Carl Spring Photography

Graham Coxon. The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Sun, 20 May 2012 15:20:00 GMT

Graham Coxon at The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham. Click to see more.

The first proper gig I ever shot was Graham Coxon. Back in 2009 I photographed him at Norwich Arts Centre, I managed to get a pass through the tour manager. I got talking to him after the show and he hooked me up again to shoot at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms a few days later. I still have a photo from the show on my living room wall. If it wasn’t for those two shows I probably wouldn’t be shooting live music today.

I remember that show and how nervous I was. Shooting him three years later, in the same venue as my second ever gig, I had the exact same nerves. This time it was more of a self doubt over how much I had progressed. I have this strange self induced pressure I put on myself when photographing bands and artists I like, I want to get the perfect picture; the one perfect moment. The problem is sometimes that doesn’t happen, there is no perfect photo and tonight, unfortunately, it was one of those times.

Graham Coxon took the stage and had a nervousness about him. With the first 3 of the show it was standing at the mic, his seeming nervousness getting the better of him. Lighting was great, but there was no major photographic moment, I was happy with the images I had, left the pit and enjoyed the show. Within 3 more songs there had been backwards somersaults with the guitar and the trademark Coxon leaping around the stage. My heart sank. What if... I would have had.... All those thoughts that run through the mind of a photographer seeing the most amazing photographic opportunities unfold, yet being stuck at the side of stage next to the bouncer with no chance of getting a shot of the photos I was seeing. What made it worse was that at the front of the pit there was a fan with a DSLR shooting the whole show. I know the rules, I know why they are there, but sometimes it is hard not to be down in the dumps about it.

For more images from the show, click HERE

PHOTO NOTES

It is satisfying to prove to yourself how much you have improved over time. Technically I am obviously much more competent in my photography than the last time I shot Graham Coxon. Shooting the gig was easy in a technical sense as the light was good, unlike the pit in The Rescue Rooms. The pit is now incredibly narrow (fingers crossed they will move the barrier back a little again). There was no chance of passing other photographers without catching each other. Luckily the other photographers were cool and it wasn’t a massive problem.

A Second With... Featured on the 500px blog.

Thu, 17 May 2012 18:03:00 GMT

I am really happy to see my project A Second With... being featured on the 500px blog this week.

Read more about the project on the 500px blog

B Dolan. House Of Bees Vol. 2

Sat, 05 May 2012 20:53:00 GMT

I shot some video of B Dolan when he was over here last year. That footage has ended up in the trailer for House Of Bees Vol. 2.

I wish I could show you the uncut video as it contains an amazing poem about the death of Ol Dirty Bastard called Who Killed Russel Jones. Unfortunately it is under wraps for now, but should come to light some time this year. In the meantime enjoy the trailer.

A Second With Graham Coxon

Thu, 03 May 2012 20:05:00 GMT

Part of an ongoing personal project.

OneFest 2012.

Tue, 01 May 2012 20:45:00 GMT

Damon Albarn Presents Dr Dee. Click to see more.

The middle of April is a risky time to hold the first outdoor festival of the year, and OneFest proved to be a cold one. I have no idea what the actual temperature was, but I am sure it was not as warm as Coachella. Winter jackets and wellys were the order of the day.

It poured with rain the night before and continued into the morning so by the time I arrived, the ground had that lovely squelch underfoot. By the time the gates had opened, the rain had stopped, and it remained rain free the rest of the day. Considering this is the first outdoor festival of the year, it could have been much worse.

The site was split into 2 stages. The smaller (indoor) second stage was hosted by BBC introducing, showcasing local talent as well as some from further afield. Higlights from this stage included Jodie Marie and Michele Stodart.

The main stage saw artists battling Jetlag & The Weather. Raghu Dixit had flown in from 35 degree temperatures in India, and seemingly forgot to pack for the British Spring. Dressed in summer clothing the band got the field moving to their Indian sound that brought to mind warmer climes. Much like Raghu Dixit, Dry The River were feeling the cold and jetlag, heading to OneFest straight after flying in from some time in Texas. Their set was probably the highlight of the day for many, although they would not realise it until after Damon Albarn had taken the stage.

By the time Albarn began performing Dr Dee the temperature had seemingly plummeted. His latest outing is an opera based on the life of John Dee, Mathemtician and advisor to Elizabeth I. It was easy to see why some in the crowd began to drift towards the warmth. For those who are more used to Albarns previous incarnations it is a challenging listen, especially in a freezing cold field in Wiltshire. Those who stayed to witness the whole set though witnessed a songwriter who has once again reinvented himself and created an amazing piece of work that few would have expected, but many will hold dear upon its release later this year.

