I had the great pleasure of photographing Toyah Willcox at Backstage, The Green Hotel, Kinross, Scotland recently. The gig was promoted by Mundell Music.

For those that don’t know the fantastically charismatic and entertaining Toyah Wilcox, you can read about her amazing career by following this link Toyah Willcox – Biography

Bernadette Gniady visited us from Glasgow recently for head shots for her Actors Resume and portfolio. We spent a very entertaining hour together with Bernadette’s mum. Jenna Lee helped Bernadette with her makeup.

Prices for Actors Head Shots start at £50.00 for the session fee, 5 digital images are £100.00.
Price for the above for full time students is £65.00

Images will be supplied digitally at 10″ by 8″ in black and white as well as colour.

Call us today on 0131 661 8515 to book your appointment.

My very good friend Ailsa Thomson came to visit me at my base in Edinburgh. It was a Sunday, the weather was dire, it was tipping down, poor Ailsa resembled a drowned rat. Ailsa has flown the nest and is studying drama in Glasgow at Reid Kerr College, Paisley.

Whilst Ailsa was visiting we took some head shots for her portfolio and resume. I also fed her, made sure she had enough money to get back to Glasgow and dried her clothes – partly (they were very, very wet.)

Thanks for visiting Ailss, come back soon – your a breath of fresh air.

Head shots are supplied in both colour and black and white by email or on disc. Our current price is £65.00 for 5 digital images with copyright for resumes and portfolios. Prints are available at £10.00 each.

I had the great pleasure to photograph and chat to John Jorgenson at Backstage, The Green Hotel, Kinross, Scotland on Sunday. The gig was promoted by Mundell Music.

For those that don’t know John, here is a short bio from his website:

John is known as one of the pioneers of the American gypsy jazz movement. He has performed as a solo artist as well as collaborated with other musicians all over the world. His articles and lessons on gypsy jazz have appeared in prominent guitar magazines and he has given master classes around the country, and he has performed with some of the most respected European proponents of this style, Bireli Lagrene and Romane. His playing has been included on a CD with Babik Reinhardt and Jimmy Rosenberg, and on another featuring Angelo Debarre and Moreno. In 1988 Curb Records released Jorgenson’s After You’ve Gone CD, a collection of Reinhardt- and Goodman-styled 30′s swing, featuring guest artists Darol Anger and David Grisman.

Growing up in Southern California, John was playing both the piano and the clarinet by age 8. At 12 he got his first guitar and practiced voraciously while continuing to study classical music on woodwinds. By age 14, John was playing professionally. Learning first to play rock guitar, John absorbed other guitar styles as quickly as he discovered them. This broad musical palette has enabled him to play with artists as diverse as Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, Bonnie Raitt, and Benny Goodman. He is an “A-List” session player working in LA, Nashville and London and has appeared on numerous platinum-selling and Grammy-winning CDs.

John Jorgenson first came to national prominence in the mid 1980′s with The Desert Rose Band, which he co-founded with Chris Hillman. The band earned five # 1 singles and garnered several awards. During this time, John won the ACM’s “Guitarist of the Year” award three consecutive times. Following the Desert Rose Band, John formed another award-winning group, the virtuosic guitar trio The Hellecasters. Originally conceived as a “one off” gig for fun, the group went on to produce three acclaimed CDs and a live video, winning both “Album of the Year” and “Country Album of the Year” from the readers of Guitar Player Magazine for the stunning debut effort Return of the Hellecasters, released in 1993.

In 1994 Elton John called and invited John on an 18-month world tour. The 18 months stretched into a six-year period that included not only sold out world tours, but also recordings, television appearances, and collaborations with many other artists including Sting and Billy Joel. In additiona to acoustic and electric guitars, John was also featured on saxophone, pedal steel, mandolin and vocals.

Terry Reid, rock legend, played at the Green Hotel, Kinross, Scotland a few weeks ago and I was lucky enough to be there to photograph him in action.

He has had an amazing career as a rock vocalist and guitarist that stretches back four decades. “I’m a legend in me own yard,” he quipped. “It’s a big yard, though.”

Reid is better known for the things he hasn’t done, than for those he has. He’s the fellow who turned down the job of vocalist with the band that became Led Zeppelin, only to then send a rejection note to Deep Purple. Listen to one of the handful of albums he has made – 1973′s River, for example – and you can see why the offers were made. Back then Reid’s powerful, gymnastic vocal talents arguably eclipsed those of his better-known contemporaries: Rod Stewart, Paul Rodgers, Steve Marriott.

