great fun as ever.. I'm just glad I did not need a paramedic...

Calling Dr. Beat!!

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and Amy Macdonald

2010-06-11T11:52:00.004+01:00

After the BAFTA's on Sunday, I decided to have a couple of "rest days" (read office days), returning to shooting on Wednesday evening for these two events.

The nice thing about the Academy shoot was we were in the courtyard which gave use some wonderful architectural backdrop (not that you can see it in the close cropped shot of John Hurt below). We also had plenty of room. I planned to shoot the first hour of arrivals before running up to The Hard Rock Cafe for Amy Macdonald.

John Hurt

Splitting jobs like this is a risk as you are bound to miss some attendees of the first event (and there is always the danger of arriving too late for the second) but in this case it worked out quite well, I only missed 2 or 3 opportunities at the first and I arrived with 10 minutes to spare for the second.

The stage / performance area at The Hard Rock is quite small and the light is usually quite poor as well, normally just flooded with single colours. I decided to use a single camera and a 50mm lens, a really old fashioned shoot, looking for angles. For this shot I was almost on the stage ...

Amy Macdonald

Overall I was pleased with the evenings work...

British Academy Television Awards 2010

2010-06-07T11:36:00.002+01:00

For the viewer, the TV BAFTA's started around 7pm. For the photographers it started far earlier, having to collect our passes at around 3pm before allocating our space for the red Carpet arrivals at 3:30pm. That leaves about 2 hours of waiting before the first arrivals.

Helena Bonham Carter

The fact is, for professional photographers the amount of time actually taking photos is quite small compared with editing, captioning, finding new clients, generally running a business and of course, waiting. One of my colleagues talks about the waiting and the "banter" being one of the best parts of the job.... (I'm not so sure).

After the last arrival at 6:45pm it was up to the press area to cover the award winners. When watching the ceremony on TV, you might not realise but the awards rattle on at a fair old pace and in the press area we were seeing new winners every couple of minutes. When you consider that we are taking maybe a group shot, head and shoulders of some or maybe single portraits, there is not much time to breathe, let alone back up your shots, weed out the poor ones etc etc.

Melvyn Bragg

This is where the "might" of Getty win out. Each photographer is equipped with an editor who takes the cards, picks the shots, captions and "files". Tasks that I do alone.. I say win out, the upside of this is that the photographer is totally focused on shooting and gets to finish earlier (I did not complete the job until 2AM) . My upside is that I have total control of my images, from start to delivery....

The Great Escape - Day 3: Marina and Tiff

2010-05-16T11:51:00.003+01:00

After the aches and pains of the morning I decided that for the Saturday I would shoot only the bands that I would enjoy shooting and who's photos would be more likely to sell. Also, I knew the headline act - "Marina and the Diamonds" would be packed and not easy to get into.

The first act I needed to shoot was Tiffany Page who was playing at the tiny Volks on the seafront. I got down there vary early to size the place and the lights up and caught the end of their sound check. Took a couple of snaps and then enjoyed the short set by Jaakko & Jay - "Acoustic Punk" very entertaining.

Photographing at small place like this and getting there early means you usually get a chance to make contact with the band and this gives a little more interaction. I'm really pleased with the results given the space and the light I had.

Next I wandered down to Concorde 2 and watched a couple of support acts before Marina, who was headlining. My gut instincts were right and as the time drew near for her performance; the venue and the pit filled. I couple of guys I knew did not make it in (The pit was also reduced as Channel 4 were also filming and had 2 cameras in the pit). I however had the centre of the pit - prime position.

All in all the perfect evening, 2 good shoots with a little time to relax and enjoy some music... (and a beer too!)

Marina and the Diamonds

Tiffany Page

The Great Escape....

2010-05-15T10:05:00.003+01:00

As I write this I ache all over and am absolutely shattered (it's 10AM on the Saturday morning). 2 days of The Great Escape Festival have gone and we are now into the final day..

For those of you who do not know TGE is a "new music" festival covering 3 days in 24 venues throughout Brighton. This means covering it is a case of running (ok, brisk walking) from venue to venue and trying to clamber to the front to get a position from which to shoot (many of the smaller venues do not have a "pit").

