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The All TIME LOW
The first time I had heard of the The All Time Low was an album called Punk go Crunk, They did cool cover of Umbrella by R&B singer Rihanna. I am big fan of Punked up covers so I kinda thought I would be a fan of band live. Turns out the best thing about this band was how they party after the show. Which is not leave you in any doubt about how good they are live. Amazing, does come close to there stage presence. But the Double Jack that I was bought after.. well .. Thank you.
These photos are from the Birmingham leg of the Kerrang! Relentless Tour 2010 With The Blackout, My Passion and Young Guns.
All Time Low Hail from from Baltimore, Maryland, they formed back in 2003
So far they have 3 releases
- The Party Scene (2005)
- So Wrong, It’s Right (2007)
- Nothing Personal (2009)
These boys are ones to watch for sure. American Pop Rock for the Win. But when a band formed to play Blink songs and named them after a New Found Glory Lyric, It was never going to bad.
The band was eventually selected as Alternative Press Magazine’s Band of the Year for 2008
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago. Add a comment
I have been waiting to catch these guys ! Tonight there are on the support bill for REEL BIG FISH.
Sonic Boom Six are a Ska-punk outfit from Manchester, and they are pretty cool.
“Grand statement time: Sonic Boom Six are, simply, the most exciting live punk band in the country. They cater for chin-stroking social commentators, wide-eyed rave kids and big-shorted punkers all in the space of a single gig and will – yup, will – own 2009″
- Scene 2009: Punk&Metal, NME (Jan 10, 2009)
“It’s taken a while but Sonic Boom Six are rocketing out of the underground – a hefty shot of ska-punk, hip-hop, reggae and even jungle in the mix, not to mention big, sinuous rock dynamics and hooks.”
- Tick, Tick, Boom!, Kerrang! (May 30, 2009)
“It might have taken until their third album for SB6 to break the UK underground’s glass-ceiling, but their massive grassroots following practically guarantees success for City of Thieves. The fact it’s a fantastic stew of punk, ska and hip-hop helps too; finally, their time has come.”
- The Panel, Music Week (May 02, 2009)
“This isn’t good, it’s way beyond that and deep into the realms of something special. A hundred word analysis cannot do this album justice, so let’s just say it’s one fucking excellent album and get on with our lives? Agreed? Agreed.”
- City of Thieves Review, Rock Sound (Jun 01, 2009)
“Sonic Boom Six have always been one of the most diverse and inventive bands to get lumped into the British punk scene. It’s smart, joyous music that has plenty to say and does so eloquently.”
- City of Thieves Review, Big Cheese! (May 30, 2009)
http://www.sonicboomsix.co.uk check there shizzle out !!
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
WELCOME TO LABB . . . j’adorable!
The role as Art Director for LABB MAGAZINE, has been almost a total life consuming role. But I am told that is the Fashion Industry, and to just get on with it… Which is exactly what I have done. On the LABB team, There is George Eko (Editor in chief ), OscarAlexander Lunburg (Creative Editor) , Ozzy Shah (Features Editor), Abiola Salami (Managing Editor) and myself. Quite a small team!
“LABB is a quarterly ‘coffee table’ glossy which will be aimed at designers, photographers and artists from all different backgrounds. It’s very easy to read as the written features will be minimal and main focus will be on the editorial spreads.” – OZZY
As I am writing this blog, half the team is in London preparing the final order for the magazine. Its a strange feeling, I have been working on the layout for months now, sometimes 20 hours a day. Its a strange feeling to think when the next few changes that I make (when i get the new notes) will be the last changes, LABB will have its first ever magazine.
Its been a Rocky birth, its been hard and stressful. But I am very sure I speak for the whole of the LABB team when I say that , “we are confident in our product”.
I have a duel interest in this magazine as a number of the submissions and commissions in the magazine are mine. Whats really strange is that putting the layout together is not the scary part for me. there are 238 pages of pure Photographic and Fashion goodness, each of those pages is a worry, each tiny element on the cover pages, each tiny drop shadow, the position of each photo, each page should be able to stand up on it own yet work with the page next to it and with the whole of the magazine. Its be a learning curve that’s for sure. But still, for me, my big buzz is that my photography has been included in the magazine. Seeing my work along Danny Tang, Andrew Bainbridge, Squiz Hamilton , Natalie J Watts and Karl Baxter, is an amazing feeling. Which is a bigger achievement for me? that’s hard to answer. But on thing is for sure. I feel a MASSIVE sense of achievement for just being where I am.