For a full gallery from the festival, click HERE

A Second With The Lovely Eggs

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:45:00 GMT

Part of an ongoing personal project

Now We Are Weekender 2012.

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:33:00 GMT

I made the trip to West Brom on Easter weekend for my first festival of the year; Now We Are. Housed in the amazing multi purpose arts venue building; The Public. It was cool to see a mix of local bands and some bigger names play on the same lineup. The only downside was that I forgot my ear plugs, which lead to my ears getting pretty battered over the weekend. Note to self, and anyone else who shoots live music, wear earplugs!

To see the full gallery from the weekend click HERE

OneFest 2012 Preview.

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:28:00 GMT

OneFest was my second festival in as many weekends. A great way to start the outdoor festival season. More photos from OneFest soon.

Now We Are Festival Preview.

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:48:00 GMT

A couple of images from Now We Are Festival. More to come soon.

A Second With Ghostpoet

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:49:00 GMT

Part of an ongoing personal project.

Grouplove. Sheffield Leadmill

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:46:00 GMT

Groulove at Sheffield Leadmill. Click to see more.

I finally got around to putting these photos up. An amazing show from Grouplove who I fell in love with when I photographed them on last years NME tour. They completey won over the sold out Leadmill crowd, who sang along to almost every word.

Ghostpoet at Cambridge ARU.

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:39:00 GMT

Ghostpoet at ARU Cambridge. Click to see more.

Ghotpoet's start to hi recent UK tour was moved from the Junction to Anglia Ruskin University. Although doors were seven, it was queued up til way past eight. I missed all bar the last track of support band Alt-J but everyone I spoke to said how amazing they were.

Ghostpoet took the stage complete with a guitarist and drummer, adding a small twist to the albums sound. The electronica was there, but beefed up by the additional instruments for the live show. Heavy on material from Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam, the set featured only one new, albeit, unnamed track, played as an encore.

Ghostpoet's humble charm won over Cambridge, and he seemed a little overwhelmed at times with the crowd's reaction, especially evident at the start of Cash & Carry Me Home.

A great gig and one that makes me excited to see what is to come from Ghostpoet in 2012.

PHOTO NOTES

I was warned before the show that the venue could have terrible light, and as predicted it was a nightmare for this show. It was at a point where iso6400 got me nothing. Flash was the only option. This is a show that shows why Canon need to sort out the autofocus on whatever follows the 5D2. I struggled to get the camera to focus, even with focus assist on the flash it just would not nail focus. On the plus side I got to shoot the whole show, luckily because I had nothing after the first 3. Another photographer there who didn't have a flash gave up, unless you had flash, you had nothing.

A Second With Meredith Sheldon

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:46:00 GMT

Part of an ongoing personal project.

Preview. Ghostpoet at ARU.

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:12:00 GMT

Editing through Ghostpoet photos. These were shot iso6400. Man it was dark in there. More photos soon.

The Kaiser Chiefs. Lincoln Engine Shed

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:50:00 GMT

The Kaiser Chiefs. Click to see more photos.

The Kaiser Chiefs in Lincoln for my first gig of 2012. In terms of a show it was great, a packed venue, a great crowd and a great band.

Support came from Native Tongue and All The Young. 2 good sets, very well recieved from the crowd, but when The Kaiser Chiefs took the stage the place went mad. A set made up of classic material mixed with newer stuff. They played a great show that made it worth sticking around after the first 3. The only downside of the night was the quality of light.

PHOTO NOTES

This show was pretty much blue. There was plenty of light, I shot at iso1600, but the issue was the colour. As you can see from the images, it was blue, blue and more blue for the first three. If there had been some white mixed in with this, i would have been saying how great it was, but clean light simply did not exist for this show, which was a shame from a photographic point of view. Maybe it's the photographer in me, but the lighting colour continued for the rest of the show, and as a fan watching the show, I just wished the front light was white. Ah well, the trend of heavy coloured lighting continues on. Nice Kaiser Chiefs photo pass for the show, but, maybe because it was the freezing cold, it was the hardest backing to get off and had me standing there, looking stupid and wishing I didn't bite my nails.

Little weirdness on the night when I was threatened by security to have my flash confiscated before I could enter the venue because it said "3 songs no flash" but luckily a security guard who knew me from other shows intervened and got me through complete with flash.