Yesterday evening I shot 8 acts in the space of 4 hours starting with a special outdoor gig by The Futureheads at Audio and finishing with "I blame CoCo". Between these there were a number of acts, some I have to say were quite poor but one I really liked was "Think about life", a Canadian band with a lot of beat and life...

Futureheads

Goldhawks

Think about Life

Now I need another cup of tea and to plan todays marathon..

Streetdance 3D

2010-05-15T09:50:00.003+01:00

Tuesday was the World Premiere of Streetdance 3D at The Empire.

Again I was lucky to have red carpet access for (it has to be said), this laid back, atmospheric premiere. Maybe it was the fact that many of the main press pack are over at cannes so there were less press, but this event had a really nice feel to it. Lots of younger performers and dancers hung around on the carpet enjoying themselves for what I would think, for many of them, was their first film.

N-Dubz were one of the acts hanging around and Dappy was seeming particularly relaxed and happy to be snapped.

Dappy

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Head over to The Empires facebook page to see a couple of Flawless performing on the Red Carpet.

Ash at Concorde2

2010-05-02T09:08:00.002+01:00

Concorde 2 in Brighton is a venue I love and hate both at the same time (with far more love than hate I must say). Why?

My hate is the lighting and the smoke machine... It really is a small venue and like most small venues the lighting is just about vertically over the stage with and awful lot of backlighting. For the audience the result is great and dramatic. For a photographer trying to deliver images to a client where you can see the performers, see their faces, recognise them, it's a nightmare. It's just the nature of small venues, The Borderline in London is usually the same

But as a venue, it's wonderfully intimate. It's not just it's size, there is something else, an atmosphere that contributes to this feeling within the venue. I've been to some wonderful gigs here and I will continue to visit as often as I am able...

For Ash, for some reason we had far more room in the pit than normal and as there was only one other photographer there was plenty of room to get the wide angle on for the 3rd song which, with the backlighting made for some dramatic photos. Then, as he got to the end of the number Tim punched the air... perfect!!

Ash

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Its all been done before....

2010-05-01T15:16:00.003+01:00

In this world, if you stand still, you are left behind. It's with this thought that I continually try to push myself and cover varied types of events, although usually staying fairly local. Last year it was Goodwood and this year I have a few other local alternative events lined up. I think this is one good way of advancing yourself. After all, I have moved from just working with buildings to covering the entertainment industry fairly successfully – who would have though that were possible.

This week I applied for a press pass to a local (but well large and well known) event that I have fancied shooting at for a couple of years. I exchanged a couple of emails with the press officer and read all the media accreditation information and I now feel I no longer want to work with them. Why?

Before I go into details I do not want to name or shame the event or the press officer. Nor do I assume that I am a great photographer or worthy of any special treatment. I just feel hughly at odds with the sentiments expressed in the communications. The following are excerpts from the communications with my thoughts following;

“With the current economic situation and our wishes at xxxxx to keep the accreditations to bona-fide members of the Media”

Perfect. I attached my press card to my email.

“This is not to say that we do not wish to encourage new participants as they are our future but we need to remove those that have been using our events for their own gains.”

First question; “own gains”. Everybody that gets into photography as a career does so for a reason. It may be to create art, document wrongs, show social injustice but the bottom line is all members of the (freelance photographic) media sell our work for self gain. After all, we have families to support, food to buy. I actually think that this is just a case of semantics and what is meant is that they need to protect their “brand” or “image”. This aspect I totally agree with as it also occurs in heavily in the entertainment industry (music etc.) and I think any self respecting freelancer would be happy to sign a contract that limits the use of the images to editorial use.

“I know what it is like to start and it is not easy - there are a lot out there now.”

and

“P.S. If you shoot 'Film' and use Nikon F5s you will get an hon media membership!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) There are a few Non digital types there me included.”

Well I ditched my film and darkroom years ago and there is the obvious assumption here that I am “Finger Happy Snapper” who would not know one end of a film canister from an enlarger. Digital is the future, it enables images to be delivered to clients within seconds, however to achieve you still need a complete and thorough knowledge of the photographic medium.

