I haven't shot a proper gig/show in months while I've been focusing on festivals and other work. The closest I've come is at a couple of Facedown clubs nights but those are quite different as there are pretty much no photography restrictions. It's safe to say that having witnessed several Letlive & Your Demise shows that I was a little nervous getting back in the saddle, especially considering the size of the venue, lack of barrier and the face that both bands are pretty insane live.

Spycatcher were on second and were a decent way to get warmed up. When Letlive came on it got crazy very quickly and holding a position at the front was hard. Between crowd surfers and LL singer Jason falling from the ceiling, I got pretty battered about but it was totally worth it (thankfully despite some knocks my camera was OK). I managed to swap sides and find a ledge at the front with a bit of room to get a better vantage point from. I decided to shoot in black and white which I enjoyed and I feel like it suits Letlive. I wanted to shoot the headliners (Your Demise) but the crowd was going ape shit and it wasn't ever worth attempting to photograph.

Since the first time I heard Letlive's album and saw them live they became one of my favourite bands around at the moment. Their live shows are full on and unrelenting but there's also a real emotional resonance when Jason talks between songs. It's hard to describe what I mean but anyone that was there and heard him speak before the start of 'Muther' should know what I'm talking about.

I really hope I get to spend some proper time with that band and am able to shoot them again.



The rest of the photos can be seen here.

Halloween is such an awesome time of year. I love halloween costumes and all the decorations that go with it (as well as the sweets/candy that come with it). Something that's made this year's halloween pretty special is that with Johnny Cupcakes now having a London store, they organised a pretty cool launch night for JC's annual 'Something In The Cupcake Mix' t-shirt range.

This was quite different to shooting the Nickelodeon drop as this time it was at night which meant having to shoot with flash. Shooting with flash makes you have to shoot in a different style which I think is a good thing. I had to move away from shooting loose and natural in favour of doing more portraits.

All the JC staff were in fancy dress and they had special cupcakes for all the customers. It made for a really fun atmosphere and I had a great time. I got to shoot and hang out with Giles Smith. Awesome guy and an awesome photographer. To top all this off, Johnny Cupcake himself was over to celebrate the launch. He is genuinely such a nice guy and incredibly humble. The way he runs JC is very inspiring.

Massive thank you to Johnny Cupcake, Kellen & the rest of the London staff, Giles, Lorraine, Emma, Dave, Boyce, Jemma/Crumbs & Doilies, Holly and anyone else I've forgotten for a great night.



The rest of the photos can be seen here.

The new London Rollergirls season has started! It felt incredibly weird not having roller derby in my life for the couple of months since the end of the last season but I'm incredibly happy it's back. I was pretty lucky to actually get to the bout after photographing the Occupy London protest and having the police close of the area.

The format of the season is slightly different and for this first bout they had a 'Merby' (male roller derby) bout to kick it all off. There seemed to be more skaters being taken out and more slams than the usual LRG bouts which made catching the action slightly more difficult but it was fun and different.

LRG had an amazing summer, going to America to compete in the WFTDA Eastern Regional tournament and doing pretty damn well. It was great to have them back and the bout between Harbour Grudges & Ultraviolent Femmes was really gripping.

I'm still trying to work up to the point where I feel comfortable trying doing crowd and team portraits but hopefully that will come. I can't wait for some of the upcoming bouts and to see some of the visiting teams.



Photos of both bouts can be seen by clicking here.

After seeing the 'Occupy' protests going on in cities all over the place I saw they were planning something similar on Saturday and fairly last minute I decided to go down and try and take some photos there. Over the last year or two, with all the protests over government cuts and tuition fees, I've felt like I should be out taking photos of these things. London means a lot to me and not acknowledging these things are happening through my photos seemed like a mistake. The main protesters wanted to occupy Paternoster Square by St Paul's Cathedral but this was blocked by police so they moved to the steps outside St Paul's. There was a large police presence in and around Paternoster Square but not a massive amount anywhere else. The number of officers gradually grew and they slowly proceeded form lines around the people protesting. As they started to do this, people started to spread into the road so they weren't trapped which then made the police block all the side streets and exits around the vicinity of St Paul's.

Once they'd blocked off the area, the police were only letting people out who were clearly tourists who happened to get caught up in it and the press (as long as they had a valid press ID). It took me over an hour to get out of the area but while I was there (about 3 hours in total) virtually all of the police I spoke to or encountered were very polite and helpful (despite not letting protesters out) but there were one or two who were pretty fucking rude (they were definitely the minority from what I saw). I also only saw one person get arrested and that was because a guy laid in front of a police van which was trying to move and he refused to get out of the way. Other than him, all the protesters seemed to be in good spirit and there for the right reasons rather than cause trouble.

From what I saw on online Billy Brag was there but I didn't see him, I did however get a glimpse and managed to get a couple of shots of Julian Assange who was there speaking.

Some of the protesters camped out and depending on how long they are there I might go back to take more shots.



Click here for more shots from my time there at the Occupy London protest.

I didn't really hang around at long at Facedown after the acts but while I was on my way home I decided to take some photos. To get home late at night in London, 99% of the time my journey takes me to Tottenham Court Road and then I walk back to The Strand to get my night bus home. I've really grown to enjoy the walk, I go from TCR down Shaftesbury Avenue, Neal Street and past Covent Garden to The Strand. The walk isn't particularly long but it's around one of my favourite areas in London. It's always really quiet and peaceful and I've thought about photographing it for a while so I decided to just do it. Photographing London at night is something I definitely want to continue doing. I'd like to explore more areas to see what it's like but focusing on views and shots that aren't obvious/not tourist attractions. Doing this was the first time I've shot in black and white in about 6 months and it felt good.



There's more shots of my walk here.

When I was at last months Facedown I got a flier for the next one and noticed Tat were playing. I saw & met Tat a couple of years ago at Warped Tour in New York. They don't often play London shows and I haven't been able to catch them so I wanted to make sure I didn't miss them.

I had the pleasure of spending most of the night with and shooting alongside Mike White which was cool. The lighting for Tat seemed to get progressively better as their set went on but I really enjoyed their set and it was good to catch some new songs.

Instead of the Scarlett Girls, this month they had Nympherno performing after Tat.

The rest of the photos of Tat and Nympherno can be seen here.