My new personal project. A Second With.

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:00:00 GMT

A Second With B Dolan

At the start of the new year, I am filled with that normal optimism. Rather than the usual I am going to do this, that and the other that I have done before, I decided I would finally launch a personal project I began working on in 2011. 'A Second With' is a series of 1 second exposure of artists performing. This is a project I started when shooting the NME tour last year high on prescription pain killers for my back and in stupid amounts of pain.

I am putting this project out through my 500px account and will add to it as I get new shots.

See the rest of the images HERE

11 from 2011.

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:57:00 GMT

I had planned a bit more in depth end of year post, but Christmas time this year has been mad hectic and I ran out of time. So instead I just thought I would choose 11 photos from 2011. Not an exhaustive set or necessarily my best work, just some photos that made me happy in 2011. Enjoy.

The Vaccines. The Engine Shed, Lincoln.

The Joy Formidable. Dot to Dot Nottingham.

Peter Doherty. Norwich UEA.

B Dolan. Fruit, Hull.

Shaun Ryder. The Junction, Cambridge.

John Agard. Wolds Words.

Alessi's Ark. Rough Trade tent. Camp Bestival.

My favourite gig of the year. Sound of Rum. Camp Bestival.

Ben Folds. Sheffield O2.

Colourmusic. Dot to Dot Nottingham.

Bowling for Soup. The Engine Shed, Lincoln.

As a bonus, portraits of my dogs, Lola and Benson. After my wife, the most important things in my life.

Here's to a great 2012.

The Vaccines. Lincoln Engine Shed.

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:25:00 GMT

The Vaccines show at The Engine Shed featured some of the coolest people of the year according to NME. I'm not a fan of cool lists etc. but this show was great and that is pretty much all that matters.

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First up were Rough Trade's new signing Howler. The Minneapolis 3 piece played a short set to a pretty empty venue, but its easy to see why they should break through next year, showing they are worthy of the hype being bandied about after the release of their debut EP.

Frankie and the Heartstrings had the pleasure of a much fuller venue by the time they took the stage and frontman Frankie played up to the crowd with his Morrisey-esque frontman antics; filling the stage and winning over the audience with good old fashioned indie pop songs.

Finally The Vaccines took the stage. One of the most hyped bands of 2011 and they proved they can live up to it. Bursts of 2 minute Rock and Roll obviously draws Ramones comparisons, but there is a Britishness to this that means they are deserving of the praise lauded on them this year. They are riding high, but what will become of the Vaccines is going to be down to what they do next, if they avoid the second album backlash, there will be little else to stop them.

To see more photos from the show all nice and big, click HERE.

Billy Bragg. Leftfield In Motion. Cambridge

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:35:00 GMT

Headlining the Leftifield in Motion tour was Billy Bragg. Bragg took the stage and blew me away with one of the best live shows I have seen in a long time.

My words could not do the performance justice, so instead just click HERE to see the photos form the show all nice and big.

The King Blues. Leftfield In Motion. Cambridge

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:11:00 GMT

Second band on the Leftfield In Motion tour were The King Blues. Their Ska tinged punk rock call to arms drew some of the loudest applause of the night. Urging the crowd to rise up against unjust actions. As with Sound of Rum, the set featured a great spoken word piece which somehow, at a punk rock show, seemed to make perfect sense.

To see some more photos from their set, click HERE.

Sound of Rum. Leftfield In Motion. Cambridge

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:21:00 GMT

I photographed the Leftfield in Motion tour when it came to Cambridge. Great music promoting an important message, it doesn't get much better than that.

Sound of Rum where the first band of the night, and one of my favourite live bands of 2011. A great set not only featuring stuff from the album 'Balance', but some spoken word from Kate Tempest, who has a knack of taking spoken word to a mainstream crowd and making them appreciate it just as much as the music. I urge you to buy their debut album, it is one of my most played albums this year.

To see photos from the set all nice and big click HERE

Scroobius Pip. Fruit, Hull

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:52:00 GMT

Hull was the first stop on Scroobius Pip’s UK solo tour. Pip’s solo affair has roots in Punk and Hardcore, with a live band being the most obvious change from a Le Sac vs Pip show.

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Obviously heavy on material from Distraction Pieces, the set did also feature material from his first solo LP No Commercial Breaks. An album which although released in a very small run is well known by Pip fans.