All of the above sentiments I can understand and agree with (to some extent), but here is the killer for me;

“I can assure you any thing that is different has been tried over 21 years”

A single sentence that I find odious and hugely arrogant. How can anyone say that it has all been done in the field of event coverage photography. That is dismissing the possibility of any of todays or tomorrows photographers contributing to the history of photography.

If you place 2 photographers side by side, shooting the same scene, the personal feeling, the view of the photographers will vary, different angles will be used, timing, different images will result. Bresson was a master. I have no doubt that if another photographer was alongside him as he worked, only Bresson will have created the images he created.

I cover lots of music events alongside other photographers. How often do we produce identical images? Never.

At the premiere this week I delivered 5 images of Jennifer Lopez. Other photographers for my agency delivered far more. However, It's one of my images on the front page of their site (one of the other photographers was actually standing in front of me with a better view and took probably treble the frames that I did).

So, do the older generation of press photographers do feel that this younger generation have nothing to offer? I hope not, but until this arrogance subsides, until the current crop retire and leave more room for the up and coming, I wonder at the ability of possible stars to get the access they require to break in....

JENNIFER LOPEZ: Media scrum

2010-04-29T08:36:00.002+01:00

JENNIFER LOPEZ

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Not a lot to say about this really other than the press were out in force for this Premiere. I did not really end up with a good position in which to work but.....

Alphabeat

2010-04-29T08:35:00.002+01:00

Alphabeat

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Following Eliza were Alphabeat. I had never photographed or seen them perform before and I must say I really enjoyed the performance (although I could not hang around for the whole set as I had to get back and file the shots I had taken).

Sometimes the lighting in C2 is not the easiest to work with (and this was one of those times). The prime requirement here is to ensure that I deliver enough different colour shots (because black and white just do not sell in todays media).

Once I was sure I had enough I switched to my beloved Black and White because I felt the emotion and the performance of the lead singer, Anders SG would not come through in colour. I was right. The monochrome images have a real "live" feel to them...

Eliza Doolittle

2010-04-29T08:27:00.002+01:00

Eliza Doolittle

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Eliza was the support for Alphabeat on Tuesday night at Concorde 2 in Brighton (she was one of 2 support acts).

It was nice to actually have time to sit down and enjoy her set, lovely sounds.

Boy George

2010-04-25T09:08:00.002+01:00

Boy George

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

I originally planned to shoot Boy George in Brighton at The Dome during the week. However due to their 5 photographers in the pit maximum (Health and Safety policy - the only venue I know with a limit such as this), I was asked by the promoters to shoot at another venue. I choose Eastbourne as it is only 40 minutes up the road and I was quite keen to see how he performed nowadays.

Compared to shooting in a busy pit, this was a doodle. I was the only photographer in a seated venue with a vary large area. As so not to annoy the audience, I shot sitting on the floor, moving between each of the 3 songs.

The hat along with the lighting made getting a nice shot quite hard but I got a few I was happy with.

And Boy George himself? I was impressed with his entry and he was very entertaining. I am sure the audience loved it....

Twittering

2010-04-24T10:36:00.003+01:00

I forgot to add in my last post, I have finally succumbed to Twitter and will be twittering from my jobs and projects with my thoughts along with snapshots from the mobile. Follow me at @j_edwards_photo

Cissbury Ring - A walk above Worthing

2010-04-24T09:46:00.006+01:00

So, where better to start my downland walks than 5 minutes from home with a walk up to the Iron Age Hill Fort - Cissbury ring (map location here).

The walk was a nice 1 and a half mile gentle climb up to the fort, taking a few "stock" images along the way, spending about an hour walking around the fort before returning down another path. The weather was really warm and the sky clear but very hazy meaning "view" shots would have muted colours with a lack of definition in the distance which was not really what I was after for my project to show the rolling landscape of sussex.

I was however able to capture the strange, almost desolate feel in the ring itself with this monochrome image.

