Archive for November 2006
Tonight I was supposed to be photographing Carol King, which I had been looking forward to doing. It’s not every day you get to photograph one of the 20th century’s most renowned songwriters.
But I ended up turning it down when they sent me the contract to sign. The contract said that the photos could only be used once, for the publication I was doing them for. So I couldn’t include them on my website, show them here, upload them to flickr etc. I have ended up signing similar contracts before, even though I probably shouldn’t as I don’t agree with them, and as I’m not getting paid to do the photos there’s nothing in it for me, other than bragging rights; to be able to say to people that I photographed a certain band/singer.
However, the clincher was this:
Her album ‘Tapestry’ is estimated to have sold 22m copies.
Her songwriting credits (with Gerry Goffin) include:
Will You Love Me Tomorrow;
Up On The Roof;
The Locomotion;
(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman; and
He Hit Me (and It Felt Like a Kiss).
So you’d think that if Carol King wanted to use a photographer’s photos that she wouldn’t be short of a few bob to pay them for using them…
A shame, but I know I did the right thing.
Can’t remember the last time I shot three days in a row (making it four in a week). Possibly the Mean Streaks back in April, when it was four nights in a row…
So anyway, Sunday night was The Datsuns and The Casanovas at The Zoo. With a photo pit The Datsuns would be a photographers dream. Without a photo pit (like at The Zoo) it’s a bit of a nightmare. And I was feeling too tired and uninspired after Friday and Saturday nights to put up much of a fight. But it still got me my first photo printed in this week’s Rave 
A few photos below and more here.
The Casanovas
The Datsuns
When I first came out to Sydney in May 2004 one of the first bands I saw was The Cops.
One of my friends from the UK had come out on a year visa a couple of years before me and put me in touch with his ex-housemate, who was a friend of the bass player, and who took me out to a few gigs. So I saw them at their EP launch at The Anandale and their album launch at The Gaelic Club.
They ended up using a photo I took of them for the adverts for the Jack Awards in all the music magazines when they were nominated for Best Band but that’s another story… (Although it did mean that the first time I saw myself in print in Australia was in Rolling Stone…)
Unlike the previous night, where there was just a single light on the stage, this time I was spoilt with two lights, which seems as good as it gets at The Columbian…
Went to The Columbian on Friday night to see The Scare’s first gig back in Brisbane since their infamous show at The Zoo last year.
The light at the Columbian is never the best but they turned it down even lower than normal so the stage was only lit by a single red spotlight about 10m from the stage.
I have seen some other photos from this tour and looks like they’ve been making a habit of playing in the dark. Everyone else has been using flash but it’s not really my thing so I did my best to come up with something using the available light. Not the most static of bands so probably not the best band to have to do at 1/40th second though…
So, you miss out on U2 and next up is Yngwie Malmsteen…
Thought I’d get there a bit early, get into the pit before it kicked off and do some still life shots of the guitar, the scalloped fretboard, the wall of Marshall amps etc. Get there at 8:50pm and find out that the door know nothing and haven’t been given any pit passes.
One of the box office girls goes off to find the tour manager and at about 8:55pm I’m still waiting in the foyer and he starts playing…  about 1½ songs go by before I get into the photo pit.
So, it’s a pretty rushed job, although I don’t think anyone was paying that much attention as I think I also got the fourth song as well. Either that or the guitar solos went on for ever…
I stayed and watched the rest of the show for about 70 minutes before I decided that there’s only so many minor harmonic scales I can take in a single evening…
Was fun though, and glad that some 18 years after my guitar teacher gave me copies of his first two albums, that I got to see him play. The hair and leather trousers might be the same but some pies have been eaten since the 1980s. Hoping for Steve Vai and Joe Satriani in a couple weeks. Then I’ll just need the (possibly) reformed Van Halen to tour over here…
Some photos below and more here.