“If Vogue is your bible then LABB Magazine is going to be your Qur’an, Torah & Bible all in one!It is a fashionista’s dream put together all in one and oh my… Its definitely a rollercoaster to go through!” -OZZY
Below are some screen shoots from my computer of the magazine, Please be sure to check out www.Labbmagazine.com
( oh.. if you are on Facebook too.. there links to our Facebook page via the website)
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago. Add a comment
I have mean meaning to show this shoot of for a while now. This shoot started while having coffee with George Eko, and a couple of friends. We had a free day to work with Arabella (Adage , Birmingham), the day after we had received and e-mail from Hox (Birmingham) who were happy for us to use there collection. A single phone call had the location sorted.
On the day,George Eko was on hand to style and dress, Becky Hunting was on Make up and hair. Richard Battye was on the camera. Which left me to sort out the finer details and drink the coffee. I also did a bit Art Direction on the shoot. The Post-Pro was also done by me.
A big thank you to Carlo (once again) for helping arrange The Rainbow pub. Thank you to the staff at the Pub also !! Your all stars.
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
A couple of weeks ago I was asked to provide a shoot for Labb Magazine. The original concept idea was an outdoor shoot, using flowing red dresses and my local park as a back drop. It was an extension on a few test shoots that had done before. However, the day of the shoot a dense fog came over the whole of Birmingham. A couple of calls were made, A boxing ring was found and was now the location of the shoot.
Red for power and authority! Ladies in a male dominated environment showing fierce-ness within the ring.This shoot was one that fell into place like a dream ….. with dresses constructed over night, models found within hours of the shoot time and the core of team doing what they do best “making magic”
Many thanks to Darren Meddings of Nana’s Gym for letting us the gym.
Photography and Re-touch : Myself
Assistant: Katie Ingram
Design & Styling : George Eko
Make-up & Hair: Oscar Alexander
Model: Sarah Purenll & Claire Randel
The full shoot will be in the first edition of Labb Magazine. Check website for details. Find them on Facebook too !!
But for now, these are some samples with a quick self portrait too !
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
Birmingham Clothes Show Live 2009
A little hub of fashion and all that surrounds it. This year the organisers decided to keep in with the traditions while subtlely stepping up their game.
The trade hall where am packed as always with a wide variety of stalls ranging from model scouts through to independent fashion houses and not forgetting all the aspiring soon to be high street regulars.
The fashion show was as amazing as always. showing casing a variety of designers with a mix of trends ranging from ultra texture couture to office wear and snugly warm inter pieces to keep you toastie….
full gallery click here
check out the pics and enjoy the feast….. Merry Christmas!
Words by George Eko
Photos by Dave Piper
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
Adobe Lightroom 2 +
Just some workflow insight ,
I have been a HUGE fan of Lightroom for a while. Proof checking, editing, printing, web gallery creation, the list of time saving functions is crazy. If your a Pro photographer and your not using Lightroom, your doing something wrong. If your working with a batch of frames, Photoshop is only really used in a final editing stage. Most of my edit work happens with in Lightroom these days.
There are a few functions that I would still love to see in Lightroom, It would be great to able to run Photoshop actions (using the photoshop engine) inside Lightroom, Add layer styles, create comp layers also, it would be really cool to able to sync your Presets into layer styles in Photoshop. Just some of these little additions would make Cross Platform (cross software) editing much streamlined projects when colour matching is important. Using the correct tool for the correct job. Why use Photoshop for simple things like contrast changes.
Anyway, here is some Lightroom fun , You can put the Web module of Lightroom into “advanced mode” (an “experimental and unsupported” feature – so try this at your own risk) which will expose MANY more customization options in the Lightroom panels.
To go into Advanced Mode you’ll need to use a keyboard combo:
“Control Alt Shift /” on PC
“Cmd Alt Shift /” on Mac
Do the same to Return back to the normal version.
I get asked alot, what the best editing processes are , Its really simple. Do whats best and most logical for you. I use this work-flow as a rule
Adobe Bridge > Lighroom > Photoshop > Lightroom > Bridge
Bridge -
I use Bridge to remove blank frames or frames that are clearly not useable, Rename files and upload into Lightroom a quick selection of photos that are going to be edited.
Lightroom -
Lighroom is used to pull out a final selection of photos, Crop and Colour the photos, Overall pages edits are done. Vignettes, tones, curves, hue, saturation and Camera Calibrations are also done ( I never sharpen at this stage !!- you only ever want to sharpen a Final Product. Its always the last step. If you are not going into Photoshop after, then finish your photo in Lighroom )
Photoshop -
There is no way I could list the steps in here of what can you can do. As a rule though, Skin is touched up and sharpened for which ever media the product is headed towards, Change colour Sets depending on the Products destination ie : RGB or CYMK etc..