However, as yet I am not sure how to treat this. The reason being is the land/ring itself is National Trust property but running through it are public footpaths. The national trust have a photography policy which states no commercial photography on it's land without permission;

The National Trust does not permit photography or filming at its properties for commercial use or for reproduction in any form without prior written permission. These restrictions apply only to photography taken within the grounds of National Trust properties and does not apply to public highways and paths.Photographs taken for private and personal use may not be used in any other context, submitted to any photo libraries or on-line agencies or sold directly to any image buyers. All requests for commercial photography taken for profit at any pay-for-entry property must be channelled through the Broadcast and Media Liaison Office.

I ensured the tripod was positioned on a footpath however, until I check a local OS Map, I cannot be sure that the path was a public footpath or a NT one, there is also the clause above about any "pay for entry" site. There is no payment for entry to the ring. Until I can clarify the position, this reproduction is just for enjoyment;

So, enjoy.....

New personal project

2010-04-17T13:01:00.008+01:00

I have been racking my brain to come up with a new personal project over the past few weeks. I now have 2...

Living by the sea, there are so many things to photograph within a few minutes walk of my home but the problem is they have all been photographed before, in so many ways. Of course, my point of view is always going to be different to others, so I hope my "Worthing" project will offer a new and contemporary view of the seafront. The problem is, part of this needs to be completed after sunset and I am not really keen to go to the sites I have marked out alone, in the dark with £xxx.00 of camera kit...

The second project is to apply my knowledge and skill of interior panoramics to the sussex countryside. It's with this in mind that I went off walking along the river Adur yesterday to test myself and my techniques. Whilst the viewpoint I choose is not exactly inspiring I am now confident in what I have to carry and how to create what I hope will be a fantastic set..

I love Sussex, I think it is a wonderful county with so much tucked away with 90% of it's population not being aware of anything thats not 100M away from a road. My aim therefore is to capture the wide openness and the outstanding natural beauty of this county.

That said - my test shot did not exactly fall into that category although the scale and detail are without doubt to the standard I am looking for.

Eight Questions BAPLA Must Answer

2010-04-13T17:55:00.002+01:00

When BAPLA wrote to the Government regarding the controversial Clause 43 of the Digital Economy Bill the association claimed to be speaking on behalf of a united photographic industry. It wasn’t. BAPLA ignored thousands of photographers lobbying to stop the clause. In an open letter to BAPLA, EPUK asks “Why?

Joe Perry and Bad Company

2010-04-12T14:25:00.003+01:00

For some, Saturday night would have been a trip down memory lane at The Brighton Centre as "Bad Company" played.

Before Bad Company though, we were treated to the legend that is Joe Perry (of Aerosmith Fame). A treat it was; as well as his playing, we got 4 songs to photograph him! I think this is the first time where the band is 4 strong but all the focus (and lights) were on the lead guitar.

Joe Perry

Both acts have obviously performed thousands of gigs in their time and whilst they were undoubtedly performing for the paying audience (quite rightly), it was clear that they also made sure we (the 4 photographers) got good shots. (In fact a couple of poses were way over-the-top, especially considering the age of the performer, but hey, they were enjoying themselves).

Howard Leese of Bad Company

Paul Rodgers

Now something I have to get off my chest (a rant).....

As a photographer, I get a pass to a gig by applying to the PR agent (either for the tour or performer) and it is up to this PR who gets passes.

I know I am not well known, but the agency I work for is and I have shot many of the big acts performing in the UK over the past 12 months.

Last week I applied for a gig that is happening towards the end of April. I sent in my standard request, details, link to portfolio and 99% of the time I get a positive response. This time I did not... fair enough but after a couple of email exchanges, the final response is that "I need a publication to take your shots".

You would think thats fine and fair but (and here is my issue), this same PR has said the same to me before. (Still fine). I know on that last occasion who shot the show (of a big name) and many were hobbyists, "wana-be's", some even with very little experience.

So, how did they get in? Small independent magazines (some web based), none of whom pay for content, some again written in spare time. I wonder what the total circulation of these are? Maybe I am missing the point and this is the future of media but at some point someone has to pay for the investment in time, equipment and experience surely? (For example, Saturday night one of my lenses broke, minimum replacement cost £500.00).

So here is my tip if you are starting out or want to get in to music photography; ally yourself to a local freebie magazine, use this to get access.