Highlights included a reworking of A Pictures worth a thousand words, with the Piano of the recorded track being replaced by guitar, Halloween single The Struggle, whose video was launched directly after the show and B Dolan joining Pip on stage for a frantic Solider Boy. The show ended with a rare outing of the Yila track Astronaut, complete with stage dive and dobligatory crowd surfing.

To see a few more photos from the show click HERE

PHOTO NOTES

After B Dolan I wasn’t holding out much hope for the lighting, but it got worse. Technically there were more lights, but the issue was the the lighting rig was level with the top of Pip’s head meaning that getting an even exposure on the whole body a virtual impossibility save a couple of places toward the back of the stage. The difference was about 3 stops between Pip’s head and his feet with virtually no let up in. It was almost impossible to get a decent shot and most of the shots here have been rescued thanks only to PP.

Normally I say “It was challenging, but fun” in this case no it wasn’t. The light sucked, I hated it and hope I never have to shoot in light like this a for a very, very long time.

B Dolan. Fruit, Hull

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:33:00 GMT

B Dolan is one of my favourite people ever to photograph. The guy means every word he says and puts everything into every show I have seen him play. The show in Hull was one of the best I have seen this year, nothing short of mind blowing He rapped so hard that within the first song he blew the power. I flipped my camera over to video to capture just how bad the lights were to add to this post, then he did this...

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The video has now been removed until the track gets an official release, unfortunately you will have to wait for the track to drop to hear this again. Trust me when I say it will be worth the wait.

While you wait, look at the photos all nice and big click HERE

PHOTO NOTES

You will have seen from the photos that these are black and white. No prizes for guessing that this is due to the dreaded red light syndrome. I can honestly say this show had the worst lighting I have ever shot in. One red light covering the left of the stage, one less powerful yellow light covered the far right hand side leaving a gap in the middle of the stage with no light at all.

Luckily B stuck mainly to the left side of the stage which meant that I could get an exposure at 3200. I still lost my exposure a few times as he went to the right side of the stage and missed a few photos, but I got to shoot the whole set which made things a little easier.

I hoped the light would get better for Scroobius Pip. Unfortunately it got worse. More on that soon.

The Queen of Crafts. Jazz Domino Holly

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:37:00 GMT

I got to shoot a portrait of Queen of Crafts, Jazz Domino Holly as part of the Wolds Words Festival a couple of weeks back. This shoot turned into a nightmare of my own causing.

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Basically I had been shooting the night before and left my Light stands, brackets softbox and umbrella in the car my wife had taken to work leaving me with everything I had planned to use on this shoot miles away. I then had the moment of panic when I tried to figure out what I was going to do on the way to the shoot.

I decided to pack what i had, drive to the venue and hope for some amazing room with huge windows and great backdrops for a natural portrait. That idea was ruined when I worked into an early 90’s monstrosity of decorating with very few windows and to add to this it was raining, so the natural light was non existent.

I found a window that had the least offensive background. Luckily as I waited for the time to shoot it the weather changed. Nice afternoon sun came out and through the window. Not an amazing amount, but enough and at the right time.

I tend to rely on my trusted setup of a single shoot through umbrella. I am used to it, I know what light I will get, how it will look and I rarely get much time to shoot portraits such as this, so stick with what I know, maybe to the point of allowing myself to fall into a rut. Simple window light on a pretty nasty background, which I reduced by shooting 2.8 and later fixed further in Photoshop.

I am really happy with how this came out. Completely different to how I had planned to shoot it, but probably a better photo because of it.

Noah & The Whale. The Engine Shed, Lincoln

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:53:00 GMT

Noah and The Whale played to a packed Engine Shed, one that contained a very mixed crowd. It was easy to see some had heard "that song" on the radio and decided to come hear it live but overall it was a good crowd and Noah & The Whale got a loud (complete with extra teen girl shrieking) reaction throughout.

To see more photos from the show, all nice and big click HERE

PHOTO NOTES

This was challenging to shoot. Bombay Bicycle Club was was hard to shoot in terms of lighting, but to me this show was a lot worse. There were glimpses of clean light, but they were fleeting. A lot of strobing lights, but the pattern never seemed to repeat meaning trying to make exposures was difficult. Couple this wit common cuts to just backlighting, heavy red in parts and no discerneable pattern to the lighting meant this was really hard to shoot. It sounds like I hated it, but in fact I enjoyed myself and the lighting challenges made it all worthwhile when I got a shot.

The Pierces. The Junction, Cambridge

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:23:00 GMT

October has been a really busy month, but I have finally got round to putting some new stuff on here, starting with The Pierces.