After this stage no other editing process should be needed.
Lightroom -
Back into lightroom to make batch size changes, Create Web Galleries, Contact sheets, Slide shows etc..
Bridge -
Bridge is then used as the content management tool, Using the Pre-made Actions you can send photos into other programs such as Photoshop to add watermarks borders, Prep for web, Border or any other Presets that you use.
Each stage is very important, and should leave you with a clear workflow. Pick the Photos, Edit the Photos, Make them PERFECT, Edit them for purpose. Store them in a correct manner.
If you use your noodle, you should not go far wrong. Just do what works for you, but ONLY IF YOU ARE USING LIGHTROOM !!
The main idea behind this project was the angel wings. I have been wanting to find some good angel wings for quite while. I really wanted to build some proper ones of my own.
Our Model is Danny Bennett, who is playing the role of the devil.
This one is a little harder than the last 
Step one !
Build some wings! Last year I was down in London, walking around the Natural History Museum, I grabbed a few photos that I could use at stock photos for some projects just like this one.
Having a good stock libary is a very important tool in the birth process of any project. The first step was to strip back all the things I didn’t want to use in this photo. Using the EXTRACT tool I freed my bones wings that would become the main shape of the wing and give me a proper shape to work from. Once the wings were free I used the STAMP tool to smarten back up the wings. For me building things up in layers in the main object here.
Once I have my bone wings, I used the PERSPECTIVE tool to shape the wings ( you can use any tools you like.) Using two Wings shaped to show the top of the wing and the under-feathers ( I can build up the feathers and colours to show the different sorts of feathers) I want real looking wings, yet wings that can not attached to any normal bird, after all, we are making Angel wings ! I created a few patterns using brushes and started to work on the wings to give them texture and depth. Using about 4 or 5 layers in different shapes and sizes, using blurring effects to blend them I started to build them up. Remember, you only have to build one wing !
Once you have your wing, ( mine took quite a time to build ) you can spin a copy over to make your full set. Maybe again shape them to give you a shape you like when you have your full wing span. Most people never colour angel wings, its up to you though. Since you should have all your wings elements in at least 3 layers ( top layer, middle layer, bottom layer, the top layer being the bigger feathers at the bottom of your layers ) They should be really easy to colour. Make a Layer section for each wing section, Flip the layer into some nice blending mode and colour, Simple. Using a Layer mask, remove the bits to show off the parts of the wings that have colour and give them a realistic looking layer system. I have built some quite Gothic looking wings with sharp feathers and lines. I used some photos of Bats and Insect wings as my references.
So you have some KILLER wings.. Lets make our Angel.
Our Model is Danny Bennett , but use anyone of anything you like !! Get your self a cool photo, Cut them out and attach. Simple. This is your first chance to see how your wings really sit and what they look like. After I had placed Danny infront of the wings, they looked light and unreal. I added some heavy black feathers that curl over. and gave some darker colours to the underneath. Go away, Have some tea and come back to have a look at what you have with some fresh eyes.
So now after your break, What have you got. Is it any good ? what changes would really make this photo POP out ? I decided the end of the world was about the right setting for my new Demon. After a quick flick over my stock image gallery, I pulled out some good stuff that I was going to use as my background. Pull them all out, open them all up and place them over the screen. work out where they can go, where they fit best and look good. I have used a flaming Demon and a Sewer Drain. The ideas behind this setting are taken from a comic book.
Once you have your background layered up and blending all sorted. ( I have about 20 layers just for the background ) Use Alt+Ctrl+E to merge them, Group up the layers you don’t want and clean up your layer stack. Keep stuff named and grouped, Colours are cool to use too ! I would expect you to have about 40-50 odd layers at this stage. A cool tip is to drop some DOF (Depth of Field) in the photo, mask out the layers that are far away and use a nice LENS BLUR to work in a nice look.
Bring in the final element, (top layer elements, that are not affected by your background light sources ) In this case is only Dan with his new wings. Place him where you feel fits in the photo. Remember the golden rules. Work in thirds and you can not go far wrong. If you need to edit the top layer ( Dan ) now is the time, clear up skin, tones, curves colours and anything else you want to fiddle with. I decided that Dan wanted to be Hell Boys little son, So painted him red. ( new layer>Sat blend>mask layer>paint out> Done.)
So your done! you should have your New Born Angel with a pair of stunning wings !! Now is a good time to go to town and edit your photo as if you have just taken a snap of the world burning. Not 100% sure why the Angel is posing for a photo while there is a Flaming Demon behind him, but that’s art
Final Photo
Thanks to Jak Flash, George Eko and Danny Bennett
Stock photos from Div Art
thewolf1607
tankphoto