Maybe my agency is not big enough? Well my images are distributed to 35 territories world wide and they are cited in one of the industry "must read" books as one of the best agencies with whom to place images. (but are not Getty, the biggest, who I am sure will not have a problem getting a photographer a pass).

What is galling however is I know, come the summer festivals this PR agency will be sending out notes and requests to shot this new act or that new act at each of the festivals to gain coverage (as they did last year) ... so they want us to help them to gain the success but once they have it, we can get lost.....

Stop 43!

2010-04-07T12:13:00.000+01:00

Stop Commercial Orphan Works Exploitation in the UK Digital Economy Bill Clause 43

WE'VE GOT TO STOP THIS INSANITY!

New Book available

2010-04-01T11:00:00.004+01:00

To be honest, it's a bit late but it is the first time I have used Blurb and I wanted to go through a proof copy before I released it.

The book contains a record of the major events that took place at The Empire, Leicester Square where I had the pleasure of being the house photographer for the year. For each event, there is a short description, the principal cast and a couple of photographs from the event, many of which will not have been seen before.

The book is available in 2 sizes;

- 10in x 8in softcover at £21.99

- 13in x 11in hardcover at £49.89

Please take a look.

THE EMPIRE 2009 by Julie Edwards | BOOK INFO

Editors : Brighton

2010-03-22T09:46:00.002Z

Why is it I have so many problems uploading my images for publishing?

On Saturday afternoon after completing a shoot, I brought a coffee in a coffee shop advertising "free Wi-Fi"... could not get it to work. I edited the images, drunk the coffee then walked off in search of another.

Another coffee shop, another "free Wi-Fi", limited to 20 minutes but that is more than enough to file 6 images. Get connected, buy another drink, log in to the server and start transmitting. This Wi-Fi so restricted it's going to take 1 hour 20 to upload 6 images which would normally take 6 minutes max.

Next attempt - whip out the trusty 3G phone.I don't have the cable to connect so I use Bluetooth. Connection to the web - great. Connection to email - perfect. Now the FTP. No connect. (Why is it this MAC will connect to the FTP via this 3G when connected to the phone by cable but not by Bluetooth?)

So now I'm frustrated and try to email the images on the Wi-Fi. Amazing - they send far faster; so this coffee shop has a "ban" on FTP data (the format we use to transmit images).

By now it's getting later and the afternoon deadline is approaching so I met up with my partner and go off to relax with some food washed down with a nice glass of wine.

At 9pm I pop into The Brighton Dome to photograph Editors. 3 songs; first one quite dark, songs 2 and 3 quite short. Although I don't make a hash of it; it is no where near my best work as I am still wound up about the transmission problem earlier.

Finished, I do a quick edit on the 20 minute train journey home and all the images (about 30 in total) are uploaded within 10 minutes of getting home...

Moral of the story - "beware free Wi-Fi...."

Editors

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Robert Pattinson at UK Premiere of REMEMBER ME

2010-03-18T08:11:00.003Z

and it all seemed a little overwhelming for him..

Yet again thousands of screaming women lined Leicester Square to see Robert. He spent plenty of time signing autographs and giving interviews.

Not exactly the most flattering image of him (sorry Robert) but I thought it was quite interesting.

Robert Pattinson

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

A quick note

2010-03-15T11:50:00.002Z

to say I have slightly changed the format of this blog. You may notice the the images are now smaller but they do all now "click through" to a larger one on Flickr.

The reason for this is to make maintaining posts and updating easier and quicker. Now I have flickr linked, one post updates flickr, this and Facebook...

A good article on how to use stock photos for your website

2010-03-14T16:48:00.002Z

Tim Gander writes here on the whys, wherefores and pitfalls of using cheap stock photography on your website and marketing material.

He then goes on to write here how to work with a professional photographer to produce unique and compelling material.

Chris Rea at The Brighton Centre

2010-03-14T09:48:00.003Z

Last night Chris played The Brighton Centre. Seeing as I have only shot Chris in a car (at Goodwood - he is a racing car fanatic having made a film about Ferrari and built a very expensive replica of one of their cars), I decided to pop along.

The centre was set up for all seating and the management had decided that we were only to shoot from the wings or back from the sound desk.