During the gig Terry, who was absolutely awesome spoke of his meetings with Crosby, Stills and Nash as well as time he spent with George Harrison and Ringo Starr who became friends, as did Jimi Hendrix. “He was the sweetest guy,” Reid said. “He picked up my guitar at a gig and starts ripping the same licks he played, but left-handed, upside down. I was depressed enough when he played normally.”
The crowd at the intimate venue were enthralled by Reid’s unplugged performance, which was masterful.

Last week, I was invited to the Green Hotel at Kinross to photograph Tanita Tikaram. Tanita’s “Acoustic Sessions” is on the road throughout Europe during September and October 2011. This was her first tour in 10 years.

Tanita Tikaram started singing in nightclubs while she was still a teenager, and got the attention of WEA Records. Her debut album Ancient Heart, produced by Rod Argent and Peter Van Hooke, was released in September 1988 when she was 19 years old. It became an international hit and led to a world tour. The singles “Good Tradition” and “Twist In My Sobriety” were top 10 hits in Europe.

I was recently invited to the The Inn at Lathones by the St Andrews Business Club. The beauty of this networking group is it provides a very informal environment to meet like-minded local people who are keen to promote and develop their businesses.

I knew The Inn at Lathones, which is just outside St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland, was well known for its award winning food and that they have been awarded 2 AA rosettes for 14 consecutive years along with a Visit Scotland’s Gold award for service quality.

What I didnt know was that The Inn at Lathones was also famous for hosting to some of the great names in today’s music industry. The R.A.T.S (Rocking at the Stables) was recently named “The UK’s best music venue 2009 & Finalist 2010″. Nick White, the owner, told us of the exciting line up of artists who are booked to play The R.A.T.S in the near future.

During the evening I was given the opportunity to listen to Ben Montague, Jonty Finn was on Percussion. Amongst many successes Ben has had a Record of The Week on Radio 2.

Listen was an understatement. In the small intimate setting at The Stables the audience were able to chat and connect with Ben and listen to the rawness of his live performance which was flawless.

If you want to find out more about Ben check him out on the BBC Music Showcase.

Hearing that Ben was playing Back Stage at The Green Hotel, Kinross and knowing that I was in the area I decided to visit the next night when I wasn’t constrained by the networking group. Once again Ben was awesome and I managed to get a few great photographs …

Back Stage at the Green Hotel is organised by David Mundell

These music venues managed and organised by extremely passionate people are bringing some awesome music to Scotland and Fife. The venues are small creating an intimate environment to enjoy and share moments with some of the worlds most talented musicians.

Visit David or The Inn at Lathones web sites to check out who is visiting in the near future and get yourself there for a great and memorable night’s entertainment.

More interesting photographs from the wonderfully talented actor: Ailsa Thomson. This time over a rickety bridge to the root of a giant and rather gorgeous tree. Everyone concerned is delighted with this, my post processing really brings these images to life.

Credits:
Ailsa Thomson: Actor \ Makeup
Sarah Rose Jenkins: Assistant

It never ceases to amaze me what I get asked to do. Yesterday, I went out with Ailsa Thomson a fanstatic young actor who I met at The Space last year in Dundee.

This was a long awaited collaboration, on both our accounts, it started with a tentative email and an enquiry; “Ive seen your work – I love it – I would like to work with you”

The next step was a few site visits, difficult to see what the final outcome would be, but the locations were very special. So I left Ailsa to have a think about what she wanted out of the shoot and neither Sarah Rose (my assistant on the day) or I had the slightest expectation about what was to befall us.

Down the hill came Ailsa, blood pouring from her head, I knew it wasnt real. It wasnt – was it. yet all I wanted to do was scream, someone get an ambulance, it looked horrific.

That was the easy bit, the next step was for Ailsa and I to get into the stream. Unfortunatley, though the stream looked shallow, there was about two feet of silt, we both ended up with water far higher up our bodies then both us felt comfortable with us.

It’s so diffiult to choose from the images we took as they are all are stunning. We opted for 10 minutes as the water was freezing, yet we had made so many efforts to get to this point neither of us were giving up without a fight.

Sarah Rose, held the soft box perfectly whilst I took the shots. Sarah was a treasure on the day and did absolutely loads. Ailsa, well she gets all the credit. Watch out for more from Ailsa soon ……

Credits:
Ailsa Thomson: Actor \ Makeup
Sarah Rose Jenkins: Assistant

I was recently asked to return to photograph the drama students dress rehearsals at The School of Theatre, The Space, Dundee College. The play this time was Shakespeares Loves labours Lost.

I had a great time and have received loads of great feedback from the students.