Early in the Month I went down to Cambridge to photograph the Pierces at the Junction. A really good show that reminded me how much I like them. What can I say I am a sucker for a Southern Drawl.

To see more photos all nice and big, click HERE.

PHOTO NOTES

October seems to be a month of challenging lighting, luckily this show was to be the exception to this. Nice amount of clean light through the first three. Backlighting was quite heavy at points but nothing too bad. Nice clean simple lighting for a nice clean and simple show. If only the rest of the month could have been this easy. More on this soon.

Seaside Showdown & the end of Summer.

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:51:00 GMT

Octobers last gasp of summer meant the last skate event at my local park. Nice little chilled comp. Skateboarding, hanging around in shirt sleeves and chilling with friends. What more could you want from Cotber in Skegness?

Click HERE to see some more photos, all nice and big.

Bombay Bicycle Club. Engine Shed, Lincoln.

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:15:00 GMT

There is something about shooting in your local venue. Lincoln’s Engine Shed is my local and it always feels good to shoot there. Being part of Lincoln University, and therefore shut all summer, it had been a while since I had shot there, but it felt good to be back.

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Whilst not quite a sellout, the Engine Shed was packed tonight. Theme Park and Dry The River provided 2 excellent support slots and Bombay Bicycle Club did not disappoint. A great set with some added aggression when compared to the recorded versions.

For the full gallery of this show click HERE

PHOTO NOTES

The first thing I noticed is that I forgot to pack my ear plugs, not the smartest move. If you are shooting live music and not using them, get some. It is that simple. There are only so many live shows your ears will be able to stand before long term damage starts to set in. They are cheap so there is no excuse.

I knew a couple of people who had shot Bombay Bicycle Club on this tour and their responses regarding light made me nervous about approaching this gig. As they took the stage the lighting wasn’t too bad. Then things got a whole lot worse. The second and third song had very unpredictable lighting which meant constant tweaking of settings and shooting lots of rapid bursts hoping to catch the clean light. It was one of those shoots that is challenging and whilst not impossible to overcome it makes you glad all shoots are not like this.

Portraits. B Dolan & Dan Le Sac.

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:15:00 GMT

Before the show last week I managed to get 5 minutes with Dan Le Sac and B Dolan to shoot some portraits. It was hard to find somewhere suitable in the venue to shoot so we hit outside. The venue was across the street from a multi story car park whose lights made for a nice background for the shots.

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Shooting in low light like this really highlights how poor the autofocus is on the 5D2. I missed great shots whilst waiting for the camera to hunt for focus, even having to use manual focus for a couple of shots out of sheer frustration. Hopefully this will be sorted with the introduction of the 5D3 soon.

Lighting for these shots were very simple, a Canon 580ex2 into a shoot through umbrella placed high camera right, triggered by Pocket Wizards. The shoot through umbrella is pretty much my favourite light modifier and my go to in time short situations such as these. I use a double fold Westcott which is nice and small, fitting nicely into my camera bag.

Here is the lighting diagram for the above shot

After getting a shot of Dan with B I wanted to get a solo shot of just B. Moving the light around to camera right a little more allowed me to make the lighting more dramatic. This setup produced the shot below

Lighting diagram for the portrait of B

5 minutes from pulling the flash out of the bag to finished shots. All done it was time to head indoors and shoot the show

B Dolan, Dan Le Sac & Buddy Peace. Duke of Wellington, Lincoln

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:32:00 GMT

When I heard B. Dolan's European tour was coming to the Duke of Wellington in Lincoln I was surprised and excited in equal measure. I have been a fan of B since House of Bees Vol. 1, and knew what an amazing live presence he has from when I first caught him supporting Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip. It was also the pub my wife and I ended up in on our first date so it is a special place for me.

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B. Dolan is one of the best live performers I have ever seen. His stage presence is second to none and his rhymes are up there with best, reminding you that true Hip Hop is still out there, you just need to dig that little deeper to find it. I was also stoked that I will hopefully be catching B live again before the end of the year. It is that great a live show.

To see the gallery from this show CLICK HERE

PHOTO NOTES

For a small venue, the lighting at the Duke of Wellington was surprisingly good. I always find it hard to shoot DJ's without resorting to the cliched long exposure and flash combination, but the lighting did help me grab a couple of nice images. There was obviously no pit with the venue being so small, but the crowd were cool and this combined with the great lighting made this a great show to shoot.