These limitations plus light that was not the brightest meant the camera and I were pushed to the limit.

Chris Rea

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Mumford & Sons

2010-03-13T08:06:00.003Z

After a long break from Brighton it was off to the Corn Exchange last night to photograph Mumford & Sons.

It was a wonderfully atmospheric gig - their music suiting the venue perfectly.

There was dry-ice and backlighting a-plenty which always reduces the contrast of photos and can play havoc with the colour but I got number which I think reflected the gig...

Mumford & Sons

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk

Peter Andre

2010-03-08T14:55:00.002Z

So far this year is light. Not because I have not been working but because I have been doing few gigs or celebrity events.

The explanation is simple; A few years back my work consisted mainly of Architectural and Technical subjects. I moved to doing music and celebrity as this market became less busy with my clients opting to produce their own images. Well these last 2 months I have done more work back in that market. These companies are now realising that taking photographs is more than just buying a decent camera and pressing a button. Although I am not providing them with the images, I am now teaching them how to take good technical photographs of the buildings that they require (and the software to work with the images).

Mind you, I have missed the music and celebrity work and was glad to get back to the Indigo O2 to photograph Peter Andre on Saturday; He looked really happy and relaxed on stage...

I have also posted this entry direct from my Flickr stream now, so clicking the photo will open the larger version.

A Concert for Haiti

2010-02-04T10:03:00.004Z

I was at the TUC Congress House last night for this unusual mix of entertainment. For me the outstanding performances were from Benjamin Zephaniah and Billy Bragg.

It was not an easy concert to cover as we were in the audience (seated on the floor) and as these persons had given to be there, it was only fair that they were given the upmost curtsy as we (tried) to move about.

Are Haiti pictures too graphic? (Listen to the discussion)

2010-01-30T11:14:00.003Z

From the BBC Radio 4's today program;

"Has the media's coverage of the Haiti earthquake been too graphic and violated the dignity of the disaster's victims? The chief executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee, Brendan Gormley, has warned against using material that "connives in the sort of disaster pornography that does exist" after newspapers published images of dead bodies being emptied out of trucks."

To listen: Save the Children aid worker Ishbel Matheson and former Guardian picture editor Eamonn McCabe discuss whether you can tell the story properly without showing graphic images.

My favourite, like so many other persons I feel is this one, it just portrays utter joy and relief. However , if you only show images like this, will the people donate so much, do we need to be shocked into giving?

(Image link - The Times Online)

Paper wins landmark web photos copyright battle

2010-01-30T10:37:00.003Z

A very worrying development, in a landmark ruling a court has decided not to enforce the copyright of a photo..

"That judgement said a court would be entitled to refuse to enforce copyright of work if the work is immoral, scandalous or contrary to family life, incites or encourages others to act in such a way, or injurious to public life, public health and safety and administration of justice."

The Full story is here: Paper wins landmark web photos copyright battle

The deputy editor stated: "As far as we know, it's the first time it has ever involved a newspaper and that a paper has used the public interest defence in a copyright claim."

Now I understand you may argue the the photographer was a squatter, breaking the law, trespassing or whatever but think about it for a moment. Think about the ruling. Think about the wording. How many other cases where photographers have bent the rules to get public interest stories? I'll use Don McCullin as an example; he entered many derelict buildings in his famous 1989 work on London's homeless. I am sure the same ruling could be applied to this critically aclaimed work.

I am not backing the law breakers here but the principle that "Public Interest", "Scandalous", "Immoral" (do not some persons still consider page 3 to be a scandal? ) has any bearing on the copyright of an image. My feeling is that the judge should just have blocked earnings from that image, if that is what he feels was the correct thing to do, not take away copyright.

Dangerous Precedent. very dangerous.

Stereophonics

2010-01-26T13:13:00.003Z

Finally!

The first gig of the new year and it is great to kick it off with one of my favourite bands; The Stereophonics.

Kelly and the boys were performing one of 2 pre-tour warm up gigs in Portsmouth (the second is in Swindon). Based on this performance it is going to be a good tour, as they sounded great (I don't think I have ever heard them sound otherwise).

So often now the lighting is making our job harder. I think maybe bands are opting for smaller lighter rigs (which are still very bright) with far more backlighting. For the audience this looks great, for the photographer it's harder work.

If you read this often you will know I love taking Black and White images - especially of rock bands but the problem is nowadays, they just do not sell! That said, I cannot resist so, as the first of the year, and for your pleasure ;-)

And lastly, a colour image..

Mass Gathering of Photographers in Trafalgar square to protest against the police's improper use of stop and search

2010-01-23T19:18:00.003Z

23rd January and my first "real" posting. Mainly due to the fact I have done very little "public" type work, so far this year it has been corporate portraits.

Today there was a mass gathering of photographers to protest against the police miss-use of section 44 in the Uk (over using stop and search powers). I would quite like to see the number they think gathered but it was well over 1000...

I had decided before the event that I would not be working or filing any photos I took as the event would be well covered..

Here are a couple I did take;

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T11:13:00.003Z

I hope you are all well and I wish you a Happy and Prosperous 2010.

For a round up of the last decade in images, The Boston Globe's set of 50 images is fantastic, showing that in this digital, YouTube and Video age the power of still photography to capture all of the emotions and aspects of an event.

Some of these images are really shocking and remind me of how eventful and dramatic and bad for the planet the past 10 years have been. Let us hope that some of the world leaders take time to reflect on images like these and vow to make the next 10 years a happier time for us all...

Julie

2 Premieres, 4 Concerts and Eros....

2009-12-13T14:20:00.003Z

It's been a very long week, starting about a week and a half ago.

First though I am going to mention the last of this weeks work and the movie that everybody is talking about; "AVATAR". I worked the premiere from the press pen and got shots of most of the cast and guests..

The following night (Friday) I was very lucky to attend (with my son) the media showing at The Empire. I was very sceptical about this film before I saw it and could not imagine watching a 3D film for 2 and 3 quarter hours with 3D glasses. It's interesting to note that everybody that does comment negatively on it has not seen it, I have yet to chat with any of the 4000 or so viewers over the 2 days that did not enjoy it; it got a standing ovation in the premiere and a huge round of applause in the media show. My feeling is Cameron has achieved something phenomenal, it is visually stunning and without doubt the most believable alien environment and aliens.

For me as a photographer, the technical is also interesting, even down to the fact that in The Empire, 4 projectors were used to project the film - it looked amazing (the first time a feature has been shown on 4 projectors).

One of the stars of the film, Zoe Saldana ...

The day before this though was the premiere of "St Trinian's 2 - The Legend of Fritton's Gold". For this I was house photographer and grabbed some really nice images. Hopefully some of these should be up on the film's website shortly. Sarah Harding looked fabulous..

On Tuesday it was James Morrison in Brighton, sounding and looking really good. The lighting was some of the best I have worked with in a concert and I grabbed some great colour and black-and-white images;

Before that, on Monday I was at "Eros" which has been turned into a "Snow Dome" for Christmas and Sunday was Will Young in Brighton. On Saturday it was Alice Cooper in Brighton. Again; great lighting but also great theatre and performance.

Before that; Madness. Suggs the performer...

Now I need a rest..

Christmas is upon us....

2009-11-27T12:48:00.002Z

Or so it seems. Last week Anna Freil turned on the "Bond Street" christmas lights. My images were posted the next day on "The Fashion Police" see Anna Friel switches on the Bond Street Christmas Lights in pink bow dress

Musicwise over the last week I have covered Gary Numan...

and Motorhead....

and in a less glamorous outfit, Sarah Brown....

Fun event of the week has to go to the launch party of the Teaserama & Varietease on DVD at Madamme JoJo's, Lots of Burlesque and working with Lucy from Avenue Q again...

Beverly Knight and the House of Cards

2009-11-16T21:45:00.003Z

Last Thursday Beverly Knight played at the Brighton Dome. Well I say played, more like bounced. It was not what I was expecting at all, I remember her for balladry type music not the fast "bouncing" R & B she served up. Great fun and she had the audience up on their feet within seconds.

Working with 2 cameras (as usual) I thought I would try to capture some of this energy by going back to black and white with a slowish shutter speed (introducing a little blur), thinking really of the 1960's. Of course I kept one camera more "standard". The following 2 are examples..

Looking around the marketing possibilities for my images I have decided to dip my toe into the greeting and postcard business. At the moment, this is a toe-dipping with an on-line print-to-order provider. Should there be intrest in this, I will go the more traditional route and get some stock. In the meantime please take a look my Zazzle Store.

The final thing I have been researching is making better use of my concert photography with plans to release strictly limited edition (10) metallic based prints of a few of the images. I am still researching costs and providers (as I want the highest quality) but if, through reading this blogg you have seen an image you like, I would love to hear from you....

Edwyn Collins

2009-11-10T11:35:00.003Z

I have been busy over the past few weeks with a few interesting events; Miss Poledance UK and the World Record Timewarp Attempt(success) at Brighton to name a few but not really had time to write an entry.

However I really have to make time for this entry. On Saturday, I photographed Edwyn Collins at The Bloomsbury Ballroom (what a great venue). If you have not heard of Edwyn or know of his battles, please read here...

I have followed is progress (from a distance) as a "fan". I say fan as I did have a couple of the early albums (on vinyl) and really enjoyed his music. So it really was quite emotional to see him arrive on stage. We had the usual 3 songs (they were also recording for something else) and at the end of the 3, I usually rush out of the pit (as this is what is required by security) but this time I just had to stop, applaud and make sure he saw my appreciation. He sounded great and the music was as punchy as ever. I listened to a couple of numbers from the back as I packed my bag and headed for home.

Thanks Edwyn (and Grace for the pass)...

Cerys Matthews plays the Union Chapel

2009-10-22T08:20:00.005+01:00

The Union Chapel , what a perfect venue for an acoustic gig. The last time I was there it was for the marridge of my Uncle when I was a child (and the overwhelming memory from that was his brother dropping the ring very near a grate and it rolling away.

Well there were not such dramas last night as Cerys played with her small band. Her voice is so sweet and the acoustics of the hall just seemed to fit perfectly. I could have listened all night. However, I had a train to catch and pictures to file. I did manage to sit at the back for a couple of extra songs. Sometimes this job is wonderful.

Are competitions just a way for corporations to get free images?

2009-10-21T10:14:00.002+01:00

The terms and conditions of a photographic competition were hi-lighted to me yesterday by another professional;

All entries must be photographs taken and owned by you.
By submitting your photographs to **** Cruise Lines, you are agreeing for us to publish your photographs at any time, in any publication or on-line, and in any capacity we choose.
By entering your photographs into this competition, you are then agreeing to transfer the copyright of such images to **** Cruise Lines
**** Cruise Lines reserves the right to modify any photographs submitted, such as amending colours, cropping or re-sizing.
The photographs should be limited to destinations visited by **** Cruise Lines, or of one of our ships.
**** Cruise Lines reserves the right to cancel the competition at any stage.
Entrants should ensure that, where relevant, they obtain consent for the photograph to be used from any people featured.

This is just an excerpt, take a look at their entry page here to see what you think. I do not think there is any way to take it other than "we want lots of free images of our ships which we will probably using in marketing saving us thousands of pounds in photographer fees over the next few years".

Spandau at the O2

2009-10-21T09:20:00.005+01:00

Last night it was off to the O2 for '80s heartthrobs Spandau Ballet. Standing around waiting for the gig to start with records from that era being played made me feel old! (and when I realised that a few in the front rows were watching me walk up and down singing all the words, embarrassed).

They might not have performed together for about 20 years, but they did sound good and as you can see, they seemed to enjoy themselves..

Ribbons and Merriweather

2009-10-11T11:25:00.005+01:00

I finished off the week of Saturday with 2 evening jobs...

The first was a lovely affair at The Dorchester; The Pink Ribbon Ball in aid of Breast Cancer. There was a quite short but nice VIP guest list which included Martine McCutcheon; her red dress really suited her and she looked really good.

After finishing there it was a quick dash up the Central Line to the Shepherds Bush Empire for Daniel Merriweather. He has a nice sound and I think the album (which I just purchased on the strength of this gig) does not do his voice justice. Nice "middle of the road" music (I guess he would not thank me for that)